CLOVER-LEAF WEEVIL. 11 



COPULATION. 



As stated, the beetles resume activity the last of August or the 

 first of September. The record of copulation for one pair reads 

 September 15, October 4, 8, 14, 17, 27, and November 7, the female 

 of this pair laying 196 eggs between September 25 and November 

 27. As these beetles were examined but once or twice each day 

 probably only a few of the copulations were observed. Mating 

 probably takes place normally during the day, for beetles in copula 

 have been collected in the field only at this time. 



OVIPOSITION. 



The records of other writers give as places of oviposition the 

 ground, base of plant, stems, and the inside of dead stems. Careful 

 search was made in the field for eggs during the laying season, but 

 only three were found, these being placed singly on dead stems. 

 In the breeding cages the beetles rarely laid on the ground but in or 

 on some portion of the plant. When fed alfalfa they laid the eggs 

 singly in punctures in the stem. (Fig. 3.) Sometimes it seemed 

 impossible for the beetle to make punctures enough to contain all 

 the eggs she wished to lay, so she would fasten several in a mass 

 on the stem by means of a rapidly drying secretion. When fed 

 clover the females practically always laid inside the petiole or the leaf 

 sheath; and if these were not present and only stems provided, the 

 eggs were laid as in alfalfa. In laying the eggs in the petioles the 

 female usually cut a hole with her mandibles just large enough to 

 admit one egg at a time, through the side of the petiole, but in the 

 case of an old matured petiole a cavity would be made into which 

 the ovipositor could be thrust and from 1 to 23 eggs laid, part of 

 which would be pushed up and part down the stem. Measurements 

 showed that the eggs were sometimes pushed in the petiole as far as 

 3J mm. above and 6 mm. below the puncture. Unless the last egg 

 was left in the opening, as infrequently occurred, the opening practi- 

 cally healed before the eggs hatched. In case the petiole was solid, 

 the inside would be eaten out and the eggs laid as before. It was 

 noticeable that petioles and their leaves never appeared to be injured 

 when eggs were laid in them. The eggs were also readily laid in the 

 sheath at the base of the petiole, a tiny hole being cut through its side 

 and a mass of eggs deposited within, as many as 33 eggs being laid 

 by one female at one time in this way. In all the experiments the 

 largest number of eggs laid by one female at one time was 34, 18 to 25 

 being common. The eggs are usually laid at night but some were 

 recorded between 8 and 9 a.m., and it was noticeable that there was 

 a marked tendency to lay during the day in the fall when the nights 

 were very cold. 



