IMPORTATION AND HANDLING OP PARASITE MATERIAL. 155 



JAPANESE IMPORTATIONS. 



It lias already been told how Prof. Kincaid spent the summer of 

 1908 in Japan in the interests of the parasite work. While there, in 

 cooperation with the Japanese entomologists, he evolved a wholly 

 new method for the transportation of the immature caterpillars of 

 the gipsy moth, which would have been applicable in the case of 

 European importations if it had seemed to be worth while to con- 

 tinue these importations in 1909. Large oblong wooden boxes hav- 

 ing a capacity of about 1J cubic feet were used. Like all the boxes 

 received from Japan, they were most excellently constructed of a 

 sort of wood which was less affected by dampness than most. 

 The success of the work was very largely dependent upon both the 

 character of the wood and the excellence of construction. It is cer- 

 tain that ordinary packing boxes would have warped to such an 

 extent as to permit the escape of the small caterpillars. 



These boxes (see PL V, fig. 2) were first lined with several thick- 

 nesses of absorbent paper, which was then thoroughly dampened. 

 Small branches of a species of Alnus were attached to the sides, so 

 that the interior was a mass of green foliage; the caterpillars to the 

 number of several hundred were introduced, the cover tightly attached, 

 and the whole sent in cold storage from Yokohama to Boston with 

 scarcely an interruption en route. Sometimes the ends of the 

 branches were thrust into a piece of succulent root (radish or potato), 

 but this proved unnecessary, and rather a detriment than otherwise. 



The condition of these boxes on receipt was usually good, and in 

 some instances surprising. In some of the best of them scarcely a 

 leaf was withered or even discolored, and in one in particular it 

 seemed almost as though the branches had been freshly collected, 

 with the early morning dew still clinging to the leaves. This illusion 

 was almost instantly destroyed, for within an hour practically every 

 leaf had dropped from the stem and was already beginning to blacken, 

 as though struck by a sudden blight. 



There was a good deal of difference in the condition of the cater- 

 pillars. Those which had been shipped in the second and third stages 

 almost invariably arrived in the best condition. There was scarcely 

 any mortality en route, and plrysically they were all in perfect health 

 and ready to feed voraciously. Larger caterpillars did not survive 

 their journey so well, and among those that had reached the fifth 

 stage there was always a heav} r mortality, and the survivors were 

 never very healthy and would mostly die without feeding. It would 

 appear that they were so heavy as to be thrown to the bottom of the 

 box while dormant through cold, and thus become injured. 



While technically a success, these attempts were practically fail- 

 ures. No parasites were secured in anything more than the most 



