Heterogenetic holocyclic species in Adelgidae consist of the five generations: sexuales (♂, ♀), fundatrix (F), alata-migrans (M), hiemosistens (H), alata- remigrans or sexupara (R), of which the (♂, ♀) and (F) live on the primary host (Pinaceae: Picea), (H) on the secondary host (Pinaceae: Pinus, Abies, Tsuga, Pseudotsuga or Larix), and the two winged generations (M) and (R) maintain the migration cycle from and to the other host. The range of such a species is controlled by the occurrence together of both the primary and the secondary host. It seems that the evolution of the Aldelgidae has been closely associated with the phylogeny and distribution of the conifer-family Pinaceae, and that speciation of the parasite has followed the speciation of the host plant.

Though wireworms, the larvae of elaterid beetles, are among the most important agricultural pests, little is known about how they feed.

Langenbuch (1932) and Subklew (1934) made observations on the feeding behaviour of Agriotes lineatus (L.) and A. obscurus (L.). According to Langenbuch, Agriotes spp. cause a brush-like fraying of cereal stems, which results from the way in which the larvae squeeze the stems with their mandibles, ingest the fluids, and leave the fibres intact. Ctenicera aeripennis destructor (Brown), the most important wireworm species in Western Canada, causes similar injury to cereal crops. The stems are attacked underground and are shredded but not cut off

Six species of Trichomalus Thomson were reared as parasitoids of Ceutorhynchinae hosts in Europe during surveys in 2000–2004. Trichomalus rusticus (Walker) is treated as a valid species, resurrected from synonymy under T. lucidus (Walker), and T. lyttus (Walker) is transferred from synonymy under T. lucidus and newly placed in synonymy with T. rusticus. Illustrated keys to females and males are given to differentiate the six species (T. bracteatus (Walker), T. campestris (Walker), T. gynetelus (Walker), T. lucidus, T. perfectus (Walker), and T. rusticus) except for males of T. bracteatus and T. gynetelus. A lectotype female is designated for T. rusticus. Trichomalus campestris is newly recorded as a parasitoid of Ceutorhynchus cardariae Korotyaev. Implications of the host-parasitoid associations recovered by the surveys are discussed relative to introduction of species to North America for classical biological control.

Adults of the autumn-emerging capniid stonefiy, Mesocapnia oenone (Neave), were collected from the Bow River in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. After oviposition their eggs were incubated in the laboratory. Successful hatching occurred in the range 2°–15 °C; higher temperatures, except for a short period, were lethal. Eggs subjected to sub-zero temperatures, up to 17 days at −12 °C, also hatched successfully. Within the range 2°–15 °C there was a relationship, linear on logarithmic scales, between water temperature (T °C) and the egg incubation period (Y days), expressed by the equation: Y = 197T−0.59 (r2 = 0.99, P < 0.001). The number of degree-days required for hatching (Z degree-days) increased with increasing temperature (T °C) and also showed a relationship, linear on logarithmic scales, expressed by the equation: Z = 197T0.41 (r2 = 0.97, P < 0.001). In contrast to most other Capniidae, the winter is spent in the egg stage in M. oenone. Our data demonstrate that a combination of a low number of degree-days required for hatching at low temperatures and reduced sensitivity to higher temperatures ensures that egg hatching occurs in the spring. The characteristics of egg development in the autumn-emerging M. oenone are compared with the spring-emerging Capnia atra.

An attraction to certain plant species by Bombus terricola, B. bimaculatus, B. perplexus, and B. ternarius was observed. The gathering of pollen was observed as a behavioural act distinct from nectar gathering. Pollen analyses indicated that pollen collectors restricted their activities to a small number of plant species. These bees’ life histories and flower preferences made them potentially effective pollinators of early-flowering economic crops, Ribes spp., and Pyrus Malus in particular, and of common weeds such as Solanum Dulcamara and Hypericum perforatum. The same reasons prevented them from being important in the pollination of Trifolium pratense and Medicago sativa.

A method was developed for estimating attack and brood totals of the mountain pine beetle in part or all of the infested bole of individual lodgepole pine trees. The method requires measurement of tree height, tree diameter at 1.37 m, and maximum height of attack, and tallying of brood and attacks on paired 20 cm by 30 cm samples centered at 1.22 m on the bole. Attack and brood totals are estimated in two ways: (1) as a product of the variables (a) total bole surface area, (b) proportion of bole surface area infested, and (c) mean attack/brood density; and (2) regression on the combined variables of tree diameter, infested height, and attack/brood density at 1.22 m on the bole. An approach to developing variance estimates for brood and attack totals is discussed.

The onion maggot, Delia antiqua (Meigen), is the most important pest of Allium spp. in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere (Loosjes 1976; Ellis and Eckenrode 1977). If left uncontrolled, the onion maggot can cause from 20 to 100% crop losses, especially in light organic soils. In the early 1950's, with the development of organochlorine insecticides, onion growers obtained good control of onion maggot populations (Finlayson et al. 1959), but the pest rapidly developed resistance to these toxicants (Harris 1977). The chlorinated hydrocarbons were replaced by the less persistent organophosphorus and carbarnate insecticides (Hanis et al. 1981), but the onion maggot was reported to become resistant to these compounds (Harris et al. 1981; Carroll et al. 1983). Among alternatives to the use of insecticides to control the onion maggot are the entomopathogenic fungi and their metabolites. The potential of mycotoxins as rnicrobially derived insecticides has been investigated by several researchers and reviewed recently by Roberts (1981).

The principal motive in publishing the present paper in the desire to fulfill a promise made to Rev. J.H. Keen, several years agom to write a description of an apparantly new and very interesting Staphylinid discovered by him in British Columbia. For one reason or another I was compelled to defer this work, but having now an opportunity to comply with the wished of my valued friedn and correspondent of many years, the present occasio is made available to draw up a little paper, containing in addition a number of novelties received from various collectors from time to time.

Several streams near Baie Comeau, Quebec were treated with a particulate formulation of methoxychlor (particle size 8–15 μ) or Abate® (particle size 2.5–20 μ) at a dosage of 0.1 ppm for 15 min to determine if such a formulation is effective against and selective for black fly larvae. The effects of these larvicides were evaluated by sampling the stream fauna before and after treatment with cones, Surber samplers, drift nets, and rock sampling. A new caging device, the entrapment sampler, was used to assess mortality directly.

Both larvicides were effective against Simuliidae. Neither particulate insecticide was completely selective for black fly larvae, since philopotamid larvae and some chironomid larvae were also killed. Although some other detritus-feeding insects also were affected, numerous families of insects including potential predators of Simuliidae were not affected appreciably by these particulate larvicides. Particulate Abate affected a few more families of insects than particulate methoxychlor. The comparative effects of these formulations and the corresponding liquid formulations on stream fauna are discussed. Particulate formulations are a promising alternative to the present formulations used for black fly larviciding, and further research on their safety and performance and on methods of aerial application is recommended.

At a constant temperature of 1 °C, survival of diapausing second-instar larvae of C. fumiferana (Clem.) for any given period is, to a large extent, determined by pre-storage treatment. At a pre-storage temperature of 20 °C larval survival was 80% or higher following storage periods ranging from 169 to 290 days. Survival of larvae pre-stored at 24 °C was never as high as at 20 °C, and the survival began to decrease after 225 days storage. At 28 °C this decrease had occurred before 169 days of storage. Larvae held at high pre-storage temperatures had almost normal survival when the pre-storage period was shorter. Mean time for larvae to emerge from diapause was increased by longer diapause periods and by high pre-storage temperatures. There was a corresponding decrease in larval vigour.

The pattern of blood feeding in males of Stomoxys calcitrans L. is different from that of females. Female flies ingest more blood than males. Females fed only blood or blood and sugar-water ad libitum showed a periodic pattern of blood ingestion. The amount of blood ingested at the time of first feeding is partly dependent upon the age of the flies; in addition flies fed only blood ingest more than flies whose blood diet is supplemented with sugar-water. During the period prior to blood feeding the weight loss per day increased as the fly aged. On the other hand if the flies were fed with sugar-water from the time of emergence they gained considerable weight. The rate of weight loss after one blood meal was of the same pattern in flies fed 24 or 48 h after emergence. The pattern of weight loss was also similar in flies fed sugar-water ad libitum and blood 24 h after emergence.

Nitidulid beetles were sampled from old-growth and mature managed hemlock-hardwood forest stands in southeastern Ontario, Canada. Large-area flight-intercept traps and trunk-window traps were operated for 22 weeks in 2003 and yielded 2129 nitidulid beetles representing 30 species. Species richness was similar in both forest types but relative abundance was higher in managed stands. Other diversity measures (rarefaction-estimated species richness, Fisher's α, Simpson's index) were all higher in old-growth stands, and managed stands were separated from old-growth stands in cluster analyses based on overall species diversity. These results were strongly influenced by the dominance of Glischrochilus quadrisignatus (Say) in two managed stands; removal of that species from analyses resulted in higher species diversity in managed stands and no distinct separation of forest types in cluster analyses. Indicator species analysis showed that G. quadrisignatus and Pallodes pallidus (Palisot de Beauvois) were strongly associated with managed stands. Glischrochilus sanguinolentus (Olivier) was collected more frequently in trunk-window traps than in flight-intercept traps and data suggested a possible association of this beetle with old-growth stands. Pallodes pallidus and Cychramus adustus Erichson, both known to feed on fleshy white fungi, displayed a clear division in seasonal abundance peaks, suggesting that resource partitioning may be occurring.

The contact toxicities of 11 insecticides were determined with a Potter spray tower using adults of crucifer flea beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) collected from three locations over a 3-year period. Flea beetles collected from an experimental farm at London, Ontario, where no insecticides had been used, were compared with those from canola-growing areas near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and Winnipeg, Manitoba. Lindane, in a seed dressing, is widely used in both Saskatchewan and Manitoba whereas carbofuran, as in-furrow granules, has been more heavily used in Manitoba than in Saskatchewan. The flea beetles from Winnipeg were significantly less susceptible to all three carbamates tested (carbofuran, carbaryl, oxamyl) than those from Saskatoon or London. Both the Winnipeg and Saskatoon flea beetles were significantly less susceptible to methamidophos than the London population but not to the other organophosphates, the organochlorine (endosulfan), or the pyrethroids that were tested. These differences may indicate resistance in the Manitoba population, but this low level would not affect the efficacy of the currently recommended insecticides. The results emphasize the need to develop control strategies that will minimize the chances that the level of resistance will increase.

The high degree of host specificity of many phytophagous insects is a commonplace, yet remarkable phenomenon. Nevertheless it has been relatively neglected as a field for experimental study.

The first beginning was made about 50 years ago when Grevillius (1905) found that the larvae of the browntail moth Euproctis chrysorrhoea (L.) which feeds on the chick weed, Stellaria, could be induced to feed on other plants by smearing the leaves with a paste containing tannin which is a constituent of chick weed. It is un1ikely that this work was highly critical with respect to the chemical purity of the test preparations, yet the basic principle inherent in all experimentation in this field was employed. That is to say, a relatively isolated chemical constituent of the host plant together with some ingestible substrate other than the host plant tissue was offered to the insects. Obviously, the induction of feeding indicated that the test material contains some substance that stimulates the appetite of the insect.

Surveys were conducted to determine the parasitoid communities associated with the cabbage seedpod weevil, Ceutorhynchus obstrictus (Marsham), an important invasive pest of canola in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. More than 18 species of Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera) were associated with this pest through mass rearings from canola siliques. In southwestern Ontario, the most abundant species were a species of Chlorocytus Graham (23.6%–48.6%), Lyrcus perdubius (Girault) (0%–53%), L. maculatus (Gahan) (2.8%–14.7%), and species of Pteromalus Swederus (0.6%–23.1%) (Pteromalidae). In contrast, the most abundant species in Quebec were Trichomalus lucidus (Walker) (Pteromalidae) (33.3%–56.4%), unidentified Eulophidae (2.1%–39.1%), Mesopolobus gemellus Baur and Muller (Pteromalidae) (1.3%–21.4%), and Necremnus tidius (Walker) (Eulophidae) (11.5%–19.3%). In the Ottawa, Ontario, area, parasitoids were first recovered in 2008, and Trichomalus perfectus (Walker) (Pteromalidae), M. gemellus, and species of Pteromalus were most prevalent. Mesopolobus gemellus and T. perfectus are reported in North America for the first time. Although existing communities appear to provide substantial parasitism (e.g., 6.3%–26.3% in 2006), species composition varies among years and differs from that in other regions in North America. Thus, parasitism levels and parasitoid communities of the cabbage seedpod weevil should be monitored to assess whether these will increase or there is a need to introduce more host-specific species from Europe that could provide greater mortality.

Pareuthychaeta Hennig was previously known only from two described species in Eocene Baltic amber (Lutetian, ca. 42 Ma), Pareuthychaeta electrica Hennig and Pareuthychaeta minuta (Meunier), some details of which are revised based on new specimens. A third Baltic species is described, Pareuthychaeta mcalpinei Grimaldi, sp. nov. Another species, Pareuthychaeta eoindica Grimaldi, sp. nov., is described in earliest Eocene (Ypresian-aged, ca. 50–52 Ma) amber from Gujarat, western India. Comments are provided on the relationships of Pareuthychaeta to Recent genera of Diastatidae sensu lato (including Campichoetinae), and implications of this extinct genus are discussed regarding biogeography and the early Paleogene Schizophora radiations.

A list of 169 aphid species occurring in the Province of Quebec is given. Two new species: Stegophylla quercina n. sp. from Quercus, and Heterocallis daviaulti n. g., n. sp. from Carex are described.

Factors, i.e., time, climate, and isolation, that have or may possibly have influenced the distribution and speciation of Scarabaeidae in North America are discussed. Specific examples of present distributional patterns in the genera Phyllophaga, Serica, Diplotaxis, Onthophagus, Geotrupes and Trox are mapped and described. A general comparison of the distributional patterns is made, and inferences are drawn concerning centers of dispersal and (or) areas of survival of the insect inhabitants of deserts and temperate forests during the various climatic changes of the Pleistocene.

Eleven species of metallic-green Coleophora are recognized in the Nearctic Region, including three that are new: C. ladonia Landry and Wright from Florida, C. ramitella Landry and Wright from the northeastern United States, and C. timarella Landry and Wright from Arizona. Three species are introduced from Europe: C. deauratella Lienig and Zeller, C. mayrella (Hübner), and C. trifolii (Curtis); these are pests of clover seeds. Adults are keyed, described, and illustrated, and the species distributions mapped. Host plants are known for eight of the species, for which larval cases are also illustrated and their life history presented. Nearctic species of metallic-green Coleophora represent a miscellany of unrelated groups, here treated together for convenience. Tentative definitions of informal species groups are provided and phylogenetic relationships of the species are discussed.