Synthetic sex pheromones were evaluated in apple orchards against the pests Spilonota ocellana (D. & S.), Archips argyrospilus (Walker), Choristoneura rosaceana (Harris), and Pandemis limitata (Robinson). Significant correlations between spring larval counts and captures of males in summer in pheromone traps occurred only at moderate to high population levels. Correlations between captures of males in summer and fruit damage occurred only with S. ocellana. The attractants for S. ocellana, A. argyrospilus, and C. rosaceana appear satisfactory but that for P. limitata, possibly due to species identification uncertainty and low populations, requires further evaluation.

The nominal genera Neoscaeva Frey, Rhinoprosopa Hull and Antillus Vockeroth, all from the Neotropical Region, are synonymized with Allograpta Osten Sacken. The previously unknown male of the type-species of Antillus is described.

Numerous methods of rearing grasshoppers under laboratory conditions have been described (Brett, 1947; Carothers, 1937; Haydak, 1942; Parker, 1930). One now used at the Belleville laboratom to provide hosts for small-scale propagation of parasites has been very satisfictory for the rearing of several species of Cyrtacanthacrinae and Oedipodinae. It most closely resembles rhe method described by Haydak (1942), but requires only one type of cage. The rearing is done in a room with a constant temperature of 24°C. and a relative humidity of 50-60 per cent. The method described is dependent upon the use of field-collected eggs.

The species included here are of rather short, cylindrical form, sometimes suggesting in shape the Cryptocephalini, though easily separated, so far as our genera are concerned, by the shorter and stouter antennæ. Most of them are Southern or Western in distribution, and the few genera recorded from within our limits may be known among themselves by these characters:—

A. Front coxæ contiguous.

Granular heptachlor applied with the seed caused mortality in larvae of the wheat stem sawfly, Cephus cinctus Nort., in wheat stems. Half a pound of actual heptachlor per acre gave less control than either 1 or 2 pounds, although the latter two rates did not differ in effectiveness. Formulations with attaclay were more effective than with vermiculite.

The insecticide was most effective in the lower internodes of the stem where it caused considerable mortality of early-instar larvae but was less effective on more mature larvae.

To be effective, heptachlor evidently required light sawfly infestations restricted mainly to the lower internodes of the stems such as had occurred in 1960. In that year heptachlor gave its best control although it was no more effective than a moderately sawfly-resistant wheat. Lack of control in 1961 was related to the heavy sawfly infestations in that year. The poor control in 1962 was related to the concentration of most of the sawfly eggs in the top two internodes where the insecticide had little effect on newly-hatched larvae. Only later, when they were more mature, did the larvae reach the lower internodes.

In studies of the behaviour of adults of the white pine weevil, it has been reported by Sullivan (1953) that the movenients of the beetles can be traced over long periods of time by means of Co60 tags attached to the elytra. Observations of the labelled insects over several months were feasible because of the long half-life and high specific activity of this isotope. Tags containing approximately 200 to 500 μc of radioactive cobalt did not have any appreciable effect on the survival of the insects over periods of one to two months, but records of the longevity of labelled insects revealed excessive mortality after several months. As field trials had indicated that the amount of isotope in the tags was in excess of that required for accurate detection of the insects, the work was continued in an effort to determine the effects of different quantities of the isotope on short-, and long-term survival.

De Clercq and Degheele (1990, 1992) described the morphology and bionomics of a predatory stink bug under the name of Podisus sagitta (Fabricius). The studies were based on a culture started from specimens originating from Surinam. Workers from the Agricultural University of Wageningen, The Netherlands, who provided us with the specimens, referred to the species by the name “Podisus sagittus (L.)”(Adidharma 1986), which we corrected to P. sagitta (Fabricius), the name mentioned by Van Duzee (1916). Subsequent to our studies, Thomas (1992) published an illustrated key to the New World species belonging to the pentatomid subfamily Asopinae, which, for the first time, enabled accurate identification of species.

The horn fly in Alberta has been reported as being parasitized by five species of Chalcidoidea (Depner 1968, Can. Ent. 100: 1057–1060). These identifications are corrected to Muscidifurax raptor G. & S., M. zaraptor K. & L., Eupteromalus viridescens (Walsh), Spalangia drosophilae Ashm., S. subpunctata Foerst., and S. e. erythromera Foerst. The last two were not known in North America; neither they nor the Muscidifurax spp. had been noted as parasitizing horn fly. The Spalangia spp. can be credited with parasitizing up to 40% of horn fly pupae in traps and the Muscidifurax spp. up to 30%. E. viridescens seems to be an adventitious parasite of horn fly.

The new genus Dioryctriodes is described for D. daelei n. sp., from Italy. This species closely resembles Dioryctria taiella Amsel in maculation but not in palpal structure or genitalia. D. taiella is referred to a new species-group of Dioryctria.

In 1937-38 the Argentine Department of Agriculture initiated an exchange of grasshopper parasite material with the Canadian Department of Agriculture which was engaged in a study of the natural control of grasshoppers in various provinces of Canada. By 1942 it was considered desirable to introduce exotic species of parasites into Canada on as wide a scale as possible, and the temperate regions of South America were selected as being the most promising for a survey. The parts of the temperate zone of South America to which preferential attention was to be given included the countries of Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile. The well known grasslands of the Rio de la Plata area have been partially transformed into one of the world centres for cereal production and as in other parts of the world increased grasshopper populations constitute a major problem in the agriculture of the region. Here species of the genus Dichroplus are frequently pests in the way in which members of the closely related Melanoplus are in North America.

The rose stem girdler (Agrilus communis rubicola Ab.), a pest of European origin, was first recorded on this continent in 1913. The earliest report of its presence in Ontario was made in 1931 in the Windsor area by Mr. C. S. Thompson, formerly of the Dominion Plant Inspection Service, who found it infesting roses on private grounds. The roses had been obtained in 1929 from a Michigan nursery which had imported them from Holland.

At least two species of Trichogramma (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) parasitize the eggs of Sepedon fuscipennis Loew (Diptera: Sciomyzidae) in freshwater habitats of central New York. Trichogramma julianoi Platner and Oatman parasitizes S. fuscipennis and Elgiva sundewalli Fries (Diptera: Sciomyzidae). Trichogramma sp. near californicum Nagaraja and Nagarkatti parasitizes S. fuscipennis, E. sundewalli, Tetanocera spp. (Diptera: Sciomyzidae), and pyralid moths (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). T. julianoi was most active in early and late summer. T. sp. near californicum was most active in mid- and late summer. Another undescribed species, similar to Trichogramma semblidis (Aurivillius), occurs in the same habitats but does not parasitize S. fuscipennis. Its primary hosts are Stratiomyidae (Diptera). Mortality of S. fuscipennis eggs due to Trichogramma varied significantly over the summer and reached 43.6% in late July and early August. A list of parasitoids reared from eggs of insects collected in fresh-water habitats is given.

In 1906 Nathan Banks described a species, Phryganea latipennis, based on a single male specimen which he had received in a collection of caddisflies from Japan. Assignment of this species to the family Phryganeidae has always seemed the logical course because the adults possessed the typical phryganeid characters of ocelli, four-segmented maxilary palpi in the male, and five-segmented palpi in the female, with a tibia1 spur cout of 2, 4, 4. That the species was a phryganeid has never been questioned in the past, and in a preliminary revision of the familyPhrygancidae, Martynov (1924) created a new genus Phryganopsis for the single species latipennis Banks . A second species, cornuta, from Burma, was added to the genus by Kimmins (1950). It was not until 1951 that the larva and case of P. latipennis were figured and briefly described by Tsuda. This was the first published information on the immature stages of the genus, and the structures of the pupa have still not been made known.

The styli, often called the aristae, of the antennae of adult Sepedon fuscipennis Loew (Diptera: Sciomyzidae) are shown to possess mechanosensilla, the number and arrangement of which differ between the sexes. It is suggested that the mechanosensilla provide sensory input to the female regarding the touching, or appositioning, of her styli by the male with his forelegs during copulation. Among the Sciomyzidae, S.fuscipennis males are unique in appositioning the antennae of the female during mating. Large clusters of pollen found on the styli of both sexes suggest that mechanosensilla and chemosensilla also provide sensory information about potential sources of food such as nectar (i.e., carbohydrates).

Cyromazine was effective in controlling Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess) (Diptera: Agromyzidae) larvae within chrysanthemum leaves. Ovipositor puncturing was not deterred by this larvicide. Adult emergence was inhibited when 3rd-instar larvae were exposed to cyromazine. Reduced dosages of 0.003, 0.030, and 0.300 g AI/L did not inhibit initiation of mines, but at the highest rate caused significant mortality. Diflubenzuron reduced L. trifolii ovipositor punctures but did not cause larval mortality. Methomyl applied at 0.5 mL/L gave significant control of larvae. Neither larvicide proved phytotoxic to a range of cultivars tested in a commercial greenhouse. Aldicarb applied to the soil at rates ranging from 28.8 to 575.0 g AI/100 m2 was found effective against L. trifolii larvae but severe phytotoxicity resulted from single applications at the two highest rates. Ovipositor punctures were not reduced as treatment rates increased, but oviposition tended to diminish in response to dosage. Complete leafminer control from a single application would require a highly phytotoxic dosage.

Nepytia freemani, a new species attacking Douglas fir in British Columbia, is described and compared with its near relatives.

The number of large embryos in adult Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Thomas) was investigated in 1974–77 as a means of forecasting population trends on field tomatoes. In an incubator the embryo count (e) of apterae and alatae was related to the daily birthrate (N) by the equation N = 0.45 e + 0.33, except in the first 4 days of adult life of the apterae. On field plots of tomatoes, e was only satisfactory for forecasting population trends in 1 of 4 years of observations. This probably occurred because the adults were mainly apterae. The relationship between flights of alatae and populations on tomatoes appeared to differ from year to year. In 1974 the number of alatae in large populations in tomato plots was more closely related to the number of alatae trapped in flight with a suction trap in the week after than in the week before the tomatoes were sampled, suggesting many alatae were leaving the tomatoes. In 1975–77, populations on tomatoes were low and the number of alatae on the plots was more closely related to suction trap catches in the week before than in the week after the counts on tomatoes, suggesting many of the alatae on the plots had recently arrived there. The percentage of alatae among adults on field tomatoes declined with days from planting each year. Red forms always constituted ≥ 50% of populations on tomatoes and in flights, the rest being green.

Different stages of the European red mite, Panonychus ulmi (Koch), were immersed in water for periods up to 48 hours. Mortality of eggs was negligible; of active stages it was low but appreciable. Immersion in water inhibited egg hatching, feeding, moulting, and oviposition. It was concluded that if the mite responds similarly under orchard conditions, frequent or prolonged wet periods would delay the buildup of a mite infestation.

The role of temperature in diapause induction was studied as a mode of long-term storage of Trichogramma chilonis (Ishii) (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae). Three different strains of this widely used biocontrol agent (T. chilonis Nilgiris strain, T. chilonis Kodaikanal strain, and T. chilonis 15 °C strain) reared on the factitious host Corcyra cephalonica (Stainton) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) were used for this experiment. Except T. chilonis laboratory strain, all the other strains could successfully undergo diapause at their pre-pupal stage. Maximum percentage of healthy pre-pupae were recorded in the three strains by providing a pre-storage temperature of 10 °C for 35 days with eight hours of photophase wherein 75–87% could enter into diapause. Further, at a maintenance temperature of 5 °C with 24 hours of scotophase, diapause could be maintained. Diapause could be terminated after six months of storage with 23–36% of adult emergence. However, there was significant reduction in longevity and parasitism rate of the emerged adults. Considering superior biological parameters, 95 days of storage (including pre-storage duration) could provide around 60% adult emergence. Successful long-term storage of T. chilonis strains through diapause induction can facilitate commercial insectaries in stockpiling this biocontrol agent for large-scale field releases. This is the first study on successful induction and termination of diapause in T. chilonis strains and evaluating their performance attributes.