1 Pee 
Extermination of the western pine beetle impracticable.--P. C. John- 
son, Berkeley, Calif. reports progress on an experiment "planned in 1928 
to try out the possibility of éxterminating the western pine beetle under 
conditions where it is necessary for the insects coming in from outside 
infestations to fly several miles to reinfest the control area. ‘The area 
has been worked annually for five seasons at the expense of the Bureau. 
Results to date show that the volume of timber killed annually by insects 
has remained at about the same level, regardless of control work; that 
the composition of the infestation has been changed from one composed 
primarily of D. brevicomis to one in which Melanophila, or flathead bor- 
ers, predominate; and that the extent of reinfestation each year can be 
accounted for by the infestation missed through the technic of control 
work. From these results it appears that extermination is impracticable 
for the western pine beetle, but that its ability to maintain itself is 
due to faulty control methods and local conditions in the area, rather 
than to long flights, coming in from areas outside the control zone." 
More on winter kill of western pine beetle.--J. M. Miller, Berke- 
ley, Calif., reports further on the effects of the low temperatures of 
December 9 to 14, 1932, on broods of the western pine beetle. He states 
that on the basis of a kill of 64.4 percent "a decision was reached by 
the Forest Service to close down further control work, as infested trees 
containing two-thirds dead broods would have to be burned in order to 
kill the one-third of the beetle population estimated to have survived 
the freeze. A saving of approximately $14,000 in private and Federal funds 
was made as a result of this decision, a considerable part of which can 
now be released for urgently needed work in other heavily infested areas. 
* * * One unfortunate phase of the freeze was the kill of clerid preda- 
tors, which appear to have died in about the same ratio as the bark 
beetles." 

Parasitization of gipsy moth eggs.--J. A. Millar, Melrose Highlands, 
Mass., reports that he "has examined gipsy moth egg clusters collected in 
southeas tern Massachusetts, including Cape Cod, for evidence of parasiti- 
zation. He submits the following figures in this connection, including 
for comparison the results obtained in examining eggs collected in 193] 
in the same area: 

Egg Eggs Average Parasitization Parasitization 
clusters exan- eggs per by Anastatus by OQoencyrtus 
Year examined ined cluster disparis Ruschke kuvanae How. 
Number Number Number Percent Percent 
1932 PAE f 80,525 589 Ped Lee 
1931 210 97,500 464 19.4 so Fi 

The percentage of parasitization in these collections was considera— 
bly higher than in the collections made in 37 towns distributed through- 
out the infested New England area" (reported in the January Monthly Let-— 
ter). "In the collections from the 37 towns parasitization by A. dis- 
paris was 14.0 percent and by QO. kuvanae 1.3 percent. The average 
