286 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. I915. 



Chrysomelidae among the Loleoptera. Collections were made 

 rather extensively in 19 15 but from most of this material the 

 writer has not yet obtained adults or else the adults have not been 

 determined, so that any detailed discussion is reserved for future 

 publication. The only leaf-feeding insect seriously injurious to 

 the blueberry which the writer observed in Maine was a Chryso- 

 melid beetle, kindly determined by Mr. Eugene A. Schwartz of 

 Washington, D. C, as Galerucella decora Say, to a brief dis- 

 cussion of which the remainder of this paper is devoted. 



A Leaf Beetle Galerucella decora Say. 



DISTRIBUTIOX AND HOST PLANTS. 



Galerucella decora Say is the only leaf feeding insect which 

 the writer has observed to be decidedly injurious to the blue- 

 berry in ]\Iaine. It is widely distributed through the state and 

 has been found wherever collections have been made on the 

 blueberry for this Station. In the vicinity of Orono this species 

 has been very abundant during the past 3 seasons and has kille'l 

 a considerable number of blueberry bushes. Doctor Smith records 

 it on willow (Insects of New Jersey, 1909, p. 347) as does 

 also Mr. Blatchley (Coleoptera of Indiana, p. 1170) and Mr. 

 Chittenden (U. S. Bureau of Forestry, Bui. 46, p. 78) but the 

 writer has not found it anywhere except on the blueberry ni 

 Alaine. It breeds on Vaccinhnn pennsylvanicum, V. canadensc, 

 and V. vacillans. 



seasonal history and life history on the blueberry. 



The egg. This species hibernates in the adult stage. The 

 overwintering beetles may be swept up abundantly by June 15 

 and probably appear much earlier as even then the foliage was 

 conspicuously eaten. The first eggs were deposited on June 16. 

 191 5, and oviposition continued about a month. One female 

 deposits about 25 eggs, usually within 3 or 4 days after pairing. 

 Twenty-nine is the largest number the writer has recorded for 

 any one female. In the laboratory the eggs were mostly de- 

 posited in the cheesecloth on the bottom of the dishes in which 

 the beetles were kept. The writer has not succeeded in finding 

 the eggs in nature, but feels sure that they are not fastened to 

 the leaves. 



