April, '15] 



SHERMAN: 



ARMY-WORM PARASITES 



299 



About two years after this work was done it was found that this is 

 about the regular formula for the manufacture of soft soap from cotton 

 seed oil, as given in various publications. This formula can also be 

 changed so that it will contain from 43 to 50 per cent of oil and the 

 product resulting ^dll be quite satisfactory. 



The experiments so far indicate that this soap can be used as a 

 substitute for fish oil soap and we would recommend that entomolo- 

 gists try this for greenhouse plants and other plants where the people 

 object to the odor of fish oil soap. 



REARING OF MOTHS AND TACHINA-FLIES FROM LARV^ 

 AND PUP^ OF ARMY-WORM IN NORTH 

 CAROLINA IN 1914 



By Feaxklin Sher:\iax, Jr., Entomologist, State Department of Agriculture, 



Raleigh, N. C. 



In Vol. 1, p. 354 of this Journal, Prof. Z. P. Metcalf gives data on 

 parasitism of army-worm (Heliophila unipuncta Haw.) by the Ta- 

 china-fly {Winthemia 4-pustulata Fabr.). His data was secured from 

 worms collected during an outbreak at Durham, N. C, in August, 1908. 



On July 29, 1914, the writer, with Mr. C. L. Metcalf, collected many 

 army-worms {H. unipuncta) near Xeuse, N. C, thirteen miles north 

 of Raleigh. These were sorted into lots according to the number of 

 parasitic eggs we could detect on each worm, and rearings were made 

 (1) by placing numbers of sinwlarly parasitized worms in the same 

 cages and (2) by placing individual worms in separate vial-cages. 



All cages had one to three inches of moist sifted earth, and plenty 

 of fresh grass supplied so long as needed. Examinations were made 

 almost daily while developments were taking place. From the way 

 in which healthy wwms fed and grew I believe that few died from the 

 handhng or artificial conditions, though the mortality was high even 

 among those not apparently infested with insect parasites. 



From 534 army-wwms, showing 1,313 parasitic eggs, we reared a 

 total of 18 adult moths, and 296 parasitic flies, these representing 220 

 Winthemia 4-pustiilata Fabr. (which was the only one reared by Prof. 

 Metcalf in 1908), 4^ Phorocera claripennis Macq., and 4 Goniomyia 

 unifasciata Desv., while 25 flies were mutilated, deformed and not 

 identifiable (these were in all probability of the first two species named 

 in this paragraph). 1 



It was found that the larvae of W. J/--P'ustulata left the dead larval 

 host and went deeper into the soil (f to IJ inches) to form their puparia. 

 In no case where this fly issued did the host form the pupa, though the 



^ Not taking into account a number of Sarcophagid flies which emerged in the larger 

 cages. 



