240 OHIO EXPERIMENT STATION: BULLETIN 332 



1916 from Clifton E. Miller, Summerfield, Noble County, Ohio, in 

 which it was stated that the insect had been prevalent in that 

 vicinity for the three seasons immediately preceding. During the 

 course of the attack, many individual trees had died, and one entire 

 plantation of post timber consisting of 300 to 400 trees had perished. 

 This outbreak was distributed over an area of from 10 to 15 square 

 miles in extent. 



Last season (1917) Dr. J. J. Crumley, of the Department of 

 Forestry, Ohio Experiment Station, reported severe damage to 

 Catalpa kempferii located on the fair grounds at Athens, Ohio. 



Food plants. — So far as is known, the various species of catalpa 

 constitute the sole food plant upon which the larvae of this insect 

 feed. 



Distribution. — In Ohio this insect is more prevalent in the 

 southern part of the State; in fact, nearly all the records in Ohio 

 are confined to the area south of a line drawn across the state east 

 and west through Columbus. 



In the United States the area of greatest abundance of the 

 catalpa sphinx may be said to be east and south of the Mississippi 

 and Ohio Rivers with the addition of parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois 

 and some of the other states bordering this area. It is reported 

 as far north as Manhattan Island. It has been long known in the 

 Gulf states where the larva is esteemed as fish bait. 



Natural enemies. — Among the birds four are credited with 

 having appetites particularly keen for this species, these being the 

 Baltimore oriole, the catbird, and the yellow- and black-billed 

 cuckoos. 



Of greater significance, however, are several parasitic species 

 of insects which prey upon the caterpillars, one of the most common 

 being Apanteles congregatus Say. This species is a cosmopolitan 

 feeder upon the larvae of this group. Another species of great 

 importance is Apanteles catalpae Riley. In the case of the two 

 parasites just mentioned, a considerable number may develop 

 within the body of a single larva. Upon reaching maturity the 

 tiny parasitic larvae eat their way through the skin of the host and 

 attach their small snow-white cocoons to the outside of the body, 

 thus causing the larva to appear as if covered with large white 

 eggs. These cocoons in time give forth tiny, wasplike creatures 

 which search out a new caterpillar host, pierce the body with their 

 ovipositors and deposit the egg within. 



Tachina fly larvae also parasitize this species.* 



*A more extended account of the parasites of this species may be found in U. S. Dept. 

 Agr., Bur. Ent., Cir. 96. 



