22 DEPARTMENT BULLETIN 1267, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
beetles placed in the hibernating cages in the fall were living when 
the cages were examined in the spring. That an equally heavy 
mortality may obtain under natural conditions is indicated by the 
fact that where the beetles had been quite abundant in the fall of 
1915, only a few could be found in the following spring. Doubtless 
if the species could be kept under constant observation for a succes- 
sion of years, it would be found that winter conditions constitute one 
of the important factors controlling the destructive outbreaks of the 
species which seem to occur at rather long intervals, 
APPEARANCE IN SPRING 
The beetles usually begin to emerge from their hibernating quar- 
ters in the spring in late April or in early May, except in the most 
southern portions of its range. The precise time of emergence is 
governed by prevailing weather conditions. Comstock (3) states 
that they become active as early as the middle of March in Louisiana. , 
At Tappahanock the earliest dates on which they have been seen 
abroad were April 23 in 1915 and May 1 in 1916. At Clarksville, 
Tenn., the junior writer first observed them at street lamps on April 
18, 1917. McConnell recorded them (unpublished notes) as active 
and destructive at Greenwood, Miss., on April 23, 1913. Webster 
(74) reported them damaging corn in Louisiana on April 25, 1888. 
Becker informed the junior writer that complaints of injury by the 
beetles came in from southern Arkansas about May 1. 
MATING 
Mating of Huetheola rugiceps is practically coextensive with the 
period of its maximum activity. The earliest date on which the 
beetles were observed zm coitu was May 18, 1915, at Sharps, Va., 
while the latest date on which they were observed mating under 
natural conditions was June 20, 1915, at Tappahannock. In the 
case of those kept in breeding cages, mating was observed much 
later than this, one pair being observed zn, coztu as late as September 
10. Mating normally takes place underground, though on one ocea- 
sion a pair were found 7m cottu on the surface in a slight hollow 
at the base of a cornstalk; they were also found mating in tin boxes 
in which they were placed during collection. It seemed to be im- 
material to the beetles whether soil was in the boxes or not. 
OVIPOSITION 
Oviposition was observed to occur at Tappahannock chiefly during 
June, the earliest eggs being found on June 5. It would seem 
probable that eggs may be deposited during July, but the writers 
have no records of obtaining any during that month. Most of the 
eggs are apparently deposited during the last half of June. Beetles 
kept in cages under somewhat artificial conditions continued ovi- 
position, except for temporary interruptions due to the inclement 
weather, throughout the summer, and until as late as the last of 
September; a small number of eggs even being deposited in October 
and in early November. In nature, however, such prolongation of 
the breeding season evidently does not occur, as field experience 
indicates beyond a reasonable doubt that practically all the beetles 
