Microlepidoptera and Their Para- 

 sites Reared From Field Collections 

 in the Northeastern United States 



by 



J. V. ScHAFFNER, Jr./ Forest Insect and Disease Laboratory, 

 Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, Forest Service, 

 New Haven, Conn. 



Introduction 



Insect pests cause greater losses to our timber resource every year 

 than fire, traditionally the most dreaded enemy of our forests. Several 

 methods have been used to reduce this insect damage. One method 

 kills the insects with chemical sprays. Another uses silvicultural 

 practices to keep forest stands healthy and thus reduces their sus- 

 ceptibility to insect attack. A third utilizes predators and parasites 

 that attack the insects; this last method is called biological control. 



This publication reports one phase of studies designed to acquire 

 new knowledge on the distribution, food plants, life histories, and 

 parasites of lepidopterous insects in Northeastern United States. 

 This kind of knowledge is basic for all methods of controlling forest 

 insect pests. The information contained in this report will be of 

 particular value to entomologists and students interested in biological 

 control. 



These studies were begun in 1915 by the Bureau of Entomology 

 and Plant Quarantine at its laboratory at Melrose Highlands, Mass., 

 to determine the native hosts of introduced parasites of the gypsy 

 moth (Porthetria dispar L.) and the brown-tail moth {Nygmia phaeor- 

 rhoea Donov.), and to determine the possible effect of these parasites 

 on the native hosts and their natural enemies. Data on the macro- 

 lepidoptera and their parasites reared from field collections were 

 published in U. S. Department of Agriculture Miscellaneous Publica- 

 tion 188 in July 1934. The data on the microlepidoptera and their 

 parasites as given in this report were accumulated, for the most 

 part, during the same period. 



A great quantity of field-collected material was sent to the labo- 

 ratory by members of the field staft" engaged in moth control work 

 and enforcement of quarantine regulations dming the period 1915-35. 



1 The late Mr. Schaffner retired in June 1953. During the period this study 

 was in progress, he was entomologist at the Melrose Highlands (Mass.) Laboratory 

 and the New Haven Station of the Division of Forest Insect Investigations, 

 Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine. The work of this division was 

 transferred to the^Forest Service when the Department of Agriculture was re- 

 organized in 1954. 



