1985] 
Ashe — Meronera venustula 
185 
1. 0-2.5 cm. Often each beetle would try to bend its’ mouthparts to 
the apex of the other’s abdomen. In this instance, the two beetles 
would run rapidly in a very tight circle. The reason for this activity is 
not known, but it seemed to occur without discrimination as to sex. 
The virtually invariant application of mouthparts to the apex of the 
abdomen rather than to other parts of the beetle suggests that 
important glandular secretions may be produced there, though this 
possibility obviously requires additional verification. 
Egg Laying, Fecundity and Adult Longevity 
Egg laying was not observed. Therefore, it was not possible to 
gain any information bearing on Topp’s (1975) suggestion that 
aleocharine females take their eggs in their mandibles and distribute 
them within the litter or other substrate. He based this on observa- 
tions of members of the Bolitocharini (1973) and Athetini (1971, 
1975b). Eggs of M. venustula were most commonly found on strips 
of paper or occasionally on bits of vegetation placed in the petri 
dish. However, they were also found unconcealed on the plaster or 
on particles of fungus covered food. Fungus surrounding the eggs 
did not cause any noticable ill effects. There did not appear to be 
any difference in hatching success or survival of eggs, whether they 
were on plaster, paper or fungus covered food. No instance of egg 
cannibalism was observed even if eggs were occasionally left in asso- 
ciation with adults for extended periods and adults were observed to 
come in contact with or crawl over eggs. 
Daily production of eggs over the life of the colony is shown in 
Figure 1. No eggs were laid during the first 20 days from the time 
adults were taken in the field. During this period adults were active, 
feeding and apparently healthy (no mortality which could be asso- 
ciated with trama of collection occurred after the first 2 days of the 
colony). This may represent a normal preoviposition period for M. 
venustula. This supposition is strengthened by the fact that no lar- 
vae of M. venustula were found in berlesed litter samples on April 
26 or on May 3, suggesting that egg laying had not yet occurred 
under natural conditions, though adults were common and active. It 
is not possible to surmize how long adults had been active before 
they were collected. Therefore, preoviposition period of M. venus- 
tula appears to be at least 20 days at room temperature, though it 
may be longer under natural conditions. 
