NARRATIVE OF PROGRESS OF WORK. 57 
After Portici, Florence was visited, where a conference was held 
with Prof. A. Berlese, of the Royal Station of Agricultural Ento- 
mology, and his assistants, Drs. Del Guercio and Ribaga. It seemed 
that no occurrences of either the gipsy moth or the brown-tail moth 
were known that season in Tuscany or adjoining portions of Italy. 
Prof. Berlese spoke of the destruction of an outbreak of the gipsy 
moth in southern Italy some years previously by a disease which 
he considered to be identical with the pébrine of the domestic silk- 
worm. He promised to keep up a watch for occurrences of the 
pests and wherever possible to assist in the introduction of parasites. 
A few days were then spent in Lombardy, searching for the larve 
of either of the injurious species, but without success. Then, pro- 
ceeding to Vienna, the celebrated Natural History Museum was 
visited and the - well-known curator of Lepidoptera, Dr. Hans 
Rebel, was interviewed. Dr. Rebel stated that both the gipsy 
moth and the brown-tail moth were to be found rather commonly 
in parts of Austria, and it was decided to employ a professional 
collector to assist in the work of shipping larve to Boston. Upon 
Dr. Rebel’s recommendation, Mr. Fritz Wagner was employed. 
Mr. Wagner was and is a resident of Vienna, is well versed in the 
subject of European butterflies and moths, and perfectly familiar 
with all the best collecting places for many miles about Vienna. 
Mr. Wagner accompanied the writer on several expeditions. The 
first trip was taken to the suburbs of Vienna, and there the first 
European specimen of the gipsy-moth larva was found. It was 
resting on the trunk of a locust tree by the side of the street, and 
further examination showed that there were a hundred or more 
caterpillars on the trunk and limbs of the same tree. There was 
some evidence of parasitism, and the white cocoons of a microgaster 
parasite (Apanteles fulipes Hal.) were found here and there in 
the crevices of the bark. This particular tree and another one, 
to be mentioned later, indicate very well the condition of the gipsy 
moth in Europe. A hundred nearly full-grown larvee were present, 
but there was hardly any evidence of defoliation. A trained ento- 
mologist walking by the tree would not have noticed that insects 
had been feeding upon it to any serious extent. On the other 
hand, a similar tree in any of the small towns about Boston would 
have carried not 100 larve, but probably some thousands, and at 
that time of the year would hardly have had a whole leaf. These 
specimens were collected and sent to Boston. 
Later a trip was taken into the country to the battlefield of Wa- 
gram, and here on two roadside poplars was found another colony of 
the caterpillars ranging in size from the second stage to full-grown 
larve. There was here more extensive evidence of parasitism by 
