354 



THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



of the same situated on the neck just back of the head. l)eing evident 

 on many. The flies themselves were also to be seen in numbers buzzing 

 about the infested areas. They, however, had made very little of an 

 impression upon them. Not nearly as much, in fact, as they had upon 

 their relative, M. pluvialis Dyer, in Washington and Oregon. A few 

 had been parasitized by ichneumon flies. From the thirty-eight cocoons 

 brought home I raised twenty moths, three ichneumon flies and suc- 

 ceeded in getting several puparia of the tachinid flies. In the field, 

 I found that the predaceous beetles, the caterpillar hunters. Calosoma 

 semilceve Lee. and Calosoma luxatum. Say, var. zimmermanni Lee. 

 were fairly numerous. They were evidently living well. I also saw 

 a specimen of one of the Sphecidfe or thread waisted wasps, and a 

 large species of Psammophila, carrying off a full grown caterpillar. 

 Other specimens of the same wasp were numerous in the region. The 

 ants were carrying off many dead specimens but I saw no case where 



Fig. 92. — Defoliated brush showing tents and cocoons of 

 Malacosoma fragilis, McCloud, Cal. (Original.) 



an ant had attacked a healthy living caterpillar. Birds did not seem to 

 be attacking them either. Though these various enemies were able to 

 make very little of an impression this year, they perhaps will show 

 their effect in a decided manner next year. 



In this same area there occurred three years ago, an outbreak^ of 

 Eugonia calif or nica Boisd., the black and spiny larvse of which like- 

 wise feeds upon ceanothus and the adult of which is a true butterfly. 

 This year only a few caterpillars of this species were to be found and 

 the adults were equally rare. I was, however, told by my friends, Mr. 

 C. L. Fox and Mr. J. A. Kusche, that in the country near Dunsmuir, 

 above Castle Lake and near Mt. Bradley, the larvse of this butterfly 

 had stripped the bushes of the broad leaved ceanothus, over quite an 

 area. Some few of the tent caterpillars were to be found there also. 



NOTE. 



There is an important fact in relation to the tent caterpillars and 

 other insects, like the canker worm, that should always be borne in 

 mind. They feed early in the season when the leaves of the plants are 



