RnYNEnARf—Zife-ilistori/ and Bionomics of the Flax Flea- Beetle. 503 



the tergites and sternites of the abdominal segments are pushed apart, so 

 that they appear as black bands in the yellow intersegmental cuticle. The 

 aedeagus of the male, as shown in the text figure B, is a conspicuous, 

 elongated, and strongly chitinized organ, which normally remains retracted 

 into the abdomen. Slight pressure will, however, cause its protrusion, and 

 then the sex can be determined. 



Fig. a. 



Longitarsus pnrvuhts. 



Adult. X 26. 



KiQ. B. 



Aedeagus of Male. 



X 86. 



The beetles are most active, and are seen in greatest numbers during 

 sunny weather, especially during bright sun after showers of rain. In wet 

 weather they are not noticeable, as they are then in the soil, sheltering beneath 

 little lumps of earth. But when the rain ceases and sunshine supervenes, 

 they come up and rest on dry stones in the soil, or even on lumps of soil, prior 

 to ascending the food plant. When the top of the plant is reached, suitable 

 leaves are selected, and feeding commences. Thus the youngest foliage is 

 always selected for food, and rarely does one find a beetle feeding on foliage 

 low down on the plant. The beetles appear to favour the thinner parts of a 

 braird, and to eat the seedlings on such parts in patches, so that thin, 

 uneven brairds of weakly seedlings are most liable to be attacked. Flight is 

 common in spring, when the adults leave their winter quarters to go to fields 

 of flax, and again towards the end of the season, when the crop has been 

 pulled. During the active feeding period flight rarely occurs, as the beetles 



