REPORT OF FIELD AGENT, GYPSY MOTH WORK. 12$ 



tail and gypsy moths. It deposits maggots inside the caterpil- 

 lars of the two pests and these feed there until they become 

 full grown, when they come out and form small, oval, dark 

 brown objects called puparia. These are the resting stage be- 

 tween the maggot and the fly. During the summer a number 

 of broods of this parasite develop and in addition to attacking 

 the two pests mentioned a number of injurious native insects 

 are attacked so that the species is beneficial in a number of 

 different ways. 



This parasite was first recovered in Maine from a number of 

 towns in the extreme southern part during the summer of 1913 

 where it had spread from New Hampshire. That same sum- 

 mer a sufficient number of these parasites were obtained by 

 the force connected with the Maine Parasite Laboratory to 

 plant colonies of five hundred each in the towns of Oxford, 

 Baldwin, Yarn^outh, Georgetown, Gardiner, Waldoboro and 

 Portland. 



The practice followed in obtaining this parasite for coloniza- 

 tion is to collect gypsy moth caterpillars from towns where the 

 parasite is abundant, feed these in specially constructed trays 

 until the parasites emerge and then divide these into lots of 

 five hundred for colonization. Until this year this work was 

 done in Massachusetts as the parasite has been in Maine for 

 such a short time that it had not increased enough to make 

 attempts to get it there, profitable. This year, however, this 

 work was all done in Maine and while fewer parasites than 

 were hoped for were obtained, enough were recovered to 

 plant colonies in the towns of Jay,, Oakland and Knox. 



Indications point to the fact that where this parasite has 

 been liberated it has become established and is doing good 

 work, but it will be a few years before it becomes abundant 

 enough tO' do its best. More work will have to be done with 

 it as there is a considerable amount of territory occupied by 

 the gypsy and brown-tail moths where it has not been liberated. 



CAEOSOMA SYCOPHANTA. 



This insect is not, properly speaking, a parasite, belonging 

 to a class of insects known as predaceous or preying insects. 

 Both the young and the adults attack the various stages of the 

 gypsy moth and to a lesser extent the browntail. Where abun- 



