78 



RESULTS FROM GIPSY MOTH PARASITE LABORATORY. 



much longer. All the other larvss that were found Avere newly 

 hatched, or had been killed soon after hatching, and were commonly 

 inclosed in a sheath of amoebocytes. 



The rest of the caterpillars were kept alive as long as possible in 

 the h<)])e that one or two of the Liymierium might be able to pass 

 through their transformations, but none was reared. The experi- 

 ment therefore furnished data similar to those obtained in the pre- 

 ceding experiments, and conclusively confirmed the belief that Lhn- 

 nenum vaJlduni is unable to live as a parasite within brown-tail 

 moth caterpillars. 



limnerinim validum as a parasite of malacosoma americana 



(fabricius). 



On April i20 an experiment was started with Limnerium validum 

 as a parasite of the common tent caterpillar {Malacosoma americana 

 Fabricius). Three females w^ere confined in a large, flat, tangle- 

 footed tray, Avith three nestfuls of caterpillars, mostly in the second 

 stage, collected in the open at IVIelrose Highlands, Mass. A fourth 

 nest was added on the 21st to insure an abundance of caterpillars for 

 the Li?)i)icrrK»i to attack. By the 26th the Limneriiiin had all died, 

 but 2 more females were placed in the tray on the 28th. Many of 

 the caterpillars at that time were passing into the third stage. 



RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS AS DETERMINED BY DISSECTION. 



On May ?> dissections were made of 6 second-stage and 11 third- 

 stage caterpillars, of Avhich all of the former and 9 of the latter w^ere 

 found to be parasitized. The results of the dissections are given in 

 Table I. 



Table I. — Results of (lisscctions of cafrrpiUars of Malacosoma amrrirana 

 parasitized by Liouurinm validum. 



