18 THE REPORT OF THE No. 33 



such pests beyond their known range, but within the range little harm should 

 result, while much good might be accomplished. It seems reasonable to suppose 

 that the shipping of healthy webworm pupae would be particularly appropriate 

 in this case, because of the fact that the second generation of Itoplectis would be 

 more numerous than the first and on this account the imported Hyphantria 

 would probably be the first to become exterminated by the parasite. If, on the 

 other hand, the tent caterpillars were the first to go, the abundance of parasites 

 issuing from them would almost surely be sufficient to finish up the remaining 

 webworms. 



As pointed out above there are a third series of secondary hosts for Itoplectis 

 in the tent-making Tortricidce from which the parasite has frequently been 

 reared by us but we have not yet been able to discover any alternate hosts for the 

 spring generation other than the various species of Malacosoma. Itoplectis, 

 however, is known to have a very wide range of hosts in the United States and 

 it is possible, therefore, that it will yet be found infesting canker worms and other 

 spring larvae. In any case Itoplectis congnisitor seems to be an extremely im- 

 portant parasite and a knowledge of its full life-history is surely desirable. 



I have in conclusion to acknowledge the assistance of Mr. R. M. White, 

 who has handled most of the rearing in the Hyphantria studies. 



THE PRESENT STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE APPLE AND 

 THORN SKELETONIZER (Hemerophila pariana Clerck, Lepid.) 



M. D. Leonard, Associate State Entomologist, Albany, N.Y. 



In the fall of 1917 it was discovered that a new apple pest had become well 

 established in Westchester and Rockland counties in the lower Hudson River 

 valley, and so another undesirable was added to New York's already too long 

 list of insect immigrants. Dr. Felt has called this the apple and thorn 

 skeletonizer. 



Just how this pest may have been introduced into New York or just how 

 long it may have been present is not definitely known. It has long been known, 

 however, as a minor pest to apple in Europe, and also occurs in Turkestan and 

 Western Asia, 



The direction of spread in this country has been mostly to the north and 

 east. By the end of 1918 it was definitely known to occur in Rockland county 

 from Yonkers to Yorktown Heights, a distance of almost twenty-five miles. At 

 the close of 1921 there had been only a moderate extension of the infested territory 

 in New York northward. In the fall of 1920, however, it was observed at Orient 

 Point at the far eastern end of Long Island, and was also found to have become 

 established in Greenwich and Stamford, Connecticut, and at the close of 1921 

 had apparently spread all over that state except along the northern border. 



According to the reports available it was first noticed in Massachusetts in 

 the fall of 1922 in small numbers in the vicinity of Huntington and Chesterfield 

 and also at Amherst. In the opinion of Mr. B. A. Porter, of the U.S. Bureau 

 of Entomology, it had probably been present in the first two above-mentioned 

 localities for a year or two. At Amherst the abundance of moths was probably 

 due to a migrating flight northward from Connecticut. In New York, 1922 saw 

 the extension of the range of the pest northward into Albany and Rensselaer 



