1918] Wilcox — A Parasite of the Oriental Moth 17 



type. An analogous case is found in the vertebrates in which the 

 excised heart of such a comparatively generalized type as the frog 

 is much more resistant than the heart of a specialized mammalian 

 type like the dog, the cat, or man. 



There is every reason to think that pulsatile vessels will be 

 found in most, if not all, families and genera of the Hemiptera and 

 Homoptera. Their discovery in the Aphididse simply adds to the 

 already convincing evidence of the close relationship of these two 

 groups. 



ASCOGASTER CARPOCAPS^, A PARASITE OF THE 

 ORIENTAL MOTH. 



By a. M. Wilcox, 

 Gipsy-moth Assistant, U. S. Bureau of Entomology. 



The Oriental moth, Cnidocampa flavescens Walk., a native of 

 Japan was first discovered in this country in 1906. Although at 

 present the infestation is confined to a small area, there is a possi- 

 bility of the moth becoming a widespread pest. 



Several attempts have been made to rear parasites from the 

 larvse and cocoons of the moth, but as far as the -^Titer knows, 

 none of these previous attempts have been successful. During 

 the spring of 1917 several of the cocoons were collected in Dor- 

 chester, Mass., and placed in rearing boxes. During the month 

 of June the adults began to appear and a single Braconid parasite 

 emerged at the same time. The specimen was determined by 

 Prof. C. T. Brues of the Bussey Institution, Harvard University, 

 as Ascogaster carpocapsce Viereck. The species was first described 

 as Chelonus carpocapsoe in 1909 by Viereck.^ The Codling moth, 

 Carpocapsoe pomonella was named as the host insect. 



The species may be recognized by the absence of segmentation 

 on the abdomen and by the presence of four transverse nipple-like 

 prolongations on the outer and upper edge of the posterior face of 

 the metathorax. It can readily be separated from Chelonus fissiis 

 Prov., a common, similar species, by the absence of pubescence on 

 the eyes, and the different wing venation, the first submarginal and 

 first discoidal cells bemg separated in A. carpocapsoe, while in C. 

 fissiis they are confluent. 



1 Proc. Ent. Soc. Washington, Vol. 11. p. 43. 



