IMPORTATION AND HANDLING OF PARASITE MATERIAL. 153 



ciation must be said for the wonderful care with which the Japanese 

 entomologists packed the egg masses for shipment. Good-sized and 

 wonderfully well-constructed wooden boxes were used and each mass 

 was wrapped separately in a small square of soft rice paper. 



Considering the ease with which egg masses of the gipsy moth 

 ought, theoretically, to be obtained and shipped to the laboratory, 

 the number received in response to the requests which were made for 

 their collection and shipment was astonishingly small during the 

 first two winters. Up to that time only a very few dead parasites 

 of an undescribed genus and species had been received from 

 Japan, and none at all had issued from any of the few European 

 importations. 



In 1908 the several lots of eggs were placed in small tube cages of 

 the ordinary type and the caterpillars killed as they issued. Some 

 time after the eggs had hatched a few parasites began to appear 

 simultaneously from the European and Japanese material, which 

 proved upon examination to be Anastatus hifasciatus in each instance. 

 Later a few TyndaricJius navse were reared from the Japanese eggs 

 and supposed, rightly enough, to be secondary, although probably 

 not, as at first supposed, upon Anastatus. This hyperparasitism 

 was by no means certain, and it was resolved to determine the fact 

 definitely the following fall and winter, provided additional importa- 

 tions could be secured. The desired material was imported and an 

 exhaustive study of the parasites which were present was made, with 

 the result that the five species were reared and their host relations as 

 well as their relations one to another definitely determined. The 

 execution of this project proved to be much more tedious than was 

 expected, and was, in fact, the feature of that winter's work. Fur- 

 ther mention of the investigation will appear in the discussion of 

 Schedius Icuvanx. 



In the spring of 1907 an attempt was made to import the cater- 

 pillars of the gipsy moth in their first instar, and a considerable num- 

 ber was received from several different localities. The experiment 

 was not a success and was not repeated. The mortality was heavy 

 en route and only a small proportion of the caterpillars would feed 

 after receipt. Some few were carried through to maturity, but no 

 parasites were reared. 



It is very probable that if recourse were had to cold storage, 

 caterpillars could very successfully be transported in this stage, but 

 the importation of slightly larger caterpillars indicates that the per- 

 centage of parasitism would average to be very small at the best, and 

 it is probable that the best would rarely be achieved. 



