October, '14] HOWARD: AN INCIDENT IN PARASITE COLLECTING 379 



Down to the summer of 1911, this interesting and probably impor- 

 tant parasite of the gipsy moth larva had been found only in Russia, 

 and only about from forty to fifty specimens had been received, although 

 it had received the attention of Pospielow in the early clays and of 

 Kincaid in his later journey to Russia. It is one of the species whose 

 cocoon hangs suspended by a silken thread for a longer or shorter 

 time, and it had been the contention of W. F. Fiske that the reason 

 more were not found was that the thread breaks sooner or later and the 

 cocoon drops to the ground and is only to be found on the surface of the 

 ground. 



On June 15, 1911, Fiske found himself in the middle of a forest at 

 Gioia Tauro, Sicily, where he was studying the results of parasitism 

 following a destructive outbreak of the gipsy moth, and, examining 

 the remains of the caterpillars in an effort to tell just which parasite 

 has killed them, his attention was continually attracted to larvae 

 hanging by their hind legs much as do those attacked by the wilt 

 disease, with their bodies containing a few drops of blackish fluid. 

 It was not wilt, he was certain from the first, and by tracing the various 

 stages of decomposition backwards he was able to associate it with 

 parasitism by Tachinids. IMingled wnth these dead larvae were a 

 number of others pellucid in appearance, looking much like browni-tail 

 caterpillars killed by certain species of Apanteles. He puzzled over 

 the phenomenon for a moment until, wdth a burst of incredulous en- 

 lightenment, he hit upon the solution. Holding his forceps exactly 

 beneath such a larva, he let them drop to the ground, and at the exact 

 spot where they struck, fully exposed, was a fine fresh cocoon of the 

 long sought for and constantly despaired of Russian Limnerium, which, 

 as above stated, was not known to exist outside of Russia. The ex- 

 periment was repeated again and again with other caterpillars and in 

 every instance with satisfactory results. In the afternoon of the 

 same day, in another forest, he found the parasite much more abundant. 

 In seven minutes he collected fifty on a bit of hard trodden path where 

 all that fell were exposed, and a little bit to one side beneath an es- 

 pecially large and leafy tree he collected twenty-five from approxi- 

 mately one square yard of surface. 



In the evening he talked the matter over with his native assistant 

 and interpreter. He asked him to make a formal call on the mayor 

 of the village; to present his compliments and tell him that Mr. Fiske 

 would be pleased to call oh him in person, but that he was not expert 

 in the Italian language; that he desired to send the children of the 

 commune into the public forest for the purpose of collecting a quantity 

 of insects which abounded there and for which he had a particular use, 

 and that he wanted to find some responsible person recommended by 



