360 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



of the third brood matured, emerged, hibernated, pupated, and produced moths 

 in the spring of 1913. The fact that only 48 per cent of the larvae of the second 

 brood pupated this season shows that the third brood is only partial." 



The Calliephialtes parasite of the codling moth, R. A. Cushman (U. S. 

 Dept. Agr., Jour. Agr. Research, 1 {1913), No. 3, pp. 211-238, pi. 1, figs. 15).— 

 This is a detailed report of studies of a species of Calliephialtes, the identity 

 of which is still open to doubt, and in lieu of which technical descriptions of 

 C. 772 essor, .characterized by Gravenhorst in 1821; C. comstockii described by 

 Cresson in 1880 ; and G. piisio by Walsh in 1873, are reproduced. This parasite 

 was imported into California in 1904 by G. Comiiere, who found it attacking 

 the codling moth in Spain. 



The author's studies, commenced in the spring of 1911, were conducted at 

 Vienna, Ya. He first describes the methods and apparatus used in its propaga- 

 tion. In a detailed account of biological studies much of the data are pre- 

 sented in elaborate tables. Oviposition began in cages about 9 days after the 

 emergence of the female, the full-grown larva in its cocoon being the stage of 

 the host selected. The eggs, only one of which is deposited at a time, are 

 placed at almost any point in the cocoon, not necessarily on the host larva, 

 and normally only one parasite develops on a single host. The results of cage 

 experiments indicate that the total individual oviposition was in the neighbor- 

 hood of 75 eggs, the average daily oviposition being about 2 eggs. The incuba- 

 tion period of 825 eggs varied from 1 to 7 days, or inversely with the average 

 mean temperature. The larva begins feeding very shortly after hatching and 

 may attack its host at almost any point, although it is more likely to attack 

 the dorsum or sides than the venter. The feeding period, from the hatching 

 of the egg to the beginning of the cocoon varied, in a total of 579 cases observed, 

 from 3J to 18^ days, with an average of about li days. A considerable portion 

 of the larval life is passed in the cocoon, the maximum i>eriod in which, as 

 determined for 116 female larvae and 404 male larvae, requiring 24 days and 



361 days, respectively. The actual minimum and maximum larval periods for 

 females were 12 and 27 days, respectively, and for males 7^ and 51 days, 

 respectively. The pupal periods, which were determined for 109 females and 

 366 males, varied from 6 days for males in July and August to 13 days for 

 females in June. The period in the cocoon includes a part of the larval life, 

 all of the pupal period, and a small portion of the adult life. The duration of 

 this period was determined for 111 females and 306 males. The total possible 

 minimum period is computed for females as 14.5 days and for males 10.5 days, 

 and the total possible maximum period for females 39 days and for males 50 

 days. The actual minimum and maximum for females were 15.5 and 37.5 

 days, respectively, and for males 11.5 and 36 days. Transformation from the 

 pupa to the adult within the cocoon takes place 1 or 2 days before the emer- 

 gence of the adult, depending largely on the difficulty encountered by the 

 insect in biting its way by the remains of the host and through the 2 cocoons. 

 The average longevity of 132 females was 51 days. The females frequently 

 fed on the juices of the codling moth larvae, on one occasion a female having 

 been observed to kill and partially eat a larva that had left its cocoon and 

 was at large in the cage. The total developmental period from oviposition to 

 emergence was determined for 112 females and 399 males, and for females 

 it ranged from 23.5 days to 44.5 days and for males from 18 to 44 days. 



No definite experiments were conducted in the experimental control of the 

 development but Newman records having kept immature specimens of C. messor 

 in cold storage for a period of 14 months, after which they emerged without 

 having suffered in the least. As regards seasonal history the author reports 

 that the first females emerged from hibernation in the spring of 1912 on May 3 



