Prior to 1950 the European red mite, Panonychus ulmi Koch, was a major pest in Nova Scotia apple orchards, and brown mite, Bryobia arborea M. and A., was practically non-existent. Lord (1949), showed that the sulphur fungicides, commonly in use up to that time, were detrimental to some of the predacious species and toxic to the brown mite. After 1950 red mite populations became negligible and, although the brown mites increased, they did not become sufficiently abundant to cause economic damage. This shift of population balance in Nova kotia orchards has been attributed to the gradual replacement of sulphur and other detrimental materials by pesticides less harmful to predators of the mites (Pickett 1953).

The genus Cenocorixa Hungerford is shown to contain only eight valid species. New synonymy and systematic changes are given as is a revised key to males of the genus. Variation is noted in some of the characters used for specific identifications.

The alder bark beetle, Alniphagus aspericollis (LeConte), is bivoltine on Burnaby Mountain, B.C. The principal spring attack occurred in May and the second generation attack from mid July to early August. Mature adults overwinter in shallow galleries underneath the bark while larvae, pupae, and callow adults overwinter in the brood galleries. Sporadic emergence occurred in warm periods throughout the winter but the first egg galleries were not observed until early March. Windfalls and standing trees were attacked.Adult sexes can be distinguished by the fused (female) or separate (male) seventh and eighth abdominal tergites. Females attack the host first and are soon joined by the males. Single egg galleries extending about 8 cm parallel to the length of the bole are most common. Eggs are laid on both sides of the gallery; the larvae mine outward at right angles to the egg gallery and then usually up or down the bole. Adult gallery construction and oviposition and larval mining habits were observed through plexiglass–bark "sandwiches," and are similar to those in the genus Ips. Pupation occurs in a chamber in the inner bark. Maturation from egg to callow adult required a minimum of 8 weeks.

Following attack by Dendroctonus brevicomis LeConte, ponderosa pines were periodically sampled over 7 weeks. Xylem water conduction was assessed using a dye flow technique. Fungal isolations were made from functioning and occluded xylem. Neither Ophiostoma nigrocarpum (Davids.) de Hoog or other bluestain fungi were commonly found at the interface of the occluded and functioning xylem. Instead, blue-stain fungi appear to colonize already occluded xylem, not cause xylem occlusion by direct hyphal penetration of functioning sapwood. No evidence for a mutualistic association of D. brevicomis and its vectored bluestain fungi was found.

Diapause induction studies showed that face flies, Musca autumnalis De Geer, from a recently established colony, entered diapause more readily than those that had been colonized for many years. Photoperiods of less than 16 h of light induced diapause at 16° and 27 °C but more flies entered diapause at 16°C. Maximum numbers of flies entered diapause under total darkness at 16°C, but the critical photoperiod corresponding to natural periods of daylight in late summer was 15 h of light at 16°C. Diapause termination studies indicated that 4 months’ exposure to 5 °C under total darkness was required for the termination of diapause.

The small hive beetle (SHB), Aethina tumida Murray (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), is a non-native pest of honey bees (Apis mellifera Linnaeus (Hymenoptera: Apidae)) newly introduced to Canada. The effectiveness of three in-hive traps was tested in springtime in West-Montérégie (southern Québec, Canada) and in late summer in Essex County (southern Ontario, Canada): AJ’s Beetle Eater™ (AJ’s Beetle Eater), Beetle Barn™ (Rossmann Apiaries), and Hood™ trap (Brushy Mountain Bee Farm). Traps were placed in the brood chamber of 12 colonies in West-Montérégie, and in 48 colonies in the top honey super in Essex County. In-hive traps were effective in reducing SHB populations without compromising the bee population or colony weight gain. In West-Montérégie, the Beetle Barn™ was the most effective trap during the first week, when SHB populations were high. It was less effective when honey bees sealed trap openings with propolis. In Essex County, the AJ’s Beetle Eater™ was the most effective throughout the trial. There was no difference in efficacy between the various solutions used in the Hood™ trap (mineral oil versus mineral oil and apple cider vinegar).

Head capsule widths of laboratory-reared and mature field-collected larvae of P. isabella were measured. The number of larval instars varied from 7 to 10, yet in all larvae studied, average size and increment in the successive instars were the same for instars 1 to 3. In the latter instars, there was an inverse relationship between size of increment and prospective number of instars. Insects which completed 10 instars were only a little larger than those maturing after only 7 instars. These data fail to support Dyar’s rule.

Descriptions are presented for 86 new Lonchaeidae as follows: Silba Macquart, 19 species: 7 from Australia, 6 from Africa, 3 from Madagascar, and 3 from the Solomon Islands.; Lonchaea Fallén, 67 species: 50 from North America, 6 from Africa, 3 from Australia, 2 from Colombia, 2 from the Caroline Islands, and one from each of the following: New Hebrides Islands, India, Fiji Islands and France.

A vehicle-mounted net (“car-net”) is a useful tool to sample flying beetles or other insects. Previous authors have used nets on top of the vehicle. A net mounted lower and in front of the vehicle is thought to be superior for catching beetles which fly closer to ground level. Quantified results are given.

Allocosa Banks, 1904, with type-species Lycosa funerea Hentz, 1844, is diagnosed on the presence of apomorphic characters in the external genitalia, and is hypothesized to represent the sister-group of the remaining North American lycosine genera. Eighteen species are found in North and Central America, namely, A. funerea (Hentz), A. mulaiki (Gertsch), comb, n., A. sublata (Montgomery), A. chamberlini (Gertsch), A. pylora Chamberlin, A. furtiva (Gertsch), comb, n., A. absoluta (Gertsch), comb, n., A. floridiana (Chamberlin), A. apora (Gertsch), A. noctuabunda (Montgomery), A. panamena Chamberlin, A. chamberlini (Gertsch), A. mokiensis (Gertsch), A. subparva sp. n., A. parva (Banks), A. veracruzana (Gertsch and Davis), A. utahana sp. n., and A. mexicana (Banks), comb. n.

Pheromone trapping studies from 1979 to 1981 showed that there were two periods of San Jose scale, Quadraspidiotus perniciosus (Comstock), male flight activity annually in western New York apple orchards. Spring flight, which resulted from overwintering black caps, began at ca. 94–140 degree-days (base 10 °C from 1 March) and occurred during bloom in the apple varieties studied. First generation crawlers emerged at ca. 360 degree-days. Second generation crawlers emerged at ca. 890 degree-days and were active throughout September. Regression analyses showed a logistic relationship between crawler density and fruit infestation, and inverse linear relationships between pheromone trap catches and San Jose scale infestation levels within trees.

Acroceridae is a family of spider-parasitic flies that often visit flowers as adults, although little is known about their possible role as pollinators. Eulonchus tristis Loew visiting flowers of Brodiaea elegans Hoover (Liliaceae s.l.) and Iris douglasiana Herbert (Iridaceae) were collected in California. Individuals carried large pollen loads, although visitors to B. elegans carried significantly more pollen grains than visitors to I. douglasiana. Visitors to B. elegans also carried a higher percentage of focal-plant pollen (91%) than visitors to I. douglasiana (38%). There was no difference in the diversity of pollen species (approximately nine) carried by visitors to either plant species. For visitors to B. elegans, no difference was seen in the amount or diversity of pollen carried with respect to the sex of the visitor. The behaviour potentially resulting in the acquisition of these pollen loads is discussed. These results show that E. tristis has the potential to be an important pollinator for these plant species, particularly B. elegans.

The red oak borer, Enaphalodes rufulus (Haldeman), is a native wood-boring beetle implicated as a major contributor to recent high levels of oak mortality in northern Arkansas. Northern red oaks, Quercus rubra L. (Fagaceae), were grouped into three classes of red oak borer infestation history based on crown condition and basal red oak borer emergence holes: class I (low infestation), class II (moderate infestation), and class III (high infestation). In 2004 and 2005, trees from each class were mechanically wounded and callus formation was measured after one year. Class I trees exhibited significantly greater callus formation than class III trees in both years. Monthly measurements in spring and summer of 2006 indicated significant differences in callus formation among classes, with class I trees healing over significantly earlier. Moisture was measured in bark samples removed 1 week and 4 weeks after initiation of three treatments: control, mechanical wounding, and artificial insertion of larvae. Moisture levels did not vary among infestation classes or treatments. This research indicates that bark moisture is likely not a defense against red oak borer, but that callus overgrowth may be a defense early in the second year of the life cycle in healthy trees.

Diet incorporation assays detected no difference in susceptibility of instars IV, V, and VI of spruce budworm exposed to Bacillus thuringiensis, either in terms of dose, LC50, or time, LT50. The hypothesis that the dose–response for larvae of each instar fitted a common regression line was statistically acceptable. Differences in the pattern of changes in larval weight of instars IV, V, VI larvae in response to dose were not detected.

Small plots were sprayed with 5.5, 10.9, 21.9 BIU/ha at times corresponding to peak instar III, early IV, peak IV, peak V, and peak VI. Instar III larvae were controlled less effectively than were instar IV or V larvae which were controlled equally well. Instar VI larvae were also less effectively controlled than instar IV and V larvae probably because a significant proportion had reached the non-feeding prepupal stage before the full effect of B.t. was obtained.

This study investigated insect diversity of olive (Olea europaea Linnaeus (Oleaceae)) groves grown in arid and semiarid climates in northeastern Algeria. Using several sampling techniques, a total of 1326 insect specimens were collected and identified into 151 species, 124 genera, 65 families, and 10 orders. Hymenoptera and Coleoptera were quantitatively the most abundant, whereas the dominant functional feeding groups were phytophages then predators. The entomofauna included several olive pests such as Bactrocera oleae (Rossi) (Diptera: Tephritidae), Parlatoria oleae (Colvée) (Hemiptera: Diaspididae), Euphyllura olivina (Costa) (Hemiptera: Liviidae), and Liothrips oleae Costa (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae). Although insect diversity parameters recorded for both observed and expected species richness were higher in olive groves grown under semiarid compared with arid climate, the completeness rate of species richness obtained using the nonparametric incidence estimators was higher in arid olive groves. Generalised linear models showed that the number of individuals and species richness varied significantly between climates (P < 0.01), whereas the variation of the rest of diversity parameters was not significant. Diversity traits of insect assemblage of each climatic region were positively correlated. Besides, the Mantel permutation test revealed similar patterns (r = 0.91, P < 0.0001) between correlation matrices of the two climates. When increasing the number of samples, species richness extrapolation revealed that diversity is expected to increase by 130% in olive groves grown under arid climate and 93% in semiarid climate. These increases are related to continuous appearance of rare and scarce insects as demonstrated by species rarefaction curves. Even with high evenness values of insect communities, similarity was low between climate indicating the rarity and scarcity of populations.

Kelthane MF showed a positive temperature coefficient of toxicity to the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus telarius. An increase of about 1.2% mortality occurred for each degree rise in the range from 50-90°F. Pre-treatment of adult, female mites at three different temperatures for three days caused no significant difference in mortality at 74°F. Acaricidal potency of Kelthane MF on peach leaves declined rapidly both indoors and outdoors for the first two days. Thereafter the potency decreased at about the same rate outside, but much slower in the laboratory. Deposits on peach leaves repelled mites strongly for two days, but weakened rapidly over the next six days. Mites entered treated leaf areas after the acaricidal potency had dropped low, and so a larger than expected number of susceptible mites may have survived.

The searching behaviour of fifth-instar larch sawfly larvae on artificially defoliated tamarack branches and trees is discussed. Local defoliation is shown to be capable of causing appreciable mortality among early-instar larvae if feeding damage by earlier colonies forces them to wander in search of food. Air temperature affects the distance and rate of such larval movement. A considerable proportion of dislodged fifth-instar larvae are able to reach foliage and resume feeding on nearby host trees.

The following descriptions and notes are based on Palaearctic material of Fanniinae in the U.S. National Museum, Washington, D.C., and on Indian material in the Canadian National Collection of Insects, Ottawa. One new species is described from Tunisia, one from India, two from Japan, and six from Szechuen province near the China-Tibet border in China. Special thanks are due Dr. R. H. Foote of the U.S. National Museum for making this material available to me.

Acaronemus n. gen. is described, and its type-species, Tarsonemus destructor Smiley and Landwehr, 1976, is reillustrated. Other, undescribed species of Acaronemus are discussed briefly. Members of this genus are unique among the tarsonemid mites as known to date in preying on mite eggs.

The objects of this study were to determine whether the population density of Hyphantria cunea Drury is dependent on land use, vegetation pattern, and plant species; and to compare the extensive methods designed for this work with more intensive, single-plot designs.In two separate gradations, covering a period of 12 years, density was positively correlated with agricultural land use, open rather than closed patterns of vegetation, and the occurrence of only a few of the principal host species. The analysis showed how these variables affected density both within and between different climatic areas, and suggested how cultural methods might be used in population management.Extensive designs permit the development and testing of holistic models designed to explain both spatial and temporal differences in population density, and provide the replication required for the latter purpose. It is important to model spatial differences in density because such variables as vegetation pattern and composition are sometimes subject to cultural modification. Very intensive designs, based on sampling only a few trees at one point, do not permit the development of complete models and, because of plant host and dispersal phenomena affecting insects and their parasites, produce data that may be unreliable even for sub-models, such as those dealing with host–parasite interactions.