THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 265 



asites deposit their eggs within the living tissues, inside the bodies of the 

 plant lice, by means of a long, sharp-pointed ovipositor, which pierces 

 the body walls of the lice. The outside wound heals over in a short 

 time, leaving the egg tightly sealed within the body ready to hatch. 

 As soon as the egg is hatched the small, legless larva begins to feed upon 

 the tissues of the aphid and its development means the extinction of a 

 louse. When it is fully developed and ready to leave the "mummied" 

 lou-;e, it cuts a circular hole in the top of the body and escapes an adult 

 winged insect, ready to produce more eggs and thereby to destroy more 

 lice. The life-cycle varies according to the time of year. In the colder 

 months it covers from about ninety to one hundred days, while during 

 the summer months it covers from eight to fifteen days. 



The so-caDed "mummied" plant lice (Fig. 262) are easily recognized 

 before the adult parasite escapes by the inflated and discolored bodies 

 which appear among the healthy individuals. These bodies are usually 

 of a lighter color and finally become entirely bleached. The circular 

 hole cut by the escaped parasites is always a sure sign of the presence 

 of these beneficial insects. The "mummies" are fastened to the leaf, 

 as soon as the louse is dead, by the larva of the parasite, which cuts a 

 slit in the lower side of the body and fastens the sides to the leaf or twig 

 by excreting a mucilaginous or weblike substance for this purpose. 



Distribution. — Very common throughout the entire State. 



Hosts. — This species preys upon many of the common plant lice. 

 So far it has been bred from the orange aphid {Toxoiitera aurantice 

 Koch.), the cotton aphis (Aphis gossypii Glover) and the green apple 

 aphis (Aphis pomi De Geer). 



THE CODLING MOTH PARASITE. 



Calliephialtes messor Grav. (Family klineumonidse ) . 

 (Fig. 264.) 



General Appearance. — The minute eggs deposited in the cocoons of 

 the codling moth are shiny white, almost transparent in color and long 

 and narrow, with one end slightly enlarged. The adults are very active, 

 four-winged parasites, averaging three eighths of an inch in length, 

 exclusive of the ovipositor which is slightly longer than the body in 

 the females. The males are slightly smaller. The general color is black 

 with reddish-yellow legs. 



Life History. — The female, with her long ovipositor, inserts an egg 

 into the cocoon of the codling moth. In a few days this egg hatches 

 into a small, legless grub, which begins to feed upon the larva. The 

 subsequent development is very rapid and at the end of from nine to 

 sixteen days the larva spins a cocoon within the old shell and after 

 another like period emerges as an adult. The males emerge first and 

 await the females, when mating occurs and the life cycle repeated;' the 

 females continually searching for cocoons into which to deposit their 

 supply of eggs. 



Distribution. — This parasite wa-s discovered in southern Europe by 



