18 BULLETIN" 1028, U. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE. 
very dry and shriveled, and indicated that death might have been 
due to lack of moisture within the capsules. 
Xo colonies were liberated in 1914, as no importations were made 
and the parasite had not been sufficiently well established to furnish 
colonization material. 
All Apanfeles melanoscelus liberated since 1913 have been put 
out while in the cocoon and have been of the summer-issuing 
generation. Most of these colonies have contained 500 cocoons. In 
liberating a colony the cocoons are taken to the field and emptied 
into a small cylindrical can, which is then nailed to a tree in an in- 
conspicuous place. A cover is placed on the can to protect the 
cocoons from rain and birds. The adults escape through three 
J-inch holes punched in the can near the top. The size of the can is 
not especially important, but a convenient can used at the laboratory 
is 3 inches in height and 2 inches in diameter. It is necessary to place 
a band of tree-banding material entirely around the can to prevent 
ants from destroying the colony. 
In selecting sites for colonies, woodland areas with a light to 
medium gipsy-moth infestation are preferable. Heavily infested ter- 
ritory which is apt to be stripped of its foliage should be avoided. 
After the colony has been liberated a roadside tree is marked in 
white paint with an arrow pointing to the colony and the letters A. M. 
In the woodland near the exact spot of the colony a tree is banded 
with white paint. These field marks are made so that the place can 
be found later if desired. At the same time a numbered note is 
written for the laboratory files which explains the condition at the 
colony site and gives directions for finding the colony. 
The colonies have been placed in groups of towns, one colony in 
each town, as shown in the accompanying map (PL IV). This 
method of liberating colonies was used because the parasite disperses 
rapidly and there was considerable chance that small colonies would 
not become established if they were placed singly at widely separated 
locations. In this way several rather large areas, from which the 
parasite can spread to the surrounding towns, have become well 
stocked. 
METHODS USED TO OBTAIN MATERIAL FOR COLONIZATION. 
The story of the introduction of A. melanoscelus and the colonies 
liberated from the imported material has been recorded earlier in 
this paper. Two methods have been used to get material for coloniza- 
tion since the establishment of the parasite in New England — first, by 
rearing the parasite from field-collected gipsy-moth larvae, and, sec- 
ond, by breeding the parasite at the laboratory. 
The first method consists merely of making collections of large 
numbers of second-stage gipsy-moth larvae from locations where the 
parasite is present in sufficient numbers to warrant such collections. 
