The greenhouse cucumber pests, Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), Frankliniella occidentalis (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), and Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae), are major threats to the production of greenhouse cucumbers (Cucurbitaceae) in Lebanon. The development of insecticide resistance by these pests has prompted the use of alternative and sustainable pest management strategies. In this study, we used integrated pest management strategies, including the release of the biological control agents, Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot (Mesostigmata: Phytoseiidae) and Phytoseiulus persimilis Athias-Henriot (Mesostigmata: Phytoseiidae), to control whitefly, thrips, and two-spotted spider mite populations on greenhouse cucumber plants in two commercial production sites (sites A and B). We also compared the efficacy of pest population suppression using the integrated pest management strategy with that of chemical pest control. Our results show that biological control effectively maintains the cucumber pest populations below the economic threshold when coupled with additional integrated pest management measures. In addition, we show that biological control agents were equally or more effective in pest population suppression compared to eight and 12 insecticidal and acaricidal sprays performed in the control greenhouses at sites A and B, respectively. Altogether, our results show the efficacy of adopting integrated pest management and biological control for pest population suppression in greenhouse cucumber production under Mediterranean environmental conditions.

A method is described for observing, photographing, and video-taping the mouthparts of Rhodnius prolixus Stal., a blood-feeding insect, as it feeds on an artificial diet. This method was combined with another for recording the electrical resistance between the haemolymph of a feeding insect and its diet. By using a split-screen television technique simultaneous recordings were made of the changes in electrical resistance and feeding events such as mouthpart movements, salivation, and ingestion. Slow speed and stop-frame playback allowed accurate analysis and correlation of rapid events. The techniques described could be applied to many other types of investigation.

This paper presents results of a multidisciplinary optimization study on the impact of Lygus hesperus Knight on cotton in the Great Central Valley of California. The results of the empirical studies indicate that lygus bug is not a serious pest of cotton under most circumstances and, furthermore, illustrate why cotton yield enhancements have occurred when their populations have not been controlled. An economic analysis of these results sheds some light on the concept of economic threshold. In particular it is shown how in this case an economic threshold exists even if the costs of pesticides are zero. The theoretical implications of these results are quite general.

The Canadian species of Stenocranus Fieber are keyed by external characters correlated with species concepts defined by known genitalic characters. Stenocranus is differentiated from Terauchiana Matsumura (Asian; here reported from the New World for the first time) and Embolophora Stål (from Africa) by the remarkable development of the female pygofers, which completely conceal the ovipositor. Based on both head and genitalic characters, the genus is divided into two subgenera: typical Stenocranus with many Old World species and two Canadian species, and subgenus Codexnov. for other New World species. The type of Delphax dorsalis Fitch, 1851 is a specimen of Stenocranus pallidus Beamer, 1946 syn. nov., and "S. dorsalis" sensu Beamer is S. unipunctatus (Provancher, 1872). A lectotype of Delphax vittata Stål, 1862 is designated for the taxon S. unipunctatus (sensu Beamer, nec Provancher); its paralectotypes are specimens of S. acutus Beamer. The apparent evolutionary relationships of this fauna to other species of the world Stenocranini and within the superficially similar Saccharosydnini reveal numerous homoplasies and dramatic autapomorphies, contrasted with only a few reliable synapomorphies. A hierarchical classification of Delphacidae, based on the most distinctive synapomorphies, defines subfamily Delphacinae as encompassing at least four tribes: Vizcayini, Stenocranini, Tropidocephalini, and Delphacini, with "Kelisiinae" reduced to subtribe of Stenocranini and "Saccharosydnini" placed within Tropidocephalini.

Exploratory data analysis was employed to investigate the regional dynamics of managed budworm populations based upon survey data reporting spruce budworm egg-mass densities and damage to balsam fir. The Maine Forest Service collected these data annually from 1975 to 1980 at approximately 1000 different locations each year throughout Maine's spruce–fir forest regions. Although spraying was often associated with ‘better’ conditions in heavily defoliated or infested areas, it was generally associated with somewhat ‘poorer’ conditions in areas which had experienced only light defoliation or infestation in the previous year. The analysis also indicated that while insecticide application may reduce budworm larval populations immediately after application, the largest relative decrease in defoliation rates appeared the year after insecticide application. Insecticide treatments were not as effective as expected. In the year following application, the maximum reduction observed in average defoliation was 20% and in average egg-mass density the maximum reduction was 50%. In many cases the reduction was substantially less. Spraying was not associated with any substantial decline in hazard rating.

Many papers have been written about caddis cases, treating these movable shelters from the standpoints of choice of materials (Brues 1930, Dodds & Hisaw 1926, Lloyd 1915, Lutz 1930, Simpson 1903), of repair (Marshall & Vorhies 1905), of ontogenetic initiation (Murphy 1919, Copeland & Crowell 1937), and of phylogenetic origin (Milne & Milne, 1938). The last of these references, a paper by Sleight (1913) and the work of Dodds & Hisaw cited above, give some attention to the relation between case-building and the physiology of the larva inhabiting the structure, but much remains to be studied in this connection.

Agrilus planipennis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), is causing extensive mortality of ash (Fraxinus Linnaeus; Oleaceae) in North America. Once detected in an area, resource managers require methods to obtain estimates that could improve management decisions. We studied the within-crown and within-branch distribution and abundance of A. planipennis feeding galleries by sampling 3-m-long branches from asymptomatic urban ash trees and subdividing each branch into 12 sections of 25 cm each. We found galleries in all 12 sections of some, but not all, branches. Section was a significant source of variation in A. planipennis gallery density/m2 of branch surface area. A comparison of predictive power and efficiency of estimates for samples of increasing length, and for samples of the same length but consisting of different combinations of sections, revealed that those based on the two basal 25-cm sections of a branch from the lower-crown or mid-crown of an asymptomatic tree were less accurate and precise than those based on more sections, but were the most cost effective. Whittling more sections per branch, irrespective of the combinations of branch sections per length, improved predictive power but reduced cost effectiveness. We also observed that crown level was not important, and aspect was only marginally so, when estimating gallery abundance per sampled branch.

This paper offers a taxonomic arrangement of the North American species of Chrysolina Motschulsky. Sixteen species and one subspecies are recognized. The species of the region were reviewed last by Van Dyke (1938, Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc. 33: 43-58), who recognized eight species and one subspecies. The arrangement offered below differs from the previous arrangement as follows. (1) Three species, caurina, finitima, and extorris, are described as new. (2) Two Siberian species, cavigera (J. Sahlb.) and magniceps (J. Sahlb.), are recorded from arctic Alaska; these have not been reported previously from North America, for American authors confused them with subsulcata (Mann.). (3) Included is one introduced European species, staphylaea (L.), that Van Dyke omitted. Also included are three European species recently introduced for control of the weed Hypericum perforatum L.; these are hyperici (Forst.), quadrigemina (Suffr.), and varians (Schall.). (4) C. blaisdelli Van Dyke and the subsequently described C. engelhardti Hatch (1939, Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc. 34: 49) are omitted, for they were transferred to Chrysomela by Brown (1956, Canadian Ent. 88: suppl. 3, p. 17). (5) One form, schaefferi new name (for auripennis cyanea Schaeffer, not Linnaeus), is elevated to specific rank. (6) One form, vidua (Rog.), is reduced to subspecific status under flavomarginata (Say).

The last instar larvae of the tribe Pyraustini of America north of Mexico are described. Thirty-five species and 19 genera are included in this study, Munroeodes Amsel—1 species, Saucrobotys Munroe—1 species, Epicorsia Hübner—1 species, Oenobotys Munroe—1 species, Crocidophora Lederer—1 species, Ostrinia Hübner—3 species, Fumibotys Munroe—1 species, Eurrhypara Hübner—1 species, Phlyctaenia Hübner—1 species, Nealgedonia Munroe—1 species, Mutuuraia Munroe—1 species, Anania Hübner—1 species, Hahncappsia Munroe—5 species, Achyra Guenée—2 species, Helvibotys Munroe—1 species, Sitochroa Hübner—1 species, Uresiphita Hübner—1 species, Loxostege Hübner—5 species, and Pyrausta Schrank—6 species. The last instar larvae of 10 species are described for the first time, Munroeodes thalesalis (Walker), Oenobotys vinotinctalis (Hampson), Crocidophora pustuliferalis Lederer, Nealgedonia extricalis (Guenée), Pyrausta dapalis (Grote), P. fodinalis (Lederer), P. sp. near laticlavia (Grote and Robinson), P. orphisalis Walker, P. tyralis (Guenée), P. unifascialis (Packard). The relationships between the adults and the larvae are discussed. Key to the genera for last instar larvae is given, and the larval characters illustrated.

Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae), the spotted-wing drosophila, is an invasive pest of fruit crops, which appeared in eastern Canada in 2010. It represents a major threat to lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton; Ericaceae) in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, Québec, Canada, at the northern limits of its distribution. The dynamics, overwintering capacity, population fluctuations, and damage to lowbush blueberry of D. suzukii are unknown in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean. We aimed to 1) document D. suzukii abundance and phenology in lowbush blueberry in separate localities; 2) evaluate the potential of D. suzukii to overwinter and examine population dynamics over three seasons; and 3) study the spatial distribution of D. suzukii in lowbush blueberry fields with respect to forested borders. Drosophila suzukii is abundant in lowbush blueberry fields of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean. In spring, D. suzukii were absent until late June, when few summer-morph females appeared. Drosophila suzukii densities started to increase regularly in August, with increasing male proportions, to culminate in fall at high levels with balanced sex ratios. Overwintering remains uncertain, D. suzukii being undetectable in spring despite intensive trapping. Appearance of diapausing winter morphs at high densities indicates that D. suzukii responds appropriately to local conditions preceding cold winter. Models of variation of D. suzukii densities and lowbush blueberry fruit infestation with distance from borders indicate that forest borders are favoured habitats over lowbush blueberry fields and the source of D. suzukii moving to some extent into lowbush blueberry fields.

We identified females of six species of leafhoppers (tribe Empoascini), Asymmetrasca decedens (Paoli), Empoasca affinis Nast, E. decipiens Paoli, E. pteridis (Dahlbom), E. vitis Göthe, and Jacobiasca lybica (Bergevin and Zanon), using morphological characters of the ovipositor and isozyme and mitochondrial COI sequence analyses. Useful traits of the ovipositor are tooth morphology, length of the toothed area, form of sculpturing, and number and position of sensilla on the first and second pair of valves. Among the set of enzyme systems assayed, four putative loci, sod, hk-2, est-3, and est-2, together provided reliable diagnostic characters for single species, pairs of species, and groups of species. Analysis of mtCOI sequences revealed differences between the six species of Empoascini, and the neighbour-joining tree separated them into three distinct groups. Phenetic trees elaborated using Nei’s index and the Kimura two-parameter model clustered the six Empoascini species in similar groups.

Routine grasshopper egg surveys in southern Alberta from 1954 to 1957 revealed unexpectedly small numbers of egg pods in certain locations that were regarded as favoured oviposition sites for Mlelnnoplus bivittatus (Say). These locations were graded roadsides with a bare or sparsely covered slope on the field side of the ditch. The bottom of the ditch and the other slope up to the roadway were usually covered with a moderate to heavy growth of weeds and grass. In these years the grasshoppers hatched late, the nymphs developed slowly, and the adults did not mature until September. As oviposition took place in cool fall weather,it was restricted mainly to the bare ditchbanks facing south or west, which provided sheltered spots warmed by insolation. Sampling in these spots revealed fewer egg pods than should have been produced by the number of M. bivittatus found in the preceding adult survey.

Formation of cocoons by larval Chironomidae has been reported in Endochironomus spp. (Sæther 1962), Hydrobaenus pilipes (Malloch) (as Trissocladius pilipes) (Hudson 1971), and Parakiefferiella sp. (Hudson 197 1). This is the first report of larval cocoons formed by a species of Eukiefferiella.

Hollow fibers containing a mixture of synthetic sex attractants of western pine shoot borer, Eucosma sonomana Kearfott, were applied by an airplane to 19 ha of ponderosa pine plantations in southern Oregon. Nominal dosage was 15 g active ingredient per hectare. A behavioral evaluation of treatment effects, based on moth responses to pheromone-baited traps, showed nearly 100% disruption of female to male sex pheromone communication. Tree damage in treated areas was reduced by an average of 67% for terminal shoots and by 79% for terminal and lateral shoots combined.

Striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum L.) was compared with sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) for use in rearing Asian longhorned beetles (Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky)). Adult females lived longer when caged with twigs and small bolts harvested from A. pensylvanicum during late spring through early fall than with material from A. saccharum collected at the same time. Females had a shorter life-span when fed plant material from either tree species harvested from late fall through winter than with plant material from A. pensylvanicum harvested from late spring through early fall. Female A. glabripennis laid more viable eggs when provided with A. pensylvanicum rather than A. saccharum. Regardless of which of these two tree species females had experienced previously, they always chose to lay more eggs in A. pensylvanicum than in A. saccharum. Rearing A. glabripennis on A. pensylvanicum is therefore more efficient, especially when twigs and wood collected from late spring through early fall are used.

Two blocks (one .36, other .48 ha) of filbert (hazelnut), Corylus avellana L., trees were left unsprayed for 10 years and the pest status of different species determined by periodic field examination and damage counts. The omission of all pesticides resulted in excessive build-up of the filbertworm, Melissopus latiferreanus (Wals.) (Lepidoptera: Olethreutidae) populations resulting in an average of over 20% nut damage. Filbert leafroller, Archips rosanus (L.) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), and filbert aphid, Myzocallis coryli (Goeze) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), populations declined and no apparent economic damage was caused by these two pests. No damage was observed from other recorded arthropod pests.

An economic analysis of standard filbert pest control programs in the Willamette Valley of Oregon indicated that during the study years, the total insecticide spray expenditures in commercial orchards ranged from 6.5% to 18.3% of the yearly returns in U.S. dollars/ha. Damage in unsprayed study orchards during this 10-year period suggests that the sprays applied for the control of aphid and leafroller yielded no return, while the sprays applied for control of the filbertworm returned an average of $3.80 for every dollar spent.

Soybean oil (SO) is considered an active ingredient in commercial BiteBlocker™ insect-repellent products. Our objective was to test mechanisms by which SO exhibits repellency, using the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae), as a representative blood-feeding insect. In dual-port glass-cage olfactometers, human hands treated with SO at various concentrations attracted as many mosquitoes as did untreated hands, indicating that SO has no long-range repellent effect. In contrast, hands treated with N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide (DEET) attracted significantly fewer mosquitoes than did untreated control hands. In cage experiments, treating an area of a human forearm exposed to A. aegypti with SO provided no protection against bites, whereas treating it with DEET did. These results indicate that SO has no short-range or contact repellent properties. Both DEET and the BiteBlocker™ product conferred protection for periods similar to those previously reported. Based on our data, classification of SO as an active mosquito repellent should be reconsidered.

The growth parameters for cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) were examined via optimization studies to determine if the observed values were optimal for the season lengths and weather patterns found in California and Nicaragua. The parameters observed for Nicaraguan cotton were further examined to determine if predation by boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis Boh.) of small cotton fruit (squares) could explain the observed discrepancies. All of the observed growth parameters except the fruit bud production rate for the Acala SJ II variety of cotton which is grown in California appeared to be reasonably optimal for California condition (i.e. boll weevil does not occur in California). By contrast, the parameters for the Nicaraguan variety were sub-optimal if boll weevil was excluded from the analysis, but near optimal if the population dynamics of pest were included.

Evylaeus nigripes (Lep.) is a large, polylectic social halictine bee, common in the Mediterranean region. Haplometrotic and pleometrotic nests are established late in spring and clusters of from 6 to 15 cells are constructed and surrounded by a cavity. A summer brood of small females and a few males emerges from these cells in July. The summer females behave as workers; they remain in their mother’s nest, assist in the construction of a deeper and larger cell cluster, forage for pollen and nectar, but do not guard the nest. They show some ovarian inhibition in a matrifilial society but become egglayers in queenless nests or when establishing their own burrows. They are much shorter-lived than their mothers, require no diapause, and are unattractive to the summer males. The social level of E. nigripes is comparatively high; summer males are less than 5% of the total brood. Queen and workers are relatively distinct morphs, although caste determination can be influenced by environmental factors. Sphecodes alternatus Smith is its specific parasitoid whereas several bombyliids, mutillids, and conopids attack E. nigripes as part of a much wider range of hosts.

Factors inducing diapause and methods foe breaking diapause in the cabbage maggot, Hylemya brassicae (Bouché), are discussed. The pest was reared continuously in the greenhouse during the winter months (when pupae normally enter diapause) by fluctuating the air temperature from 60 to 65 °F. at night to between 75 and 80 °F. during the day and maintaining the soil temperature (in which the eggs, larvae and pupae were reared) at about 68 °F. Pupae produced by flies kept at constant temperatures entered diapause. Fluctuating the soil temperature (for rearing larvae and pupae) did not markedly influence entry into diapause, but when larvae and pupae were reared at above 72 °F. high mortality occurred. Intensity of diapause in the pupae also depended on the temperature at which the flies were reared, with the shorter period of dormancy occurring when flies were kept at low temperatures. Diapause development proceeded more rapidly at 45-50 °F. than at higher or lower temperatures but proceeded to completion at any temperature from 34 to 70 °F. At above about 72 °F., diapause development appeared to be inhibited. The period for completion of development was about 3-8 months, depending on storage temperatures and on intensity of diapause. Preliminary tests indicated that light intensity is a major factor influencing entry into diapause, and results of tests reported in this paper show that this influence can be offset by temperature.