Note on the Life Habits of <I>Megilla maculata</I>

168

ENTOMOLOGICAL

SOCIETY

the elytral declivity dissimilar inthetwo sexes _(P. carinulatus, pullus, plagiatus, etc.) should, ^{in all} probability, be removed from thisgenus andplaced near Tomicus. ^P. minutissimusand

allied species form another well-defined group

which

could easily be elevated to the rank of asubgenus.

The

_remaining

species, ^still very numerous, ^arevery

homogeneous

^{in structure} and canbe distinguished with certainty onlyby the secondary male characters, as exhibited in the sculpture or pubescence ^of the head.

Very

^{often even the} determination of the malesis

rendered very ^difficult without dissection, because in

many

cabinet specimens the headis retractedwithin the thorax and entirely concealedfromview.

To

obviate this difficulty^it will be advantageous, ^Ithink, to use chloroform or acetic ether in killingthe specimens ^{instead of}cyanide^ofpotassium.

MARCH

5, 1891.

President

Marx

inthe chair.

Nine members

and twovisitors present.

Mr. Schwarz

was

elected to the position of Corresponding Secretary

made

vacantbythe departure ^ofMr. Townsend,

who had

beencalledfrom the _{city to} take the position ofKntomolo-

gistin the

New Mexico

Agricultural College.

Mr.

Fernow was

elected a

member

ofthe Executive

Commit

tee vice Mr. Schwarz, resigned.

Mr.

Banks

called attention to specimens of Scolopendrella, Machilisand Lepisma, ^{in different} stages, taken thiswinterin

Rock

Creek _Valley, D. C.

Two

_papers

_by

Prof. Rileywerereadin his absence,the first

being ^{as follows:}

NOTE ON THE LIFE HABITS OF MEGILLA MACULATA.

BY

C. V.

In accordancewith

my

promise ^ata previous meeting (Sep tember_{4, 1890,)} I present herewith a comparativedescription, with_specimens,ofthelarva ofMegilla maculata,simply because

it furnishes another illustration of a very

common

^{insect that}

has never been describedor figured in^its adolescent states. I

have

had

the larvae, obtained at St. L,ouis, ever since 1870, where_theywere found abundantly^{inconnectionwiththeadult}

OF

WASHINGTON.

169

upon

^maize. In 1872 ^{I also}rearedthe beetlefrom _pupaefound onCroton.

We

^have long

known

thatthe

imago

^inthisspecies departed from thenormal habitsof the family, in that^itfeeds

upon

^{various substances and} approaches

more

_nearly in this respect thegenus Kpilachna. ^Its foodhabits have been_pretty well investigated and recorded

by

^Forbes (i2th ^Illinois Ento mological Report, 1883), anditwas found devouring^thepollen of

Taraxacum

densleonis

by

^Mr.Webster (American

Entomolo

gist, Vol. _Ill, 1880, p. 173), while I have recorded its injury tobladesof corn and its eating the eggs, larvae and _{pupae of}

Lina

_{scripta (American} Naturalist, 1881, p. 326). ^Ihave also

shown

in the

same

_periodical for 1883, pp. 322, 323 ^that the beetles in confinement did not eat various kinds of leaves offered them.

They

have, however,been found _eatingintothe soft kernels of _corn, and _quite extensively

by

Mr. Pergandeⁱⁿ

some

observationshe

made

on corn insects for me.

He

found bothadults and larvaeeating^intothesoftkernelsofsugar^corn.

Mr. Websterhasalsofound both the

imago

^{and larvaeof}Dip-

losis tritici and the

imago

^{on the}

wheat

blossom. So

many

insects belonging ^to genera or families

which

are essentially plant feeders will also feed

upon

^{softinsects and} vice versa, that this combined habit in the adult Megilla ^is not so strange ^as

would

atfirstappear,and there _is, sofaras Iknow, no^evidence

to

show

that the larvaisever anything ^{else than} entomopha- gous.

The

larva ofMegilla maculata closelyresembles that of

M.

13-pundata, ^for

which

it might easilybe mistaken.

That

of i^-punctata is,however, paler,with blackmarkings ^ofthe pro- thorax distinctly bi-lobed posteriorly, whereasin maculata the posterior margin^{is entire. It} also closelyresembles the larva ofCoccinella bipunctata, the tuberculation and thoracic

mark

ings of

which

are almost _identical, though the general ^coloris darker,

more

dingy and without the bright

band

across the fourth abdominal _segment.

The

larva of C. y-notata ^is also very similar, but the hairs of the tubercles are distinctlyen larged and_{not simple} as inmaculata. In themarkings ^{of the} pro-thorax the larva ^of maculata isalmost identical with that ofC. bipunctata.

Mr. Schwarz remarked that the life histories of our Cocci- nellidae do not seem to present any special features, and the onlypeculiarity inMegilla maculata ^that occurred to

him was

the habitof congregating^or huddling togetherⁱⁿgreat

num

bers under _{stone, bark, boards,} etc., during ^coldweather, not only ⁱⁿ winter-time, but also in spring and summer.

The