Bibliographical Notices. 375 



The wealth and beauty of tlic illustratious in this book are nofc 

 the least of its remarkable features, and when so much is given it 

 seems ungrateful to ask for more ; yet in another edition we should 

 be glad to see a figure of Uipimrltes. 



The Importation into the United States of the Parasites of the Gypsy 

 Moth and the Brown-tail Moth. Ey L, O. Howard and W. F. 

 FisKE. U.S. Department of Agriculture. Bureau of Ento- 

 mology. Eull. no. 91. 1911. Pp. 311. 



Those who are interested in the problems of economic entomologj- 

 "will be well aware of the ravages caused by the abnormal increase 

 of the Erown-tailed Moth {Euproctis clirysorrhcea) and the Gypsy 

 Moth yPorthetria dispar) in Europe and Japan, Such students will 

 welcome the extraordinarily thorough report now issued by the 

 American Department of Agriculture, embodying the results of the 

 strenuous efforts which are being made to cope with the even more 

 serious ravages of these insects in parts of the United States, 

 whither by accident they were introduced some years ago. The 

 immi'^rants, freed from their natural foes, proceeded to increase and 

 nuilliply until they have become a serious menace to the land of 

 their adoption. 



No sooner were the facts of the case fully realized, however, than 

 the Department of Agriculture took prompt steps to coj)e with the 

 trouble; and the thoroughness of their plan of attack and the 

 generous way in which they backed the officials entrusted stand in 

 strong contrast with the parsimony and half-hearted policy adopted 

 by our own Board of Agriculture. Briefly the plan of attack 

 decided upon was to introduce the various insects parasitic upon 

 these moths. This was done by importing from Europe huge consign- 

 ments of the egg-masses, larvae, and pupae of these moths, which 

 were then placed in cages, in order that the parasites these con- 

 tained might be hatched out and released in the infested areas, while 

 the non-parasitized specimens were destroyed. 



In justice to this theme, and the authors, it would be unfair in 

 the space at our disposal to attempt to review the history of these 

 parasites — principally micro-hymenoptera and beetles — or the results 

 of the experiment. Those who are interested in the matter will 

 naturally prefer to gain this information at first hand. 



But a word must be said as to the many difficulties the investi- 

 gators have been called upon to surmount. The most serious of 

 these for a long time was the danger to health. An army of 

 assistants was needed to seek for and sort out parasitized larvae ; and 

 these workers suffered severely on account of the irritation caused 

 by the fine hairs which cover the larvae. This insidious armature 

 forced its way through the skin of the examiners, and, worse, effected 

 an entrance into the throat and lungs, causing such distress as to 



