l8o JOHN L. PRICER. 



September 22 2 October 2 1 October 15 1 



" 25 1 " s 2 " 19 1 



" 27 1 " 8 2 " 20 1 



A few more eggs were laid during September, so that there 

 were 14 small larvae in the nest on October 15. These did not 

 grow perceptibly until January, and then only slightly. During 

 that month and at intervals afterwards, the queen laid a few eggs, 

 and by May I, the colony consisted of 15 callows, 21 larvae and 

 8 eggs. 



Taking the time required for the development of the first two 

 callows as an approximate average, we have the following periods 

 for the different stages : egg 24 days, larva 21 days, and pupa 

 21 days, making a total of 66 days from egg to adult. These 

 periods are doubtless all liable to be affected by temperature 

 and other varying conditions, for in outdoor nests some larvae 

 spend the winter in a state of arrested development, and I have 

 kept one colony — No. 2, Table I. — in an artificial nest all 

 winter in the insectory and no growth could be noticed in the 

 larvae until about March 1, when they suddenly began to grow 

 at about the usual summer rate. On February 20 I gave five 

 freshly laid eggs to a small colony with neither queen nor larvae. 

 Three of these hatched March 24, 28 and 30, respectively. The 

 other two failed to hatch. These results show considerable vari- 

 ation in the length of the pupal period. 



Another dealated queen of C. pennsylvanictis found on the 

 sidewalk July 1 5 and placed in a nest, began laying eggs five 

 days later, and continued at about the same rate as the one above 

 mentioned, until twelve in all were laid. The first two of these 

 eggs hatched August 13, an incubation period exactly the same 

 as that of the first two eggs of the other queen. At this time the 

 nest was allowed to become too dry and these two larvae died 

 and four of the eggs were destroyed. Four callows finally 

 reached maturity, however, and the queen laid eggs at intervals 

 throughout the winter, but was not very successful in bringing 

 them to the adult form. 



A little sweetened water was kept constantly in the nests of 

 these two colonies and pieces of insects and some other forms of 

 proteid food were occasionally given them, but from the time of 



