It is a paradox that a common wasp such as Chlorion ichneumoneum (L.) should be so unknown. Fernald (1907) states that the great-golden digger is found from South America to New England, and some parts of Canada, but until Frisch (1937) published his excellent paper only piecemeal accounts were written about its bionomics, prey, and parasites.

On the campus of Cornell University, two large colonies (about 50 wasps) have thrived for years. These conveniently located colonies offered a rich opportunity for a long range study.

The egg and five nymphal stages of Apateticus cynicus (Say) are described and illustrated. The nymphal stages can be separated on the basis of head-capsule width, no overlap being encountered in the specimens studied. The overall growth rate was uniform. Varying growth rates were recorded for each antennal segment. Segment one remained the shortest throughout, whereas segment four, the longest in the first stage, became shorter than segment three by the fifth stage. The second segment increased in length from 0.25 to 2.78 mm.

Apateticus cynicus has one generation each year and overwinters in the egg stage in Wisconsin. Females deposit 1-3 egg batches with an average of 57.12 eggs per batch. Hatching in the laboratory took 14 days at approximately 22 °C. The average number of days spent in each of the five instars was 5.08, 5.27, 5.33, 5.0, and 9.5 respectively. Adult females lived up to 163 days and males to 180 days in the laboratory. The effectiveness of A. cynicus in the population reduction of Diprion similis (Htg.) larvae is unknown. Though a large insect and a voracious feeder throughout its immature and mature period, it has low egg production, is univoltine, and overwinters in the vulnerable egg stage, usually on the tree.

In adult populations where females are in excess of males, the ability of the males to mate more than once is an imporcant consideration when predicting the descendant population. Pointing (1961) found that under insectary conditions Rhyacionia buoliana (Schiff.) males are capable of inseminating mlore than one female. Stehr (1954) srates, with reference to a method of mating Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.) in the laboratory, “Aftcr mating, the male may be discarded; only rarely will it mate succesfully with a second female.” During genetic studies conducted in an insectary on the reproductive capacity of four species of Choristoneura, a technique was used in which individual males were mated to several females. The purpose of the study was to gain genetic information and not to measure sexual activity so that maximum mating opportunities for che males were not provided. In the light of Stehr's observation, it was decided to publish these results since they provide valid but limited information concerning the polygamous capabilities of Choristoneura males.

Normally the sugar-beet root aphid, Pemphigus betae Doane, lives and feedson sugar-beet roots below ground during the summer and fall. However, in many beet fields between Lethbridge and Monarch, Alberta, in September, 1956, a large number of these aphids were found on the soil surface and on the crowns and leaves of the plants. Many of the aphids had crawled up the plants and, even after death, remained clinging to the leaves (Fig. 1). This clinging reaction seemed similar to that of grasshoppers infected with Entomophthora grylli Fresen. Mr. R. B. Baird, Entomology Laboratory, Canada Department of Agriculture, Belleville, Ontario, identified the organism causing the disease destroying these aphids as Entomophthora aphidis Hoffm. This is the first record of this disease killing subterranean aphids in Canada. The only other reports of E. aphidis on root aphids are those of Maxson (1916) in Colorado and Charles (1941) in California. In Canada, it has been previously reported as a factor in control of the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harr.), in the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia (MacLeod, 1953).

The great grig, Cyphoderris monstrosa Uhler (Orthoptera: Prophalangopsidae), is a large (20–30 mm, >1 g), nocturnal ensiferan that inhabits montane coniferous forests in northwestern North America. Cyphoderris monstrosa overwinters as a late instar nymphs, but its cold tolerance strategy has not previously been reported. We collected nymphs from near Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada in late spring to determine their cold tolerance strategy. Cyphoderris monstrosa nymphs were active at low temperatures until they froze at −4.6±0.3 °C. The nymphs survived internal ice formation (i.e., are freeze tolerant), had a lethal temperature between −9 °C and −12 °C, and could survive for between five and 10 days at −6 °C. Isolated C. monstrosa gut, Malpighian tubules, and metafemur muscle tissues froze at temperatures similar to whole nymphs, and likely inoculate freezing in vivo. Hemolymph osmolality was 358±51 mOsm, with trehalose and proline comprising ~10% of that total. Glycerol was not detectable in hemolymph from field-fresh nymphs, but accumulated after freezing and thawing. The control of ice formation and presence of hemolymph cryoprotectants may contribute to C. monstrosa freeze tolerance and overwintering survival.

A simulation model was developed for the population dynamics of a carrot weevil, Listronotus oregonensis (LeConte), population on muck-grown carrots. The model includes mortality rates of eggs, larvae, and pupae for different sowing dates of carrots. It also incorporates the overwintered adult density, the temperature-dependent growth rates of the above-mentioned life stages, the age-, temperature-, and phenology-dependent oviposition rates, and the impact of an egg parasitoid, Anaphes sordidatus (Girault), on egg mortality rates. Model output was evaluated by comparing simulated results with observed results on the seasonal totals and time of population peaks of the egg and larval populations. The mean percentage differences between the simulated and observed seasonal egg totals were 3.1 ± 0.66 (SE) in 1987 and 1988, and 4.2 ± 0.05 in 1989. They were not statistically different. The mean percentage differences between the simulated and observed seasonal larval totals were 10 ± 3.33 in 1987 and 1988 and 29.8 ± 0.66 in 1989. Independent data sets (i.e. field data in 1989) showed a significant increase in the simulation error of the larval population. Sensitivity analysis indicated that A. sordidatus had a large influence on the population dynamics of L. oregonensis.

Aerially applied Thuricide 48LV, Thuricide 64B, Futura XLV, and water-based formulations of Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner var. kurstaki (B.t.), were tested for effectiveness to control the hemlock looper, Lambdina fiscellaria fiscellaria (Guen.), in balsam fir, Abies balsamea (L.) Mill., stands. Thuricide 64B, applied twice at a dosage of 30 Billion International Units (BIU) per hectare in 1.78 L/ha, was the most effective, reducing the larval population by 100%.

The pepper weevil, Anthonomus eugenii Cano (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is the most important pest of pepper (Capsicum Linnaeus; Solanaceae) crops in North America. Native to Mexico, the southern United States of America, and Central America, it is intercepted in Canada when peppers are imported to supplement domestic production. Given the proximity of greenhouse and field production to packing facilities, this pest poses a serious risk to the cultivation of peppers in Canada. Once established, it is difficult to control because immature stages of the weevil are protected within the pepper fruit. As such, chemical control targeting these life stages is not effective, and other strategies, including biological control, may prove useful. To explore the potential for biological control options to manage the pepper weevil in areas at risk in Canada, natural enemy surveys were conducted in southern Ontario following the reports of transient, localised field populations in 2016. Parasitoids belonging to three Hymenoptera families including Pteromalidae (Jaliscoa hunteri Crawford, Pteromalus anthonomi Ashmead), Eupelmidae (Eupelmus pulchriceps Cameron), and Braconidae (Nealiolus Mason species, Bracon Fabricius species) were reared from infested field-collected pepper fruits. Together, these new natural enemy records could facilitate the exploration and development of novel agents for the biological control of the pepper weevil.

At least seven species of arthropods were found in or associated with leaf galls of the grape phylloxera, Phylloxera vitifoliae (Fitch), on cultivated and wild grapes in Ontario, Leucopis simplex Loew and Lestodiplosis grassator (Fyles) were the most common species. Larvae of both preyed upon eggs of the phylloxera; whether they attacked other stages was not determined, nor was their effect on gall populations. L. grassator occurred almost exclusively on wild grapes; L. simplex was found in galls on both cultivated and wild grapes, associated with all generations of the leaf form of phylloxera. L. simplex was parasitized by Melanips sp. and Lygocerus sp. Another predator, Scymnus cervicalis Muls., occurred rarely. Thrips, mites, and neuropterous larvae were also found occasionally, but predation by these species was not demonstrated.

We identified species of mites phoretically associated with mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae), collected from bolts of lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta Douglas ex Louden (Pinaceae), and pheromone-baited traps in northwestern Alberta, Canada. Mite load and species composition were compared between beetle sexes and with beetle emergence time and estimated body size. The vast majority of mites associated with D. ponderosae in Alberta belonged to three species: Proctolaelaps subcorticalis Lindquist (Acari: Mesostigmata: Melicharidae), Histiogaster arborsignis Woodring (Acari: Astigmatina: Acaridae), and Tarsonemus ips Lindquist (Acari: Prostigmata: Tarsonemidae). There was no difference in mite loads on male and female beetles recovered from bolts in the laboratory and those from pheromone-baited traps in the field. More mites were found on larger beetles in the laboratory, but only T. ips showed this pattern on field-trapped beetles. There was no relationship between total mite load or load by mite species and beetle emergence time in the laboratory, but total mite load on field-trapped beetles decreased over the collecting season (10 June – 3 September 2009) at five collection locations (Grovedale, Blueberry Mountain, Hythe, Evergreen Park, and Glenleslie). This study is the first to document the assemblage of phoretic mites on D. ponderosae in Alberta and will help to direct future research on their interactions.

Plots in a bearing apple orchard were sprayed with formulations of Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner on five to seven occasions in each of four consecutive seasons. Larvae of the winter moth, eye-spotted bud moth, orchard tent caterpillar, and fall webworm were less numerous on foliage in plots treated with B. thuringiensis than in the check plot. Numbers of free-living blister mites were reduced by treatment with the bacterium. Other phytophagous mites were not numerous in any of the plots. Injury to fruit by larvae of the codling moth, winter moth, and eye-spotted bud moth and by the mirid Atractotomus mali (Meyer) was lower in plots treated with the bacterium. Only three taxa of predacious arthropods were consistently affected by the application of B. thuringiensis; one was less numerous where the bacterium was applied and two were more numerous.

The nominal taxon Tachina macularis Wiedemann is revised and redescribed from the adult and first instar larva. It is transferred from its current status as a valid species of Protomiltogramma Townsend to a position as a valid species of Eremasiomyia Rohdendorf, comb. nov. and senior synonym of Setulia luteicornis Villeneuve, syn. nov., Eremasiomyia setulioides Rohdendorf, syn. nov., and Eremasiomyia orientalis Verves, syn. nov. The nominal species Sphecapatodes maroccana Séguy is revised and redescribed from the adult, and is shown to belong to Miltogramma Meigen, comb. nov. The nominal genus-group taxon Capnopteron Rohdendorf was originally proposed as a subgenus of Miltogramma with the type species Miltogramma maculigerum Speiser sensu Rohdendorf). However, the latter is shown to be a misidentification of Miltogramma maroccana (Séguy), which herewith is fixed as the type species of Capnopteron.

The distribution of selected insect species among samples from empty farm granaries in the Prairie Provinces was determined as a guide to determining the number of samples that would have to be collected to obtain reliable estimates of the average number of these species. The number of pest and fungivorous species (adults) per sample followed a negative bionomial distribution for Manitoba data but the number of pest species adults from Sasktachewan followed a Poisson distribution. In Alberta, 39 granary samples contained only one pest species and 507 had none. The number of pests per sample from Manitoba and Saskatchewan and the number of fungivorous species from Manitoba also fitted logarithmic series.

The mean number of individuals of each species found in samples (adults or larvae) was always smaller than the variance and the distribution of insect counts followed the negative binomial distribution. Tribolium audax Halstead adults from Alberta also followed a Poisson distribution.

The numbers of samples required to provide a predetermined measure of precision for the numbers of species per sample (Manitoba data) and for the numbers of individuals per sample of 15 species (adults or larvae) for each of the three Prairie Provinces were calculated.

In southern Alberta, alfalfa seed yields are related to the amount of pollination that occurs before mid-August by the major pollinator, the alfalfa leafcutter bee, Megachile rotundata (F.). Cutting the leaves causes wear to the bee’s mandibular teeth and could reduce the bee’s pollination efficiency and, ultimately, seed production. A method is described for employing digital image analysis to measure mandibular tooth areas for alfalfa leafcutter bees. The method is relatively quick and has high precision and repeatability. This method was used to measure the area of the mandibular teeth for leafcutter bees, before and after foraging in alfalfa seed fields, to evaluate differences in mandibular wear. Analysis of mandibles showed that foraging leafcutter bees collected in late July had significantly smaller tooth areas than pre-foraging bees collected prior to release in June.

Tobacco budworms, Heliothis virescens (F.), with inherited sterility caused by irradiation of the male parent were smaller than progeny from normal parents and developed more slowly throughout the larval and pupal periods. In the second generation the population segregated into two groups, those with normal and those with delayed development. Also, when the P1 male received 15.0 krad, 8% of the F1 larvae had more than the normal five instars. Moreover, when those F1 progeny that had only five larval instars were outcrossed to normal moths, this tendency for supernumerary molts increased nearly 3-fold. The slower development of progeny of treated moths would have to be considered in field tests made to evaluate the effect of inherited sterility on the tobacco budworm. However, with continuous release of irradiated males, the delayed development or smaller size of the progeny should not lessen the possibility that this method could successfully suppress field populations.

Blue, a non-sex-linked mutant of the green lacewing, Chrysopa carnea Stephens, is recessive and shows complete penetrance. Unlike the coloration of the larva or imago, egg colour, which is due to the yolk, is the same as that of the maternal phenotype.

Resistant potato plants influenced the parasitoid Edovum puttleri Grissell directly, as well as indirectly through eggs of the parasitoid’s host, the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say). In the field, E. puttleri parasitized more egg masses on plants with no glandular trichomes or with glandular trichomes bearing only enclosed droplets of exudate than on plants with two types of glandular trichomes (one with exposed droplets and the other bearing enclosed droplets). Trichomes with exposed droplets entrapped numerous parasitoids. Although rearing L. decemlineata on resistant plants influenced many of the beetle’s life-history traits, it did not affect the suitability of their eggs for development and survival of preimaginal E. puttleri. However, eggs from L. decemlineata that were reared on resistant potato plants reduced the longevity of the parasitoids and also reduced the number of hosts (eggs) killed by parasitoids.

Cocoons of Neodiprion sertifer (Geoff.) were collected in southwestern Ontario in 1941, 1943, 1946, 1947, and 1949 for experimental investigations at the Belleville laboratory. A total of 8,326 cocoons were collected, mainly within about eight miles northeast and east of Sarnia, Ont., but a few were collected at Strathroy and Brigden, Ont. Each cocoon was incubated separately in a small vial so that each parasite could be associated with the host cocoon from which it emerged. Sawflies emerged from 68 per cent of the cocoons and parasices from 12 per cent; dissection of the remaining cocoons showed 16 per cent contained dead sawfly larvae and pupae, and four per cent dead parasite larvae.

A guide to interpretation of X-rays of bark samples infested with the western pine beetle and its principal predators and parasites is presented. Illustrations of the radiographic images are given to enable analysts to gain experience more rapidly.