GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 33 



of other caterpillars in Europe, but these records are known to 

 be erroneous in part, and all are likely to be so. As stated just 

 above, there are numerous other species which are easily con- 

 fused with it, but none of them appear to attack the gypsy moth ; 

 and, vice versa, absolute proof that the Glyptapanteles of the 

 gypsy ever attacks any other host is at present lacking. 



It is one of the most important parasites, perhaps the most im- 

 portant, and fills a gap in the sequence which it will be exceed- 

 ingly hard to fill should it fail to become established. If it 

 demonstrates its ability to live in America, it is safe to say that 

 the greatest and most-feared of all of the obstacles to success 

 will prove to be nonexistent. 



BlepJiaripa scutellata. 



Blepharipa belongs to a diiferent order of insects, the Dip- 

 tera, which consists of the true flies, while the egg parasites and 

 Glyptapanteles belong to the order Hymenoptera, and are more 

 nearly related to the bees and \*^asps. The latter are character- 

 ized by four membranous wings, while Blepharipa has but two 

 wings, and is the first of the several parasites which will be 

 mentioned which belongs to the family Tachinidse of order Dip- 

 tera. The Dipterous parasites of the gypsy moth and of the 

 brown-tail moth are all members of this family, and will fre- 

 quently be referred to as the Tachinid parasites, in contradis- 

 tinction to the Hymenopterous parasites. 



The Tachinid parasites, as a class, differ markedly in their 

 manner of life from the Hymenoptel'pus, but not all of them to 

 quite the extent of the one under consideration (Fig. 10). It 

 attacks the gypsy moth during several of the caterpillar stages, 

 but instead of depositing its eggs within the body of the host, 

 they are deposited upon leaves of trees infested by the cater- 

 pillars. They are exceedingly minute, black and shining, and 

 one fly can lay many thousands. When eaten by a caterpillar 

 big enough not to crush them in the process they hatch almost 

 immediately into tiny maggots, which pierce the walls of the 

 alimentary canal and lodge themselves in the fatty tissue of the 

 caterpillar's body. They grow slowly, and invariably, if para- 

 sitism is successful, the caterpillar pupates. When the moth 

 would have been about ready to issue, had the pupa been healthy, 



