The number of moths captured during short intervals in traps containing a sex attractant for males of the bertha armyworm, Mamestra configurata Wlk., is related to the stage of plant development in the fields of canola (oilseed rape, Brassica napus L.) in which the traps are placed. More moths were captured in fields with plants in the early bloom stage than in those with plants in earlier (leaf, bud) or later (late bloom, pod) stages of development. The effect of this relationship on the total number of moths captured in any field during the entire period of moth flight depended in part on the synchronization of crop development with moth flight. Neither the total number of moths captured per field nor larval density were significantly related to crop development because of high inter-field variability among groups of fields with similar patterns of crop development. Early-maturing fields contained older larvae than later-maturing fields so they should be sampled first to determine larval density and the need for insecticidal application. The estimated patterns of egg-laying were similar to those for male moth capture in early-, mid-, and late-flowering fields. Therefore, male moth captures in sex attractant traps provide a valid index to the abundance of female moths and their egg-laying activities.

Nymphs and adults of both sexes of six species of grasshoppers, Camnula pellucida, Dissosteira carolina, Melanoplus infantilis, M. sanguinipes, M. packardii and M. bivittatus, were fed wheat seedlings to determine daily feeding rates. The relationships between the feeding rates and five indices of body size were checked with five types of equations — power, parabolic, exponential, linear, and logarithmic. For combined data for all species, the power equation (y = axb) produced the best correlations with the feeding rate being proportional to the 1.56 power of pronotum length, 1.87 of femur length, 1.94 of body length, 0.72 of live weight, and 0.66 of dry weight. The power equation underestimated nymphal feeding and overestimated adult feeding. Better correlations were obtained when separate power equations were used for nymphs and adults. While the b parameters for the nymph equations did not differ significantly from those for the adult equations, the a parameters for nymphs were much larger, reflecting that nymphs ate more relative to their size than adults. For individual species, the parabolic equation (y = a + bx + cx2) was as good or sometimes better than the power equation. Generally, ranking the indices of body size by their coefficients of determination (r2 values) produced the following hierarchy: pronotum length (best), femur length, live weight, dry weight, and body length (worst). However, as the differences between the best and worst indices were minor (usually less than 10%) and as live weight and body length are easy to determine, we recommend the use of either of these two indices for estimating feeding rates.

The following records are based on material collected, for the most part, by Mr. W. E. Whitehead of the Department of Entomology, Macdonald College, McGill University. For the opportunity of examining this material I am indebted to Sir Guy Marshall, F.R.S., Director, The Imperial Institute of Entomology, London.

Of the three large ephydrid flies of Yellowstone’s thermal springs, Ephydra thermophila numerically dominates acidic springs because only it can tolerate their water. Alkaline spring effluents are shared by Ephydra bruesi and Paracoenia turbida. E. bruesi is excluded from alkaline high productivity springs, probably because its larval maturation time is long, relative to the short life of patches of larval habitat. Consequently, such springs support only P. turbida. Proportions of the two species in alkaline low-productivity springs are apparently determined by the proportions of available larval food occurring in still versus flowing water. P. turbida is superior in still water, and E. bruesi wins in flowing water. The analysis leads to predictions (i) that E. bruesi should be relatively abundant in low-productivity springs with pulsating flows, and (ii) that E. bruesi adults should prefer ovipositing in low-productivity effluents, while P. turbida adults should be less particular.

Four species of Lizerius Blanchard, L. cermelii, L. intermedius, L. costai and L. brasiliensis, from South America and four species of Paoliella Theobald, P. reticulosiphon and P. melanocallis from South America, and P. pteleopsidis and P. longirostris from Africa, are described as new. Redescriptions of L. tuberculatus (Blanchard) and P. kenyensis (Eastop) are also given, with keys for the species of Lizerius and Paoliella. Neolizerius is made a synonym of Lizerius. A new subgenus Paralizerius is established. Adhesive vesicles are reported for the two South American Paoliella species. The phylogenetic relationships of the Lizerini are discussed. It is concluded that this tribe branched off from Mindarus–Neophyllaphis-like aphids and that the Schoutedeniini evolved from ancestors that were related to the Lizerini.

The Douglas-fir cone moth, Barbara coljaxiana (Kearfott) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), has the capacity for prolonged diapause, i.e. diapause for two or more winters (Hedlin 1960). This diapause allows for temporal spacing of populations and reduction of intraspecific competition. Specifically, when cone crops are small, excessive moth densities can occur and cause conelet mortality prior to completion of feeding by cone moth larvae, which results in moth mortality. If all moths emerged each year, moth-caused destruction of the conelet population, particularly in years of light production, would have drastic effects on the moth population.

Eight species of Thanatus are recognized in North America; four are holarctic in range and four nearctic. The holarctic species are T. coloradensis Keyserling, 1880, T. formicinus (Clerck 1757), T. striatus C. L. Koch, 1845, and T. vulgaris Simon, 1870 (=T. peninsulanus Banks, 1898, NEW SYNONYMY). The four nearctic species are T. altimontis Gertsch, 1933, T. arcticus Thorell, 1872, T. patriciae (Lowrie and Gertsch 1955), and T. rubicellus Mello-Leitao, 1929 (=T. rowani Gertsch, 1933, NEW SYNONYMY).

Population fluctuations of adults of the rusty grain beetle, Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens), in wheat stored in a steel granary were monitored using insect detection traps 35 cm below the surface of the grain during the fall of 1983, and the spring, summer, and fall of 1984. In both years, the peak population occurred from the beginning of September to the third week in October. In 1984, no beetles were found in the traps until early June. The number of beetles in each trap increased slowly until late August (range 0 to 315), and then rapidly until late October (range 91 to 1212), and then decreased rapidly thereafter until mid-November (range 236 to 2). No beetles were caught during the winters after 30 November 1983 and 19 November 1984. The absence of beetles in the traps before June or after November and the small catches before July or in early November were attributed to the combined effects of low population levels and reduced movement of adults at low grain temperatures. A few beetles were caught at a grain temperature of 8°C but none at temperatures lower than 4°C. Approximately 65% of adults found in samples of grain at −7°C in February 1985 were alive and became active in the laboratory. Practical recommendations for monitoring insect pests of stored grain are given, based on the results.

Orchestes fagi (Linnaeus) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is a pest of beech trees (Fagus sylvatica Linnaeus; Fagaceae) in Europe that has recently become established and invasive on American beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrhart) in Nova Scotia, Canada. We tested the effects of trap type, trap colour, trap height, and lure on the numbers of O. fagi captured per trap with the objective of developing a survey tool to monitor the weevil’s spread. We captured O. fagi in significantly greater numbers on yellow, green, or white traps than on light blue, dark blue, or red traps. There were no significant interactions between trap colour and trap design. Sticky triangular prism traps caught significantly more O. fagi than did nonsticky intercept traps regardless of colour. No effect of trap height was observed. Mean catch of O. fagi was significantly greater on yellow sticky triangular prism traps than on commercially sourced yellow sticky cards. Baiting yellow, green, or white sticky prism traps with the host volatile 9-geranyl-p-cymene did not increase catch of O. fagi. Our results suggest that yellow, green, or white sticky prism traps are a useful tool for detecting O. fagi adults and monitoring the spread of this species in Canada.

The larva of the wheat stem sawfly, Cephus cinctus Nort., lives inside the host stem, cuts it off at ground level in late summer, and spends the winter inside the stub below ground level. This insect can be controlled by the use of resistant spring wheats such as Rescue and Golden Ball. The possibility of the existence of a strain of C. cinctus to which these varieties are not resistant is of major importance.

Platt, Farstad, and Callenbach (1948) found that the average percentages of Rescue stems cut by C. cinctus for five years were 36 at Regina, Saskatchewan, and two at Lethbridge. They suggested that this difference may have resulted from the effects of the environments in two areas, or from genetic variations between the sawflies at the two stations.

Male. Length 13.9 mm. Body olivaceous green as in the subspecies harrisii Leng, elytra immaculate.

Female. Length 14 mm. Color as in the male but with the middle band of each elytron represented by a very small, circular, submarginal spot; the apical lunule represented by a smaller spot.

Length 2.5 mm., width 1.1 mm. Pronotum and elytra equal in width, sides straight and parallel, elytra arcuately narrowed on the caudal third, very broadly obtuse behind; dark reddish brown; pubescence sparse, erect and yellow, more evident about the apex of the pronotum and on the elytral declivity.

The head has the frons broadly, feebly convex, the median line feebly carinate with a narrow, transverse epistomal impression, the entire surface subopaque from minute reticulations, marked with sparse, coarse, shallow punctures with minute setae on the caudal half, more finely and closely granulatepunctate in front, the punctures bearing long yellow hairs erect on the frons, longer and recumbent from the transverse impression, forming the epistomal fringe, the epistomal margin smooth, narrow and feebly elevated; the eyes with a deep triangular emargination.

A very interesting collection of Ephemeroptera was brought back to Ottawa by Mr. W. J. Brown who spent the entire summer of 1929 on an insect faunal survey along the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the survey extending from Trinity Bay in the west, where the fauna is still typically Canadian and Hudsonian, to Bradore Bay at the entrance to the Straits of Belle Isle, where the conditions are very similar to those found on the Labrador coast.

Adult emergence of Simulium decorum and Simulium tuberosum was reduced or completely inhibited in air-agitated stream water by 0.1 p.p.m. slow release formulations of insect growth regulators. Abnormal pupae were produced when S. decorum larvae were exposed to 5 p.p.m. R20458-4E.

For some time the writer has noticed in the genus Orthotylus Fieb., that the flavosparsus group of species present characters worthy of generic recognition namely: dorsum bearing two types of pubescence, simple hairs intermixed with recumbent, scale-like pubescence; left genital clasper represented by a simple curved hook, not bifurcate into two nearly equal parts as in typical Orthotylus. The genus Orthotylus Fieb. (type nassatus Fab.) is characterized by bearing only simple pubescence, while the left genital clasper is bifurcate near base, thus divided into two prominent arms (see figures 83-87, Hemiptera Connecticut, 1923). These two groups of species differ more widely than many recognized genera in the family Miridae, hence the writer proposes to recognize them as valid genera.

In nearly all of our books relating to beneficial insects, published within the last twenty years, there is almost sure to be found, some where, the figure of a larva tragically devouring a smaller larva, the larger having been originally figured as that of Harpalus caliginosus. Although attention has for some time been called to the fact that the larva thus figured really belongs to another species, the true H. caliginosus being as yet unknown, yet the use of the figure in its old application still goes on. The carnivorous habits of the beetle itself, however, have been pointed out by Dr. Lintner, in his Twelfth Report, p. 209, where it is recorded as feeding on the army worm, and in Insect Life, p. 228, Vol. VII., as feeding upon grasshoppers. The writer has also observed it preying upon other insects. For this reason, notwithstanding its known fondness for seeds and grain, it has been looked upon, generally, as a beneficial species, its known vegetable food consisting either of seeds of no economic value, or the amount of grain being too small to be taken into consideration.

The Mordellidae of the Maritime provinces of Canada is surveyed. Thirty species have now been recorded from the region. Of these, 17 are newly recorded for Nova Scotia, 11 are newly recorded for Prince Edward Island, and 7 are newly recorded for New Brunswick, for a total of 35 new provincial records. Three species, Mordellistena indistincta Smith, Mordellistena rubrifascia Liljeblad, and Mordellistena rubrilabris Helmuth, are newly recorded for Canada, while a further 11 species, Mordella melaena Germar, Mordellistena aspersa (Melsheimer), Mordellistena errans Fall, Mordellistena morula LeConte, Mordellistena picilabris Helmuth, Mordellistena sericans Fall, Mordellistena vilis (LeConte), Mordellina ancilla (LeConte), Mordellina nigricans (Melsheimer), Mordellina pustulata (Melsheimer), and Glipostenoda ambusta (LeConte), are newly recorded for Atlantic Canada. One subspecies, Mordella atrata lecontei Csiki, is removed from the region's faunal listing. The composition of the region's fauna as a whole, and related biogeographic questions, are briefly discussed. The Mordellidae are also discussed in the context of forest beetle communities in the region and the impact of historical forest management practices on old-growth specialist species.

Populations of fruittree leafroller, Archips argyrospila (Walker), and European leafroller, Archips rosana L., were obtained from eight sites in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, and assayed for their responses to five insecticides using a leaf-disk bioassay and neonate larvae. Lethal concentration ratios (LCR values) were calculated for all populations compared with the most susceptible strain, and significant variation was detected in both species. LCR values ranged from 1.04 to 9.06 for azinphosmethyl, from 1.29 to 53.15 for tebufenozide (Confirm®), from 1.85 to 24.69 for methoxyfenozide (Intrepid®), from 1.59 to 2291.4 for indoxacarb (Avaunt®), and from 1.92 to 1.98 for spinosad (Success®). Methoxy fenozide was approximately 100-fold more toxic to neonate leafrollers than was tebufenozide, and spinosad was the most toxic of all materials tested. Correlation analysis indicated that there was cross-resistance between azinphosmethyl and tebufenozide. At the LC50 level, the responses of the two species were not significantly different for each insecticide. Analysis of equivalency and parallelism of dose-response lines revealed that A. argyrospila and A. rosana had equivalent responses to azinphosmethyl. LC50 values for the response of A. argyrospila to azinphosmethyl were not different from values obtained almost 20 years earlier. Cross-resistance between azinphosmethyl and tebufenozide suggests that resistance management for these two species of univoltine leafrollers should not include rotation of azinphosmethyl and benzoylhydrazine insect-growth regulators. The high level of resistance to indoxacarb found in one population indicates that baseline tolerance screening is desirable before indoxacarb is introduced for use in Canadian orchards.

In the flour beetle Tribolium castaneum single-pair matings of different age combinations, young (1 day old) and old (10 days old) maintained for two weeks at 29 ± 2 °C. and 70% relative humidity showed that males matured sexually on the second day of adult life; females matured on the fourth. Between days 7 and 14, regardless of age, productivity was expressed as a single straight line with zero slope and an intercept of 16.4.

Young x young pairs maintained at 25, 29 and 32 °C. had fertilities peculiar to the temperature. The higher the temperature, the earlier reproduction began and the greater the number of F1 adults per day during the two-week experimental period.