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other things lying on or protruding from the ground. In some instances, 
where the soil is easily penetrated by the ovipositor, eggs are deposited 
directly in the soil. The depth of the eggs in the soil ranged from one- 
sixteenth to five-sixteenths inch. In a few instances egg masses have 
been found on plants as much as 1^ inches above the surface of the soil. 
Egg masses have been found on cotton bolls, seed cotton, pecans, maypops, 
velvetbean pods, unshelled peanuts, corn husks, firewood, and farm tools 
and implements where they were in contact with the soil. In fields cropped 
to cotton the previous year, the parts of the old stalks that are partially 
covered with soil seem to be favorite places for egg deposition. In peanuts 
and Mexican-clover the egg masses are often found attached to the underside 
of the stems where they are in contact with the soil. The beetle prefers 
to deposit eggs in shaded places beneath plants, but the greatest egg-laying 
activity occurs between 12 m. and 4:30 p. m. , i. e., usually during the 
brighest and warmest hours of the day. 
D urat ion of the egg stage . — The eggs kept for incubation records were 
removed from the oviposition jars daily, placed in metal salve boxes on 
blotting paper which was kept moist throughout the incubation period, and 
stored in an unheated room. The data on the duration of the egg stage are 
for eggs deposited during 1937, as information concerning eggs deposited 
during 1938 is not complete at the time this is written. 
The incubation period for eggs deposited from July 21 to August 29 
averaged 14.7 days, and 81 percent of the eggs hatched on the 12th to the 
15th day, inclusive. Many eggs deposited during October and November did 
not hatch until January and February and a few did not hatch until March. 
The hatching of eggs deposited after September 18 was a long-drawn-out 
process. For instance, eggs deposited on October 11 began hatching on 
October 22 but hatching was not complete until February 1, a few larvae 
hatching during each of the months of October, November, December, January, 
and February. After August 28 the incubation period increased, as shown 
in table 7. 
