306 PARASITES OF GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 



may depend upon the establishment, not of the most important 

 among the parasites and other natural enemies, but of a group or 

 sequence of species which will work together harmoniously toward 

 the common end. Viewed in this light, the importance of parasites 

 which otherwise might be considered as of minor interest is greatly 

 enhanced. 



It is impracticable to determine certain facts in the life and habits 

 of those parasites which have been colonized under conditions 

 believed but not known to be satisfactory. Further detailed knowl- 

 edge is necessary before we can judge whether the circumstances sur- 

 rounding colonization were in truth the best that could be devised. 

 Furthermore, so long as original research is confined to the study of 

 material collected by foreign agents, some of whom are technically 

 untrained, it is practically impossible to secure the evidence necessary 

 to refute published statements concerning the importance of certain 

 parasites abroad which the results of first-hand investigations have 

 not served to confirm. It is believed that these statements are 

 largely based upon false premises, but should this belief prove un- 

 grounded it would mean that there are important parasites abroad 

 of winch little or nothing is known first-hand. 



A determined effort was made in 1910 to better the deficiencies in 

 the foreign service without going to the lengths of adopting a radically 

 changed policy, but the results were not satisfactory. Lack of 

 assurance that a continuation of the work in 1911 along similar lines 

 would bring more favorable results made its continuation inadvisable. 

 It therefore became a question of adopting new and radically different 

 methods in so far as the foreign service was concerned. 



In favor of a policy of inactivity was the prospect of an imme- 

 diate reduction, as opposed to an increase, in expenditures should 

 renewed activity be decided upon. There was the chance that the 

 parasites already introduced and colonized would be sufficient to 

 meet the demands of the situation. 



On the other hand, the vast majority of defoliating native insects, 

 which rarely or never become so abundant as to be considered injuri- 

 ous, prove upon investigation to support a parasitic fauna similar 

 in all its essential characteristics to that supported by the gipsy 

 moth in countries where it is similarly a pest at very rare intervals 

 or not at all. 



Parasitism appears to be unique among the many factors of con- 

 trol, in that no other agency similarly increases in efficiency in direct 

 proportion as the efficiency of other agencies, such as climatic con- 

 ditions, miscellaneous predators, etc., diminishes. In short, the 

 apparent importance of parasitism as a factor in the natural control 

 of defoliating insects has been decidedly enhanced as a result of 

 these more or less technical and intensive studies. It can be said 



