136 



THE AMEEICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



fly {Selandria ruM, Harris) iu the spring, I 

 have Ijnown a difference of three months to 

 occur between the issuing of the first and last 

 individuals of the same brood, all the larvas of 

 which had entered the ground within three 

 days. Far he it from me to pronounce that 

 there is no such thing as rule in Nature, aiid 

 that we cannot, therefore, generalize ; I simply 

 assert that we frequently draw our lines too 

 rigidly, and endeavor to make the facts come 

 within them, instead of loosening and allowing 

 them to encompass the facts. 



It was my intention to have thoroughly and 

 forever settled these disputed questions the past 

 summer, but owing to a lengthy sickness of 

 Mr. "Walsh, I was overwhelmed with other 

 matters, at the very season in which the proper 

 experiments could alone be made. Such obser- 

 vations as were made, however, only confirm 

 me in my previous opinion, that it is single- 

 brooded as a rule; but, injustice to Mr. Walsh 

 I will say, that to the day of his death he held 

 the contrary opinion of its being double-brooded. 

 It was on account of this difference of opinion 

 between us, that we could never editorially 

 touch upon the point in the columns of the 

 American Entomologist ; though we had each 

 of us decided to come to an agreement, in ac- 

 cordance with the facts to be elicited in discus- 

 sion at this meeting. Alas! how inscrutable 

 are the ways of Providence ! He has been taken 

 from our midst, and we shall nevermore listen 

 to his bold, outspoken voice. 



Dr. Trimble writes: " I have a friend, an ac- 

 complished ornithologist (companion of Audu- 

 bon), with whom I frequently converse. Once, 

 speaking about quails, I spoke of their having 

 more than one brood a year. He said, 'did you 

 ever see a brood of quails, whether full-grown 

 or half-grown, without the old birds with them?' 

 In thinking it over, I cannot remember that I 

 ever did. The inference follows: the early 

 broods of quails of this year, have the early 

 broods the next year — the late broods this year, 

 the late broods next year. AVhy not so with 

 Curculios?' On broad principles it may be 

 stated that insects ditfer from other animals in 

 so far that they do not breed an indefinite num- 

 ber of times in the course of their lives, but that 

 the females perish soon after depositing their 

 first and only batch of eggs. But although a 

 great many insects occupy but a few hours or a 

 few days in laying this batch of eggs, yet many 

 of them require a much longer time. This is 

 eminently the case with our Plum Curculio, and 

 indeed with most of the insects in the same 

 great Order of Beetles to which it belongs ; and 



I know that Curculios which hybernated may 

 be iound upon our trees even a few days after 

 the first bred Curculios of the season appear. 

 Again, few persons — even among those skilled 

 iu Entomology — are aware of the wonderful 

 influence produced upon insects by climate or 

 by the character of the seasons. To illustrate : 

 the Oblong-winged Catydid {Phylloptera ob- 

 longifolia, De Geer) in a state of Nature finishes 

 depositing its eggs, and ceases its chirrup by 

 the first of October in the latitude of St. Louis, 

 and yet this very year, by keeping them within 

 doors and feeding them on green apples, I suc- 

 ceeded in keeping several which I had hatched 

 from the egg, alive until the first days of Decem- 

 ber; and though everything was bleak and bare 

 outside, and the Catydids had been swept off 

 by the early frosts nearly two months before, 

 yet these continued to deposit tqi to within three 

 days of their death. No one with the knowl- 

 edge of such facts, would for a moment doubt 

 that in certain southerly latitudes, it is possible 

 for the Curculio to be double-brooded, and yet 

 be single-brooded in more northerly regions; 

 for several instances of a similar nature in in- 

 sect life, might be cited. But that it is single- 

 brooded as far south as the southern part of 

 the State of Illinois, I feel quite satisfied. The 

 Curculios generated from those which wintered 

 over, never lay eggs the same season they are 

 hatched; at least, no one has ever succeeded 

 in making them do so, though the experiment 

 has been tried by Dr. Trimble, Dr. Hull, Judge 

 Brown, and myself. Indeed, all analogy con- 

 firms the belief in its one-brooded character, 

 for it is admitted that the Plum Gouger 

 (Anthonomus prunicida, Walsh), the Apple 

 Curculio (Anth. quadrigibbus, Say), the Pea- 

 weevil {Sruchus pisi, Linn.), and many other 

 closely allied species produce but one brood 

 each year, and it is with good reason argued, 

 that if there were two generations of Curculios, 

 late fruit would be covered with their crescents, 

 whereas we know that such is not the case. 



As to the hybernation of the Curculio, it is 

 only necessary to state, that I am positive that 

 the beetles survive the winter, for I have fre- 

 quently found them myself during this season 

 of the year, under the rough bark of both fruit 

 and forest trees, and they have been found in 

 like situations and under the shingles of houses, 

 etc., by several other persons. Dr. Hull, on 

 the contrary, believes that they pass the winter 

 in the preparatory state, and records in so many 

 words, that he has found the larva; in January 

 at a depth of from fifteen to thirty-six inches, 

 and that in April he has found both larvie, pupa; 



