NAREATIVE OF PROGRESS OF WORK. 57 



After Portici, Florence was visited, where a conference was held 

 with Prof. A. Berlese, of the Royal Station of Agricultural Ento- 

 mology, and his assistants, Drs. Del Guercio and Ribaga. It seemed 

 that no occurrences of either the gipsy moth or the brown-tail moth 

 were known that season in Tuscany or adjoining portions of Italy. 

 Prof. Berlese spoke of the destruction of an outbreak of the gipsy 

 moth in southern Italy some years previously by a disease which 

 he considered to be identical with the pebrine of the domestic silk- 

 worm. He promised to keep up a watch for occurrences of the 

 pests and wherever possible to assist in the introduction of parasites. 

 A few days were then spent in Lombardy, searching for the larvae 

 of either of the injurious species, but without success. Then, pro- 

 ceeding to Vienna, the celebrated Natural History Museum was 

 visited and the well-known curator of Lepidoptera, Dr. Hans 

 Rebel, was interviewed. Dr. Rebel stated that both the gips} 7 " 

 moth and the brown-tail moth were to be found rather commonly 

 in parts of Austria, and it was decided to employ a professional 

 collector to assist in the work of shipping larvae to Boston. Upon 

 Dr. Rebel's recommendation, Mr. Frita Wagner was employed. 

 Mr. Wagner was and is a resident of Vienna, is well versed in the 

 subject of European butterflies and moths, and perfectly familiar 

 with all the best collecting places for many miles about Vienna. 

 Mr. Wagner accompanied the writer on several expeditions. The 

 first trip was taken to the suburbs of Vienna, and there the first 

 European specimen of the gipsy-moth larva was found. It was 

 resting on the trunk of a locust tree by the side of the street, and 

 further examination showed that there were a hundred or more 

 caterpillars on the trunk and limbs of the same tree. There was 

 some evidence of parasitism, and the white cocoons of a microgaster 

 parasite (Apanteles fulvipes Hal.) were found here and there in 

 the crevices of the bark. This particular tree and another one, 

 to be mentioned later, indicate very well the condition of the gipsy 

 moth in Europe. A hundred nearly full-grown larvae were present, 

 but there was hardly any evidence of defoliation. A trained ento- 

 mologist walking by the tree would not have noticed that insects 

 had been feeding upon it to any serious extent. On the other 

 hand, a similar tree in any of the small towns about Boston would 

 have carried not 100 larvae, but probably some thousands, and at 

 that time of the year would hardly have had a whole leaf. These 

 specimens were collected and sent to Boston. 



Later a trip was taken into the country to the battlefield of Wa- 

 gram, and here on two roadside poplars was found another colony of 

 the caterpillars ranging in size from the second stage to full-grown 

 larvae. There was here more extensive evidence of parasitism by 



