The African psiline Coptera silvestrii var. robustior (Silvestri) is elevated to species status. Both males and females of it and of Coptera silvestrii silvestrii (Kieffer) are redescribed. Lectotypes for both species arc designated. Coptera magnificus (Nixon) is recognized as a junior subjective synonym of C. robustior (new status). The status of Coptera silvestrii nigricornis (Nixon) is reviewed. Six additional psiline species, all originally described in the genus Galesus Haliday, are transferred to the genus Coptrera Say, where they form the following new combinations:Coptera elgoni (Risbec. 1950): Coptera macrophtalma (Risbec, 1950); Coptera ornata (Risbec, 1950); Coptera microphtalma (Risbec, 1950); Coptera bignonae (Risbec, 1954); and Coptera toboi (Risbec, 1954).

The Nearctic fauna of the subgenus Cerodontha (Cerodontha) Rondani is revised and contains 10 species: C. aduncasp.nov. (Mexico), C. dorsalis (Loew) (widespread Nearctic, eastern Palaearctic, Neotropical), C. gracilis Spencer (western Nearctic), C. inflatasp.nov. (Mexico), C. occidentalis Sehgal (northwestern Nearctic), C. occidoparvasp.nov. (western Nearctic), C. tolucasp.nov. (Mexico), C. trispinata Spencer (Mexico), C. trispinella Spencer (Mexico), and C. trispinosa Spencer (Mexico). All Nearctic species are described and illustrated and a key to species is provided. There are two colour forms of the widespread Nearctic species C. dorsalis: a pale eastern form and a dark western form, although there is overlap in the geographic distribution of the two forms and intermediates exist. The six Mexican species are known from a total of only nine specimens, suggesting that the diversity of this subgenus in Mexico and Central America may be higher than currently known.

Four new species of feather mites are described from birds in Canada: Megniniella ratcliffisp.nov. (Analgidae) and Metanalges holderisp.nov. (Analgidae) from the Sora, Porzana carolina (Linnaeus) (Gruiformes: Rallidae): Metingrassia pelecanisp.nov. (Xolalgidae) from the American White Pelican, Pelecanus erythrorhynchos Gmelin (Pelecaniformes: Pelecanidae); and Vingrassia cygnisp.nov. (Xolalgidae) from the Tundra Swan, Cygnus columbianus (Ord) (Ànseriformes: Anatidae). The genus Vingrassia is reinstated from its previous synonymy with the genus Ingrassia based on the presence of an enlarged prodorsal shield in both sexes, by the shape of the idiosoma and the interlobar membrane on the lobar apices in the male, and by the shape of the hysteronotal shield and the absence of setae ps2 in the female.

We present the results of electrophoretic analyses of allozymes for eight population samples of the arctic/alpine sweat bee, Lasioglossum (Evylaeus) boreale Svensson, Sakagami and Ebmer. This holarctic species is found at high latitudes and at increasingly high elevations in the mountains of western North America as far south as southern Arizona. Our samples encompass a large proportion of the species' range; three samples are from Arizona, one from Utah, two from northern Canada, one from Mount Washington (the highest point in the eastern United States), and one from Sweden. Most samples had high levels of genetic variation compared with other bees, but the one from Sweden had low heterozygosity, suggesting that this location may have been comparatively recently colonized. The three northern North American samples were genetically similar despite the large geographic distances separating the localities (average > 3000 km). In contrast, the southern United States samples were (with the exception of one pairwise estimate) genetically divergent despite the small geographic distances separating them (average < 500 km). These results are consistent with earlier divergence among the southern populations, which are currently separated by regions of low elevation and inhospitable desert, than among the more northern ones. Although the data are not conclusive, they are suggestive of northward dispersal from refugia south of the ice sheets since the last glaciation.

Codonopsimyzus sasammi, gen.nov., sp.nov., and Aulacorthum ligularicola, sp.nov., are described from specimens collected in South Korea on Codonopsis lanceolata Trautv. (Campanulaceae) and Ligularia fischeri Tucz. (Asteraceae), respectively. Both species are illustrated with the biométrie data for apterous viviparous females and alate viviparous females. The host plants and a brief description of the biology are also provided for each species. A revised key to the species of the genus Aulacorthum Mordvilko in Korea and a key to Korean genera of macrosiphine aphids related to Codonopsimyzus, sp.nov., are presented.

Observations suggesting that mature larvae of some carrion flies (Piophilidae) tend to leap off carcasses during rain motivated an investigation of the ontogeny and possible functions of larval leaping behaviour and larval responses to two stimuli associated with rain: moisture and sound. These behaviours were investigated in larvae of Prochyliza xanthostoma Walker (Diptera: Piophilidae) by means of laboratory and field observations and experiments. Mature larvae left their feeding substrates (rotting meat) in response to either moisture or rattling sound. The response to moisture was exhibited also by immature larvae. Once on the carcass surface, however, only mature larvae leaped off and pupated in the surrounding soil. The response to sound and the ability to leap only appeared late in larval development and were lost in the prepupal stage. Because rain may facilitate larval locomotion on carcass surfaces, and leaping appears to represent a more rapid and efficient means of leaving a carcass than creeping, these responses may reduce the metabolic costs and predation risks experienced by mature larvae moving to pupation sites in the soil. Thus, the ability to leap and the responses to moisture and sound may represent “ontogenetic adaptations” associated with a brief stage of larval development.

In an effort to develop an efficient monitoring method for the lingonberry fruitworm, Grapholita libertina Heinrich, an economically important pest of lingonberries, Vaccinium vitis-idaea L. var. minus Lodd. (Ericaceae), in Newfoundland, various known sex attractants for other species of the genus Grapholita Treitschke were evaluated for their ability to attract G. libertina moths in field trials in eastern Newfoundland. The chemicals tested were (E,E)-8,10-dodecadien-1-ol acetate (EE8,10-12:Ac), (E)-8-dodecen-1-ol acetate (E8-12:Ac), (Z)-8-dodecen-1-ol acetate (Z8-12:Ac), and (Z)-8-dodecen-1-ol (Z8-12:OH). Field trials in 1996 showed highest attraction to E8-12:Ac, with Z8-12:Ac and Z8-12:OH also being attractive. Trials in 1997 demonstrated that a blend of E8-12:Ac, Z8-12:Ac, and Z8-12:OH at a ratio of 85:10:5, respectively, was attractive to G. libertina males. All chemicals captured significantly more moths than did controls and all moths examined were males indicating these chemicals may be constituents of the naturally occurring female sex pheromone.

Males of Chymomyza mycopelates Grimaldi and Chymomyza exophthalma Grimaldi battled at sites where females fed and mated (but did not oviposit). Both sexes in the two species waved their brightly marked front legs during aggressive interactions, and males used these legs to strike and grasp opponents forcefully. During intense battles, male C. mycopelates also butted or pushed with their heads, whereas male C. exophthalma used their more strikingly wide heads to threaten with stereotyped displays, during which they also held their front legs folded against the sides of their eyes. Courtship behavior by male C. mycopelates involved tactile and perhaps visual displays with the tips of their front legs. Both species also fed by sweeping their front legs over the surface of fruiting fungi and by removing the spores from their legs with their mouthparts. Although male head width in C. exophthalma showed positive allometry, portions of the front legs that were used as signals and as weapons did not, and thus were not in accord with theoretical predictions that weapons and display devices would have steeper allometries.

In seed orchards of Douglas-fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirbel) Franco (Pinaceae), located in Washington State and Oregon, United States, we tested whether catches of male Douglas-fir cone gall midges, Contarinia oregonensis Foote, in pheromone-baited traps can be used to predict the extent of galled scales (= seed loss at harvest) caused by developing larvae. In 2000, 27 experimental blocks (4–7 ha each) were selected. In each block we recorded mean numbers of (i) male C. oregonensis captured in 20 pheromone-baited Wing traps, (ii) egg-infested scales in up to 50 conelets in early spring, and (iii) galled scales in up to 50 cones in late summer. In 2001, the experiment was repeated with 20 Delta traps in each of 26 experimental blocks. Moreover, catches of C. oregonensis and nontarget insects in Delta traps and Wing traps were compared in one additional orchard block in 2001. In both years there were positive correlations between mean numbers of egg-infested and galled scales and between mean numbers of captured male C. oregonensis and mean numbers of both egg-infested and galled scales, particularly when only experimental blocks with ≥50% of trees bearing at least 5 conelets were considered. Our results suggest that 4 or 2 captured male C. oregonensis in Wing or Delta traps, respectively, warrant insecticidal control of C. oregonensis. Delta traps, which captured fewer nontarget insects, would be more suitable than Wing traps for operational implementation of this technology.

Evidence for herbivory on early vascular plants in the Paleozoic has recently been accumulated from trace fossils and coprolites (Edwards et al. 1995; Labandeira 1998), although it is not well understood which arthropods were true herbivores during the Paleozoic. The great diversity of extant herbivorous insects was thought to have originated in the Cretaceous, when the adaptive radiation of angiosperms occurred; thus, it would be intriguing to find ancient plant–herbivore interactions on extant primeval vascular plants. In this paper, I report a unique dipteran fly associated with a species of the class Lycopsida as the first record of non-lepidopteran herbivory on the extant plant order Lycopodiales.

The carrot rust fly, Psila rosae F., is a major pest of carrots, Daucus carota L. (Apiaceae), in the principal production areas of Newfoundland, Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia (Boivin 1994), as well as in temperate Europe and New Zealand (Ellis and Hardman 1992). Larvae cause damage by tunneling into the roots (Boivin 1994), reducing both yield and marketability. The insect was first recorded in Canada in 1885 but was not reported in Newfoundland until the 1930s (McClanahan and Niemczyk 1963). By the 1950s, P. rosae had spread from an initial infestation around St. John's to commercial farms and home gardens throughout the carrot-growing areas of Bonavista and Conception bays in eastern Newfoundland (Boivin 1994).