22 CHOP PEST COMMISSION OF 



each case on dry ground where the sand was loose and easy to 

 dig, and on the extent of such ground in one place depended the 

 si/o of a particular colony. 



The oggs arc whit:> in color, five millimeters in length and 

 about one-fourth as wide ; the form is elongate kidney-shape, and 

 at. no time wore more than two found developed at the same time 

 in the abdomen of the female. The fact that the larva requires 

 .1 great deal of food makes it impossible for a female to attend 

 very many, and it seems that the number of eggs produced has 

 ;a relation to the number of larvae that can be taken care of. 

 r l he egg was not found in place in the burrow, so that mention 

 of some points that it would be desirable to know must be 

 omitted. 



The very young larva, not much larger than the egg, was 

 ft und in the burrow with a single horsefly, but it was not evi- 

 dent whether this fly had been carried in by the female before 

 or after the egg hatched. The different stages of the larva are 

 much alike except for size; the color is white, the total length 

 <,!' the full-grown specimen is considerably more than an inch; 

 it is very large on the posterior half, but narrows in front of the 

 middle, so that it appears as if the small head is situated at 

 the end of a long neck. The enlarged part remains almost sta- 

 tionary when the specimen is feeding, but the narrowed part 

 possesses great ^xtensil? and retractile powers, enabling the 

 well-developed mouth parts to come in contact with every part 

 of the fly it is feeding upon. When one locates the larva in its 

 Itome he finds it surrounded by the remains of the insects that 

 have been placed before it for food, and the one or two fresh 

 specimens which k-ave just been carried in by the industrious 

 mother; the jaws are continually in motion, and it appears so 

 much taken up with feeding that nothing seems to molest it, but 

 specimens do not take kindly to the artificial conditions of the 

 breeding cage. The body is composed of thirteen segments, not 

 including the head; the first three behind the head compose 

 the thorax, but no feet are borne by it; the remaining ten make 

 up the abdomen ; ten pairs of breathing pores or spiracles are 

 plainly visible in longitudinal rows, one row on either side of the 

 body; all the segments except the third, twelfth and thirteenth 



