200 Maine Agricultural Experiment Station. 1918. 



The Pupa. 



The molt from the prepupa to the pupa. This molt is 

 accomplished in the same way in all flea-beetles, and is des- 

 cribed in detail under the elm flea-beetle on page 190. 



Color cycle. The pupae of the blueberry flea-beetle pass 

 through a series of color changes correlated with the progress 

 of internal metamorphosis, as do the other chrysomelids which 

 the writer has studied. 



On the fifth day of pupal life, the eyes become light brown, 

 dark brown on the sixth, and black on the seventh. The man- 

 dibles also turn reddish brown, usually on the sixth day. 

 Forty-eight hours before emergence the wings appear very light 

 gray, and dark gray about 24 hours previous. 



There is of course some variation as to the time in which 

 these characters appear, but the appearance and sequence of 

 these pigmentations is perfectly constant. 



The Adult. 



Emergence. The process of emergence is the same in all 

 of the flea-beetles studied, and is described in detail under the 

 dogwood flea-beetle on page 



Coloration. The adult when just emerging from the pupa 

 is entirely yellow, except that there are grayish spots on the 

 pronotum, the antennae are piceous, and the legs are black at 

 the f-emero-tibial joints. The body is very soft. In 6 hours 

 the legs, head, elytra and pronotum are light gray and the anten- 

 nae black. In 9 hours the beetle is almost normally colored above, 

 but the ventral side has not yet become pigmented to any con- 

 siderable extent. The normal coloration and hardness are not 

 attained for about 24 hours after emergence and the beetle does 

 not leave the pupal cell until that time. 



Feeding habits. The adult beetles feed very voraciously 

 on the leaves of the blueberry as soon as they have emerged, 

 and continue feeding all summer. The character of their work 

 is shown in figure 13C. They soon strip the bushes of their 

 leaves and may do considerable damage. 



Mating. As is usual among chrysomelids, the beetles re- 

 main in copulation several hours, and each female pairs several 

 times before she finishes oviposition. 



