THE GRAPE CUECULIO. 



Table II. — Time spent in oviposition by the grape curculio. 



Beetle No. 



Minutes 

 excavating. 



Minutes 

 copulating. 



Minutes 

 ovipositing. 



. Total 

 minutes. 



1 



7 

 16 

 17 

 18 

 12 

 24 



22 

 

 17 

 18 

 13 

 16 



3 



7 



3 . 



3 



2 



2 



32 

 23 

 37 

 39 

 27 

 42 



2 



3 



4 



5 



6 



Average 



15.6 



14.3 



3.3 



33.3 



There are occasional but rare departures from, the method of pro- 

 cedure in egg laying as just described. For example, two or three 

 egg chambers were found containing two eggs each, and on one occa- 

 sion a female was observed to complete her egg chamber and then 

 deposit an egg on the grape near the puncture. She then pushed 

 the egg into the opening with her snout and sealed the chamber in 

 the usual manner. A few eggs were found in excavations in the 

 fruit stems, but the larvae which hatched from them were not able 

 to subsist on the food at hand. 



OBTAINING EGG RECORDS. 



For obtaining egg records a large number of beetles were collected 

 from grape foliage early in the season and confined with food in 

 cages. As fast as they could be found mating in the cages they were 

 removed and confined by pairs in glass tumblers. The tumblers 

 were covered with cheesecloth and the beetles provided daily with 

 fresh leaves and fruit. Twenty-four pairs were thus obtained and 

 kept in an open insectary throughout the season. So far as could 

 be determined, by comparing the activities of the beetles in the glasses 

 with those of beetles in the field, egg laying proceeded in the insectary 

 in a normal manner. 



Every morning counts were made of the eggs deposited during 

 the preceding 24 hours. Table III shows the result of these counts 

 and is believed to represent with fair accuracy the individual egg- 

 laying capacity of the beetles. 

 69807°— 18— Bull. 730—2 



