Recent developments in ecological theory pertaining to the coexistence of insect species in response to forest disturbance are reviewed, and the findings are applied to the requirements for the Biological Survey of the Insects of Canada. It is important that a data collection system have a sound theoretical base, otherwise it will probably be found inadequate for the purpose for which it was designed. Questions about changes in faunal assemblages should be related to the scale of disturbance relative to the replacement time of the forest. Recommendations for research on faunal assemblage disturbance relationships are made for the Forest Insect and Disease Survey of Canada, and for the northern boreal forest.

Sweep-net and sticky-trap data were used to examine the influence of time of day (morning, afternoon, evening), trapping location (pasture, bog, fen, regrowth, and mature forest), and meteorological factors (wind, temperature, saturation deficit, and light) on adult female fly catch for three species (species complex) of black flies — Simulium truncatum/venustum complex, Prosimulium mixtum, and Stegopterna mutata (triploid). Wind speed, light, temperature, saturation deficit, and time of day were all shown to have a significant effect on mean catch, although effects varied among species. After accounting for weather and time, trap location was shown to have a significant effect on mean catch. The effect of site on the mean fly catch of S. truncatum/venustum complex varied with season (June to July), which may have resulted from a seasonal shift in sibling-species composition. Mean catches of P. mixtum and St. mutata were lowest in traps located in open habitats.

Procedures for absolute population sampling of the gallicola migrans stage of the pine leaf chermid on its secondary host are described. This involves determining the mean numbers of gallicolae per fascicle on one twig from each of 29–240 pines per stand and estimating the numbers of fascicles in the stand from the distribution of stem diameters. Patterns and distributions of the gallicolae within trees and stands are discussed with comments on their biological significance.

This Index endeavors to continue part of Patch's (1938) impressive work, “Food Plant Catalogue of the Aphids of the World,” which attempted to include all host records up to the end of 1935. Although Higuchi and Miyazaki (1969) have produced a tentative host catalogue for Aphidoidea in Japan and Sharma (1969, 1971, 1972), Smith (1972), and Szelegiewicz (1969) have produced more recent bibliographies, Patch's host catalogue has not been updated on a world-wide basis. This is an attempt to fill this need as regards original host records of species of aphids described during 1935 to 1969. The index has been arranged alphabetically by genus and species of host, or under the colloquial name for the host where this was the only information given in the description of the species. Fossils, and species where the host was not given, have been listed under Fossils and Unknown respectively.

In 1930 Dr. R. H. Emslie turned over to the author a small collection of mayfly nymphs collected by him in streams in Scotland. Among them was a small series of nymphs of Ecdyonurus venosus Fabricius in different instars collected at Tummel Bridge and Bridge of Weir. This species is unique in having prominent postero-lateral extensions of the prothorax resembling the wing-pads of the meso- and metathorax (Figs. 1 & 8).

Populations of Scolytus multistriatus (Marsham) from two areas of California were sampled in 1979 to investigate various factors influencing mortality. English-elm bolts (Ulmus procera Salisb.) ranging between 2.0 and 12.9 cm in diameter yielded mean mortalities from 49.1 to 86.0%. Mortality was highly correlated with egg density for branch samples from 7.0 to 12.9 cm in diameter. The minimum acceptable elm-branch diameter (2.8 cm) was attacked only during the first sampling period (mid-May to mid-June). Branch diameter, and therefore bark thickness, demonstrated a strong positive relationship with the density of S. multistriatus eggs, attacks, gallery lengths, and emerged adults. Gallery length density was positively correlated with attack density. At low attack densities in small-diameter branches, mean gallery lengths were shorter.

Three species and one subspecies of fleas, all belonging to the Ceratophyllidae, are described and figured in this paper. One of the species, formerly known only from Siberia, and imperfectly described, is redescribed, and recorded from Yukon Territory. The remaining two species and the subspecies are believed to be new to science.

A review of the literature and application of the latest rules show that the justified emendation Paxylommatidae Foerster 1862 is the correct family-group name for Hybrizon Fallén 1813. Because Hybrizon lacks the chief apomorphy of braconids, fused metasomal terga II and III, and also lacks a major apomorphy of ichneumonids, loss of 1r-m and retention of 2r-m in the hindwing, it is placed in a separate family. Some unusual antennal sensilla are illustrated.

The genus Anoplonyx Marlatt belongs to the more generalized of the Nematinae and is clearly defined taxonomically by Ross (1937). This genus is comprised of very few known species, four in North America and four in Europe; all are associated with trees of the genus Larix. The species are similar in appearance and difficult to distinguish, especially in the adult stage.

Considerable confusion existed concerning the identification of the members of this genus in North America up until Wong (1955) published a key to separate the late feeding stages of Anoplonyx larvae found in Canada. The two species dealt with herein are apparently native to Eastern Canada and have generally been identified as one species, “Marlatt's Larch Sawfly”, A. laricis (Marlatt). Here they are identified as A. luteipes (Cresson) (= laricis Marlatt), and A. canadensis Harrington, as listed bv Ross (1951).

A vehicle-mounted trap for collecting airborne insects is described. Air enters at 1.9 m wide × 0.7 m high funnel and escapes through 12.5 mesh/cm nylon netting; insects are concentrated and directed into a removable receiving bag. The trap is durable, inexpensive, simple to construct and install, and can be transported in a station wagon or pickup truck.

Dendroctonus terebrans (Olivier) adults may be accurately sexed by means of the seventh abdominal tergite. Stridulation sound and stridulation movement are useful especially in field observations but not completely accurate because some male beetles do not stridulate and some females do.

Laboratory rearing is accomplished by the introduction of parent beetles to fresh pine bolts. Development takes ca. 78 days at 23 °C ± 2 °C or ca. 1302 degree days of effective temperature.

In the laboratory a proprietary, neem-based insecticide formulation (NBI) was evaluated as a potential pest management tool for the western cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis indifferens Curran (WCFF). NBI was tested for its potential effects on survival and development of juvenile WCFF. Incorporation of NBI into an artificial larval diet resulted in a decrease in the formation of pupae and subsequent adult emergence. Late third instar larvae exposed to NBI in sand were able to form puparia; however, the numbers of adults and pupae developing inside the puparia were decreased at concentrations as low as 0.05% NBI. Well-timed root drenches with NBI could control R. indifferens by disrupting pupation. Applied in this manner, NBI may provide cherry orchardists with an effective, new control tactic.

Male and female adults of Cowichania interstitialis n. gen., n. sp. are described, and Cowichaniinae n. subfam. is proposed for members of this genus and species. Adults of the new species are autapomorphic among Hydryphantidae in having an entire, uniformly sclerotized dorsal shield, the dorsoglandularia displaced laterally, the genital field located well posteriorly on the idiosoma, and unique sclerotized plates surrounding the coxal plates laterally and posteriorly, and are unusual in having slightly stalked genital acetabula and sexually dimorphic chaetotaxy on the tibiae of the pedipalps. Provisional remarks on phylogeny and higher classification of Hydryphantidae are also presented.

Morphological features of the eggs of Euxoa campestris, E. declarata, and E. rockburnei, the “declarata group”, were diagnostic for the species; the esterase zymograms of the eggs of campestris and declarata support the morphological findings. Chorionic features and the esterase zymograms of a hybrid resembled those of the female parent.

To confirm patterns of diversity and differentiation found with isozymes and mitochondrial DNA, we surveyed 10 populations of the white pine weevil, Pissodes strobi (Peck), for randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. Four weevil populations were sampled from Sitka spruce, Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr (Pinaceae), five from the "interior" spruce of British Columbia [admixtures of white spruce, Picea glauca (Moench) Voss, and Engelmann spruce, Picea engelmanni (Parry)], and one from Jack pine, Pinus banksiana Lamb. (Pinaceae), in Ontario. In each population, 30–60 weevils were assayed with 10 RAPD primers, yielding 74 RAPD markers. Genetic analyses showed that populations from interior spruce and Jack pine formed a distinct complex; as well, Vancouver Island populations formed a distinct group within the Sitka populations. Levels of diversity, both in terms of polymorphic loci and expected heterozygosity, declined from east to west, supporting the contention that P. strobi originated in eastern North America and migrated west, and suggesting that biocontrol methods may be more effective on populations from Sitka spruce, owing to their reduced diversity. These results parallel an earlier isozyme study but, in contrast, the diversity differences and population relationships are demonstrated to be statistically significant, owing to both the much larger number of loci sampled and the attachment of statistical confidence intervals to estimates of diversity and differentiation.

In laboratory wind tunnel studies, quiescent Korscheltellus gracilis (Grote) females initiated wing fanning as light intensity was reduced to 25–11 lx at the end of a 16-h, 450-lx photophase. Males downwind of a wing-fanning female initiated wing fanning, rapid walking, or both, and upwind flight toward the female typically ensued shortly thereafter. Wing-fanning females whose abdomens had been removed, and excised hind wings of females evoked the same male responses, but females whose hind wings had been removed evoked no male response. The sex pheromone of K. gracilis evidently is released from the female’s hind wings, a so far unique site of pheromone release in female Lepidoptera. The importance of this finding to understanding the mating system of hepialids and the ancestral form of pheromone release among the Lepidoptera is considered.

Western boxelder bugs, Boisea rubrolineata (Barber), form large aggregations on pistillate boxelder, Acer negundo L. (Aceraceae), host trees with maturing seeds, and cluster on warm, sunlit surfaces prior to overwintering. We have recently shown that B. rubrolineata is attracted to the host-tree semiochemicals phenylacetonitrile and 2-phenethyl acetate. We report results of chemical analyses and laboratory bioassays suggesting that aggregation and sexual communication in B. rubrolineata are mediated by 2-phenylethanol. This compound serves as an aggregation pheromone for females, males, and 5th-instar nymphs in midsummer, and in males it appears to serve as a sex-attractant pheromone in early spring. As an aggregation pheromone, 2-phenylethanol originates from the feces of seed-feeding females and males and (or) the ventral abdominal gland of males. As a sex-attractant pheromone, it originates from the ventral abdominal gland of males that emerge from overwintering diapause. Aggregations of B. rubrolineata in the fall and winter are mediated by other as yet unknown pheromones.

In Ontario apple [Malus × domestica Mill. (Rosaceae)] orchards, the application of certain pesticides kills phytoseiid predatory mites and causes outbreaks of phytophagous mites. We released a strain of the predatory mite Typhlodromus pyri Scheuten (Acari: Phytoseiidae), obtained from Nova Scotia and with organophosphate- and pyrethroid-resistant traits, into adjacent ’McIntosh’ and ’Red Delicious’ apple orchards and followed its progress over four seasons. The T. pyri strain established in the orchards, became the dominant predator, and was associated with low densities of the phytophagous mites Panonychus ulmi Koch and Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae) and Aculus schlechtendali (Nalepa) (Acari: Eriophyidae). It moved slowly through the orchards and took 4 years to reach the 28th tree (84 m) from the release point in both orchards. The predominant wind direction did not appear to influence T. pyri movement. It was present in high numbers on release trees, or trees near these release trees, each summer after release, unlike other predatory species including Typhlodromus caudiglans (Schuster) (Acari: Phytoseiidae), Amblyseius fallacis (Garman) (Acari: Phytoseiidae), and Zetzellia mali (Ewing) (Acari: Stigmaeidae). This species appears particularly useful for biological control of phytophagous mites in Ontario and is worthy of further testing for conservation and augmentative release.

A list of the host plants and parasites of lepidopterous larvae reared during a study of the native hosts of parasites of the oriental fruit moth, Grapholitha molesta Busck, was published in 1935. Much additional data which have since accumulated appear worth placing on record, particularly the host relations of the parasites.

Several of the “subspecies” and “forms” of Acrididae listed but not named by Brooks are discussed and a subspecies of Melanoplus packardii is named. Subspecies of Melanoplus sanguinipes and Pardalophora apiculata proposed by Brooks are not recognized. Trimerotropis longicornis E.M. Walker is removed from synomymy with T. campestris McNeill, as the names apply to different taxa.