Apr. 1,1925 
Two Imported Egg Parasites of the Gipsy Moth 
653 
named which have been collected in the 
field. The fact that it is possible for 
Schedius to reproduce on such a variety 
of host eggs is important, and it may 
yet be found parasitizing these and 
other lepidopterous eggs when condi¬ 
tions are favorable. 
SCHEDIUS AS A HYPERPARASITE ON 
APANTELES MELANOSCELUS RATZ 
One of the parasites of the gipsy moth 
which have been imported from Europe 
is Apanteles melanoscelus. Among 
87,000 cocoons of this species which 
have been collected during the last 
three years to be used in colonization 
work, 11 were found from which Sche¬ 
dius kuvanae had issued. These cocoons 
had been isolated in gelatin capsules, in 
which the Schedius were found. As a 
hyperparasite on A. melanoscelus, it 
often happens that more than one 
Schedius issues from a single cocoon; 
on one occasion 17 adult Schedius so 
issued. 
DEVELOPMENT OP SCHEDIUS ON LARVAE 
OP ANASTATUS 
Schedius developed on full-grown 
larvae of Anastatus bifasdatus in some 
of the gipsy-moth eggs introduced from 
Japan. Many attempts have been 
made at the laboratory to rear Schedius 
on gipsy-moth eggs which have been 
parasitized by Anastatus. It is sur¬ 
prising that in only one case has this 
resulted in producing a generation of 
Schedius. Many hundreds of thousands 
of field-collected gipsy-moth eggs have 
been examined with a binocular mi¬ 
croscope in the course of the work 
during the last 14 years, but there is 
no record of Schedius issuing from an 
egg which previously had contained 
Anastatus. In a few instances Sche¬ 
dius and Anastatus larvae have been 
found within the same egg, but in 
such cases neither has issued. 
These two parasites are not often 
found to be abundant in the same lo¬ 
cality. The examination of eggs of the 
gipsy moth usually shows one or the 
other in a great majority. In a few 
places both species are occasionally 
about equally represented. It .seems 
probable that in some areas these para¬ 
sites must conflict, but it is not ap¬ 
parent which one is the survivor. From 
the habits of the two species it would 
seem that Anastatus would suffer in an 
area where Schedius. is abundant. In 
laboratory experiments Schedius has 
been observed to oviposit in gipsy-moth 
eggs containing Anastatus, but these 
eggs have not developed except in very 
rare cases, and in those the Schedius 
have not issued. 
LATER REPRODUCTION WORK AND 
APPARATUS USED TO OBTAIN 
SCHEDIUS KUVANAE FOR COL¬ 
ONIZATION 
Many types of containers have been 
tried in the development of the present 
apparatus used for breeding Schedius. 
In the first work on reproduction, when 
very few Schedius were available, small 
glass vials (1 by 4 inches) containing a 
few gipsy-moth eggs were used. Later, 
as the Schedius became more abundant, 
a larger glass vial (8 by 2 inches; fig. 
3, c) was found more satisfactory. 
With the increase of the parasites 
wooden trays (14 by 14 by 2}/% inches) 
with glass tops and bottoms of cotton 
cloth were found to serve the purpose 
better. 
In August of each year a few gipsy- 
moth eggs were collected at locations 
where the parasite was present and 
placed in glass tubes (8 by 2 inches) for 
the issuance of Schedius. The tubes 
were examined often during the day 
and all of the adult Schedius were re¬ 
moved and transferred to the breeding 
trays, in which had previously been 
placed a supply of masses of gipsy- 
moth eggs. As the breeding work in¬ 
creased larger trays (5 feet long, 2 x /% 
feet wide, 3 inches deep) were used. 
These were lined with black paper and 
covered with white cotton cloth, but 
were not satisfactory, for if the paper 
broke, as it often did, many adult. 
Schedius, trying to get to the light, were 
caught between the paper and the 
cloth and died there. A very satisfac¬ 
tory tray has at last been developed 
(fig. 3, b ), made of matched boards of 
half-inch cypress with corners dove¬ 
tailed so as to be tight. The bottom 
and top are of the same material. The 
tray, by outside measurement, is 5 feet 
long, 2 feet wide, and 5 inches deep, 
and is painted on the inside with flat 
black paint. Two holes, each 12 inches 
square, are cut in the top, each halfway 
between the center and end of the tray, 
so that the eggs can be properly spread 
over the bottom and light may enter. 
The holes are covered with window 
glass. In the front of the tray are 19 
circular holes, 1 inch in diameter, 
usually kept closed with cork stoppers. 
During the latter part of August or 
early in September the bottoms of these 
trays are covered evenly with a half¬ 
inch layer of gipsy-moth eggs. The 
holes in the front of the trays are 
plugged with cork stoppers until it is 
necessary to draw out the Schedius. 
Then a few gipsy-moth eggs collected 
from places where Schedius are plenti¬ 
ful are placed in each tray. The trays 
