38 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis. 
No like tabulations are offered for the age of earliest 
oviposition of mated females, because even when the op- 
portunity lay before the females to mate as early in life 
as they pleased, some ova were often deposited before 
copulation, and if not, oviposition was merely delayed 
until the conclusion of the mating period. 
AGE AT WHICH THE GREATEST NUMBER OF EGGS WERE 
DEPOSITED. 
In connection with the observations on the age at which 
the females begin to oviposit, it was thought desirable to 
find out at what age most of the eggs are deposited. This 
will give us an idea of the extent of the waste due to the 
oviposition which occurs too early for mating. 
TABLE 22. 
Age at Which the Greatest Number of Eggs Were Deposited. 
(Unmated Insects.) 
Acme—Days. 
= Sear 
2/3/4/5|6}7|8|9 [10l11\12/14| & 
Promethea, St. L..1911 ap SL Gh aL Gl ary 28 
Lane, Ste a 16a 1} 41 5 Tr 11 
Luna, Pike Cos. 11911}... |- 41-41 4 i ae 9 
Cynthia, N. Y.....1912 ge Cote Be ~ 6 
Polyphemus, St. L. 1911 2 4 Pe, Sake 2 eee as 
olyphemus, N. Y. 1912 440 Ef i fod pa: Was 2G Sia menetala CGE (Res ae BE 
Polyphemus, Ga. ..1913{ 1 Fa ae er Oe BS ON es es +) 
Polyphemus, Mass. 1913}..|..| 4} 21 6] 1} 2/..] 4) 4 oe 17 
Polyphemus, St. L. 1913|..| 3] 4] 8{ 5] 4] 7] 2] 3] a|.. 38 
Tete ose 1] 16| 28) 26119)11}15)10} 5) 3)..) 2/4136 
Here we find that most of these 136 insects experienced 
their most productive day in the prime of their life, or 
at least before the decadence, for 66% had the most pro- 
ductive day between the second and sixth day of their 
