90 
Psyche 
[June 
the parapracts (i.e., the Hat surface of the flange is in a vertical 
plane) (Figs. 9,10). When the female is on a sandy substrate, she 
tends to sink into the sand particles, and because the flexible flange 
is twisted, the ootheca may be held with the keel laterad (Fig, 7). 
If the female is raised off the substrate the ootheca hangs in its normal 
position with the suture dorsad (Figs. 5,6). 
Although Alfieri (1921) briefly described and illustrated the 
ootheca of Polyphaga aegyptiaca (Linnaeus), he did not mention 
whether or not it was rotated prior to its deposition. At the Phila- 
delphia Academy I saw a female specimen of P. aegyptiaca with an 
ootheca on the same pin. The collection data stated “Alive and 
bearing ootheca horizontally in raw opium from Smyrna, Asia Minor. 
At Quarantine Port of New York — VII-3-1919, H. B. Shaw.” In 
our laboratory culture I have seen females of P . aegyptiaca carrying 
oothecae more than a dozen times. In only 3 instances were the egg 
cases carried with the keel laterad and this was apparently not 
normal. The ootheca of P. aegyptiaca also has a flange (cf. Figs. 17 
and 18) by which it is held in the paraprocts. However, the flange 
is relatively shorter and more rigid than that found in A. cerverae. 
The supra anal plate of the female of P. aegyptiaca has a median cleft 
in it, and the very high keel (Fig. 18) of the extruded egg case lies 
between the margins of this indentation; this helps to support the 
ootheca in a vertical position. When the female is jostled by other 
individuals in the culture, or for other reasons, the keel may be 
disengaged from the cleft of the supra anal plate. Because the ootheca 
is not firmly inserted but is held by a flange between soft paraprocts, 
the large egg case may fall on its side. When in this position, one 
can be misled into thinking that rotation has occurred. The twisted 
ootheca can be turned upright easily without disengaging it from the 
female indicating the flexible nature of how it is held. The ootheca 
of Polyphaga saussurei (Dohrn) and P. indica Walker have flanges 
(Bey-Bienko, 1950) somewhat similar to that of P. aegyptiaca. The 
egg case of Euthyrrapha pacifica (Coquebert) (Fig. 20) also has an 
elongated flange which is probably flexible, but nothing is known 
about the oviposition behavior of this species. 
In the polyphagids, Arenivaga ( Arenivaga) spp. (Figs. 11-13), the 
female rotates the ootheca in a manner similar to that figured by 
McKittrick (1964) in Arenivaga (Arenivaga) bolliana (Saussure) 
(Fig. 14). However, McKittrick (1964) did not consider this to 
be rotation because once rotated, the ootheca is attached to the female 
only by a flange (Figs. 12,14 arrows) and none of the eggs are 
hidden within the vestibule (McKittrick, personal communication). 
