A key is given for 13 species and two subspecies of the genus Nearctaphis in North America, including all species formerly in the genus Roepkea. The hosts, life histories, and forms for all species are poorly known and more collecting and host transfer experiments are urgently required.

Fir engraver and Douglas-fir beetle numbers were monitored during and after an outbreak of the Douglas-fir tussock moth. The population behavior of the two species of bark beetles was similar. Number of emerged offspring/female was highest during the years of defoliation and declined afterward. Total number of beetle attacks peaked 1 to 2 years after defoliation ended and then declined. During and 1 year after defoliation, beetles generally infested trees that had greater than 90% defoliation. After this time infestations were not as strongly associated with heavily defoliated trees. Life tables were constructed for beetles within trees and for beetles per area of forest land. Key mortality factors acting on beetles within trees occurred during the larval and pupal stages. Mortality during adult dispersal was a key factor when beetle density per area of land was considered. Although beetle offspring emerging per dm2 of bark surface was relatively low in defoliated trees, defoliation appeared to reduce host resistance which enabled beetles to successfully attack at lower densities, reducing intraspecific competition, and resulting in increased emergence of offspring/female parent.

Larvae of species representing 8 genera of the family Aturidae from North America are described, including members of the genera Ljania, Neobrachypoda, Estellacarus, and Aturus for the first time adequately. Larvae of species of Woolastookia, Brachypoda, Axonopsis, and Albia are also described to provide comparative data for these genera. A key to the genera of Aturidae, and preliminary diagnoses for the family, currently accepted subfamilies, and genera are provided based upon larval characters. Information on host associations is reviewed for each taxon. Observations on morphology and host associations of larvae provide the basis for a discussion of the phylogeny of these genera, and a review of the classification of the family.

The relationship of western spruce budworm outbreaks and population collapse to weather parameters was examined using long term weather records from two stations in the budworm outbreak area of British Columbia and outbreak patterns obtained from Forest Insect and Disease Survey records and from tree stem analyses.

Outbreaks were associated with warm dry summers in conjunction with synchrony of larval emergence and bud flush. Collapse of the last two outbreaks was clearly associated with extreme high temperatures following moth flight. Collapse of the earlier outbreaks may have been due to asynchrony between larval emergence and bud flush.

Eggs, larvae, and pupae of eight species of Neochlamisus Karren larvae, including all Canadian species of the genus, are described, illustrated, and keys are provided for their separation. On the basis of differences in eggs, larval cases, coloration in adult stages, and in host plant, N. alni (Brown) is removed from synonymy and is considered a valid species distinct from N. bebbianae (Brown). Rearing techniques used in the present study are also described in detail.

Mutants of Drosophila melanogaster (Meigen) with altered resistance to the insecticide malathion were isolated and tested for their avoidance response to the insecticide. A correlation between sensitivity to the insecticide and increased avoidance was detected. Approximate chromosome map locations were determined for the loci of the mutations.

The abdomen of female Pelecinus is uniquely and extremely modified for digging in soil. Segments 2–7 are connected by sternite to sternite articulations allowing vertical movement produced by anteriorly placed muscles acting through long tendons inserting on the adjacent succeeding segment. Segments 3–6 have, in addition to the linkage allowing vertical movement, a detached, posterior section of the sternite that can rotate on a median ventral flexible attachment to the tergal margins. This linkage allows the posterior section of a sternite together with the succeeding segments to rotate through about 135 °relative to its tergite. Tergite 8 bears large spiracles completely covered by sternite 7. The ovipositor lacks the usual 3rd linkage between gonocoxite 9 and gonapophysis 9, allowing the depressor muscle of the gonapophysis to extrude the ovipositor directly backwards.

The genus Sinierus Distant contains three distinct species. The genus and the type-species S. capensis (Dallas) are redescribed, the latter being reported widely from Africa. Two other species are described as new, S. explanatus from tropical Africa and S. nudus from Madagascar. A key to species is also presented.

The spring emergence and seasonal abundance of the trivoltine spotted tentiform leafminer, Phyllonorycter blancardella (Fabr.), were monitored in a Connecticut apple orchard to provide phenological data for control programs. Spring emergence of each sex lasted 28 or 29 days in 1980 and 1981 although large emergences (≥5% of the total) occurred over a period of 12 to 18 days. When spring emergence was forecast in 1981 by using degree-day accumulations (above 5 °C) from the 1980 emergence, the predicted and actual 10 and 50% emergence time differed by 4 or 5 days. Even though daily catches of moths in pheromone traps preceded those in emergence traps, the abundance patterns indicated by these traps were similar. Low temperature and rain reduced emergence and flight activity. Seasonal abundance in pheromone traps showed three or four peaks, which usually decreased in size as the year progressed. From 1978 to 1981, the onset of male flight activity varied by as much as 3 wk. When emergence and pheromone traps are used together, they indicate the duration and peaks of emergence and flight activity.

Parasitoids of the trivoltine spotted tentiform leafminer, Phyllonorycter blancardella (Fabr.), were studied in Connecticut apple orchards to determine their relative importance, emergence patterns, and seasonal abundance. Sixteen parasitoid species, including 12 eulophids, emerged from mines formed by 4th- and 5th-instar leafminer larvae. The species were primary, secondary, or facultative secondary parasitoids. Five were new records. The braconid Pholetesor ornigis (Weed) was the most abundant in the first and third leafminer generations, and the eulophid Sympiesis marylandensis Girault was the most abundant in the second generation. Ratios of parasitoids to Phyllonorycter spp. were generally higher in samples from unsprayed trees than in those from sprayed trees. Major parasitoids usually emerged 1 to 4 wk before their larval hosts became plentiful. Sweep samples indicated relatively high abundance of one or both major parasitoids during the first and second leafminer generations. Monitoring of parasitoids and the judicious use of insecticides may have a critical role in pest management programs utilizing native parasitoids of leafminers.

Different formulations of temephos were tested against Simulium venustum and S. vittatum larvae at water temperatures of 7 °to 20 °C under simulated stream conditions in the laboratory and the results indicated a significant positive correlation between water temperature and temephos efficacy. Temephos application of up to 5 mg/L/10 min had very little effect on Simulium larvae at 7 ° to 8 °C. Data from the tests indicated that both emulsifiable concentrate and wettable powder formulations have positive temperature coefficients. The WP formulation was 11 times and two EC formulations were 32 times more toxic at 20 °C than at 10 °C. The rate of larval detachment was faster at the higher temperatures but even at 20 °C detachment was not immediate as is common with larvae treated with methoxychlor. Detached larvae did not survive. On the basis of the present laboratory experiments on temperature–efficacy relationships, there are very strong indications that these formulations could be used effectively against black fly larvae only in streams that have water temperatures not less than 18 °to 20 °C.

Counts of four pollinating insect groups were taken in unsprayed forest localities and in areas sprayed with a split application of Sevin-4-oil® (carbaryl) for spruce budworm control. Results indicate a reduction of pollinator populations due to spraying.

Fruit set, measured by fecundity ratios (fruits/flower), was determined for Cornus canadensis L., Maianthemum canadense Desf., Clintonia borealis (Ait.) Raf., and Viburnum cassinoides L. in sprayed and unsprayed areas. Fecundity values for C. canadensis and M. canadense were significantly lower in sprayed than in unsprayed areas. Fruit set of C. borealis was apparently unaffected by carbaryl spraying, but the seed/flower ratio was significantly reduced in the sprayed area. V. cassinoides fecundity values were unaffected by carbaryl application. Reductions in native bee populations probably had the greatest impact on fruit set.

Pheromone baited traps and trap trees attracted an aggregate of 29 scolytid species associated with white spruce in three localities in Alaska. Species diversity was higher in the Fairbanks (lat. 64°45′) area than in the Brooks Range (lat. 68°15′) or Kenai Peninsula (lat. 60°37′). Scolytids were found inhabiting all bark-producing areas of the tree from the roots to small branches with the highest density in the tree bole. The most abundant scolytids were Ips perturbatus (Eichhoff), Ips tridens tridens (Mannerheim), Polygraphus rufipennis (Kirby), Dryocoetes affaber (Mannerheim), Trypodendron lineatum (Olivier), and Scolytus piceae (Swaine).

A holidic diet which allowed the onion maggot, Delia antiqua (Meigen), to undergo complete development to the adult reproductive stage was developed. The effects of various concentrations of choline and salts on development were investigated. The amount of choline which gave optimal development was approximately 1/50 that used in most other artificial diets. It was found that the complex salt mixture (Wesson salts) normally used could be replaced by a solution of salts containing specific trace element ions (Fe, Mn, Cu, and Zn) and the two salts CaHPO4·H2O and KH2PO4.

On 19 August 1982, a female noctuid moth resembling the Palearctic species Noctua pronuba (Linnaeus), which has recently been introduced into Eastern Canada (Neil 1981), was collected at an ultraviolet light at Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia. An additional specimen, a male, was taken 13 September 1982. A third was seen, but not captured, 2 September 1982. A comparison of the British Columbia material with figures and descriptions of other Noctua species given by Bretherton et al. (1979) revealed them to represent Noctua comes (Hübner), based on their smaller size, light brown, narrow primaries, and well defined discal dot on the secondaries. This preliminary identification was later confirmed by external morphological and genitalic comparison with specimens of various Noctua species obtained from the Nova Scotia Museum collection in Halifax.