The Bulletin 
30 
deposited only a single egg was this egg deposited loosely, but always, 
so far as the writer’s observations go, such eggs were deposited with 
the greatest care. 
NUMBER LAID 
The number of eggs laid by single females was the subject of a 
detailed experiment by Mr. Smith. The total number of eggs laid 
each day by 35 pairs as recorded by him is reproduced below in 
Table Y. These records run from May 24th to September 29th. The 
daily egg-laying record of 23 pairs as recorded by the writer during 
the summer of 1914 is appended as Table. VII. These records run 
from June 16th to August 24th. 
In securing these records, single pairs were isolated in small jelly 
glasses and provided with a short section of cornstalk. These sections 
of cornstalk were cut from fresh stalks secured from the field every 
day, the sections being cut from the base of the stalk near the ground. 
In as far as possible, an attempt was made to secure food comparable 
to that found in the field. Towards the end of the season these stalks 
became hard and unsatisfactory for food, but they were always com¬ 
parable to stalks found in the field. 
In the field our records show that egg laying commences in early 
May, May 5th being the earliest date recorded at Willard. Egg laying 
continues, through the season until September 21st in the field. But 
after August 15th the number of eggs diminishes very rapidly, owing 
perhaps to the fact that suitable corn cannot usually be found after 
that date. There is some evidence that the adults emigrate to cyperus 
from the cornfields late in the season, but the writer has never found 
eggs on cyperus after the middle of August. From; these records it 
would seem that egg v laying in the field actually surpasses our longest 
insectarv record. This, is perhaps due to the fact that insects brought 
from the eastern part of the State are set back in their egg laying, 
due, perhaps, to differences of temperature and moisture, and perhaps 
due to unnatural conditions during transportation. In part, the larger 
field record might be due to young adults which emerge in midsummer 
and lay a few eggs, but the fact that some of the adults in the insectary 
laid eggs as late as the 29th of September, at least a week later than 
eggs have been found in the field, would tend to minimize this factor. 
According to our records, the greatest number of eggs laid in any 
single day was 11, and records of 5 to 10 are fairly common. The 
greatest number of eggs laid by any female, so far as observed, in the 
field, under perfectly natural conditions, was three eggs between 4:30 
a. m. and 9:15 a. m. and then again in the evening between 6:30 and 
7 she laid a single egg. In all, during the season of 1912 470 indi¬ 
viduals were marked and observed for their egg-laying habits. Hone 
of these females were observed to lay eggs every day, but they were 
observed to lay often enough to lead one to conclude that they did lay 
