Data products from the Advanced Camera for Surveys Virgo Cluster Survey are used to understand the bulge star formation history in early-type galaxies at redshifts z \ga 2 .
A new technique is developed whereby observed high-redshift age-metallicity relationships are utilized to constrain the typical formation epochs of metal-rich or “ bulge ” globular clusters .
This analysis supports a model where massive Virgo galaxies underwent an extremely intense mode of bulge globular cluster formation at z \sim 3.5 that was followed by an era of significant bulge growth and little globular cluster production .
Intermediate-mass galaxies showed a less-intense period of globular cluster formation at z \sim 2.5 that was synchronized with the bulk of bulge star growth .
The transition between the massive and intermediate-mass galaxy star formation modes occurs at a galaxy stellar mass of M _ { stellar } \sim 3 \times 10 ^ { 10 } M _ { \odot } , the mass where many other galaxy properties are observed to change .
Dwarf early-type galaxies in Virgo may have experienced no significant period of bulge globular cluster formation , thus the intense star bursts associated with globular cluster formation may be difficult to directly observe at redshifts z \la 4 .
Though the above conclusions are preliminary because they are based upon uncertain relationships between age and metallicity , the technique employed will yield more stringent constraints as high-redshift galaxy observations and theoretical models improve .