LIFE HISTORY OF CODLING MOTH IK PECOS VALLEY, N. MEX. 51 



In all, 141 female moths were taken from the larger jars and 

 isolated, some of these being accompanied by males and others being 

 without males. Of these, 48 furnished oviposition records, as stated 

 in Table XLI, while 93 of them, or two-thirds of the number, failed. 

 Of the latter a few eggs resulted, though as far as observed they 

 were all nonfertilized, one or two being deposited a day, though the 

 greater number of the moths did not oviposit at all. 



The confining of the moths in this manner results in a very abnor- 

 mal condition for the insect, and markedly different results may 

 occur normally in orchards. For instance, it was found that most 

 of the moths died before all the eggs had been deposited, the dead 

 females often containing an abundance of fully developed eggs. 

 Thus the averages here obtained are unquestionably far below what 

 normally occurs in the field. It is also likely that in many cases 

 egg laying was delayed. The results, however, show what is possible 

 in this connection and what might happen even under conditions 

 considerably removed from the normal with reference to the extent 

 of egg deposition and length of life of moths. 



On an average the first eggs were deposited three days after the 

 emergence of the moths, while a maximum length of time of 6 days 

 and a minimum time of 2 days prevailed. The greatest number of 

 eggs produced by a single female was 200, and the results averaged 

 80.2 eggs for the 48 females under observation. The moth listed under 

 observation No. 8, in Table XLI, escaped before the test was con- 

 cluded and might have deposited more eggs, as the abdomen was still 

 quite distended with eggs. A total of 192 eggs were found in the jar. 



As there exists a considerable degree of variation in the size of 

 moths also, there probably is to be found variation in the number of. 

 eggs laid by each female. Moths of the spring brood are, as a whole, 

 smaller than moths of the first and second broods, and probably are 

 less productive than the latter. 



In general the moths began ovipositing 3 days after emergence, 

 although the shortest period was 2 days. The number of eggs 

 deposited per female per day varied from 1 to 96 and averaged 20 

 eggs per day for the 48 moths. Normally this number would be 

 greater. In confinement moths often ceased ovipositing for a day 

 during the period of deposition, and frequently only one egg was 

 deposited during 24 hours, although previously and later numerous 

 depositions were made. On an average, oviposition extended over 

 5.7 days, and the moths died on an average 2 days after final ovi- 

 position, although sometimes death occurred the same day. In 

 1912, deposition records obtained with moths of the first brood 

 show that the average extent of the deposition period was 4.45 days. 

 The average length of time from the date of emergence to that of the 

 last oviposition was almost identical for the corresponding broods of 

 the two seasons, there being a difference of but 0.55 day. 



