THE DEVELOPMENT AND HABITS OF LINSLEYA SPHAERICOLLIS (COLEOPTERA: MELOIDAE),

Linsleya sphaericollis (Say) adults have been seen in various parts of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta from mid-June to mid-August, and will feed on western snowberry, Symphoricarpos occidentalis Hooker, species of wild and cultivated honeysuckle, Lonicera spp., common lilac, Syringia vulgaris L., and green ash, Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh. Field-collected adults lived for up to 8 weeks in captivity and laid on the average nearly one batch of eggs per female, with each batch containing an average of 50–51 eggs. The eggs were killed if exposed to temperatures of 0–10°C for 3 weeks, but endured these temperatures for a week. Embryonic development was slow, hatching was unusually irregular, and the best hatching temperature was 25°C. The incubation period was about 50% longer at 20°C, and hatching was inhibited at 15° and 30°C. The first instar larvae lived for up to 7 weeks without food. Some of the larvae fed on the eggs of Melanoplus sanguinipes (Fabricius) and M. bivittatus (Say), but the response was poor; they did not feed on ant larvae and pupae, or on the larvae of wheat stem sawfly (Cephus cinctus Norton). The data indicate that there are five vorant larval instars, that the typical meloid hypnothecal and non-vorant larval instars are omitted, that this insect overwinters as a fifth instar larva, that the natural food of the larvae is grasshopper eggs, and that the genus Linsleya should be included in the subtribe Epicautina.