78 Zoologica: N. Y. Zoological Society [HI; 3 



forcing the tip of the female's abdomen downward and away 

 from the tips of her elytra. During coitus, which lasted a little 

 more than six minutes, the female continued to partake of the 

 larva, but the male remained motionless. 



B. The Enemies of the Beetles and Coccids and the Decay 

 OF the Colonies. 



Attention has been called to the decay of the Coccidotro- 

 phus colonies when the flow of sap to the petioles is artificially 

 cut off by severing the latter from the plant and both coccids 

 and beetles are deprived of their nourishment. But even under 

 the natural conditions of the jungle the colonies are doomed to 

 decay, though from very different causes. As has been shown, 

 Coccidotrojihus lives only in the petioles of young Tachigalias 

 growing in the shade and in these plants inhabits the petioles 

 only till they are taken over by the obligate ants of the genera 

 Pseiidomyrma and Azteca. The beetles are not permitted, so to 

 speak, to occupy their apartments after the rightful owners of 

 the plant have become sufficiently numerous and aggressive to 

 eject them. Sometimes this may occur even in rather young 

 plants four to six feet in height. Still the period during which 

 the beetles may be allowed to inhabit the young Tachigalias 

 must cover several months. I infer this from the fact that dur- 

 ing the more than two months of my stay at Kartabo I saw little 

 change in the plants, which grew very slowly notwithstanding 

 the almost daily, drenching rains, and their growth is probably 

 almost nil during the dry season. Since the leaves are persist- 

 ent, at least during the rainy months, there is ample time for 

 the development of the beetle colonies, even if the growth of the 

 larval broods and the coccids requires more than the three weeks 

 above suggested. Throughout the latter part of July, August 

 and the first half of September colonies were found in all stages, 

 from those represented by a single pair of beetles to those com- 

 prising numerous beetles, larvae, pupae and herds of coccids. It 

 would seem, therefore, that although the individual colony may 

 live for only a few months, new colonies must be formed contin- 

 ually, at least during the rainy season, by emigration of pairs of 

 young beetles from old colonies to other plants which have 



