On June 1st, 1901, while on a mosquito hunt with Mr. J. Turner Brakeley, at Lahaway, we investigated the little pools around the head of a swamp spring. The water was very cold, and our object was, mainly, to ascertain wheter Aedes larvæ occured in such localities, where pitcher plants were in the vicinity.

In the course of our dipping I found a very odd little wriggler, altogether different from anything I had ever seen befor, and soon Mr. Brakeley found the same thing. We took only a few of them at that time, and from their minute size I assumed they must be very yound. I afterward sent a specimen to Dr. Howard, and he appeared as much at sea concerning its location as I was. It seemed to be a Culicid larva, without much doubt; but that was as far as we could get. The specimens were about an eight of an inch in length, light reddish in colour, and very hairy in appearance. The head was very broad, and from it the body taped gradually to the short obtuse anal siphon.

This paper is the first of a series in which it is proposed, by members of the edirorial staff alternately, to describe some of our more common insects, to illustrate them with suitable cuts, and to make the descriptions of so plain a character that the most unscientific reader may be able readily to comprehend their meaning. Since it is one of our aims in publishing the Entomologist to popularize our favorite science, we shall offer no apology for introducing into our journal these readable papers, in which much material may from time to time appear, which, to the scientific reader, may look stale and uninviting.

The efficacy of seven chemical insecticides, five commercial preparations of Bacillus thuringiensis, and two preparations containing diatom dust were tested against the European skipper, Thymelicus lineola (Ochs.), under field conditions. Satisfactory control was obtained with carbaryl, carbofuran, methomyl, permethrin, trichlorfon, Dipel 45B(=Dipel SC), Dipel WP, Thuricide 26B, Thuricide HPC, and Novabac 3 while dimethoate, chlorpyrifos, and the diatom dusts afforded little or no foliage protection. While larval mortality occurred less rapidly when B. thuringiensis preparations were applied, their use is strongly recommended as they afford the same degree of foliage protection as chemical insecticides and diminish possible undesirable off-target effects.

Selandria Leach and Coryna Lep. include the nearctic sawflies of the subfamily Selandriinae in which the costal vein is strongly swollen at its apex. They are of a short and robust form. Enslin (1913) considers Coryna as a subgenus of Selandria, whereas Rohwer (1928) considers the two as distinct. The characters given in the table for the separation of the two genera seem to be sufficient for considering Coryna a good genus.

Eucorethra, Underwood*

Intermediate between Corethrella and Sayomyia, having the antennæ 14-jointed, as in the former, but the spaces between the verticels almost bare, as in the latter; differing from each in the much shorter second joint of the antennæ, which is only slightly longer than wide. Antennæ of male rather robust, submoniliform on the basal half, the first six joints only slightly longer than wide, the remaining joints increasing in length and decreasing in diameter toward the apex, the antepenult about half as long as the penult, verticels composed on numerous very long bristly hairs except on the last joint; antennæ of female nearly cylindrical, the joints gradually increasing in length to the apex, scarcely thickened at the insertion of the verticels, which consist of a few rather short bristly hairs; probosics about one and one-half times as long as height of head, palpi inserted near three-fourths of its length, 4-jointed; first tarsal joint much longer than the second; venation as in Culex.

In the course of determination work, largely for Dr. J. Comstock of the Los Angeles Museum, I have received several species of Lepidoptera which appear to be undescribed. I therefore offer descriptions of these in the present paper. Through the courtesy of Dr. Comstock and Mr. Don Meadows the types are deposited in the Canadian National Collection.

Plant proteinase inhibitors are among the promising biopesticides which are induced in plants tissues against the several Lepidoptera pests to inhibit digestive proteases. In this study, protein extracts of two nonhost plant seeds, Amaranthus retroflexus Linnaeus (Amaranthaceae) and Cuminum cyminum Linnaeus (Apiaceae), were examined on Helicoverpaarmigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). The results obtained by using azocasein as a substrate showed that inhibitory activity of general proteases of the larvae fed on a diet incorporated with both inhibitors was dose dependent. Seed extracts of A. retroflexus and C. cyminum at the highest concentration showed that inhibition activities of chymotrypsin-like proteinase and trypsin-like proteinase were between 31–45% and 28–61%, respectively. Based on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, all of the proteinase isoforms, including those of A. retroflexus seed extracts, disappeared entirely, and only one band was detected in the seed extracts of C. cyminum. Larval mortality in the larvae fed on A. retroflexus and C. cyminum seed extracts was 56 ± 2.15 and 68 ± 2.23, respectively, but mortality in control (no seed protein extract) was 12 ± 2.34 individuals. Also, the life table parameters were affected significantly by A. retroflexus and C. cyminum protein seed extracts. Therefore, A. retroflexus and C. cyminum seed protein extracts showed inhibitory effect on H. armigera digestive proteinases and adverse effects on survival and fitness of the pest; hence, they could be introduced as a successful biopesticide in the near future.

Male. Length 2.2 mm. Second and third antennal segments equal in length. Punctures of the pronotum evident, those of the elytral intervals very indistinct. Metasternum very indistinctly alutaceous near the lateral margin; the punctures fine and close at middle except on the impunctate area, a trifle coarser on the sides and there distinct but not deeply impressed, very closely placed, the punctures of the anterior margin like those of the disk. Each abdominal segment finely and closely punctate, without coarser punctures on the basal margin.

We used field surveys in central New Brunswick, Canada to establish efficient sampling procedures for evaluating densities of balsam gall midge, Paradiplosis tumifex Gagné (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), and its associated damage in balsam fir, Abies balsamea (Linnaeus) Miller, Christmas trees. Infestation was greater in larger trees than smaller trees and in mid-crown and upper-crown branches than in the lower crown. However, the relationship between gallmaker infestation and site, height class, and crown level was highly complex and may involve covariation of shoot length with height class and crown level. As a result, patterns in infestation did not lend themselves to simple interpretation. This complexity highlights the need to find sampling units that provide simpler but reasonably accurate predictors of gallmaker impact at the whole-tree scale. We identified such a sampling unit: gallmaker density in first-order current-year shoots of a mid-crown branch explained 81% of the variance in total infestation among trees.

For ten years we have been trying, and trying in vain, both in England and America, to obtain a copy of Kirby's descriptions of the insects of the Northern parts of British America, contained in the fourth volume of Richardson's Fauna Boreali-Americana, published at Norwich in 1837. Many of our friends have been making similar attempts, and always with the like ill-success. We have had, however, occasional access to a copy in the iibrary of the University of Toronto, which, with the exception of one in the Library of Parliament at Ottawa, is the only copy we know of in Canada.