Life History and Biological Notes on Chlaenius Impunctifrons Say. (Coleoptera, Carabidæ).*

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Abstract
In the Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington I, 22, 1884, C. V. Riley says: “Perhaps one of the most interesting discoveries of the year 1884 is the mode of oviposition in some of our Carabidæ. From the terrestrial habits of most of our species one would expect that the eggs are deposited within the ground, and such may yet prove to be the case with many; but I have proved by actual breeding from eggs to the imago that it is not so with Chlænius impunctifrons, and have strong proof that Chlæenius æstivus, Scarites subterraneus and the genera Dicælus and Galerita share with that species its singular mode of oviposition. The remarkable and unexpected fact, in insects so essentially terrestrial, is that the eggs are laid singly on the leaves of trees and shrubs and encased in a covering of mud or clay. I had often observed these little convex mud cells on the under side of leaves while collecting along the Mississippi in Missouri in years gone by, and was puzzled to make out their real nature. In May and June, 1883, while collecting on the Virginia side of the Potomac, I found these clay cells tolerably common and, fortunately, fresh, each containing a large soft white egg. That year I obtained larvæ, but only during the past year were any of these reared to the imago.”

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