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34
BULLETIN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA STATE MUSEUM
Nebraska: April (21), May (57), June (206),
July (139), August (3), September (1).
Remarks. The characters in the key and in
the diagnosis will serve to separate this species
from others. It is similar in appearance
to O. noveboracense (Forster) but lacks the
dull orange pronotal margin of that species.
It also vaguely resembles T. lapponicus
(Herbst) but lacks the distinctive elytral
tubercles present in that species.
Dorsey (1940) described the larval
stage in detail, and Anderson and Peck
(1985) provided a diagnosis of the larva.
The shallow emargination of the anterior
margin of the prothoracic tergite (Fig. 44)
will separate the larva of this species from
that of O. noveboracense, which has the
anterior margin of the prothoracic tergite
deeply emarginate (Fig. 43).
Anderson and Peck (1985) suggested
there is only one generation per year based
Fig. 59. Oiceoptoma inaequale (Fabr.), female.
on data from Howden (1950), Reed (1958),
and Anderson (1982c). In Nebraska, oviposition
probably occurs from late May to
June. Goe (1919) observed oviposition in the
soil, and the egg-laying period in one female
lasted 36 days with an average of two eggs
laid per day (range 1-7 eggs/day, total of 62
eggs). One pair of eggs hatched in six days.
The length of the first stadium was ten days,
the second stadium was four days, and the
third about eight days. Adults emerged 17-
20 days after the third instars entered the
soil to pupate. Cole (1942) observed the eggs
to hatch in about seven days and a larval
duration of 20 days; pupation took 2-3 weeks.
Overwintering was in the adult stage.
Oiceoptoma inaequale is a diurnal species
(personal observation, Shubeck 1971).
Lampert (1977) observed that, during flight,
the elytra are raised to the vertical and held
together over the back like the wings of a
resting butterfly. The ventral side of the