622 
The insects are packed in colonies on 
an average of 33,000 to each colony. They 
are distributed in various ways; the small 
individual colonies being sent: direct to 
the applicants, while large consignments 
intended to cover an entire district, such 
as the Imperial valley, are usually pre- 
ceded by an agent from the Insectary, who 
figures out the acreage and prorates the 
amount that can be supplied to each 
grower or association, and personally at- 
tends to the distributing of the colonies. 
Last season’s crop (1912) was excep- 
tionally large, and when massed at the 
state Insectary, just prior to the actual 
shipping season, this lot of insect friends, 
combined with all the other various spe- 
cies of beneficial insects propagated at 
the Insectary, constituted what was un- 
doubtedly the largest number of beneficial 
insects ever assembled at one place in 
the history of the world. 
Many other species of ladybirds, both 
native and imported, are propagated, col- 
lected and distributed into the various 
fruit growing sections of California to 
assist our growers in maintaining the 
continuous warfare against the inroads of 
destructive forms. 
Other species belonging to the Hyme- 
noptera (four-winged flies) and Diptera 
(two-winged flies) have proven of in- 
calculable benefit to the grower of fruit 
in this state, as well as various species 
of Syrphus flies, Lace-wing flies and 
Tachinid flies. 
A few of the more important species, 
with explanatory notes accompanied by 
illustrations, will give a general idea of 
the scope of the work and the variety of 
forms handled. 
The work of propagating the various 
species calls for ingenuity of the highest 
order in every case. With no precedent 
to be guided by, methods and apparatus 
have to be improvised as we go along. 
The artificial propagation work has not 
resolved itself into any systematic ar- 
rangement, except: Try to produce arti- 
ficially, conditions as near natural as pos- 
sible in which to propagate your species. 
While the work of the California State 
Insectary has made wonderful progress 
in the few years it has been commer- 
cially established, we are only at the 
threshold of the science and undoubtedly 
the future will show even greater prog- 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
ress than has the past, at least, that is 
the sincere wish of the first and only 
superintendent of the California State 
Insectary. 
The Codling Moth Parasite 
Caliephialtes messor 
This insect is a member of the Ichneu- 
monidae, a parasitic family of the Hy- 
pee ee ESIC 
Fig. 19. The Codling Moth Parasite (Callie- 
phialtes  messor Gray. [Family  Ichneu- 
monidae]). The minute eggs deposited in 
the cocoons of the codling moth are shiny 
white, almost transparent in color and long 
and narrow, with one end slightly enlarged. 
The adults are very active, four-winged para- 
sites, averaging three-eighths of an inch in 
length, exclusive of the ovipositor which is 
slightly longer than the body in the females. 
The males are slightly smaller. The gen- 
eral color is black with reddish-yellow legs. 
The female, with her long ovipositor, inserts 
an egg into the cocoon of the codling moth. 
In a few days this egg hatches into a small, 
legless grub, which begins to feed upon the 
larva. The subsequent development is very 
rapid and at the end of from nine to sixteen 
days the larva spins a cocoon within the old 
shell and after another like period emerges 
as an adult. The males emerge first and 
await the females, when mating occurs and 
the life cycle repeated; the females continu- 
ally searching for cocoons into which to de- 
posit their supply of eggs. This parasite was 
discovered in Southern Europe by George 
Compere, who collected large numbers and 
sent them to the State Insectary some eight 
years ago. During this period the Insectary 
has been breeding and sending it out to all 
parts of California where the codling moth 
is a factor in fruit growing. It was espe- 
cially thoroughly distributed in the central 
and southern parts. The larvae enclosed in 
the cocoons are the only stages of the cod- 
ling moth attacked. These are carefully 
searched out by the females which have a 
wonderful instinct to locate them as well as 
to ascertain whether they have already been 
parasitized or not. 
