364 State Horticultural Society. 



sibilities. In liis mind there is not the slightest doubt that this parasite 

 will prove to be effective in the destruction of the codling moth. And 

 from the work being done by the insect in the office at the Ferry building, 

 it would appear that Mr. Compere has good grounds for his belief. In 

 this office are a large number of jars in which the parasite is at work on 

 its enemy, and the industry displayed by the little creature promises 

 much for the apple orchards of California, and eventually of the whole 

 country. In every jar are a number of pieces of apple branches in which 

 slits have been made. In these slits are the larva of the codling moth, 

 and flying about in the jars or walking about from place to place on the 

 sticks are the parasites busily employed in stinging the codling moth to 

 death and laying on their bodies the eggs which are later to hatch out 

 into other parasites. 



This parasite, which bears the formidable name of Ephialtes carbon- 

 arious, is a slender little insect, the female xbeing about a half an inch 

 long, exclusive of the ovipositor and its sheath, which are a little longer 

 than the body of the Ephialtes. This ovipositor is very slender and it is 

 with this that the parasite kills the codling moth and lays its eggs. The 

 process is a very interesting one to watch. When the insect finds where 

 one of the moths lies hidden under the wood is raises the posterior part 

 of its body into the air, withdraws the ovipositor from its sheath and 

 inserts it through the wood into the body of the moth, often jabbing it 

 in several times. Then, as it withdraws the ovipositor it lays on the body 

 of the moth an egg and immediately goes in search of another codling 

 moth, where it repeats the process. How many eggs one parasite is 

 capable of laying is not known, but it is probable that it lays about as 

 many as does the codling moth. One of the curious facts concerning 

 the latter is that nothwithstanding the great amount of study that has 

 been put upon it and the large sums expended in research concerning 

 the insect, nobody has yet determined the number of eggs that it lays. 

 This is merely a matter of detail, one that could easily be determined by 

 observation. That it has not yet been determined does not speak well 

 for the carefulness of the work of some of the investigators. 



After being stung it takes the moth some little time to die — about 

 twenty minutes. The natural heat of its body is sufficient for the hatch- 

 ing out of the egg, which takes place within 24 hours after it is deposited. 

 The larva of the parasite, which is a little, corkscrew-shaped animal, im- 

 mediately begins to suck the juices of the body of its host, this constitu- 

 ting its nourishment. It goes through the various stages of metamor- 

 phosis, developing finally into a winged insect like its parent. 



Mr. Compere states that in Spain, where he obtained the parasite. 



