86 



The time of making the puncture was noted in 115 in,stances, and 

 this was found to average 5i minutes. The time varied widely, being 

 from 1 to 1 3 minutes; the usual range was from 4 to 8 minutes. From 

 the time that the weevil began to puncture till the sealing of the cav- 

 ity, the complete act of oviposition required in 103 instances an aver- 

 age of slightly over 7i minutes, ranging in time from 3 to 16 minutes. 



As these observations were made between October 7 and 23, the 

 periods given may be slightl}^ longer than they would be in warmer 

 weather. However, various observations made in the field in mid- 

 summer agree very closely with the averages given. 



RATE OF OVIPOSITION. 



Since the period of reproductive activity of the boll weevil is so 

 long, the rate at which eggs are deposited is a question requiring much 

 time for its determination. There have been found great variations 

 in the rate at different seasons, and it is clear that oviposition is even 

 more strongly influenced by variations in temperature than is feeding. 

 The rate sometimes varies unaccountably and very abruptly with the 

 same female upon succeeding days. No explanation for this has as 

 yet been found. The rate is influenced, also, by the abundance of 

 clean squares which the w^eevil can find, so that it is greater in the 

 early season, as the degree of infestation is approaching its limit, than 

 after infestation has reached its maximum. 



Two extended series of observations have been made to determine 

 especially the normal average and the maximum egg-laying ability of 

 the females* 



AVERAGE. 



Taking first 51: females which had gone through hibernation, we 

 find that they deposited on the average 2i eggs each daily in the 

 laboratory, and 4 females which were followed under field conditions 

 for a total of 93 "weevil-days" deposited 489 eggs during that time, or 

 at the rate of 5i eggs each per day. Where the rate of activity is so 

 great it is probable that the length of the period would be somewhat, 

 but not proportionatel3% shortened. From many observations made 

 in the field during the beginning of the squaring season it seems prob- 

 able that a rate of 5 eggs a day is not far from the average in the field. 

 This conclusion is confirmed by the observations of 1904. 



From 27 females of the first generation a laboratory average rate of 

 2^ eggs each daily was obtained. Five females of this generation 

 confined in a cage in the field during the latter part of August for a 

 total of 70 "weevil-days" deposited an average of 6i eggs per da3^ 

 This latter rate is far beyond the actual average rate in the field at 

 that period, because of the fact that the weevils can not at that time 



