October, '08] 



JOURNAL OP ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 



285 



]\Iay 2Sth and at once forwarded to ]\Ir. W. F. Fiske, of the Bureau 

 of Entomology, in charge of the parasite laboratory at Melrose High- 

 lands, Massachusetts. This course was taken since at the time men- 

 tioned no localities for the elm leaf-beetle were known in Washington 

 and for the past few years this species has been very destructive in 

 the vicinity of Boston. The package was in some way or another 

 subjected to considerable delay in its transmission from Washington 

 to the laboratory at Melrose Highlands, but it finally arrived there on 

 June 1st — twelve days from the time it started at ]\Iontpellier. The 



Fig. 7. Tetra^tichus xanthomelaenae Rondani, adult female, very greatly enlarged ; 

 antenna, still more enlarged, at lower left. 



early seasonal start was possible for the reason that Montpellier, as 

 is well known, is in the extreme south of France. On opening the 

 box, Mr. Fiske found a considerable number of active adults of the 

 Tetrastichus. Most of them were placed in a large jar containing 

 leaves of the elm upon which were newly deposited masses of the 

 eggs of the Galerucella. This beetle was very abundant at Melrose 

 at the time, and no difficulty was experienced in getting large quan- 

 tities of eggs. A few parasites were used in reproduction experi- 

 ments in small vials and tubes, but these experiments were not suc- 

 cessful, since the eggs dried rapidly and the parasites themselves 

 were short-lived in such extreme confinement. The females were at 

 once attracted to the egg-masses, and probable oviposition was noticed 

 within an hour after the receipt of the shipment. 



Mr. Fiske was able to confirm most of Doctor ^Marchal's observa- 

 tions indicated in the translation above, but it appeared to him that 

 the female did not always take as much time as Doctor ]\Iarchal's 

 notes would indicate. Thev were several times noticed feeding upon 



