Lophyroplectus luteator (Thunb.), a European ichneumonid, was liberated in three Neodiprion sertifer-infested plantations in southern Ontario. Following one introduction in 1962, the parasite has survived 4 years and has spread at least 1.4 mites. Six per cent of the hosts collected within the plantation in 1966 produced adult parasites. Another smaller introduction in 1962 was unsuccessful. Following the third introduction, made in 1964, the parasite has survived 2 years and the attack level is now nearly 9 per cent.

This paper reviews recent work on the higher systematics of insects and summarizes the various phylogenetic concepts advocated. It is evident that there is considerable difference of opinion. This is likely to prevail since the fossil record is inadequate. It is suggested that a numerical analysis of the insects at the Order level might be profitable.

I have been assigned a subject that gives considerable latitude for interpretation. I propose to survey the broad outlines of biogeography from several different aspects. First I will discuss the scope of biogeography, in its two dimensions–almost necessarily seen as perspectives–looking outward into the world and looking backward into time. This will lead into a review of some of the principles and processes that underlie biogeographic phenomena. The two dimensions must again be considered, and we will mention both the reasons for present distributions and the not always identical reasons for distributions in the past. Then we will broaden the horizon to consider the relationship between biogeography and certain other branches of science. Finally I will try to look a little way forward and to hint at the biogeography of the future and what biogeography may be expected to tell us about the future. This is a large program for a short essay, and the treatment of individual topics must necessarily be brief and simplified.

The term “protocephalon” as used by Snodgrass (1938) applies to that portion of the head which lies anterior to the mandibular segment. As defined by him it is composed of the “prostomial acron” and a postantennal segment. The term “acron” has been used in somewhat different senses by different authors and to avoid confusion I have introduced the term “blastocephalon” instead. The blastocephalon may be defined as that portion of the head which includes the labrum, clypeus and occulo-antenna1 region. In the germ band it appears as an expanded anterior region, the cephalic lobes, which forms a sort of early embryonic head, hence the name. The posterior trunk-like region of the germ band may then be called the blastocorm.

Newly-hatched larvae from a selected (S) “non-diapausing” gypsy moth strain and larvae from field-collected wild (W) eggs were reared in field cages in Connecticut, U.S.A. beginning May 1976 to determine developmental rates and interbreeding potential. Reciprocal and inter se matings between S and W moths were monitored to determine if hatch occurred during the fall and if S and reciprocal F1 hybrid (SW, WS) eggs could successfully overwinter and hatch at an appropriate time the following spring. Hatch of S eggs did occur in the fall. Survival of SW, WS, and some S eggs over the Connecticut winter demonstrated that this non-diapause colony is not suitable for a genetic control program in which the non-diapause trait is expected to act as a conditional lethal.

Une région aussi étendue et variée que le parc du Mont Tremblant fournit à l'entomologiste comme à tout naturaliste d'ailleurs, un domaine quasi illimitt à de patientes et fructueuses recherches. La superficie actuelle de ce territoire forestier voisine les 700 milles carrés. Les plus hauts sommets des Laurentides, au nord de Montréal, émergent de cette région. La partie méridionale est formée par les bassins supérieurs de cinq rivières d'importance: les rivières Rouge, Macaza, Cachée, du Diable et Boulé; d'autre part, toute la partie septentrionale envoie ses eaux dans la rivière Mattawin, affluent du Saint-Maurice. Les hauts plateaux du parc servent donc de réservoir à six grandes rivières. Ses bornes se trouvent entre les 46° et 47° de latitude et les 74° et 75° de longitude.

The western bigeyed bug, Geocoris pollens Stål, was successfully reared on a diet of sunflower seeds and eggs and nymphs of the large milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus (Dallas).

An outbreak of Neodiprion sertifer (Geoffroy) was studied in a lodgepole pine plantation. It was the first tree generation on a 60-ha peatland area. The nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV) of N. sertifer was not found in the larval population or in the soil. Within a 1.7-ha experimental plot, a 0.35-ha block was treated with NPV and the ensuing epizootic was studied during three successive summers. The treatment caused 50% mortality of fourth- and fifth-instar larvae. The NPV persisted in the treated block and gradually dispersed into the adjacent blocks. After 2 years, larval mortality was 78% in the treated block and 21% at a distance of 110–125 m from it. The larval population remained at a high level and the outbreak expanded from the experimental plot to the entire 60-ha area in the years following the virus treatment, but few virus-diseased colonies were observed outside the experimental plot. Thus, the capability of this NPV to persist and spread was not sufficient to control and contain the sawfly outbreak.

Unlike some tortricids that are refractory to diflubenzuron, the oak-leaf shredder, Croesia semipurpurana (Kearfott), is susceptible to this molt-inhibiting insect growth regulator. Aerial application of 140 g in 4.7 L/ha provides good control of this insect and affords foliage protection. The success of diflubenzuron was evaluated by sampling larvae and pupae. Monitoring male moths with pheromone traps provided corroborative evidence of a significant decrease in the post-treatment population. The successful assessment by pheromone monitoring here merits its consideration for other control operations in forestry.

A machine is described which generates a standard, mosquito-attracting “target” to which controlled additions of various volatile chemicals can be made and the amount needed to repel the insects thereby measured in micromoles per liter of air. The apparatus can be used with both solids and liquids as well as with blends or mixtures. While principally intended for testing mosquito repellents, it can probably be adapted for use with other biting insects and ticks.

Inundative releases of Trichogramma exiguum Pinto and Platner were evaluated for suppression of the Nantucket pine tip moth, Rhyacionia frustrana (Comstock), in first-year loblolly pine, Pinus taeda L., plantations. Three releases, spaced 7 d apart, were made in three 0.4-ha plots during second-generation R. frustrana egg deposition. Each release included three cohorts of T. exiguum developmentally separated by 25 degree-days. Mean ± SD field release rate for each cohort was 328 238 ± 88 379 females/ha. Mean T. exiguum emergence under laboratory conditions for released cohorts was 96 ± 2%, with 74 ± 3% females, of which 1 ± 1% of females displayed brachyptery; female longevity was 18 ± 3 d. Field emergence averaged 96 ± 4%. Parasitism of R. frustrana eggs was significantly increased, ranging from 40 ± 19 to 73 ± 22% in T. exiguum-treated plots and 17 ± 17 to 67 ± 21% in control plots. Data from all treated plots combined showed R. frustrana egg survival (hatching) was significantly reduced by 46%, and larval populations were significantly reduced by 60%. There was no significant difference in the percentage of terminals damaged between T. exiguum-treated (31 ± 16%) and control plots (45 ± 10%); however, length of terminal damage was significantly lower in treated plots. The percentage of damage to top whorl shoots was significantly lower in T. exiguum-treated plots compared with control plots, but there was no significant difference in length of tunneling damage. Damage to remaining shoots was not significantly different between T. exiguum-treated and control plots. Microhabitat significantly influenced both mean maximum and minimum temperature and the number of consecutive hours per day that were at or above 35 °C (critical temperature for T. exiguum survival). Soil surface with no cover had the greatest number of hours at or above 35 °C, followed by soil surface with herbaceous cover, and canopies of small trees (0.4 m tall). Canopy habitats in larger trees (0.9–1.8 m tall) had the most moderate temperature conditions. Parasitoid emergence was significantly reduced in response to increasing number of consecutive hours at or above 35 °C. Predation of parasitoids prior to emergence was significantly affected by microhabitat and by the length of time capsules were in the field before T. exiguum emergence (i.e., cohort number).

Chermes lariciatus was described by Patch from the gallicola migrans and further information on this form was given by Annand under the genus Adelges. The complete polymorphic cycle on spruce and larch is described here, with information about the life history, habits, seasonal development, and morphology. Fundatrices overwinter as nymphs below new buds of spruce on 1-year-old needle bases. Gallicolae develop in early summer within galls which are globular in shape and usually only partly surround the twigs. Sistentes overwinter as first-instar nymphs on larch buds, wedged among the bases of the needles or scales, with the heads up and the mouth parts inserted into the bud. The progredientes and sexuparae move to the new cones in early summer when there is a cone crop, but settle on the leaf buds when there is none. Sexuales nymphs on spruce remain under the parent sexuparae during development. A diagrammatic representation of the seasonal development and a description of the morphology of the first-instar nymph and adult of each form is given. A discussion concerning the validity of this and related species is included.

In collecting sawfly eggs, larvae, and cocoons for propagating beneficial insects at the Belleville laboratory, a heavy infestation of a pine sawfly, Neodiprion nanulus Schedl, was discovered in 1942 nine miles north of Belleville, on a 25-year-old plantation of red pine, Pinus resinosa Ait.; Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris L.; and jack pine, Pinus banksiana Lamb.

From samples of the eggs collected in the spring of 1943, no parasites emerged.

Morphological interpretations are given of sclerotized areas, such as the prothoracic shield, anal plate, and pinacula of lepidopterous larvae. Markings of these sclerotized areas which indicate the positions of muscle attachments are classified; new systematic names are suggested based on those of the corresponding muscles. The importance of sclerotized areas and markings for larval classification are shown by examples. These markings are used to distinguish certain closely related species of the genus Chilo (Pyralidae).

The following contribution is supplementary and complementary to a more extensive paper recently published in the Annals and Magazine of Natural History. An elucidation of the terminology and definitions of the higher categories employed may be found therein.

G. cerea larvae feed upon the ovules and capsule of Pedicularis canadensis. Distribution of the fly coincides closely with its plant host. Adult flies are active in spring during the plant’s flowering period. Both sexes of flies are predaceous on small insects. Details of mating and oviposition behavior are elaborated. After feeding, larvae form puparia in the soil around roots of the host and undergo protracted diapause. All activities of the single generation per year are closely attuned to host plant’s cycle. Distribution of G. incisurata appears to closely follow that of its hosts. Larvae feed upon the flower parts of three species of Penstemon (hirsutus, digitalis, and calycosus). Duration of adult and larval activity periods along with behavior closely parallels G. cerea. In view of known host plant preferences in the Scatophaginae, it is suggested the way in which adaptation of Gimnomera to members of the Scrophulariaceae has been established is via the parasitic or hemiparasitic members of this plant family.

A method which uses the number of large embryos per adult to predict increases or decreases of green peach aphids, Myzus persicae (Sulzer), on potatoes over 3–4 or 7–8 days is presented. The population change between two successive counts 1 and 2, expressed as an increase factor (count 2 divided by count 1), is related to the average number of embryos per adult, at the time of count 1, by a linear regression (significant, P < 0.001). If there are more than about three embryos per adult, the population increases. Parasitism by Aphidius nigripes Ashm. reduces the number of embryos per adult in the field. In the laboratory, with no parasitism, the number of embryos per adult declines with age and is directly related to the daily birth rate which also declines with age.

Oviposition and fecundity of the pine false webworm, Acantholyda erythrocephala (L.), were investigated in the field and in controlled environments in the laboratory. Females mated and began ovipositing soon after emergence from the soil. Most eggs were mature and ready for deposition at female emergence. Potential fecundity of females at emergence from the ground was a linear function of adult wet or dry weight. However, a few eggs matured following emergence of the females from the soil. The amount of defoliation of the host plant caused by the sawfly in the previous year was inversely related to size and potential fecundity of emerging adults.

Realized fecundity was independent of temperature over the range of rearing temperatures examined. Mean realized fecundity at constant temperatures ranged from 32.9 eggs per female at 14.9°C to 42.0 eggs per female at 26.6°C. These differences were not statistically significant. Oviposition and ageing rates were temperature dependent. Average female longevity ranged from 27 days at 14.9°C to 6.6 days at 26.6°C. Females were diurnal and oviposition occurred during daylight hours. Oviposition pattern of the sawfly was described by a model based on temperature-dependent oviposition and ageing-rate functions. The model accurately predicted female survival and egg deposition in an outdoor insectory. However, predicted oviposition pattern of natural populations was delayed when compared with the observed pattern and may have resulted from microclimatic effects or inaccuracy of the model at low temperatures.

Field tests were conducted annually near Delhi, Ontario from 1977 to 1981 to evaluate blacklight and sex attractant traps for monitoring adult populations of the darksided cutworm, Euxoa messoria (Harris), in the major tobacco-producing area. There were no significant differences between the catches of sex attractant traps set at 1.0 m and 0.5 m above ground level. Sex attractant traps were superior to blacklight traps for monitoring populations of this pest species. There was a variation in abundance from year to year, but the time of peak occurrence of E. messoria adults was the same in each of the 5 years.