UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



BULLETIN No. 251 



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Contribution from the Bureau of Entomology 

 L. O. HOWARD, Chief 



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Washington, D. C. 



July 27, 1915. 



THE CALOSOMA BEETLE (CALOSOMA SYCO- 

 PHANTA) IN NEW ENGLAND. 



By A. F. Burgess, In Charge of Gipsy Moth and Brown-Tail Moth Investigations, 

 and C. W. Collins, Entomological Assistant. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Introduction 1 



Method of packing beetles for ship- 

 ment 2 



Native home of Calosoma syco- 

 phanta and hosts attached 3 



Investigational work on Calosoma 



sycophanta 3 



Equipment used for rearing preda- 



ceous beetles 4 



Page. 



Methods of rearing Calosoma beetle- 6 



Life history of Calosoma sycophanta- 7 



Natural enemies 18 



Colonization of Calosoma sycophanta- 19 

 Methods of securing data from field 



colonies 20 



Dispersion of Calosoma sycophanta- 21 

 Economic importance of Calosoma 



sycophanta 39 



INTRODUCTION. 



In the spring of 1905 an arrangement was made by the United 

 States Department of Agriculture to cooperate with the State of 

 Massachusetts in importing and establishing the natural enemies of 

 the gipsy moth and the brown-tail moth. Dr. L. O. Howard, Chief 

 of the Bureau of Entomology, supervised the work, and until Decem- 

 ber 1, 1911, this arrangement remained in force, the project being 

 financed jointly by the Bureau of Entomology and the State of 

 Massachusetts. Since 1912, owing to the fact that the scope of the 

 work involved nearly all of the New England States, these projects 

 have been carried on solely by the Bureau of Entomology. 



One of the natural enemies of the gipsy moth, which has long 

 been known in Europe as of prime importance, is a green beetle be- 



Note. — The writers wish to acknowledge their obligation to the members of the staff 

 "t the Gipsy Moth Laboratory for securing data and carrying on many of the experiments 

 which are only briefly alluded to in this publication. There is hardly a man who has been 

 corrected with the laboratory for the past seven years who has not assisted to a greater 

 or les^ extent in obtaining information and securing some of the results already men- 

 tioned. So many have assisted in this work that it is impossible to name each individual, 

 but the writers wish to express their appreciation to all those who have taken part in the 

 work. 



93012°— Bull. 251—15 1 



