The condition in which Coleoptera pass the winter is a subject on which there are in American literature but few recorded observations. That no species hibernates in the egg stage is highly probable, though in all the others it occurs—some wintering in the perfect state alone, some in the larva and the imago condition, and others as larva and pupa.

Many of the species appear to make some preparation, retiring to situations that will more or less protect them from intense cold; others seem to have power to survive without any practical protection, as Lixus concavus and Megilla maculata, to be mentioned further on.