﻿OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. JOl 



pods and exposes them, than to the effects of the varying tempera- 

 tures. 



SeG07id—Th2Lt suspended development by frost may continue with 

 impunity for varying periods, after the embryon is fully formed and 

 the young insect is on the verge of hatching. Many persons, having 

 in mind the well known fact that birds' eggs become addled if incuba- 

 tion ceases before completion, when once commenced, would, from 

 analogy, come to the same conclusion with regard to the locust eggs. 

 But analogy here is an unsafe guide. The eggs of insects hibernate 

 in all stages of embryonic development, and many of them with the 

 larva fully formed and complete within. The advanced development 

 of the locust embryo, frequently noticed in the Fall, argues nothing 

 but very early hatching as soon as Spring opens. Their vitality is 

 unimpaired by frost. 



Experiments to test the Influence of Moisture upon the Eggs. 



The following series of experiments were made with eggs also 

 brought from Manhattan, Kansas. They were dug up in December, 

 and were sound, and much in the same condition as those in the pre- 

 ceding series. 



The water in all but the last three, or experiments 23, 24 and 25, 

 was kept in my office at the temperature already stated, and only 

 changed when there was the least tendency to become foul. In the 

 alternate submergence and draining, the eggs were submitted to the 

 most severe hygrometric changes ; the warm atmosphere of the room 

 having great drying power. 



Experiment 10. — Ten egg-masses kept under water in-doors from December 5th to 

 December 26th, 1876, the water becoming quite foul. Tbey were then removed to earth 

 and kept in a hatching temperature. They commenced liatchiug January 11th, 1S77, 

 and continued to do so till February 5th — all having hatched. 



Experiment It. — Twenty egg-masses kept under water in-dooi's from December 

 26th, 1870, till January 2d, 1S77 ; then left dry till the 9th ; then submerged again till 

 the 16th, when they were drained again. On the 20th, 18 young hatched, and others 

 continued hatching till the 23d, when they were submerged again. From the 26th to 

 30th, a few hatched under water, successfully getting rid of the post-natal pellicle, and 

 living for some hours afterward in the water. On the 30th day they were drained 

 again, and continued to hatch. On February 6th, they were again immersed, and con- 

 tinued to hatch on the 7th. On the 15th, 22d, 29Lb, and March 7th, they wei'e alter- 

 nately drained and immersed ; but none hatched after February 7th, and the remainder 

 proved upon examination to have been destroyed, most of them being quite rotten. 



E.vperimeni 12. — Two egg-masses taken from the lot in Experiment 11, on Febru- 

 ary 7th, and placed in moist earth. Every ^^g subsequently hatched. 



E.cperiment 13. — Two egg-masses taken from the lot in Experiment 11, on Febru- 

 ary 22d, and placed in moist earth. All hatched. 



E.cperiment i^.— Twenty egg-masses alternately immersed and drained every two 



