42 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 244 



Europe and Western Asia as far as Persia and the Issyk-kul and 

 extends northward to Livonia." In the United States it is known 

 from the following counties in California: El Dorado, Placer, Nevada, 

 Butte (of the Sierra Nevada section), and Modoc (of the Basin and 

 Range Province). This insect has also been collected in southern 

 Idaho, northern Utah, and Nevada. Very recently it has been 

 discovered near Albany, N.Y. 



Discussion. — Robinson (1953) has stated that the first record of 

 this introduced insect in the United States was an infestation in the 

 yard of a house in Nevada City, California, June 18, 1940. This 

 population, which since has extended through parts of four additional 

 counties in California and into areas of Idaho and Nevada, appears 

 to consist entirely of the thelyotokic form of Apterona crenulella 

 Bruand. Although the insect is abundant enough to be considered 

 a potential pest, no males have ever been observed in this country. 



Recently, perhaps within the last two years, this bagworm has been 

 introduced into the northeastern section of the country. Through 

 correspondence (along with a shipment of specimens). Dr. John 

 Wilcox of the New York State Museum has informed the present 

 writer of two recent infestations. The first individuals were discovered 

 approximately June 21. 1962, three miles northwest of Albany, N.Y., 

 at Loudonville, Albany County. This was reported by a homeowner 

 who had noticed the insects in large numbers on the side of his house. 

 A second infestation was found later near the ocean port of Albany, 

 which may have been the point of entry of the species into the area. 

 In other words, this eastern population probably represents another 

 introduction of Apterona crenulella form helix from Europe, and it 

 did not originate from our now widely established population in the 

 western United States. 



Several European authors maintain that this species includes a 

 typically bisexual form {crenulella) and a form (helix) that is composed 

 only of parthenogenetic females. A well-confirmed fact is that helix 

 reproduces without ever mating, and some workers have considered 

 it a separate species from A. crenulella. The excellent work of Seller 

 (1927, 1942) has demonstrated that the parthenogenetic and bisexual 

 forms of Solenobia triquetrella Hiibner were freely interfertile with the 

 result that the progeny displayed a descending degree of intersexuality. 

 This suggests the findings of Goldschmidt on the intersexes in Por- 

 thetria dispar (L.). It seems reasonable to suspect a similar degree of 

 interfertility between crenulella and helix as that reported for S. 

 triquetrella. Largely for this reason I have retained helix as a faculta- 

 tive, parthenogenetic form of A. crenulella but realize that many 

 questions remain unanswered. It would be very enlightening to 

 know what degree of fertility exists between crosses of A. crenulella 



