466 



Bulletin No. 116. 



[August, 



iy2 X 2y2 to 2}i mm., the shorter diameter later enlarging to 



2 mm. 



L. crenulata. From a single female beetle placed in a breeding- 

 cage July IS, 1905, three eggs were obtained three days later, 

 deposited at a depth of about an inch. These eggs were oval, measur- 

 ing ij^ to 2j4 mm. They were white when first laid, but changed 

 afterwards to cream color. 



L. fusca. Eggs were obtained June 22, 1905, from beetles which 

 had been placed in a breeding-cage April 24. One of these eggs 

 hatched on the 27th of June. 



L. implicita. Adults collected at Elliott, 111., from cells in the 

 earth, were placed in a breeding-cage in the insectary October 13, 



1905. They were first seen out of their winter quarters April 28, 



1906. June 12, 1906, 3 females were alive and 6 eggs were found 

 by sifting the dirt. On the 20th of June only i beetle remained 

 alive, and this was a female. No more eggs were found up to June 

 25, but on the 5th of July 42 eggs were sifted out of the dirt, each 

 in its separate ball of earth. These were from 5>4 to 6 inches below 

 the surface. Those most recently laid, measured 1% X 2 to 2}i mm., 

 while those which were longest deposited measured 2 X 2j^ mm. 



Rei,ations to Weather. 



The beetles of Lachnosterna transform from the pupa in summer 

 and fall, remaining, as a rule, in their underground cells, from 2 or 



3 to S or 6 inches below the surface, unaffected, so far as we know, 

 by any degree of cold to which they are likely to be subjected in our 

 climate. Their nocturnal movements after they come out of the 

 earth are, however, easily influenced by the weather. During thirty- 

 one nights, commencing May 14 and ending June 28, 1906, these 

 beetles were studied and collected at Urbana by Mr. West. On five 

 of these nights no beetles were seen or caught, although the fields, 

 the lights, and all the best feeding grounds were visited. The rec- 

 ords of minimum temperature for these five barren nights, and the 

 rate and direction of the wind, were as follows : 



