50 



PAPERS ON THE COTTON BOLL WEEVIL, ETC. 



just before hatching, 

 sions of the egg are 



as 



« 



a 





Fig. 8.— Apiomerus spissipes: a, m 

 adult, side view; d, same from 

 enlarged (original). 



summer 10 to 12 days 

 days were required. 



The collar is shining white. The dimen- 

 follows: Width at narrowest part — just 

 below collar — 0.5 mm.; 

 greatest width, 0.64 

 mm. ; length below col- 

 lar, 1.51 mm. ; length of 

 collar, 0.26 mm.; total 

 length, 1.77 mm. The 

 width of the collar varies 

 from slightly less than 

 the greatest width of the 

 egg to slightly more. 



Incubation. — Incuba- 

 tion varies slightly in 

 the time required in dif- 

 ferent egg masses. 

 Thus, in May, under 

 conditions exactly the 

 same, incubation re- 

 quired 12 days in one 

 instance and 16 in 

 another. During mid- 

 were sufficient. Later, in the fall, 14 to 16 



FOOD. 



rnph, 5th instar; b, egg mass; e 

 above, a, c, d, natural .size; b 



The insects preyed upon in the laboratory embraced the orders 

 Orthoptera, Heraiptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera, and Hymenoptera. 

 The process of feeding is a long one 

 and varies with the size of the prey. In 

 general the reduviids lie in wait in an 

 alert attitude for the approach of an 

 insect and then spring upon it, but 

 f requently they take the initiative and fly 

 or run toward an insect. The insect fed 

 upon is not left until all the juices are 

 sucked from its bod}\ Sometimes this 

 takes only a half hour, at other times 

 the reduviid feeds for one or two hours. 

 Boll weevils fed upon by Apiomerus 

 spissipes are often as dry and crush 

 almost as easily between the fingers as 

 do pinned specimens. The first punc- 

 ture by the beak of spissipes is gen- 

 erally fatal. In the case of boll weevils, upon which spissipes fre- 

 quently fed, the weevil made only a few spasmodic movements after 



Fig. 9. — Eggof Apiomerus spissipes: A, side 

 view of egg; B, egg-cap, side view; C.top 

 view of egg; a, collar; b, egg cap; c, point 

 of junction of egg cap with egg; d, at- 

 tachment of egg to leaf. Much enlarged 

 (original). 



