No. 457.] CECANTHUS FASCIA TUS, TI 
. depicted in Figure 1, d. When the female has bored into the pith 
as far as the ovipositor can go, she then discharges the slightly 
curved egg very slowly. Then after withdrawing the organ, she 
finishes the process by chewing the stem at the point of entrance 
as she did in the beginning of the operation. The anterior, 
whitish tipped pole of the egg usually lies within a millimeter of 
the opening. This is shown in the specimen of golden-rod (Fig. 
1, d) laid open for inspection. Some of the eggs here show the 
whitish micropilar extremity quite clearly. I did not see the 
female use the same hole for the deposition of more than one 
egg. 
One night at 7.30, under artificial light, I observed a female 
boring a hole, but when she arrived at the stage where she was 
about to oviposit, she suddenly pulled out her ovipositor without 
having accomplished her purpose. It was then disclosed that 
the egg had stuck in its passage, for the next moment she 
brought the ovipositor forward underneath her abdomen and, 
spreading the blades apart, she extracted the egg with her 
mouth and rapidly ate it. This latter act does not seem to 
be unusual among the orthoptera under like conditions, as I 
have witnessed it in several widely different species. She then 
went over her ovipositor carefully cleaning it with her mouth. 
Commencing at the tip, she spent several minutes passing from 
the point along its entire length, giving great attention to the 
preparation of the base and genitalia. This latter performance 
seemed to have been done with a view to forestall further acci- 
dents, for almost immediately afterwards she started to again 
oviposit, and this time, as well as thereafter, had no difficulty 
in placing her eggs successfully. 
