
a G6 om 
In connection with work on the sugarcane borer (Diatraea saccharalis 
Fab.), by T. E. Holloway and W. E. Haley at New Orleans, La., Mr. Holloway 
says: "The final totals for 1931 on foreign parasite introduction can now 
be given. Of the fly Paratheresia claripalpis Wulp, 444,017 puparia were 
received from H. A. Jaynes, located At Trujillo, Peru; 5,000 puparia were 
given to the European corn borer laboratory. Of the remaining 439,017, 
we obtained 65,842 adults, or an emergence of practically 15 per cent. 
Flies were released at twelve Louisiana sugar plantations, from less than 
1,000 to more than 12,000 being released at each place. * * * Of the wasp 
Ipobracon rimac Wolcott, 38,063 adults were received. Of these, 13,458 
reached us alive. giving a survival of 355.5 per cent; 13,227 wasps were 
released on two Louisiana sugar plantations." 
Mr. Holloway states that: "A feature of the year's work was the per-— 
fecting of a shipping cage for Ipobracon which gave a maximum survival of 
over 90 per cent for the six-day trip by airplane and train from Trujillo, 
Peru, to New Orleans. * * * As described in our report for July the success— 
ful shipping cage was a crate 5-3/8 inches by 8-3/4 inches by 10-3/4 inches. 
The ends, top, and bottom were of solid wood, while four slats were nailed 
on each side. Each side was covered on the inside with wire screen and 
black cloth. The wasps were provided with sugar and a specially devised con- 
tainer for water. One thousand wasps were sent in such a cage." 
H. L. Parker, of Hyéres, Var, France, reports the successful termina- 
tion of the season's earwig work as follows: "A total of 140,000 earwigs 
have been collected from the various European regions as follows: Bergamo, 
Italy, 110,000; England, 20;000; Nice, France, 5,000; northern France 
(Paris), 3,000. The greater part of these have already been sent to Ar- 
lington in small boxes via parcel post, where they will be inspected and 
forwarded to Mr. Crumb, Puyallup, Wash. The earwigs (about 200 per sack) 
were placed in small canvas sacks and the open end sewed down. These 
sacks were placed in small wooden boxes, (two per box). Food consisting of 
cream of wheat, bananas, and crushed Pyrausta larvae, pressed into a small 
cake, was added to each sack to supply nourishment en route:" 
H. K. Painter, of the Lafayette, Ind., laboratory, reports that "de- 
termination of parasites reared from Phytonomus nigrirostris Fab. (the les- 
ser clover-leaf weevil) collected last spring at Roanoke, Ind., showed them 
to be Microbracon tachypteri Mues. This species was received from Utah in 
1926 and liberated near Lafayette, but it may have been present here before 
that time." 
J. R. Horton and H. H. Walkden, of the Wichita, Kans., laboratory, 
present an interesting report on the effect of soil moisture on the Hessian 
fly and its parasites, covering the post-harvest period July to. September, 
inclusive. The summary covers data secured from two strips, both receiving 
the natural precipitation of 9.5 inches—-"of such poor distribution that 
it constituted in effect a period of drought in which the soil was dry, 
hard, and hot." One of the strips, however, was given irrigation and "dur- 
ing this period * * * received 6 applications of water averaging 5.05 inches 
each, so distributed as to prevent the soil from becoming thoroughly dry for 
any prolonged period and maintaining soil temperatures several degrees 
lower (than the other) throughout the 90 days. During that time periodical 
examinations were made of the puparia--nearly 800 from each strip--and the 
