Dec. ii, 1916 
Syntomaspis druparum 
493 
Relation between punctures made and eggs deposited. —That 
the instinct of the ovipositing female in locating the seed is not so strong 
and unerring as might at first be supposed, when the frequent very high 
percentage of infestation of the seeds is considered, is indicated by the 
number of punctures made in the seed compared with the number show¬ 
ing on the surface of the apple. The puncture is much more conspicuous 
on the white seed than on the skin of the apple; yet one fruit that had 
been punctured 36 times had only five punctures on its seeds. It is unlikely 
that each puncture made represents an egg deposited, but rather that 
many punctures represent unsuccessful attempts at finding seed. This 
is borne out by the observations on ovipositing females, which frequently 
inserted their ovipositors repeatedly at almost the same point before 
ultimately going through all the 
phases of the act of oviposition. It 
is not even probable that every punc¬ 
ture in the seed represents the depo¬ 
sition of an egg. No definite assertion 
on this point can be made, since the 
eggs are rather difficult to find. 
Place of deposition of egg.— 
Apparently it is the aim of the insect 
to place its egg in the central gelat¬ 
inous mass of the seed, and from the 
position of many of the punctures it 
is impossible that through them the 
ovipositor could have reached this 
body. Many punctures are on the 
side of the seed, in such position that the ovipositor must have been 
nearly tangent to the surface of the seed. 
Sometimes eggs are deposited in the mucilaginous layer next to the 
seed coat, but the resulting larvae apparently never mature, for many 
dead larvae of the first instar have been found in this situation, and living 
larvae found there have always been in the first instar and far behind, in 
growth, the larvae of the same age in the more favorable jelly-like body. 
Oviposition period. —The longest period during which any of the 
caged females were ovipositing in 1914 was from June 25 to July 21, a 
period of 26 days, two insects in the same cage having died on the same 
date. During this time 48 apples were exposed, and all were more or less 
infested. Others lived for periods ranging from 3 to 24 days, the quicker 
deaths being due apparently to the sun striking the cages. 
EGG 
Description. —The egg (fig. 2) is elongate oval, roundly pointed at 
the caudal end, and prolonged at the cephalic end into a slender, twisted 
pedicle about one-fourth the diameter and nearly as long as the body 
Fig. i .—Syntomaspis druparum: Apple, natural 
size, and seed, enlarged, showing oviposition 
punctures. (Original.) 
