6. INSECTS AFFECTING VEGETABLES. 



From the above record the stages are as follows: 



Days. 



Egg stage 4 



Larval stage 15 



Pupal stage 12 



Total 31 



FIFTH GENERATION. 



December 17 Adults issued. 



December 19 First eggs deposited. 



December 23 The eggs hatched. 



January 4 First larva? reached maturity. 



January First larva? pupated. 



January 10 First adults issued. 



From the above records the stages are as follows : 



Days. 

 Egg stage 4 



Larval stage 14 



Pupal stage 13 



Total 31 



These records were obtained in an open-air insectary at Honolulu. 

 The moths were confined in open- wire cages, which contained an 

 inch or more of moistened, sterilized soil. Beet or Amaranthus 

 leaves, upon which the eggs were to be deposited, were placed in the 

 cages and food was supplied the moths by putting in wads of ab- 

 sorbent cotton, which had been saturated in molasses and water. 

 This food was evidently greatly relished. The moths were very 

 kw wild " and flew about very actively whenever the cages were ap- 

 proached. Copulation evidently took place at night, as during the 

 several months that the species was kept under daily observation, in 

 the insectary and field, no mating pairs were observed. Owing to the 

 failure to obtain mating pairs and to the fact that it is difficult to 

 distinguish the sexes when the moths are fluttering wildly about in 

 the cages, no individual egg-laying records were obtained. In one 

 case three newly emerged and unfertilized female moths were placed 

 in a cage and supplied with molasses as food. They lived 10 days, 

 and during this time deposited 300 eggs. Such a record is not con- 

 clusive, but it indicates that each female is capable of depositing at 

 least 100 eggs. This is doubtless far short of the actual number of 

 eggs that one female could deposit under normal conditions. 



