In laboratory bioassays, four carabid species [Agonum dorsale (Pontoppidan), Bembidion lampros (Herbst), B. obtusum Serville, and Demetrias atricapillus (L.)] that are important predators of aphids in cereals in the United Kingdom were exposed to deposits of deltamethrin, dimethoate, or pirimicarb on glass for up to 72 h. We detected differences between compounds and species that are discussed in the context of exposure of these predators to insecticides in the field. We also describe problems involved in obtaining comparative toxicity data when dilutions of field application rates for target species are used in bioassays with nontarget species. Such problems add another dimension to risk assessment based on laboratory data.

There are no definitive behavioural studies on the webbing clothes moth, Tineola bisselliella (Hum.) (Lepidoptera: Tineidae), that demonstrate the sex emitting or responding to communication signals. Roth and Willis (1952) reported male courtship (wing-fanning) behaviour ≤1 cm from an excised female pheromone gland, suggesting the presence of a female-produced sex pheromone that is effective at close range; however, isolated or groups of males also wing-fanned in the absence of females (Titschack 1922; Roth and Willis 1952; S Takács, personal observation). Titschack (1922) suggested that this behaviour may serve to either “disperse odorous substances” produced by males or indicate sexual excitement, while Roth and Willis (1952) considered wingfanning in the absence of females as “vacuum activity”. Male T. bisselliella responded more strongly to larval habitat and sought it earlier at night than females (Takács et al. 2001a, 2001b). Habitat selection by males could enhance their mating success by placing them near resources essential to females (Emlen and Oring 1977; Thornhill and Alcock 1983). If males were to produce communication signals, they may enhance the attractiveness of larval habitat to foraging females. Our objective was to determine whether male and (or) female T. bisselliella produce mate-attracting signals.

Mining bees of the genus Evylaeus are remarkable in that their behaviour ranges from a strictly solitary to a complex social level. Knowledge of the many sexually dimorphic species is fragmentary, and the present paper describes one new species from northern Ontario and associates the sexes in two others. Biological notes and the illustration of male terminalia of closely related species are presented to facilitate their separation.

The European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis Hübner, is known to attack nearly every herbaceous plant large enough for the larvae to enter. Although the borer is primarily considered a pest of corn, economic infestations in such New York crops as potatoes, gladiolus, and other large stem plants are not uncommon.

In 1977, 1978, and 1979, economic levels of borer infestations were observed in winter wheat. In 1977, the presence of borer in wheat was noted at a number of sites, but only a few cases could be considered economically significant. However, in the 1978 season, the presence of borer in wheat had become common and reports of economic infestations exceeding 5 or 10% were widespread in the western New York wheat growing region. In 1979, the problem of borer on wheat declined significantly, and of infestations located, only one could be considered of economic significance.

The relative densities of phytophagous and predacious mites within mature apple trees were examined. The eggs of phytophagous mites Aculus schlechtendali (Nal.) and Panonychus ulmi (Koch) were more numerous in the lower position of the tree while the reverse was true for the predacious mite Zetzellia mali (Ewing) and its eggs.

A previously undescribed entomopoxvirus was isolated from larvae of Choristoneura conflictana Wlk. Samples of larvae taken from several points in Ontario indicated that the virus was widespread in the Province.

The morphology of the virus is described. The inclusion bodies are larger than those of another entomopoxvirus originally isolated from Choristoneura biennis Free. and propogated in Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.). The virions are of the same order of size for both viruses. Microspindles are associated with these viruses and some of the spindles are occluded along with the virions within the oval inclusion bodies. The C. conflictana entomopoxvirus is also infectious to C. fumiferana.

Of the water-bugs, perhaps Ranatra and Nepa are better known than the others in their anatomy and earlier stages. Dufour's classic on the anatomy of Nepa cinerea, L., and Ranatra linearis, L., has been followed by the work of other investigators in these two species, and the peculiar filamentous ova of the two genera have long been favourites with students. But neverthless, thus far no compelte life-history has been worked out for either of them.

The species of the chalcidoid genera Aphelinus Dalman, Mesidia Foerster, Mesidiopsis Nowicki, and Protaphelinus, new genus, are solitary endophagous parasites of aphids. Their classification is discussed. And a key to the genera is given based on adult characters.

Special emphasis in the revision is on the known Canadian representatives and species that are likely to be found in Canada. The first part of the revision deals with genus Protaphelinus. The type-species, P. nikolskajae (Jasnosh), is described in detail and illustrated. New information on distribution and host ranges is provided.

We investigated the factors responsible for changes in abundance of the spruce bud moth, Zeiraphera canadensis Mut. and Free. (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in one unmanaged and several managed (i.e., planted) young white spruce, Picea glauca (Moench.) Voss (Pinaceae), stands in northern New Brunswick, Canada. Spruce bud moth densities declined when one stand closed (branches from neighbouring trees overlapped) and had already declined in another similarly aged closed stand, but remained high on 8- to 22-year-old open-grown white spruce. Both the intrageneration survival rate and the egg-to-moth ratios increased when population densities increased, and generally decreased, although the egg-to-moth ratio fluctuated, during the population decline in a managed stand. Increases in intrageneration survival rates of spruce bud moth on 5- to 10-year-old trees were due to increased larval or pupal survival. Crown closure explained 76 and 81% of the variability in larval and intrageneration survival, respectively, in four managed stands. The strong inverse relationship between larval survival and degree of crown closure resulted in statistically significant but spurious relationships between larval survival and larval density and between larval survival and tree age. A reduction in larval survival occurring as degree of crown closure increased was the most important factor influencing decreases in intrageneration survival at the beginning of population decline. Increases in the egg-to-moth ratio during the population increase, and decrease during population decline, suggested that dispersal behaviour and (or) realized fecundity of females also contributed to annual changes in population.

In randomized complete block experiments using multiple-funnel traps frontalin was only moderately attractive to spruce beetles, Dendroctonus rufipennis Kirby, in northern British Columbia. MCOL (1-methylcyclohex-2-en-1-ol) of any enantiomeric composition significantly enhanced the attraction of both sexes (up to 3.4 and 4.2 times for females and males, respectively) to traps baited with frontalin. The lack of an enantiospecific preference for MCOL aligns beetles in northern British Columbia with those in southeastern British Columbia and northern Alberta, but not with enantiospecific populations in southern British Columbia and Alaska. In tree baits, neither MCOL nor seudenol (3-methylcyclohex-2-en-1-ol) enhanced the efficacy of frontalin. The power of frontalin alone at a release rate of 1.2 mg per 24 h (half the rate in commercial baits) indicates that the currently used operational tree baits could be modified by lowering the dose and eliminating α-pinene.

The spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens), is susceptible to two types of granulosis virus. One is characterized by the formation of mostly small ellipsoidal inclusion bodies, the second by the formation of large cubic inclusion bodies. Different shapes and sizes of inclusion bodies were formed when these viruses multiplied in the same tissues, some resembling the ellipsoids, others the cubes.

Larvae and pupae of eight species of Tabanidae are described: Chrysops sequax Williston, Hybomitra cincta (Fabricius), H. longiglossa (Philip), H. microcephala (Osten Sacken), H. daeckei (Hine), Tabanus novaescotiae Macquart, T. colon Thunberg, and T. wiedemanni Osten Sacken. A key is provided for identification of nine of the 10 species of Tabanus currently known to possess a stigmatal spine.

Brood production and shoot feeding by the pine shoot beetle, Tomicus piniperda (L.), were studied over 3 years in naturally infested plantations of Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris L. (Pinaceae), near Guelph and Waterloo, Ontario, using trap-logs. Adult beetles produced a single brood in 1996 and 1997 and two broods in 1999. Galleries for the first brood were all initiated under the bark over a 2- to 3-week period from mid-April to early May. The lone second brood occurred in early June. In all years, eggs were present by late April, larvae by mid-May, pupae by late June, and new adults by mid-July. Complete development (egg–pupa) required 12–13 weeks for the first brood and 8 weeks for the second brood. First-brood adults emerged over a 2- to 3-week period from early to mid-July in all years, with second-brood adults emerging in late July. The effective heat sums (degree-days (°d) > developmental-threshold temperature) were 77–79 °d for eggs, 267–293 °d for the larval stage, 139–152 °d for the pupal stage, and 43.2 °d for the pre-emergence stage, depending on the developmental-threshold temperature used. The total heat sums for the first brood (1249.8 ± 73.3 °d > 0 °C) were larger that those required for the second brood (856.4 ± 124 °d > 0 °C). Overall, values for first-brood development were similar to those calculated for European and Asian populations. Pine shoots in the upper tree crowns were used by adult beetles for maturation feeding between late July and late September in both 1995 and 1996. The re-emerging parental adults fed upon 1-year-old shoots, whereas newly emerging adults fed primarily upon current-year shoots. The beetles appeared to move to overwintering sites in late October to November, and no adults were found overwintering in shoots on the trees or the ground. Our results parallel those obtained by others under similar climatic conditions in Europe, and can be used to improve the management and regulation of this species as it becomes established in our native pine forests.

Demographic analysis of a species population can be useful in gaining insight into its dynamics in a particular environment. The calculated intrinsic rate of increase of a population may be valuable in predicting population performance. As a single, discrete value, it serves as a quantitative measure, or ecological index, of the response of a species to a set of environmental conditions (Birch 1948; Messenger 1964).

Plecia myersi n. sp. is described from remains found in Canadian Amber, of Upper Cretaceous age, from Cedar Lake, Manitoba. This specimen is the oldest positively identified fossil of the Bibionidae, and demonstrates the family existed in the Mesozoic Era in a form much like modern species.

A detrimental effect on larval size in Agria affinis (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) varied with the kind, among nine, and with the dietary level of antimicrobial food additives in a synthetic diet; for example, inversely with the level of streptomycin sulphate. This and other factors considered suggest need for some caution in the use of such food additives where normal insect specimens are desired.

Bugher and Taylor (1949) and Hassett and Jenkins (1949) reared highly radio-active adults of Aedes aegypti (L.) from larvae kept in a solution of radioactive phosphorus. Jenkins and Hassett (1949) obtained radio-active adults of Aedes pullatus (Coq.) and Aedes excrucians (Wlk.) with an average radio-activity of 4,300 counts per minute by rearing larvae in ponds to which radio-active phosphorus was added. Jenkins and Hassett (1951), with sub-Arctic mosquitoes, chiefly Aedes communis (Deg.), produced adults with radio-activity from 100 to 3,770 counts per minute from larvae reared in vats of P32 solution; adults released and recaptured in the field had an average radio-activity of 915 counts per minute. Thurman and Husband (1951) tagged larvae with P32 and released 400,000 adult mosquitoes in California. Of this number, 249 adults were recaptured at distances up to 1⅞ mi. downwind and 1½ mi. upwind from the release point. Yates et al. (1951) and Hassett and Jenkins (1951) produced radio-active adults of Aedes sticticus (Meig.) and Aedes aegypti (L.) by allowing them to feed on P32 solutions; the radio-activity was readily detectable with a Geiger counter for as long 13 days.

In the late summer of 1940, there was a decided peak in the abundance of the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus L. Numerous reports were received by the Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology, and a personal investigation proved the abundance of the species; trees bordering the north shore of Lake Ontario in the vicinity of Toronto were literally covered with monarch butterflies.

Wood and bark extracts from balsam fir, red cedar, spruce, hemlock, and pine were assayed for juvenile hormone-mimicking activity on pupae of the wax moth. All the extracts showed noticeable activity; the wood extracts were generally more active than the bark extracts. The results suggest that the purification of the extracts from these conifers might lead to the isolation of compounds with high hormone-mimicking potential.

Directional cone-orifice traps were suitable for monitoring population densities of five Lepidoptera species, provided the captured moths were removed from the traps on a regular basis of at least once a week throughout the flight period. Omni-directional traps with circular screen barriers in the entrance area and a slow-release insecticide in the receiver to kill the captured moths functioned well over extended periods of unattended use. These traps would be useful for monitoring and mass trapping purposes. Similar traps without the circular screen barriers were less efficient but, due to their simplicity, they would also be suitable for monitoring purposes. The optimum quantity of pheromone per dispenser was the same for the directional cone-orifice and omni-directional traps.