Nisoniades Llano, n.sp.

Expanse about one inch. Primaries with inner to two-thirds black, marked by a triangular brown patch near base, resting on internal margin; a large similarly-coloured patch at outer end of cell, touching the costa, and bordered by a pale-brown line, which, starting from the costa about one-third of the distance from the apex, curves outward opposite the discal cell, and runs diagonally across to about the middle of the inner margin, and is twinned at its lower extremity by a similar line, which precedes it, and extends from inner margin to just across the median vein.

The preceding part under this general title was in 1927 (Can Ent., 59: 184-193). In the present instalment, I wish to describe a few novelites that have come to hand in recent years and to add records of certain rare species of Tipulidae. As is the case with numerous recent papers that I have published on the Nearctic crane-fly fauna, the present report is based chiefly on certain very interesting species that were collected in Michigan, Indiana, Tennessee and Florida by Professor J. Speed Rogers. One interesting species of Erioptera was included in material sent to me for determination by Professor Painter. The new species of Dicranomyia was collected in Nova Scotia by Mr. Gibson and in Massachusetts by Mr. Johnson. The very interesting new Tipula from Alaska was secured by Dr. Aldrich. I wish to thank all of these gentlemen for their kind and appreciated co-operation in making known the involved crane-fly fauna of North America.

Tabanus Allynii. Length 15 mm.

Female.—Eyes naked, no ocelligerous tubercle. Front yellowishgray; callosity chestnut, nearly square, with an unconnected, spindleshaped line above. Face and cheeks yellowish-gray. Antennæ reddishyellow, annulate portion black. Palpi yellowish with white hairs. Thorax and scutellum grayish-black with minute golden-yellow pubescence; humerus reddish-brown when denuded; pleurae and pectus grayish with white or yellow hairs. Abdomen yellow, segments 4–7 black with yellow hind margins, which are expanded into triangles on the middle of segments 4 and 5; first segment black under the scutellum; second segment with a black triangle on the middle, and the third segment with a dark spot on each side of the middle. Venter yellow with a black line through the middle and tip dark. Legs—femora balck, yellow at the tips; tibiae yellow, darker at the tips; outer half of front tibia black; tarsi brownish, front ones black. Wings hyaline; stigma yellowish.

The following list of Coccidæ, which have been sent to me for study, adds considerably to the known range of a large number of species, while several new food-plants are indicated; and as no records of the species herein cited have appeared, to my knowledge, other than in one or two instances in some of my published papers on the Coccidæ, it seems, therefore, that these miscellaneous results should be recorded. It will also show to some extent what is being done in a private laboratory for the advancement of science.

During the summer of 1957, collections of insects from burrows of the woodchuck, Marmota monax, were made hv the senior author in the vicinity of London, Ontario. The collector obtained the insects by reaching into a burrow for a distance of about one yard and scraping out by hand the loose soil at the bottom of the burrow from the outer one yard of the length of the burrow. The accumulation of soil and debris thus obtained was combed over and insects were removed from it. By this method insects were collected from thirty burrows, and these were sorted according to order and family and sent to taxonomic specialists for identification.

Some time ago, Prof. Gillette sent me a few specimens of an Aspidiotus found on plum at Cañon City, Colorado 31st Aug., 1894. They occurred on the fruit itself. He had previously sent the species to Mr. L. O. Howard, who had written that it was apparently new. The material sent was not altogether satisfactory, owing to the fact that the insect occurs solitarily on the fruits, and has to be collected by slicing off bits of the skin. Consequently it is inconvenient to obtain it in quantity, and not very easy to nicely preserve those obtained, However, the discovery of a new Aspidiotus on plums in the United States was a matter of importance, and deserved the most careful consideration.

Pandemis cerasana (Hubner), a common leaf roller of deciduous trees in northern Eurasia, was found in North America for the first time at Victoria, B.C., in 1964. No other recovery points have been reported. The insect feeds on a variety of broad-leaf trees and shrubs but seems most attracted to Garry oak, and has caused sporadic defoliation. This illustrated study presents descriptions of the adult and life history in more detail than heretofore available, as well as initial descriptions of the immature stages and their habits, with discussion on local population changes. Parasitism and disease was negligible.

Among the material sent for identification by Mr. J. L. Sperry was a small series of what appears to be a new species of Pherne; at any rate the specimens do not agree with any of the three species at present listed under this generic name and figured in the Barnes and McDunnough “Contributions” III, Pl. XV, figs 7, 8. 14. As is usual the antennae are bipectinate in both sexes, the pectinations in the female being distinct but much shorter than in the male; the palpi are distinctly shorter than in subpunctata Hlst.; the apical portion of the outer margin of primaries is less excavated and the angle at vein 5 less sharp than in the other members of the genus.

Prior to the advent of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the year 1883, this district was entirely unsettled, being, in fact, a terra incognita to all except servants of the Hudson Bay Co., officials of the Geological Survey, and Provincial Government surveyors. But it had been devastated to a large extent by forest fires, which occurred at intervals during a period of some fifty or sixty years previously. These fires entirely destroyed the virgin forest (which consisted chiefly of white pine) over large tracts, by killing the trees and leaving them susceptible to the attacks of their insect enemies, and presenting at that date (1883) a desolate appearance, caused by the thickly-standing tall bare trunks and stubs of trees, among which had sprung up a thick growth of saplings of white birch, poplar, etc.

Hydraulic, fan-spray nozzles (Teejet 650067) at 50.8 cm (20 in.) spacing, 55.9 cm (22 in.) above the target surface, and operating at 2.8 kg/cm2 (40 p.s.i.) produced very uneven coverage when applying aqueous sprays containing uranine. Deposits immediately below the nozzles were 2 to 3 times more than those between nozzles.

Deposits on grasshoppers (Melanoplus sanguinipes F.) were directly proportional to their plan area. Since this area increases as the square of the linear dimensions and weight increases as the cube, second instar grasshoppers collected twice as much spray/unit weight as fourth instar nymphs and 3 times as much as adult females. These differences were reflected in the mortality caused by insecticide sprays. A spray applying dimethoate at 140 g/ha (2 oz/ac) in 39.3 l./ha (3.5 Imp. g.p.a.) killed 90% of second instar nymphs but only 14% of adult males.

Eriococcus adenostomae, n. sp.

♀ enclosed in an oval (at one end more or less pointed) sac about 3 mm. long and 1½ mm. broad, wooly, snow-white, of uniform texture.

♀ oval, about half again as long as broad, dark purple, turning bright crimson when placed in K. H. O. Body about 1½ mm. long. Antennae light brown, 7-jointed, formula: approximately (347) (12) 56, joint 3 equal 5+6. Most of the joints with hairs; joint 7 with several comparatively long hairs.

Species of Braggia Gillette and Palmer (Hemiptera: Aphididae: Aphidinae: Aphidini) feed on various buckwheat, Eriogonum Michx. (Polygonaceae), species in western North America. Two new species, Braggia columbiana Pike n. sp. from Washington and Oregon and Braggia longicauda Pike n. sp. from Washington, Oregon, and northern California, are proposed. Descriptions, diagnoses, illustrations, mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 “barcode” sequences, a key to the species of Braggia, and notes on biology, distribution, and parasitoid associations are provided.

In exchanging Coleoptera it is common to find many erroneous determinations of species. While these errors are for the most part individual, several are wide spread and seem to be perpetuated by tradition from the older collectious. The object of this paper principally is to direct attention to a few of the latter.

1. Triplax thoracica Say, and T. flavicollis Lac. These species are often found in colonies feeding together on the same fungus, and have the same appearance. The separation of mature specimens is easy, the under side of thoracica being entirely rufous, while the metathorax and abdomen of flavicollis are black or piceous.