Mountain Home maverick. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1906-1911, 1910-09-01

INFESTED eggs. On Single JIdH'H out
of eleven eggs counted 10 were black
ened. A few days later a count in or
chards in the direction of Fruta show
ed as high a percentage of damaged /
eggs. On August 2nd, fully forty af-
fected eggs were found in the L. X.
Davis orchard northeast of town. On I
the same afternoon IN the Knowles I
orchard toward Clifton on the lower
trees bearing fee fruits a remarkable I
high percentage of damaged eggs /
were found.
Out Of 10 eggs counted by Mr..
Weldon and myself 154 were found
to be blackened by the parasite and
only 16 were of narmal appearance.
In other words only ga per cent of
healthy appearing eggs were upon
the tree and some of these kept UNI
der observation since collected have
developed the characteristic blacken-
ed parasitied color About a single
apple. either upon its sides or upon
leaves borne nearby, 23 codling moth
eggs were counted which had been
blackened and destroyed by this par
asite. Not a single egg was found IN
this case Eleven parasitized eggs
we're found upon single leaf.
The sly little bee searches out a
freshly laid cooling moth egg, pierces
the upper shell with its Ovipositor,
depositing its eggs within the tissues
of the egg. The eggs of the parasite
hatch in about AS hours and the pee
. larvae proceed TO devOur the contents
, of the cooling moth egg, causing IL
to turn to the unnatural black color.
! After grown the bee cuts an aperture
, through The outer shell and energies
as microscopic but full hedged in
sect.
This condition of parasiteism IS
quite general throughout the Grand
. valley at this time and is doing IN
calcuable good That the parasite IN
I creased this year over what 1t has
formerly been ] am sure. The writer
was the first to discover the chalclt
4 narasite in the western slope orchards
! i'm 1906. Blackened eggs We're collect
/, ed and bees reared-in one case three
4 bees emerging from single egg
n In the summer of 1907 few were al
! so discovered, but were by no means
l. as abundant as this ear.
The benent thus far has come prln
II cipally during the later period o
= second brooding cooling moth eggs
l. but this benefit is going TO De ap
- preciable for the balance of the sea
e son and the influence of the parasit
/ will inquest. onably be felt the fol
lowing year. If by either natural D
p artificial means the miniature bee
- could be induced to begin their wor
o upon the first brood eggs as the
v have upon the second brood eggs TIM
e year the spraying for codling mot
worms would soon become torgo'
p, ten art.
~ The species is not new. being mrs
is discovered by Prof. Comstock in tn
i, south in 1878 as a parasite upon col
20 ton worm eggs. Riley. the govern
In ment entomologist, gave the inse'
3 the name Trichogramma pretiosa
~ 1873. In 1881 in Florida. Hubbar
al reported over so per cent OF lal
e. brood cotton worm eggs We're kille
by it. 1t is also an egg parasite upo
the cotton ball worm, the currai
saw-hy and a moth whose larva II
fects the orange. Koebele found IN
III bee parasitizing codlng moth egs
ee i'm California in 1889 and in SO
h. Prof. Slingerland found them attacl
-, ing cooling moth eggs in New Hor