160 ASSOCIATION OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGISTS. 



Feeding record of two adults — male and jemale. 

 [Food: Elm leaf-beetle larvse.] 



Date. 



Full grown. | ThT ^ nhS Half grown. 



One-fourth 

 grown. 



All 

 stages, 



de- 

 stroy- 

 ed. 



Eaten. 



Partly 

 eaten. 



Eaten. 



Partly Eaten Partly 

 eaten. ^ aien - eaten. 



E Hea a <en y 



1902. 

 Julv 16-18 



6 















6 



July 18-20 





6 

 4 











6 



Julv 21 



6 

 4 

 7 

 12 



8 

 8 













11 



Julv 22 







7 









11 



Julv 23 



...... 



1 



2 

 6 

 2 













9 



Julv 21-28 



"l 



1 1 







20 



Julv 29-30 



1 







1 



15 



Julv 31 



1 





10 



August 1 



5 





3 

 3 



4 







8 



















15 

 8 















19 





1 













9 





5 

 5 

 6 

 6 















5 







2 























6 



August 9-10 



3 













9 



August 11-12 



4 



3 

 3 









8 



August 13-17 ....! 15 











18 



August 18-22 ! 11 













11 



August 22-26 9 







:::..::::::::::::::::::: 







9 



August 26-29 10 







: i 







10 



August 29 a 







1 i 











10 













10 



















Total 



155 8 



33 



1 20 



2 







1 ! 220 

















a Female only. 



In addition to the elm leaf -beetle larvae, the two adults destroyed 

 an unknown lepidopterous larva about an inch in length on July 16, 

 and between August 26 and 29 they destroyed and partially ate six 

 full-grown rosy-striped oak worms (Anisota virginiensis Dm.). 



The tables given above show 246 as the total number of elm leaf- 

 beetle larva? destroyed by the two bugs in the fifth nymphal and adult 

 stages. The total number of days covered by the life of the female in 

 these two stages being 59 and by the male 50, the average number of 

 beetle larvae destroyed by each bug per day is 2.3. In the adult stage 

 alone the daily average is practically the same. 



SUMMARY. 



The more important observations recorded in the foregoing para- 

 graphs may be summarized as follows : 



(1) Parents and progeny of Podisus maculiventris exhibit striking 

 variations in form and color which might readily be mistaken for 

 specific characters. 



(2) Egg laying began on the ninth day after the female became 

 adult and extended over a period of forty days, the rate of production 

 apparently depending largely on the prevailing temperature. Eight- 

 een batches, with a total of 192 eggs, were deposited by a single 

 female. 



