622 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



The Insects are packed in colonies on 

 an average of 33.000 to each colony. They 

 are distributed in various ways; the small 

 individual colonies being sent direct to 

 the applicants, while large consignments 

 intended to Cover an entire district, such 

 as the Imperial valley, are usually pre- 

 ceded by an agent from the Insectary, who 

 figures out the acreage and prorates the 

 amount that can be supplied to each 

 grower or association, and personally at- 

 tends to the distributing of the colonies. 



Last season's crop (1912) was excep- 

 tionally large, and when massed at the 

 state Insectary, just prior to the actual 

 shipping season, this lot of insect friends, 

 combined with all the other various spe- 

 cies of beneficial insects propagated at 

 the Insectary, constituted what was un- 

 doubtedly the largest number of beneficial 

 insects ever assembled at one place in 

 the history of the world. 



Many other species of ladybirds, both 

 native and imported, are propagated, col- 

 lected and distributed into the various 

 fruit growing sections of California to 

 assist our growers in maintaining the 

 continuous warfare against the inroads of 

 destructive forms. 



Other species belonging to the Hyme- 

 noptera (four-winged flies) and Diptera 

 (two-winged flies) have proven of in- 

 calculable benefit to the grower of fruit 

 in this state, as well as various species 

 of Syrphus flies. Lace-wing flies and 

 Tachinid flies. 



A few of the more important species, 

 with explanatory notes accompanied by 

 illustrations, will give a general idea of 

 the scope of the work and the variety of 

 forms handled. 



The work of propagating the various 

 species calls for ingenuity of the highest 

 order in every case. With no precedent 

 to be guided by, methods and apparatus 

 have to be improvised as we go along. 

 The artificial propagation work has not 

 resolved itself into any systematic ar- 

 rangement, except: Try to produce arti- 

 ficially, conditions as near natural as pos- 

 sible in which to propagate your species. 



While the work of the California State 

 Insectary has made wonderful progress 

 in the few years it has been commer- 

 cially established, we are only at the 

 threshold of the science and undoubtedly 

 the future will show even greater prog- 



ress than has the past, at least, that is 

 the sincere wish of the first and only 

 superintendent of the California State 

 Insectary. 



The Codling Moth Parasite 



Caliephialtes messor 

 This insect is a member of the Ichneu- 

 monidae, a parasitic family of the Hy- 



tssis 



Fis. 1!>. Tbe Codling Moth Tarasite (Callie- 

 lihialtis messor Gi-av. [Family Iclineu- 

 monidael). Tlie minute eggs deposited in 

 the cocoons of the codling moth are shiny 

 white, almost transparent in color and long 

 and narrow, with one end slightly enlarged. 

 The adults are very active, four-winged para- 

 sites, averaging three-eighths of an inch in 

 length, exclusive of the ovipositor which is 

 slightly longer than the body in the females. 

 The males are slightly smaller. Tbe gen- 

 eral color is black with reddish-yellow legs. 

 The female, with her long ovipositor, inserts 

 an egg into the cocoon of the codling moth. 

 In a few days this egg hatches into a small, 

 legless grub, which begins to feed upon the 

 larva. The subsequent development Is very 

 rapid and at the end of from nine to sixteen 

 days the larva spins a cocoon within the old 

 shell and after another like period emerges 

 as an adult. The males emerge first and 

 await the females, when mating occurs and 

 the life cycle repeated ; the females continu- 

 ally searching for cocoons into which to de- 

 posit their supply of eggs. This parasite was 

 discovered in Southern Europe by George 

 Compere, who collected large numbers and 

 .sent them to the State Insectary some eight 

 years ago. During this period tlie Insectary 

 has been breeding and sending it out to all 

 parts of Califoi-nia where the codling moth 

 is a factor in fruit growing. It was espe- 

 cially thoroughly distributed in the central 

 and southern parts. The larvae enclosed In 

 the cocoons are the only stages of the cod- 

 ling moth attacked. These are carefully 

 searched out by the females which have a 

 wonderful instinct to locate them as well as 

 to ascertain whether they have already been 

 parasitized or not. 



