32 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis. 



One would think that the semi-tropical conditions of 

 Georgia, with an abundance of vegetation through a 

 longer feeding season than at St. Louis or Fall River, 

 would stimulate the production of eggs far to exceed 

 those from the northern localities. 



In considering the six lots of Cecropia material we 

 have not so wide a range in their means, 262 to 344 eggs. 

 The River des Peres lots alone show a fluctuation from 

 year to year of 344, 262 and 285 eggs. It is interesting 

 to note that the South St. Louis material gathered in 

 1913 from an area two or three miles distant from the 

 River des Peres region should show an average practi- 

 cally equal (282) for the same year, while the mean for 

 the New York lot of that year also, 290, is strikingly 

 similar. 



The females from the large, fluffy cocoons culled from 

 the 1913 River des Peres lot show a much higher aver- 

 age number of eggs (332) than the normal stock, or than 

 the Ceeropias of any other place or year excepting the 

 1910 lot. This point, added to the fact of the greater 

 length of life, certainly leaves one with the conviction 

 that these animals are more favorably endowed than 

 their fellows, and will increase more rapidly than the re- 

 mainder of the population, if not checked by other fac- 

 tors. 



We can hardly speculate upon the significance of these 

 details. We do not know what influences are to be reck- 

 oned with in the determination of egg production. We 

 must wait for experimental research to tell us whether 

 the number of ova produced is in any way correlated 

 with the nutrition of the animal during the develop- 

 mental period. 



The Prometheas from St. Louis in 1911 and those from 

 Fall River in 1913 show but very little difference in the 

 average number of eggs carried (195 and 190 respec- 

 tively), despite the fact that the two localities are ex- 

 tremely remote. 



