Development of the confused flour beetle as affected by saturation deficiency and temperature.

Since atmospheric moisture is known to be an important factor of climate influencing the life processes of insects, it seemed worth whileinvestigating further some of the ways in which it affects development. The question as to the best method of representing this factor is still anunsettled one, although from theoretical considerations and. some evidence, it appears that saturation deficit should most nearly satisfy therequirements.The insect studied was the "confused flour beetle, Tribolium confusum Duval, chosen largely because of its suitability for experimental purposes.On account of the magnitude of the experiment, this part of the study deals only with the egg stage. A technique was devised in accordance with the requirements of the experiment. At each of four temperatures, six different saturation deficiencies were maintained. In each of the twentyfourconditions there were placed fifteen lots of ten eggs each, or 3600 egg.s studied in 360 separate lots. [...