Ill 



leeting the down from the stem, pulling it off with her jaws ami tuck- 

 ing in, over and about the egg, effectually filling the cavity, the whole 

 operation occupying about one hour and a half. 



The second female conducted herself in much the same manner, ex- 

 cept that she constructed her egg cell just at the surface of the soil, 

 which was also exactly at the base of the leaf stalk, and, to my aston- 

 ishment, after placing her egg, filled the cell with mud, and besides 

 drawing the damp earth up about the plant in such a maimer as to con- 

 ceal the spot entirely. The time occupied was about as with the first. 



The third began her labor as promptly as either of the others, but 

 punctured the bulbous root about half an inch from the surface of the 

 soil and about the same distance below the base of the leaves, and filled 

 the cavity, after ovipositing, with the loose material on the outside of 

 the root. Time nearly the same as in the others.. . 



The foregoing seemed to indicate to me that the females were with- 

 holding their eggs on accouut of their environment, and as a rule they 

 continued to do this until they died, after the 1st of May. There also 

 appeared to me to be a partiality for ovipositing in the plants some- 

 where near the surface of the earth, which would ordinarily, and in the 

 fields, be near or just below the juncture of the leaf stems with the root. 

 Dissection of females revealed but few eggs in the ovaries, and these 

 about as large as previously indicated. I, of course, know nothing of 

 the movements of these beetles before they came into' my hands, but, 

 judging from my own observations, should not expect them to deposit 

 above a dozen eggs each, and that, under favorable conditions, these 

 eggs might be deposited during March and April or withheld until Ma}', 

 if necessary. 



All of the eggs which were deposited in the plants, under my obser- 

 vation, w r ere sacrificed in the attempt to determine the egg period. 

 Two eggs were, however, deposited by other females, about the 3d of 

 May, on the inside of glass tubes, in which they were confined. I 

 watched the development of the larvae in these eggs, it being a very- 

 easy matter to do so through the glass, and that portion of the shell 

 which adhered to the walls of the tube. The larvas did not reach ma- 

 turity until nearly the middle of June, and ate through the shell, where 

 the latter was attached to the tube, od the 18th of same mouth. It 

 must be borne in mind that these eggs were in an unnatural environ- 

 ment, and the results are to be taken for just what they are worth. ' 



The speuiesfoveolatus Say oviposits in the stems of the Evening Prim- 

 rose, (Enothera biennis L., in June. The method of ovipositiou is very 

 much the same as in the preceding, the mother beetle covering the 

 cavity, after depositing the egg therein, by raking the epidermis of the 

 stem together, and fixing it in and over the hole, where it dries and 

 forms a sort of scab,, remaining until after the wound has wholly or in 

 part healed. The eggs are rather larger than those of frac/ariw, but 

 shaped and colored much the same. The insect, in all its stages except 



