NATURAL HABITS. 91 



wintered a few inches under the surface of the ground, appears 

 above the surface before the potato-plants come up (in New 

 England early in May), and feeds on the young shoots, and by 

 the time the leaves are expanded, lays its eggs on the under- 

 side of the leaf in clusters of from thirty to forty, side by side, 

 the eggs standing on end. The eggs are oval-cylindrical, and 

 orange-red in color. Regarding the number of eggs laid, Dr. 

 Shinier writes as follows, in the "Practical Entomologist" for 

 1866 : " From an equal number of males and females, well fed 

 and made as comfortable as possible in confinement, I obtained 

 an average of seven hundred and nineteen eggs to each female ; 

 but in the fresh, pure air, sunlight, and freedom of nature, 

 under propitious circumstances, I have no doubt of its exceed- 

 ing a thousand. They laid some eggs every day for forty 

 days, commencing July 15, and ending on the 1st of Septem- 

 ber. The smallest average was in the first part of this time, 

 being seven and one-half eggs per day to each female ; the 

 greatest average was about the middle of the time, seventy- 

 five eggs ; the last day they averaged twelve and one-half 

 essfs." 



The young grubs, on hatching out, are deep blood-red, but 

 of nearly the same form as the adult. They usually first 

 appear on the leaves, in New England, early in June. The 

 following summary of its habits is taken from Riley's Frst Re- 

 port, and applies to Missouri, Illinois and neighboring States : 

 " In the latitude of St. Louis, there are three broods during 

 the year, the last brood wintering over in the beetle state 

 underground. They are usually dug up in the spring of the 

 year in land that had been planted to potatoes the year before. 

 The beetles issue of their own accord from the ground about 

 the first of May, and the last brood of beetles enters the 

 ground to hybernate during the month of October. Though, 

 in general terms, this beetle may be said to be three-brooded, 

 yet it may be found at almost any time of the year in all its 

 different stages. This is owing to the fact that the female con- 

 tinues to deposit her eggs in patches, from time to time, cover- 

 ing a period of about forty days, and also from the fact that 

 among those larvte which all hatch out in one day, some will 

 develop and become beetles a week and even ten days earlier 

 than others. Thus it may be, that some of the late individuals 



