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Larvae (dorsal view) 



Eggs 



'i; 1J 



n^ 



Larvae fventral view) 



Adult beetle feeding on 

 gypsy moth larvae 



ENGAGED TO FIGHT OTHER INSECTS 



Pupae 



Gypsy moth pupae 

 destroyed by beetle larvae 



Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, U.S.D.A. 



This beautiful green calosoma beetle (Calosoma sycophanta) was used by a French 

 scientist in 1840, in a campaign against the gypsy moth (Porthetria dispar). In recent 

 years this method of combating undesirable insects by encouraging the spread of 

 their natural enemies has been rapidly developed 



milky fluid. Dead larvae, the skin containing now millions of spores, are dried 

 and ground to dust, and mixed with an inert powder. The mixture is dis- 

 tributed on the soil of an infested area, and the larvae become infected. 



Other insects have been successfully combated with parasitic bacteria and 

 fungi. In South America and in Yucatan this method has been used against 

 locusts. Quantities of the insects are caught alive, infected with the parasitic 

 fungus, and then set free again. The escaped animals transmit the infection 

 to their fellows, and millions are killed off. One epidemic is made to over- 

 come another, until a balance is restored. 



Man the Disturber Man has been extending his domination over the 

 earth at an ever-increasing pace. He has succeeded not by growing stronger 

 muscles, longer teeth or sharper claws, but through his scheming, planning, 

 devising, manipulating. He began by handling sticks and stones that he could 

 pick up. These enabled him to exert power and to produce effects at a dis- 



596 



