90 
cuonsly or place them in small bunches on the plant or elsewhere. In 
other instances she bites a hole in a clover stem and inserts an egg 
lengthwise, ]nishing it far in or leaving it sticking out of the stem. 
Sometimes she makes a cavity without laying an egg in it. Often the 
female eats her eggs. In a breeding-cage that is sufficiently shaded, 
eggs may be laid during the day ; normally they are laid at night. Mr. 
R. L. Webster observed oviposition in our inscctary October 16, begin- 
ning at 6:30 p. m. He found a female clinging to a clover stem, with 
her head downward, and piercing the stem with her rostrum, thrusting 
it in almost to the antenncT. At times she would raise the body on the 
front pair of legs as if throv/ing her entire weight on the beak. Having 
made a sufficiently large hole, she reversed her position and inserted a 
single egg: the actual oviposition took not more than twenty seconds. 
Then she made another hole but did not attempt to lay an egg in it. 
Out-of-doors the eggs are found inserted into clover stems, but 
occur also, to some extent, on the base of the plant, where' the stems 
join; rarely they are found on the ground. 
The male often accompanies the female on her round of oviposi- 
tion and there arc repetitions of the process of fertilization, alternating 
with the periods of oviposition. September 25, a pair of beetles were 
put on potted red clover ; Sept. 27, twelve eggs were laid ; Sept. 28, 
six; Sept. 29, several; Oct. 5, several; Oct. 8, several more; Oct. 17. 
copulation occurred, probably for the second time; Oct. 23, more eggs 
were laid ; Oct. 31, the female was missing. 
The largest number of eggs that we have obtained from one 
female is forty. 
Usually the female takes three or four weeks to lay all her eggs, 
under insectary conditions. In the field the period of egg-laying ap- 
pears to be shortened, in the last of the season, by frost. 
Our observations on the habits of this species are in accord with 
those of Riley, except as regards some minor details of locomotion and 
silk-spinning. 
Nat]iral Enemies. — Riley notes the larva of a small beetle, Col- 
lops quadriiiiaciihUus, as feeding upon the eggs of the clover leaf- 
weevil, and Cicindela rcpanda as probably preying upon the larva of 
the weevil. In Europe various ichneumons parasitize Phytonomus 
larvae, but in this country no such parasites have come to light as yet. 
Webster mentions the fact that the larvse are destroyed by birds, 
and that barnyard fowls, especially turkeys, are very fond of them. 
The worst enemy of the leaf-weevil is an epidemic disease, that 
under favorable conditions sweeps off the larvae by the wholesale. 
This disease, due to a fungus, needs damp and not too cold weather 
for its development, and affects the larvae in April or May and again 
in October and November, but not during winter. The contagion is 
rapid and thoro ; no matter how abundant the larvae are, the infection 
spreads until, after two to four weeks, it is almost impossible to find a 
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