8b 
Psyche 
[June 
ball is entirely consumed in 26 — 30 hrs after burial. The beetle stays 
with the remains of the ball for some hours and sometime between 
30 and 50 hrs it departs, leaving only coarse fibers and beetle excre- 
ment in the hole. 
Feeding by adults is said to occur also directly on the dropping, 
without a ball having been previously made (Lindquist, 1935). I have 
not observed this in this species in the field, although this habit is 
common in a related species ( C . chalcites [Haldeman]). 
The Brood Ball 
The behavior involved in the making and rolling of the ball destined 
to be converted into a brood pear 3 and serve as food for the larva is 
similar to that just described for the adult food ball but differs in a 
number of respects, the most important of which is the participation 
of both sexes in the making of a single ball. Although the importance 
of the male’s role in this respect had been foreshadowed by comments 
in the literature on other species and genera (cf., e.g. Halffter, 1961, 
on C. h. humectus [Say]), I was surprised at the extent of the male’s 
participation. The male plays the leading role in the making of the 
brood ball, and it is he exclusively who rolls, defends, and buries the 
ball, the female’s role in these activities being purely passive. 
The following account will deal in turn with the encounter of the 
sexes, the making of the ball, rolling and burial, robbery and combat, 
and underground activity. 
The encounter of the sexes. I was able to observe the crucial mo- 
ment of the meeting of the future pair only twice, and both of these 
instances are described in detail below. They are probably rather 
unusual in the lateness of the encounter in the behavior sequence, 
since in both cases the female only joined the male ball maker after 
the latter had completed the ball. More usually (11 of 13), the two 
members of the pair are seen cooperating in making the ball (figs. 3, 
4). This means that the sexes meet and join early in the ball making 
process. From the two observed instances described below, it seems 
most probable that the male initiates the ball-making process and is 
subsequently joined by the female. 
The first instance was observed near Brunswick, Ga., on 13 June, 
1957. A large green male began making a ball (after trying to rob 
one from another male) at 1235. At 1310 he was still shaping the 
ball with very great care. At 13 1 1 a small black female landed nearby 
and approached. She was met with hostility and repeatedly rebuffed 
3 The term “brood pear” is a rendering of the German “Brutbirne” and is 
much more descriptive than the usual term “egg ball”. 
