NARRATIVE OF PROGRESS OF WORK. 81 



main forest, where the open grass-covered ground did not offer suf- 

 I ficient concealment for the beetles. 



The principal check to the depredations of the caterpillars of the 

 gipsy moth in this forest came with the advent of the tachinids, the 

 latter appearing upon the scene after the trees had been almost or 

 entirely defoliated. Chalcid flies also appeared at this time, but not 

 in considerable numbers. The species of Limnerium, a few speci- 

 mens of which had been previously received from Russia, and of 

 which it had been hoped to secure a supply for transfer to America, 

 proved to be exceedingly rare, only three specimens being found. 

 The larva of this parasite on emerging from its host spins an elongated 

 silken thread, at the end of which it spins a cocoon and transforms 

 to the pupal state. 



Considerable numbers of the cocoons of Apanteles solitarius were 

 collected from the forest, from the extensive orchards of the neigh- 

 borhood, and from clumps of willow bushes conmonly found at the 

 edges of fields. For several weeks shipments were made almost 

 daily to Hamburg, from which port the packages were shipped in 

 cold storage to New York. Many difficulties arose in attempting to 

 make rapid shipments. The postal connections were very unsatis- 

 factory and caused annoying delays, while at the German frontier 

 another cause for loss of time developed through the formalities of 

 the customs authorities of the German Government. 



The brown-tail moth seemed to be quite uncommon in the region 

 about Bendery, and no parasites were observed upon the small num- 

 ber of larvae collected at this point. 



Since it seemed desirable to cover as extensive a territory as pos- 

 sible during the season, the writer, leaving an assistant in charge of 

 the laboratory and collecting organization at Bendery, journeyed 

 northward on June 17 and established a new center of exploration at 

 the city of Kief, in the province of the same name. Through the 

 courtesy of Prof. Waldemar Pospielow the writer was furnished with 

 much valuable information in regard to the forests of this portion of 

 Russia and concerning the areas in which the gipsy moth was known 

 to exist. Several immense forested areas were traversed, but as they 

 were for the most part purely coniferous in character the gipsy moth 

 appeared to be quite a rare insect. Through information supplied 

 by Prof. Pospielow it was ascertained that at Mechnigori, a monas- 

 terial institution on the banks of the Dnieper, several hours by 

 steamer from Kief, an area of woodland existed which was infested 

 to a moderate extent by caterpillars of the gipsy moth, among which 

 the parasites were reported to be much in evidence. A visit to the 

 locality showed an interesting condition. The monastery was sur- 

 rounded by beautiful groves of elm and oak trees in which the gipsy 

 moth had made considerable inroads, but the parasites had developed 

 to a sufficient extent to practically clear the foliage of caterpillars. 

 Almost the sole agency in bringing about this condition was Apan- 

 teles rufipes, which attacks the larvae of the gipsy moth in a manner 

 closely resembling Apanteles japonicus, as observed during the pre- 

 ceding season in Japan, but in the case of the latter the caterpillars 

 usually die upon the leaves of the trees, whereas in the former the 

 caterpillars descend to the trunk and lower branches to form colonies. 

 On emerging from the caterpillars the parasites spin cocoons beneath 



95677°— Bull. 91—11 6 



