176 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 12 



control be effected. In Cuba the moth borer was known to be much 

 less injurious than in Louisiana, and in 1914 Mr. George N. Wolcott 

 reported a tachinid parasitic on the larva. In 1915 the Bureau of 

 Entomology arranged to investigate this parasite, with the intention 

 of introducing it into Louisiana. Mr. U. C. Loftin was sent to Cuba, 

 where he traveled about over the island, collecting parasites and send- 

 ing them to the writer at New Orleans. Though they attacked the 

 moth borer in Louisiana, they subsequently died out. 



Experience has been gained, however, in methods both of collecting 

 and breeding, and it was intended to continue the work the following 

 year. But lack of funds and the department regulation prohibiting 

 foreign travel during the war prevented parasite introduction during 

 the next two years. The same conditions prevailed during 1918, but 

 some of the sugar planters in Louisiana had become interested, and at 

 the meeting of their association in New Orleans in June one member 

 proposed that those so inclined subscribe one hundred dollars each to 

 defray the expenses of the work. Thirteen planters immediately 

 agreed to contribute this amount, and checks were received from some 

 others after the meeting. Sufficient funds having been raised, a 

 telegram signed by several prominent planters was sent to the Secre- 

 tary of Agriculture, who approved the plans by telegraph the same day. 



The writer proceeded to Cuba as soon as a passport was issued, and 

 through the kindness of Mr. S. G. Chiquelin, superintendent of the 

 sugar factory at Mercedes, Cuba, was able to make his headquarters 

 at the private experiment station of the Cuba Cane Sugar Corporation. 

 The director of the station, Sr. M. A. Centurion, received him cordially 

 and gladly cooperated in every way possible. On July 12, the first 

 sending of parasites was forwarded to Mr. E. R. Barber, of the Bureau 

 of Entomology, and Mr. W. G. Taggart, assistant director of the 

 Louisiana Sugar Experiment Station, who had agreed to receive the 

 parasites at New Orleans. (Mr. U. C. Loftin, who had been in Cuba 

 before, was no longer connected with the investigation.) 



Four species of parasites were found, which had also been collected 

 by Mr. Loftin. The egg parasite, Trichogramma minutum Riley, 

 already occurs in Louisiana. Of the others, the most efficient is the 

 tachinid, EuzenilHopsis diatracc Townsend. The writer estimated that 

 from 20 to 50 per cent of the moth borer larvae were parasitized, though 

 in one small field the percentage was much higher. The tachinid 

 larvse emerge usually from the larvae of the moth borer, but occasion- 

 ally from the pupae. Soon after emerging they form puparia, which 

 may be found in the tunnels of the host or nearby between the stalk 

 and the leaf-sheaths of the plant. 



As the attack of the moth borer results in the death of young cane 



