72 



DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PREPARATORY STAGES. 



The egg. — The egg is subcylindrical, and in outline rather irregu- 

 larly elliptical, being about two and one-fourth times as long as wide 

 at its greatest diameter. From the egg of Disdnycha xanthomelmna, 

 a flea-beetle which was figured and described in its different stages in 

 Bulletin 19, n. s. (page 81), and which it somewhat resembles, it differs 

 in having the ends reversed. It is narrower at the base, where it is 

 somewhat irregularly rounded and longitudinally wrinkled on one or 

 two exposures and is broader and more rounded at the apex. The color 

 when newly deposited is pale yellowish buff, changing but little before 

 hatching. The surface is opaque and the sculpture recalls that of 

 Disonycha, but is more or less obsolete, in some eggs being very 

 indistinct. 



Length, 0.72 to 0.78 mm. ; width, 0.32 to 0.35 mm. 



The eggs are deposited in groups of two or three to twenty or more, 

 side by side, in the manner shown in the illustration (fig. 17, h). They 

 are rather firmly attached at their bases and lie upon the leaf nearly 

 flat, but with their apical ends free. A very large proportion of the 

 eggs obtained in confinement were streaked lengthwise with a thin 

 line of excrement, and this would appear to be a normal habit of the 

 female of voiding a small quantity of her faeces on each egg. 



The newly hatched larva. — The larva when just hatched has the 

 appearance represented ate of figure 17. It is subcylindrical in form 

 and rather dull, dirty-looking honey yellow in color. It tapers 

 strongly toward the posterior extremit}^ and is widest near the middle. 

 The head is large and prominent, with prominent three-jointed, conical 

 antennae. The legs are long and the body is covered with long gray 

 and black hairs. The hairs proceeding from the head, and the longest 

 of those which proceed from the sides of the prothorax and the lower 

 portions of the sides of the abdominal segments, are normal and 

 pointed. The majority of the remainder — those on the sides of the 

 thorax and abdomen and at the ends — are bulbous or capitate, as is 

 often the case with post -embryonic larvae. The hairs proceed from 

 tubercles which are only moderately prominent as compared with 

 those of other related species. The second and third thoracic seg- 

 ments bear above two pairs of rather conspicuous black tubercles.. The 

 dorsal tubercles are also mostly black, small, and rather inconspicuous. 

 The hairs proceeding from these are also black. The anal proleg is 

 large and prominent and assists the larva in locomotion. 



Length, 0.9 mm.; width, 0.4 mm. 



The mature larva. — The larva resembles that of Haltica chalybea, 

 the two possessing many features in common. That of ignita, when 

 full grown, varies somewhat as regards the ground color, some few 

 being dull yellowish, but more often the general color is dark olive, 

 sometimes so nearly black that the tubercles can scarcely be dis- 



