Raising Parasites to Fight Pests 



Structure Erected in Connection with the 

 Parasite Laboratory Where the Gypsy Moth 

 and Other Pests Are Trapped and Studied 



MANY methods of exterminating 

 injurious insects have been tried, 

 some proving useless and others, 

 while effective, being only temporarily 

 so. Perhaps the most scientific work 

 3'etattempted is thecultivationof natural 

 enemies, which in time would annihilate 

 the insects upon which they live. The 

 gipsy moth and brown-tail moth are 

 particularly injurious. Both are natives 

 of Europe and were early introduced 

 into Massachusetts, where they have 

 committed yearly ravages on fruit and 

 shade trees. Can no enemy which will 

 devour them be found? 



In 1905, work was begun under 

 Federal supervision to answer that 

 question. Dr. L. O. Howard, chief of 

 the Bureau of Entomology, and Dr. W. 

 F. Fiske, in charge of the Gipsy Moth 

 Parasite Laboratorj', Melrose Highlands, 

 Mass., have expended time and energy 

 in their unceasing efforts to rid the 

 country of these harmful insects. 



While at least a dozen parasites have 

 been reared from the gipsy moth, and 

 although a variety of American parasites 

 are natural enemies, the aggregate 

 effectiveness of all the species together is 

 wholly insignificant. It is possible, how- 

 cver, that the caterpillars may be attack- 

 ed by parasites, the larvae of which may 

 be rendered unable to complete their 

 transformations under the conditions in 

 which they find themsches. 



Since insects like the gipsy moth and 

 the brown-tail moth are subjected to the 



ana 



