THE CABBAGE MOTH. 163 



The parasites of the cabbage moth are many, and at 

 Figs. 6 and 7 is shown one that works great havoc on 

 the larvse and cocoons of these moths. They are small 

 black wasp-like flies, belonging to the Ichneumon tribe, 

 and at any time these useful little insects may be seen 

 hovering over or walking quickly about amongst the 

 leaves of the plant. The female deposits her eggs in the 

 larvse, sometimes in the cocoons of the moth. 



Curtis, in his Farm Insects^ states that out of seventeen 

 cocoons five moths only hatched, whilst the remaining 

 twelve produced parasites, as figured in his book. 



Another gentleman, Mr. Arkle, in a paper in the 

 Entomologist^ observes : — " Before considering what the 

 agriculturist can effect in necessary war against this 

 insect pest, it is interesting to observe what nature 

 provides for its suppression. Probably no living creature 

 has a harder time of it than the 'Diamond-back.' At least 

 one-half of my larvse, especially those from Yorkshire 

 and Durham, were infested by the deadly ' Ichneumon.'" 



As to how far this pest is distributed throughout 

 Australia, or the amount of damage done, I cannot say ; 

 but in Victoria, at least, I know that it must be enormous. 

 We must tackle this pest ; so the sooner we set about it 

 the better it w^ be, not only for the grower but for the 

 local consumer, to say nothing of the great export trade 

 fi'om our colony to New South Wales and elsewhere. 



It may here be remarked that an illustration of the 

 machine invented by Mr. Pearson, and alluded to above, 

 is given at the end of this part of the book ; that of the 

 Strawsonizer being in Part I. 



