THE PAINTED HICKORY BORER 191 



Observations were made at the insectary on the total number of eggs 

 laid by a single female. Of the twelve specimens observed, the maximum 

 number of eggs deposited by a single female was fifty-six, the minimum 

 being thirty-eight. While large cages were used and conditions as natural 

 as possible were provided, yet dissection of the abdomens of these females 

 at death showed that not all the eggs had been deposited, quite a few 

 remaining in the ovaries in different stages of development. Whether 

 the entire number of eggs is deposited under natural conditions in the 

 field was not determined. Most of the eggs are deposited on the first 

 day. For example, the female which deposited a total of fifty-six eggs 

 laid forty-six the first day, eight the next, and two on the third day. 



After copulation, the males become inactive and die in about a week's 

 time. The females, as a rule, die within three to five days after oviposition. 



The egg 

 Time of hatching 



The eggs hatch in from six to ten days. Observations were made on 

 a batch of one hundred and fourteen eggs deposited by three females on 

 separate branches, on June 19. These were collected and placed where 

 conditions would be as natural as possible. The results of the experiment 

 appear in table 2. 



TABLE 2. THE TIME OF HATCHING OF 114 EGGS, DEPOSITED ON JUNE 19 



From the above data it will be seen that the first eggs hatched six days 

 after they were laid, while the last to hatch required ten days. The 

 majority of them, however, hatched eight days after they were laid. 

 Observations made on a batch of eggs kept in the laboratory, where con- 

 ditions were more dry and warm, showed that the eggs hatch in from 

 five to seven days. 



A few days before hatching, the fully formed larvae may be seen thru 

 the chorion, actively twisting about. Just prior to hatching, the egg 

 enlarges slightly at the anterior end, due to the size of the larval prothorax. 

 The chorion is undoubtedly broken by the muscular contractions of the 



