The history of the black-headed budworm, Acleris variana (Fern.), in the western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.) forests of coastal British Columbia is one of recurring cycles of outbreaks. The latest cycle occurred from 1952 to 1957 and was represented by three main outbreaks in the Portland Canal area from Prince Rupert to Stewart, the Queen Charlotte Islands, and on northern Vancouver Island. Previous to this, groups of West Coast outbreaks were recorded from 1940 to 1945, and from 1927 to 1931 (Prebble and Graham, 1945a).

Larval anatomy as an aid to understanding taxonomic and phylogenetic relationships of Scolytidae has been discussed in an earlier paper (Thomas, 1957). Before an appreciation of relationships can be gained, however, comparative descriptions of many species must be compiled. As representantye groups of species become available, the immature stages of genera will be described, defining characters of value in separating component entities.

The diamondback moth, Plutella maculipennis (Curt.), is a sporadic pest of cruciferous crops throughout Canada. It is normally held in check by a multiplicity of environmental factors, chiefly biotic; however, serious outbreaks do occur (MacNay, 1948, 1953, 1957, 1959). In eastern Ontario it has been extremely numerous since late 1951, and during the present study, 1952 – 1956, it was more abundant than the imported cabbageworm, Pieris rapae (L.), or the cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni (Hbn.) . Two earlier papers (Harcourt, 1956, 1957) presented the history, distribution, and synonymy of the insect, giving general descriptions of the stages and many aspects of its biology in eastern Ontario. This article gives the relative abundance of its parasites and predators, and discusses certain population relationships.

Of the many species of fleas incriminated in plague transmission, the most notorious is the oriental rat flea, Xenopsylla cheopis (Rothsch.). This is due to its early discovery as a plague vector (Simond, 1898), its demonstrated superior ability to transmit the infection (Kartman and Prince, 1956), and its recognition as the principal vector of plague from rat to man. Holland (1949) regards its presence in any geographical area as a matter of concern.

The oviposition behaviour of Neodiprion sawflies has been the subject of much investigation in recent years. The impetus for this interest seems to lie in the paper by Atwood and Peck (1943), in which it was suggested that the number and spacing of eggs on needles were a useful tool for the identification of memhers of this important group of conifer defoliators. Ghent (1955) has analysed the egg clusters of N. pratti banksianae Roh., and Ghent and Wallace (1958) have investigated the behaviour responsible for the pairing of eggs on adjacent jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb. ) needles by N. swainei Midd. More recently, Ghent (1959) has presented a study of the factors determining the spacing of eggs by the European pine sawfly, N. sertifer (Geoff.). Of these, the 1955 and 1959 papers, in addition to making valuable contributions to our understanding of the behaviour of adults, cast doubt on the usefulness of the number and spacing of eggs as identifying characters in these species.

In his treatment of Chrysops wiedemanni Kröber, Philip ( 1959, pp. 203-4) stated, “Syntypes in Hamburg were casualties in the war, but one intact syntype female remaining in the Canadian National Collection is available as lectotype.” Later, Philip (in litt. Jan. 19, 1960) explained, “my wording was ambiguous about the lectotype of Chrysops wiedemanni. I indicated its availability in contrast to the loss of all other syntypes in Hamburg but this was intended to officially designate your specimen as lectotype and it should be so labelled”.

This species keys to eleodis Vier. in Muesebeck's revision (U.S. Dept. Agric., Misc. Pub. No. 241, p. 16, 1936) and is very similar to that species and M. aethiops Nees. The female of M. eleodis differs in having a longer ovipositor sheath (about 1.2 times as long as abdomen bevond petiole), shorter petiole (only 1.9 to 2.2 times as long as its apical width), less strongly excavated and longer propodeum (only about 1.5 times as wide as long). The female of M. aethiops differs in having a pair of small dorsal pits near the middle of the petiole (both sexes), shorter ovipositor sheath (about 0.75 times as long as abdomen beyond petiole), slightly shorter petiole (about 2.2 times as long as apical width), and completely black petiole.

Many insects which are photopositive at moderate temperatures begin to react photonegatively when they are heated sufficiently. If they are returned to lower temperatures, they become photopositive again. This reversible reaction sometimes prevents injury or death in any environment. In extreme environments, it permits some species to live where they could not survive without it. Consequently, a knowledge of the responses involved and the temperatures at which they occur may help investigators to understand otherwise inexplicable changes in the behaviour, numbers, or distribution of natural populations.

In most entomological textbooks and other general summaries the pupae of the order Trichoptera are characterized as having strong mandibles which are used to make a hole through the pupal enclosure, thereby permitting the escape of the pharate adult. For the vast majority of caddisfly genera for which pupae are known this description is probably accurate enough, but it is somewhat less than accurate to describe the pupae of all caddisflies in this way.

During May, 1959, a number of uncommon species of Scarabaeidae were collected in or near the Big Bend National Park, Brewster Co., Texas. The object of this paper is to give distribution and habitat data on some of the rarer species and to describe one new species of Phyllophaga. Because much of the material is still unmounted, a complete list of species taken is not practical, nor can the exact number of specimens taken be given in some cases.

During the past decade the attractiveness of various hydrolyzed proteins to several species of tephritid flies has been established and these materials have been used in poison bait sprays, in fly traps, and in studies on dispersal habits. Several workers have reported more satisfactory control when enzymatic yeast hydrolysates or acid hydrolysates of corn protein were added to malathion sprays: Steiner (1952, 1955a, and 1955b) for the Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata Wied.), the oriental fruit fly (Dacus dorsalis Hendel), and the melon fly (Dacus cucurbitae Coq.); Shaw (1955) for the Mexican fruit fly (Anastrepha ludens Loew); Orphanidis et al. (1958) for Dacus adults on olives; and Marucci (1958) for the blueberry maggot (Rhagoletis pomonella (Walsh). Orphanidis et al. have also reported that the addition of casein hydrolysate or the acid hydrolysates of corn protein to the recommended lure of ammonium sulphate increased the captures of Dacus as much as twelve times. Although most of the work with these attractants has concerned control, Barnes (1959) has used them to advantage in biological studies. He labelled natural populations of the walnut husk fly, Rhagoletis completa Cress., with a radioactive tracer by attracting the flies to feeding stations of Staley's insecticide bait No. 7 (acid hydrolysate of corn protein) plus the isotope P32 By subsequent trapping he determined the field movements of the adults in and out of walnut orchards.

The advantages of being able to determine the sex of insects by means of external characters are obvious, particularly when, as with the Sitophilus weevils, they have been favoured as experimental material by many workers. In Sitophilus oryza (L.), the sex can apparently readily be determined by reference to the relative length of and type of puncturing of the rostrum (Richards, 1947). There has seemed, however, to have been some doubt about a similar reliable method of determining sex in Sitophilus granarius (L.). Richards (1947) stated that there was no certain way of determining the sex of this species without risking injury to the female. In a later paper (1948) he implied, in a footnote, that a specimen could be sexed by reference to the length and slenderness of the rostrum. This had been given as a method of sexing these insects by Back and Cotton (1926).

Codling moth larvae seeking overwintering sites usually spin up during hours of darkness on the trunks and larger branches of apple trees rather than in the soil or in debris under the trees. The number on the ground depends on the suitability for cocooning sites of the bark on the tree and on the amount and type of debris on the ground. Gould and Geissler (1941) found that larvae did not spin up in bare and compact soil and Steiner (1929) observed that most larvae returned to the tree to spin cocoons when there was little or no litter beneath the trees. Baker (1944) reported eight to nine per cent spun up on the ground beneath unscraped trees, and 18 per cent where the loose bark scales were removed. Others (Headlee (1929). Worthley (1932), Gnadinger et al. (1940), Woodside (1941), and Stultz (1946), found that under natural conditions from 0 to 14 per cent spun up in the soil, in the cover crop, or in the debris on the ground.