- 10 - 
for 12 beetles fed on cotton foliage for a period and then on peanut foliage, 
10.8 eggs. 
The records for 1938 on the rate of egg deposition are shown in 
table 6. The beetles fed on peanut foliage deposited eggs most rapidly. One 
beetle which emerged on June 11 was fed on peanut foliage and deposited 
1,567 eggs during its oviposition period of 40 days, or at a daily rate of 
39.2. This beetle deposited 86 eggs on July 18, 33 on the preceding day, 
and 48 on the following day. Eggs were deposited on 35 of the 40 days 
covered by the oviposition period. Another beetle which emerged on June 11 
was fed on peanut foliage and deposited 2,418 eggs during its life. The 
oviposition period was 83 days and eggs were deposited on 61 days. The 
average daily oviposition was 29.1 eggs. This beetle deposited eggs on 15 
consecutive days, June 30 through July 14, and during this period it depos- 
ited 804 eggs, 169 being deposited on July 5. 
The beetles fed on cotton foliage lived the longest and had the long- 
est oviposition period, but, as shown in table 6, they deposited eggs at a 
slower rate than those fed on peanut and strawberry foliage. 
Table 6. — The effect of different foods on the rate of egg 
deposition of the white-fringed beetle, Florala, Ala., 1938. 
Number of eggs per day Maximum number 
Number Average Range of eggs on 
Food of per for any day 
beetles beetle series (range for series; 
Peanut 
20 
23.2 
14.2-39.2 
50-169 
Strawberry 
7 
21.6 
8 . 0-28 . 
40- 87 
Cotton 
17 
15.4 
9.1-23.0 
33- 95 
Blackberry 
14 
10.7 
6.1-14.2 
18-134 
Pecan 
20 
7.3 
2.0-14.1 
2- 77 
Grass 
11 
2.1 
0.7- 8.0 
2- 23 
The egg 
The egg (fig. 1, C) is approximately 0.9 mm long and 0.6 ram wide, 
and is oval in shape. The color when freshly deposited is milky white, but 
it changes to dull light yellow after 4 or 5 days. 
The eggs are deposited in masses, ranging in number from a few to 
as high as 60 or more, but the usual number is from 15 to 25. The individual 
eggs and the masses are covered with a gelatinous substance which makes them 
adhere to one another and to objects or the soil. • -- v-- 
Place of depositio n. — the eggs are deposited at the point of con- 
tact between soil and objects such as sticks, gravel, plant stems, and 
