nun 



Hypera and Phytonomus in America 



465 



The beetles hibernate in sheltered places of all kinds, road- 

 sides, fences, old orchards, posts, beneath trees in the fallen 

 leaves, in machinery, buildings and haystacks. Some of the 

 adults copulate in the fall. When the first alfalfa begins to 

 grow in the spring the beetles are present and feeding; much is 

 permanently injured by their puncturing the slender stems. 



Eggs are laid very early in the year and the egg-laying 

 period is enormously extended. The females mate several 

 times. The males may often be seen sitting on the back of the 

 female and after she has deposited some eggs again mating 

 with her. 



The first eggs are laid in or on the leaves, leaf-sheaths, buds 

 or petioles, but later the majority are placed in cavities in the 

 stalks hollowed out by the beak of the female. From one to 28 

 have been found in a single puncture. The period of incubation 

 is about 10 days. 



Average hatching period=10.22+days. 



