220 



yet been definitely recorded in the State, though infestation is feared), 

 Papaipema nebris (nitela), Helioihis obsoleta, and Estigmene acraea 

 [R.A.E., A, vii, 277]. 



Philbrook (E. E.). Report of Special Field Agent, Gypsy Moth Work. 



— 17th Ann. Re])t. Maine Commiss. Agric, Waterville, 1918, pp. 

 51-56. [Received 29th March 1920.] 



There are now ten or more species of parasites of the gipsy moth 

 [Porthetria dispar] established in the infested area in Maine. The 

 Carabid, Calosomasycophanta, which devours both pupae and caterpillars, 

 has also been established in the western part of the State, where 

 " flacherie " or wilt disease has also spread in the moth-infested areas. 

 In consequence of these factors, a higher degree of mortality has been 

 secured in 1918 than in any other year. Scouting began on 1st January 

 and continued until the eggs hatched ; during this time 1,235,954 egg- 

 clusters were found and destroyed and 567 gallons of creosote were 

 used to paint them. Spraying of caterpillars began with. the hatching 

 I of the eggs and continued until mid- August, 8 tons of lead arsenate 

 being used. In July trees were banded with burlap as in the previous 

 year ; 67,000 trees were thus treated and 876,258 caterpillars collected 

 from them. The benefit to be derived from birds in gipsy moth 

 suppression, and the importance of protecting them, is emphasised. 

 While the actual area infested has not been reduced to any extent 

 since 1917 [R.A.E., A, vii, 176], the colonies of the moth within that 

 area have been greatly lessened. 



DupoRT (L.). Rapport a Monsieur le President de la Chambre 

 d'Agriculture sur les Recherches poursuivies a la Station Entomo- 

 logique de Cho-Ganh. — Sujjplements to Bulls. 123 & 124, Chambre 

 iV Agric. Tonkin & Nord-Annam, Hanoi, nos. 5 & 6, June-September 

 & October-December 1919, 18 pp. [Received 29th March 1920.] 



Further investigations have been made regarding the insect para- 

 sites of Xylotrechus quadripes (coffee borer) [R.A.E., A, viii. 111], 

 both on cofiee and on some of its other food-plants, of which a list 

 is given. Two species of insect parasites have up to the present been 

 successfully reared in the laboratory and it is hoped that others may 

 be found. The most important, at first thought to be an Ichneumonid, 

 has since been identified as a Braconid, and is so minute that it can 

 pass the smallest wire mesh obtainable. The female is provided with 

 a long ovipositor to reach the larval host within the wood. One female 

 lays as many as 25 eggs on one larva, and chooses for preference the 

 mature larvae of X. quadripes that are about to pupate and are close 

 under the bark. The young parasitic larvae feed upon the host larva 

 for 7 or 8 days. They then pupate in the cell prepared by the 

 borer, this stage apparently lasting about 15 days, after which the 

 adults emerge through a hole about 1 mm. wdde. Multiplication is 

 rapid, the whole life-cycle requiring only about 25 days, and breeding 

 might be continuous in the laboratory throughout the year if the rear- 

 ing-boxes are sheltered from severe cold. This parasite can breed also 

 on the larvae of Chlorophorus anmdaris, Fairm. (bamboo borer), 

 and on X. quadripes in fresh, dead, or diseased coffee. It seems almost 



