620 MISC. PUBLICATION 657, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
years no more than 2 to 10 percent of the annual crop is destroyed. 
In some years 40 percent of the white fir seed crop in Oregon and 
California have been destroyed. 
Control of seed chalcids appears to be impractical in the growing 
seed crop. Fumigation of stored seed will not prevent the damage 
that has already developed during the growing period, but it has 
been recommended as a measure to prevent carrying the infestation 
into localities where the seeds are to be planted. 
1: /) | y, 
o= Ly) fit / 
AAC If / . 
Ley, / / 
i set if y 
f i fips 
/ RB AY / Y, 
os : 
wi) 
oS 
+ 
Ficure 190.—WVegastigmus albifrons: A and B, Adult ovipositing through small 
green cones into seeds. (After Edmonston.) 
SuperFAMILY SHRPHOIDEA 
Most of the members of this superfamily are small insects, black 
or brown without metallic luster. The pronotum extends back to 
the tegulae, the trochanters are two-jointed (except in the Pelecin- 
idae), and the ovipositor issues from the apex of the abdomen. The 
wings exhibit great diversity of venation, many forms are almost 
veinless, and apterous species are common. Ashmead (4) gave a gen- 
eral classification of the group in 1893. Nine or ten families are 
