80 THE EEPOET OF THE Xo. 36 



parasitism. About the nature and work of these parasites he wrote, " If sometimes 

 there are born, (from one insect different ones) they are what I should call false 

 individuals, being born from a different kind of worms which have been deposited 

 there by their mothers, so that they may feed off the real native worm. This is 

 a law ordained in this base world by the Supreme Creator which I have not yet 

 well understood, that the larger always devours the smaller, and is its tyrant, 

 a law which I have constantly observed in all forms of life, winged, four-footed, 

 and aquatic." 



Cestoni, a contemporary of Valisnieri, in a letter to him speaks at length 

 about the parasites of Aphis prassicae, Pieris hrassicae, and finally of Aleyrodes 

 hrassicae. He calls the insects of this latter species first " butterfly atoms " and 

 then " little cabbage sheep " and their parasites, " wolf-mosquito." 



Reaumur, about 1735, and De Geer about 1760, published records of many 

 parasitic forms. About the beginning of the 19th century considerable attention 

 was given to the study of insect parasites by several Zoologists, and many records 

 were published. Eatzeburg's great work on " The Ichileumons of Forest Insects," 

 published about 1850, was for a long time the great classic on the subject. During 

 the last part of the 19th century entomologists of many countries made important 

 contributions so that by the end of the century the literature on the subject was 

 quite voluminous. 



Professor Trotter tells us that the first person to diving, t^ie importance of 

 parasitism and to apply the principle successfully was Boisgiraud^ of Poictiers in 

 France. About 1840 he freed the poplars in the suburbs of his town of Gypsy 

 Moth by placing there Calosoma sycophanta, and he destroyed forficulids in his 

 own garden by using Staphylinus oleus. 



These successes seem to have inspired the Milanese in 1843 to offer a medal 

 to be given in 1845 to any person who had in the meantime conducted successful 

 experiments in the artificial breeding of carnivorous insects which may be used 

 advantageously to destroy insects injurious to agriculture. To this appeal Antonio 

 Villa responded in 1844 by a pamphlet entitled : " Carnivorous Insects used to 

 destroy Species Injurious to Agriculture," in which are set forth at length the 

 results of successful experiments carried on by him at Desio in the Province of 

 Milan. In these experiments Carabids and Staphylinids were used. Villa's results 

 were criticized by Bassi, Bellani, and Eatzeburg. The latter said that " Carni- 

 vorous insects can be applied to the needs of agriculture only by the beneficent 

 hand of nature and that every effort to assist it must be in vain." 



Eondani, a few years later in the sixties, made important studies of insect 

 parasites, chiefly dipterous! and hymenoperous forms. In his " Account of 

 Parasitic Insects and their Victims " he shows the importance of these insects 

 in agriculture, and gives a table of parasites known as enemies of injurious insects. 



In France, Perris and Decaux carried on valuable experimental work with 

 parasites and predaceous insects in the early seventies. 



From that time the U.S. have taken the lead, not only in the study of 

 parasitism hut also in economic entomology. 



References. 



Burmeister, H Manual of Entomology, trans, by Shuckard 1836 



Greene, E. L Carolus Linnaeus, C. Sower & Co 1912 



Henneguy, L. F Les Insectes, Masson & Co 1904 



Jardine, W The Naturalist's Library 1852-3 



Kirby and iSpence Introduction to Entomology 1826 



Locy, W. A Biology and its Makers, Holt & Co 1908 



