23 
‘good deal of ragweed was still green, and they were chiefly gathered 
upon this. ‘he contents of the stomachs of these four specimens 
consisted partly of vegetable tissues which could not be precisely 
determined, but made about four-tenths of their food, while pollen 
of swartweed amounted to twenty-five per cent. The remaining 
thirty-five per cent. consisted, however, of spores of fungi of the 
kinds ordinarily taken by lady-bugs (Coccinellide). Helminthospo- 
rium amounted to about ten per cent., Uredo spores to seventeen, 
and lichen (?) spores to seven, while traces of Cladosporium and 
Septoria likewise occurred. Hven in a specimen taken from the tip 
of an ear of corn, about fifteen per cent. of the food was made up 
of these fungi, the remainder, of course, consisting of the corn it- 
self. 
The alimentary canals of all these beetles contained large numbers 
of minute parasites, belonging to the genus Gregarina, one of the 
Protozoans. As these had not been seen in any of the earlier speci- 
mens examined, they doubtless indicated the decline of ee beetle, 
and foreshadowed its disappearance for the year. 
In three specimens taken from clover blossoms on the Isth of this 
month, the pollen and fragments of the petals of clover made about 
sixty per cent. of the food, and the remainder consisted of spores 
of fungi, including Peronospora, Ustilago and Cladosporium. In 
these latter specimens the intestines were literally alive with para- 
sites, a single beetle often containing hundreds of them. 
From the above it is evident that this insect can find an abund- 
ance of food upon dead and decaying vegetation, as the fungi eaten 
by the specimens last examined were the common molds occurring 
upon such tissues; and all attempts to limit its life by depriving 
the beetle of food, will doubtless be unavailing. 
It is in fact, even a more general feeder than the notes just given 
would indicate, as it has been seen feeding upon the cucumber vine, 
and also upon beans; while a letter from Mr. Lattin, of DeKalb 
county, reports that he has found it eating into apples in his orchard, 
apparently taking advantage of punctures in the skin made by 
other insects, but enlarging these Openings so as seriously to damage 
the fruit. This same fact has likewise been reported to me from 
Grundy county, where the adult beetle is believed to eat its way 
into thin-skinned apples without the assistance of other insects. 
Egg.—Until the present season, the eggs of this beetle had not 
been seen; neither was the time or place of oviposition known. 
One correspondent reported as early as the 25th of September that 
he had found them at the base of the leaf of the corn, between the 
sheath and the stalk; but these eges were lost before any oppor- 
tunity was had to compare them with known eggs of Diabrotica ; 
and, as they were found in the midst of minute dipterous larve of 
various ages, (taken at the time for the corn root-worm) and as the 
genuine eggs of the beetle could not be found afterwards in that 
situation, notwithstanding a protracted search made in various 
situations by several observers, (although dipterous larve were 
abundant there) it will scarcely be wise to conclude that the beetle 
lays its eggs above ground until this observation has been verified. 
