Megaplatypus mutatus (= Platypus mutatus) (Chapuis), an ambrosia beetle (Coleoptera: Platypodidae) native to South America, is a forest pest that attacks live standing trees, affecting commercial poplar and other broadleaf plantations. Traditionally, single-chambered emergence traps have been used to collect live beetles for field and laboratory studies. However, the lack of separation in these chambers results in antagonistic interactions between individuals. Wounded M. mutatus are incapable of successful reproduction and are of little value in physiological and behavioral experiments. We introduce a new, multiple-chambered trap that isolates individual insects until collection, thus increasing the number of uninjured and fully functional insects available for physiological and behavioral experiments.

The literature contains many references to the close resemblance of various Orthoptera to the colour of the vegetation and soil on which they occur. Hancock (1911) noted this particularly with the acridid Dissosteira carolina (Linn.) and attempted to determine whether this species changes colour at the critical stage of the last moult. From his experiments he concluded that the Carolina locust does not change abruptly from one colour to another during the critical period following ecdysis, but that the change takes place gradually.

Insects of the family Nabidae (Hemiptera) are generalist predators commonly found in agroecosystems, but little is known about their predation rates on common pests of forage crops. We determined the functional response and prey preference of Nabis Latreille species to two common leafhopper pests of red clover (Trifolium pratense Linnaeus; Fabaceae): Agallia constricta Van Duzee (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) and Ceratagallia agricola (Hamilton) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae). We also determined the survivorship of A. constricta to predation by Nabis species over the course of five days. The Nabis species displayed a Type III functional response to both leafhopper species with a preference for A. constricta. The 10-A. constricta/cage treatments and 20-A. constricta/cage treatments had the highest survival probabilities after five days with survival probabilities of 0.19 and 0.23, respectively. These results indicate that Nabis species may help in controlling leafhopper populations in forage-crop systems.

A survey of the insect fauna in a part of the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico was made in 1964 by a party of nine entomologists from the Canada Departments of Agriculture and Forestry. Approximately 50 species of Scolytidae in 20 genera were collected on this expedition and are listed with host relationships and distribution where possible. A brief discussion of the known biology of one of the major economic bark beetles, a species of Dendroctonus, is given. The local weather conditions and the forest composition are discussed generally for the benefit of future collectors in this area.

We examined the insecticidal activity of linalool and thymol, against diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (Linnaeus) (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae), and whether they would synergise the activity of spinosad against this pest. Both linalool and thymol were toxic to diamondback moth larvae by topical and oral exposure, but orders of magnitude less so than spinosad. We found that low concentrations of linalool weakly synergised spinosad, increasing its toxicity more than twofold. An interaction between spinosad, and acetone meant it was not possible to identify any potential synergisms between thymol and spinosad. Our results demonstrate limited potential for thymol and linalool to act as biopesticides or synergists for managing diamondback moth.

The effects of fluctuating water tables on the survival of the larch sawfly, Pristiphora erichsonii (Hartig) (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae), were studied by burying cocoons at different depths in a tamarack bog. Most larvae in cocoons flooded during August or September died before winter. The percentage of overwintering survival of unflooded cocoons remained constant from late fall until development began in the spring. The higher the cocoons were above the maximum water table during August and September, the greater was the percentage of overwintering survival and subsequent adult emergence.

First detection of the Russian wheat aphid, Diuraphis noxia (Mordvilko), in the United States occurred in March 1986 in the Texas panhandle. Within 3 years, this aphid pest was found in 15 western states and three provinces in Canada. Each year since 1986, Russian wheat aphid has been responsible for millions of dollars in grain loss and insecticide treatment costs (Anonymous 1988, 1989). Physiological responses of the plants to the aphid include chlorotic streaking, rolled leaves, entrapment of developing seedheads, stunting, reduced tiller production, and reduced yields (Hewitt et al. 1984; Johnson et al. 1988; unpublished data).

Mating and receiving ejaculate can alter female insect physiology and postcopulatory behaviour. During mating, females receive both internal and external stimuli and different components in the ejaculate. In insects, these components consist mostly of sperm and male accessory gland secretions. Some of the most important changes associated with receiving male accessory gland secretions are a reduction in female sexual receptivity and an increase in oviposition. However, a clear function for these molecules has not been found in the Mexican fruit fly Anastrepha ludens (Loew) (Diptera: Tephritidae). Here, we tested how the stimulus of mating, receiving a full ejaculate, or only receiving accessory gland secretions can influence ovarian development and oviposition. Our results indicate that the stimulus of mating per se is enough to induce oviposition and increase egg laying in females even if ejaculate is not received, whereas receiving only accessory gland secretions does not increase ovarian development and is not enough to induce oviposition or increase egg production. Further research on the internal and external copulatory courtship of A. ludens will increase our understanding of the role of these secretions in stimulating oviposition independent of ejaculate effects. A biological function for male accessory gland secretions on female behaviour for A. ludens still needs to be found.

Vockerothempissubgen. nov., a new subgenus of Rhamphomyia, is described and includes the following species: Rhamphomyia (Vockerothempis) arakawae Matsumura, Rhamphomyia (Vockerothempis) calcarifera Saigusa, and Rhamphomyia (Vockerothempis) japonica Frey from Japan, and Rhamphomyia (Vockerothempis) umbrosa Loew, Rhamphomyia (Vockerothempis) brevisetosasp. nov., Rhamphomyia (Vockerothempis) chillcottianasp. nov., and Rhamphomyia (Vockerothempis) fortisetosasp. nov. from North America. Zoogeography, phylogenetic relationships within Vockerothempis and subgeneric classification of Rhamphomyia are discussed.

The susceptibility of male and female Pholetesor ornigis (Weed) to the pyrethroid insecticides permethrin, fenvalerate, and deltamethrin, the organophosphorous insecticides azinphosmethyl and phosmet, and the carbamate insecticide methomyl, was compared in the laboratory using two populations from Norfolk County, Ontario. Female P. ornigis were more susceptible than males to permethrin. There was no sexual difference in the susceptibility of P. ornigis to the other five insecticides tested. The implications of these results for the biological control potential of P. ornigis in commercial apple orchards are discussed. The results obtained for permethrin, fenvalerate, azinphosmethyl, and methomyl were compared with those obtained in a study completed 6 years earlier using P. ornigis from another location in Ontario; the results suggest that P. ornigis from Norfolk County have low levels of resistance to permethrin (3.3-fold), fenvalerate (2.2-fold), and methomyl (4.1-fold).

A pair of elytra of the striped flea beetle Phyllotreta striolata (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) was recovered from a sample of sediment dating before 1668 collected in Ville de Québec, Québec, Canada, making it the earliest recorded introduction of the species in North America. It is proposed that its transatlantic voyage took place on crucifers either voluntarily transported as foodstock and animal fodder or involuntarily as weeds.

Micracidini (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) is an unusual tribe of mainly bigynous bark beetles found in dry forests and scrublands in Afrotropical and Neotropical regions. Their phylogenetic relationship to other bark beetle groups is poorly known with few clues from external morphology. Hence, a phylogenetic analysis of five genes (COI, EF-1a, 28S, CAD, ArgK) and morphological (internal and external) data was conducted to test potential sister group relationships, including 56 outgroup genera in 22 tribes, and 18 species in 10 genera of Micracidini. Cactopinus Schwarz – a genus with many cactus feeding species – was nested within a clade of all Neotropical and Nearctic genera. The New World was colonised by an Afrotropical ancestor about 75–85 million years ago, where cactus feeding in Cactopinus evolved much later. All analyses indicated a paraphyletic clade of Afrotropical micracidines, strongly supporting inclusion of the Ipini genus Dendrochilus Schedl in Afromicracis Schedl. Hypoborini appear to be one of the more plausible sistergroup candidates to Micracidini, and revealed morphological similarity in protibial and proventricular characters. Most phylogenetic results were supported independently by morphological and molecular data and therefore document the power of thorough examination of morphological characters analysed properly in a phylogenetic context.

The following table, adapted frorn Brunner von Wattenwyl and Stal, will enable any one quickly to determine the genera in his collection of U. S. Phasmidæ. Our species are few in number and all apterous. Only one of them, Diapheromera femorata (Say), extends into Canada.

A1 Tibiæ not furnished at apex beneath with a sunken areola to receive the base of the tarsi when bent upon them. (All of our genera of this division belong to the Bacunculidæ, in which the antennæ are much longer than the anterior femora and furnished with at least thirty joints, and the median segment is much shorter than the metanotum.)

Eleven of the 12 species of owls (Aves: Strigidae, Tytonidae) known to occur in Manitoba, Canada, were examined for chewing lice (Phthiraptera: Amblycera, Ischnocera) from 1976 to 2015: barn owl (Tyto alba (Scopoli); Aves: Tytonidae) (n = 2), snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus (Linnaeus); Aves: Strigidae) (n = 77), great horned owl (Bubo virginianus (Gmelin); Aves: Strigidae) (n = 262), great grey owl (Strix nebulosa Förster; Aves: Strigidae) (n = 142), barred owl (Strix varia Barton; Aves: Strigidae) (n = 10), northern hawk owl (Surnia ulula (Linnaeus); Aves: Strigidae) (n = 18), short-eared owl (Asio flammeus (Pontoppidan); Aves: Strigidae) (n = 74), long-eared owl (Asio otus (Linnaeus); Aves: Strigidae) (n = 67), eastern screech owl (Megascops aslo (Linnaeus); Aves: Strigidae) (n = 59), boreal owl (Aegolius funereus (Linnaeus); Aves: Strigidae) (n = 47), and northern saw-whet owl (Aegolius acadicus (Gmelin); Aves: Strigidae) (n = 44), a total of 802 owls. No lice were found infesting barn owl (Tyto alba (Scopoli); Aves: Tytonidae) or eastern screech owl (Megascops asio (Linnaeus); Aves: Strigidae). We collected a total of 113 810 lice of 12 species: Kurodaia Uchida (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae) – three species; and Strigiphilus Mjöberg (Phthiraptera: Philopteridae) – nine species. Overall prevalence of infestation ranged from 10.0% to 88.9%. Mean intensity for total lice ranged from 22.4 to 506.5. Infestation parameters for each louse–host combination are provided; prevalence and mean intensity were not related for louse–host species combinations. Distribution of louse infestations was highly aggregated. In all louse–host combinations but one, either females were more prevalent than males or there was no significant deviation from 50:50. Male Strigiphilus ceblebrachys Denny significantly outnumbered females in snowy owls. There was a tendency for louse species to co-occur on the same host specimen. Where sample sizes for owls were large enough, no seasonal patterns in abundance of lice were detected.

L'influence de différents régimes trophiques sur la capacité de survie et la longévité d'une espèce zoophytophage (Macrolophus pygmaeus Rambur ; Hemiptera : Miridae) a été étudiée. Les différentes sources trophiques, présentées seules ou en combinaison étaient de l'eau libre, une plante (tabac), et une proie (œufs d’Ephestia kuehniella Zeller ; Lepidoptera : Pyralidae). Le régime trophique a fortement influencé la longévité et la survie des adultes quel que soit leur sexe. L'eau, libre ou apportée par la plante, est une ressource indispensable à la survie. La plante, comparée à l'eau libre, n'a pas eu d'effet significatif sur la longévité mais a influencé positivement la survie. On a observé un effet certain de la présence simultanée de l'eau et des œufs.

In the Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, leaf galls produced by fundatrices of the grape phylloxera, Phylloxera vitifoliae (Fitch), first appear soon after the beginning of shoot growth. The infestation builds up later as the result of almost continuous gall formation by at least four overlapping generations of gallicolae, until at the end of the growing season galls may be up to 2000 times more numerous than in the fundatrix generation. A portion of the first-instar crawlers hatched in leaf galls migrate, fall, or are blown from the foliage to the soil, beginning when second-generation gallicolae hatch, and reaching a maximum late in August, probably after the fourth-generation gallicolae begin to hatch.

Stem galls induced by the cynipid Diplolepis triforma Shorthouse and Ritchie are frequently inhabited by several species of parasitic chalcids and ichneumonids that consume inducers or other parasitoids. Two of these parasitoids, the eurytomid Eurytoma spongiosa Bugbee and the torymid Glyphomerus stigma (Fabr.), consume gall tissues after they have consumed their insect hosts and are considered entomophytophagous. Both are koinobiont ectoparasitoids. Eurytoma spongiosa oviposits within gall chambers and attacks larvae of the inducer throughout the summer season, from the early growth phase of the galls until the galls mature. If the inducer is killed by E. spongiosa in early summer, nutritive gall cells degenerate into vacuolate parenchyma and are consumed. If the inducer is killed later in the summer, when galls begin to mature, nutritive cells persist in the chambers for about 1 week before degenerating. Glyphomerus stigma kills and consumes inducer larvae when galls are maturing. New nutritive cells appear under the influence of G. stigma and are then consumed. The ability of entomophytophagous chalcids to promote the formation of gall cells provides insight into the derivation of the gall-inducing guild.