EXTENT OF GIPSY-MOTH PAKASITISM ABKOAD. 127 



tion of which had gone through to pupation, and everywhere the 

 number of fresh egg masses was very much smaller than was that of 

 the old. Nowhere was there evidence of parasitism by Apanteles 

 fulvipes to anything like the extent which prevailed in the vicinity of 

 Kief. Cocoon masses were occasionally found, nearly always old, 

 sometimes very old and so discolored as to be with difficulty dis- 

 tinguished from the bark to which they were attached. In Kief the 

 number of cocoon masses was everywhere in considerable excess over 

 the number of egg masses. Here the number of egg masses was enor- 

 mously in excess of the number of cocoon masses. 



Examination of the pupal shells for evidences of parasitism was 

 unavailing. It could be said with assurance that pupal parasites 

 were certainly not common and that the death of the pup as (for pro- 

 portionately very few of them hatched) was not due to any of the 

 pupal parasites which were known from western European localities. 

 The earth beneath the cocoon masses was examined for evidences of 

 tachinid puparia. For a time none was found, but search was finally 

 rewarded by the discovery of BlepTiaripa scutellata in most extraor- 

 dinary abundance in a single one among the numerous localities 

 visited. This particular forest, which was very near to the village 

 of Rhijhof and about 8 miles from Kharkof, was unique among the 

 others visited in the variety of its trees. The soil was rich, the trees 

 were larger, and the undergrowth was more abundant and varied, 

 but at the same time there was less diversity than was encountered 

 in the forest at Mishighari. Unfortunately, the presence of the 

 puparia could not be considered as of much significance, because they 

 were practically all hatched and obviously dated back more than one 

 year. The parasite had surely not been responsible for the reduction 

 in numbers of the gipsy moth which had taken place in the season of 

 1910, and neither had it prevented the moth from increasing to such 

 numbers as to bring about partial defoliation of the forest in 1910 

 before disaster in one form or another had overtaken it. 



Of other tachinids there were practically none, and it is certain that 

 they would have been found had they been present. Compsilura 

 concinnata is even now so abundant as a parasite of the gipsy moth in 

 Massachusetts as to bring about an appreciable percentage of destruc- 

 tion in 1910, and its puparia are recovered from the field with ease. 

 Had it been one-tenth as common in Russia it could not have failed 

 of detection. The same is true of Tachina, which, although it effects 

 a parasitism of less than 1 per cent in Massachusetts, is not difficult 

 of detection, and it is safe to say that not much if any more than this 

 amount of parasitism prevailed in Kharkof. All told, not enough 

 parasites were found to indicate that they had played any important 

 part in the reduction of the moth from a serious menace to the well- 



