l897-] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 3 



grains of corn. In each of the three test tubes a single female 

 was placed and supplied with a kernel of corn. All of these 

 were kept under as close observation as other work permitted. 



Eggs remained for some time undiscovered, and a close watch 

 failed to detect the manner of oviposition, although young 

 larvae were easily to be found in seeds upon which the adults 

 were feeding. However, upon examining some of the excre- 

 ment, and particles of half digested food, elliptical shaped 

 bodies were to be found, which, from their color and structure, 

 appeared to be eggs. By the use of iodine these could be readily 

 separated from the starchy excreta, and were found to be some- 

 what numerous, and usually present in the accumulations on the 

 bottom of the jar. Later, undoubted eggs were found loosely 

 placed on the bases of kernels of shelled corn. By a comparison 

 of these with those previously mentioned no doubt was left as to 

 the presence of eggs in the excreta. Their occurrence in the 

 excreta is possibly accidental. While oviposition was not ob- 

 served, it seems probable that in the case of corn in the ear, eggs 

 are placed down in the crevices between the kernels. In nearly 

 all of the instances that were observed, the larvae entered the 

 grain of corn by eating a very small hole through the softer por- 

 tion at the base. From this point of entrance it eats upwards 

 towards the top of the grain. By the time the top of the grain 

 has been reached the larva is usually about full grown. A larger 

 cavity is eaten, quite out to the hull above, and the pupa state is 

 entered. Upon the development of the adult from the pupa it 

 is quite soft and of a rust-red color. It slowly changes color, 

 and the skin becomes harder, uhtil at the end of about forty-eight 

 hours it presents its normal appearance. Escape is made by 

 gnawing through the thin hull; but one larva occupies a single 

 kernel of corn. 



An infested grain appears quite sound until about the time the 

 pupal stage is reached, when the cavity at the top of the grain 

 may be detected through the thin hull. In feeding on corn the 

 adults show no apparent preference for any particular part of the 

 grain. Of the seeds found infested, corn seems to be the favorite 

 food. The life cycle requires about six weeks for completion; in 

 some cases seven weeks were required. 



Mr. E. A. Schwarz kindly determined this beetle for me. 



