INVESTIGATIONS PERTAINING TO TEXAS BEEKEEPING. 17 
deposit the eggs which hatch into the larva. This is called the “life 
cycle.” 
THE ADULT MOTH. 
The adult bee-moth (Plate II, a) is about five- -eighths of an inch (15 
millimeters) in length, with a wing expanse of about one and one-quarter 
inches (30 to 32 mm.). The moth with its wings folded appears ashy- 
‘gray in color, but the back third of each front wing is bronze colored, 
and this wing is thickly covered with fine scales which rub off easily 
when the moth is touched. On the outer and rear margins of the fore 
wing is a scanty row of short hairs. The hind wings are uniform in 
color, usually gray, with traces of a few black lines extending ftom the 
outer margin inward toward the base; on the outer and rear margins is 
a thick fringe of hairs on which is a dark line running parallel with the 
border of the wing. The body is brown, the shade varying, with a cover- 
ing of scales. These scales rub off easily and are not always present on 
the older moths. The male is slightly smaller than the female. A differ- 
ence between the sexes is noticed in the fore wing, which, in the case of 
the male, is deeply scalloped on its outer margin. This scallop carries 
a heavy fringe of hairs, almost black in color. Another difference is 
in the mouth “parts, the palpi of the male being rudimentary. 
Habits. 
The moths emerge entirely at night, and in the cages observed no 
moths emerged after 9 p.m. ‘They at once seek some protected place in 
which to expand their wings and dry, and by the next morning they arc 
able to fly. During the day the moths'seek a sheltered place away from 
light and enemies, where they apparently settle down and draw their 
wings around them, remaining very still and quiet. Usually they are well 
protected by their color, which resembles weather-beaten wood. If dis- 
turbed during the day, the moths will make a dart or short flight, acting 
as though blinded by the light. When an object is met, the moth quickly 
settles down and seems very anxious to avoid flight. That they are hard 
to disturb in the daytime is shown by the fact that in several of the cages 
used in the experiments small ants attacked the moths and killed them 
without any apparent struggle on the part of the moths. Only by close 
examination could it be detected that the moths were dead and not rest- 
ing in the usual manner. It is only during the latter part of the ovipo- 
sition period that the females are active during the daytime. 
The male moths emerge a few days earlier than the females and are 
much longer lived. In several cages, closely observed, the males lived an 
average of twenty-six days, which was fourteen days longer than the 
average life of the females. The male moths are very active throughout 
their existence. Just how long the males are functional has not yet been 
‘determined. In some matings under artificial conditions one male fer- 
tilized two females at an interval of ten days. During the first part of 
the emergence period the males are in excess of the females, since the 
males emerge first as a general thing. Later on, the number of males 
and females reaching maturity at the same time is about equal. During 
the latter part of the emergence period the females predominate. How- 
ever, for the brood as a whole, taking sometimes as long as a month for 
