16 



INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD 



ing family are peculiar in having an exceedingly long ovipositor 

 or egg-tube, of which they make a very good use. It is with 

 this extensile tube that the female deftly punctures the skin 

 of some unsuspecting caterpillar, and under it inserts her eggs. 

 In a few days there hatch from these a host of young maggots 

 which feed upon the juices and tissues of the caterpillar, but are 

 seemingly careful to avoid injuring any of its vital organs, for as 

 soon as the caterpillar reaches its full growth it changes to a 

 pupa, apparently unaffected. When the maggots have reached 

 their full size each spins up a small silken cocoon inside the pupa, 

 entirely filling up its now dead shell, and instead of a beautiful 

 moth appearing in the spring, a horde of small flies are seen to 

 emerge from round holes in the side of the pupa, or cocoon. 



Thus laige numbers of such pests as the apple-tree tent-cater- 

 pillar (Malacosoma americand), bagworms, (Thyridopteryx 

 ephemerceformis) , caterpillars of the swallow-tailed butterflies 



which feed upon parsley, car- 

 rots, etc., and a host of others, 

 are consumed by members of 

 this family. 



Those belonging to the 

 genus Ophion are partial to 

 the large American silkworms 

 which produce some of our 

 largest and most beautiful 

 moths, and difficulty is fre- 

 quently experienced in rear- 

 ing a desired number of moths 

 on account of the large per- 

 cent of cocoons parasitized. 

 The species of the family 

 Braconidce are very similar to 

 those of the preceding one, 

 and contain some equally ben- 

 FIG. 12. The long-tailed Ophion (Ophion eficial insects, feeding as they 

 "' magg t; do upon such pestsasthe cod- 

 ling moth, webworms, plum- 

 curculio grubs, plant-lice, etc. Some of the more common forms 

 of this family belong to the genus Microgaster, and their small 



