The organization of the Forest Insect and Disease Survey, a continuing project of the Forest Entomology and Pathology Branch, Department of Forestry,was reviewed. Typical field and laboratlory operations in entomology at regional survey units were shown. The specific subject matter of the display included: a pictorial review of field sampling and insectary procedures; aids to identification of immature insects; a method of aerial survey wing an operational recorder; the life histories of seven species of defoliators; the establishment and spread of winter moth in the Maritimes and satin moth in British Columbia; and finally, machine methods of recording Survey data and procedures used in preparing the current series of national compilation of Forest Lepidoptera of Canada.

In research on fumigants it was found that variations in the proportions and amounts of the normal atmospheric gases (oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide), both during and after exposure to the toxicant, had profound effects on the mortality responses of the insects.

At reduced pressures (vacuum fumigation) the mortality response of the insects is complex (Monro 1959). With certain insects at least four zones of differing susceptibility were found. These are typified by the case of the cadelle, Tenebroides mauritanicus L.

Application of 5 Ibs. toxicant Ileptachlor or aldrin per acre placed in a 4- to 5-inch hand about 1½ inches below the surface of the soil in a ridged seeding drill have controlled infestations of the cabbage root maggot, Hylemya brassicae (Bouche) in cabbage and rutabagas for eight consecutive years on one farm in Prince Edward Island without detectable indications of resktance. The insecticide is so placed in the soil as to be most concentrated against the young root maggot larvae and least concentrated against the following predators and parasites: Coenosia tigrina (Fall.) and Scatophaga stercoraria. (L.), which attack and destroy H. brassicae flies in flight, on the soil surface, or on plant foliage; various species of Carabid beetles which destroy H. brassicae eggs at or near the soil surface, Trybliographa rapae (L.), the larvae of which parasitize and destroy H. brassicae larvae in the plant roots; and Aleochara bilineata (Gyll.), with adults destroying H. brassicae eggs or young larvae near the soil surface, and larvae in the plant roots, and the larvae parasitising H. brassicae puparia and destroying the pupae. Records of field observations, supplemented with data obtained on green-house determinations of the potential reproduction of both predators and host, indicate that any one of these predators could theoretically eliminate the pest population from an area in two to three generations. They do not eliminate or even give apparent economic control of the pest because a) the aerial attackers do not find and destroy adults of the pest before many eggs are deposited in the soil; b) many eggs are hidden in the soil by wind and rain and thus protected from discovery by predators; and c) larval and puparial parasites attack after the pest has injured the crop.

Integrated taxonomy, as understood by the authors, brings together all available knowledge regarding many aspects of a single group of species so as to form a comprehensive picture of the degree and kind of similarities and differences that are to be found within such a proup. Comparative studies of developmental rates, egg physiology, nutrition, embryology, nymphal development, cytology, and minute anatomy are being applied to three species-complexes of crickets: the Gryllus complex of Sorth America, the Teleogryllus complex of eastern Asia and Australia, and the Acheta complex of North Africa and Southwestern Asia.

The work of the Northern Insect survey and of the Northern Biting Fly Program brought to light many interesting questions concerning the habits and ecology of northern insects and it seemed desirable to set up more detailed studies that would be continued for a number of years at a chosen site. Through the courtesy of Dr. G. Hattersley-Smith and of the Defence Research Board such a program has been established at Hazen Camp, on the northern shore of Lake Hazen, Ellesmere Island (81° 49′ N., 71° 18′ W.). D. R. Oliver spent seven weeks at Hazen Camp in 1961, and in 1962 a party of six entomologists, a nematologist and a botanist worked there for 2½ months, almost the whole of the growing season. A smaller group is continuing the work in 1963.

Many of the Arctic species live above timberline in mountainous areas far to the south of the Arctic. We have made collections in such areas a t two places in North America, the Front Range of Colorado and the Banff National Park area in Alberta.

Because of a geological accident, the existence of hundreds of square miles of peneplain at and above timberline (11,500 to 13,000 ft.), Colorado has a very extensive Arctic fauna. However, the main mountain mass in Colorado is far removed from the Arctic and isolated by at least a hundred miles of prairie and forest. The fauna above timberline in colorado is composed of about one third truly Arctic species, one half widespread Cordilleran species, and a small number of endemic species derived from the local fauna in Colorado. Perhaps the most characteristic difference between the insect fauna of the Colorado tundra and that of the Canadian Arctic tundra is the occurrence of a rich fauna of Heteroptera in the Colorado tundra, contrasting with an almost total lack of this group in the Canadian Arctic. Vegetationally the story is similar, the outstanding characteristic of the Colorado tundra being the almost complete lack of Ericaceae.

A spray tower apparatus was developed to emit a constant volume of a solution onto a moving belt of chromatographic paper. A metering and fluid mixing device operating on the principle of continual dilution enables an exponentially varying spectrum of chemical dosages to be sprayed onto the paper strip. The degree of deposit and concentration per unit area on the paper can be altered by nozzle setting and adjustment of the linear speed of the paper strip. The excess spray droplets are removed from the spray chamber by vacuum control.

The heteropteran cephalic endoskeleton is difficult to study in dissections, due to its small size and to the delicacy of many of its membranous components. These difficulties are less of a handicap in dissections of the giant water bug Lethocerus (Belostomatidae), and it is possible to observe, in this insect, details of the salivary pumping apparatus which are difficult or impossible to see in smaller bugs. This apparatus consists of a cup-shaped, two-layered pump, two afferent ducts from the salivary glands, and an efferent duct. The latter runs from the pump to the tip of the hypopharyngeal lobe, and leads into the salivary channel formed by the apposed maxillary stylets in the labium.

A. The effect of 6 annual systemic insecticide treatments on cattle grub infestation was ohserved in a range herd of beef cattle that are isolated during the fly oviposition period by at least 10 miles from areas where adjacent herds could have dropped pupae. The herd is ranged throughout the year on a large and rugged semi-mountainous area, and was increased during the study from 1200 to 1600 animals. Bulls were the only imports made into the herd. Beef and cull females were marketed in late autumn. Treatments were applied in early December during the annual weaning-culling gather of the herd. Treatments in 1957, 1958 and 1959 were with Trolene boluses and each animal was weighed before treatment. Treatments in 1960, 1961 and 1962 were with Ruelene pour-on and weights were estimated. Annually a randomly selected group of calves was left untreated, and grubs were removed from chis and a similar group of treated calves at intervals throughout the grub season. By comparison of the untreated and treated samples, the insecticides produced the following grub reductions: 1957 − 76.8%, 1958 − 89.0%, 1959 − 87.5%, 1960 − 91.7%, 1961 − 91.0% and 1962 − 100.0%. The average numbers of grubs per untreated calf were: 1957 − 30.2, 1958 − 14.5, 1959 − 1.6, 1960 − 2.5, 1961 − 2.7, and 1962 − 0.2. Prior to these treatments gadding had seriously disrupted summer management of the herd but it has not occurred since 1957. The quality of the herd has improved, but because of changes in management and bull quality, the precise effect of the treatments cannot be assessed. (G.B.R.)

Chemicals must be used to control the codling moth, Carpocapsa pomonella (L.), in most apple and pear growing areas throughout the world. Unfortunately, this practice has caused or contributed to greatly increased mite populations, decimation of many beneficial insects, insecticide resistance, soil poisoning, and other problems. Successful use of the sterile male technique against the codling moth would eliminate or alleviate a number of these problems. This technique consists essentially in the sustained over-flooding of the native population with sexually sterile males. The main prerequisites for its use include: (1) a method of inducing sterility or dominant lethality in the sperm without affecting normal behaviour or longevity of the male, (2) the released insects themselves must not be injurious or noxious, ( 3 ) the method of release should permit intimate mingling of the sterile males with the native population, and (4) the availability of an economical method of mass culturing the insect. Photographs illustrate how these prerequisites were investigated for the codling moth.

Thirty-one geographic entities comprising 17 species of Calligrapha were examined cytologically. In the bisexual species rowena, philadelphica, pnirsa, amator, alni, confluens, californica, bidenticola, multipunctata, verrucosa, and pruni, the diploid number of chromosomes was 23 in males and 24 in females. The sex mechanism consisted of a single X chromosome in males and two X chromosomes in females. No Y chromosome was present. During reduction division in testicular tissue 11 bivalents were formed and a single heterochromatic X chromosome lay to one side of the bivalents which showed congression at metaphase I. The basic chromosomal formula 11 + XO can therefore be assigned to this group. The formula is modified in some populations according to the following circumstances.

In 1944 a forest research project involving industry and two levels of government was set up to integrate entomological, pathological, silvicultural and management studies aimed at the control of the spruce budworm through forest management. The entomological phase of this praject, called the ‘Green River Project’, was initiated in 1945, and by 1949 was deeply involved in the budworm outbreak that occurred in northern New Brunswick during the period 1949-59. The basic aim was to elucidate the population dynamics of the budworm during an outbreak.

Weevils of the genus Sitophilus are known to harbour within them certain structures (supposedly micro-organisms) that seem, on present evidence, to supply the host weevil with beneficial but not essential nutrients: the phenomenon of either symbiosis or mutualism.

The micro-organisms occur in cells called “mycetocytes”. In the larval weevil the mycetocytes are clustered together to form a mycetome. During metamorphosis from larva to prepupa to pupa to adult the mycetome breaks up into its constituent mycetocytes. The mycetocytes are found in the midguts of male and female adults and in the gonads of female adults. From the female gonads they are passed to the eggs and thence to the next generation of weevils.

The responses of insects to olfactory stimuli and to air-borne signals generally can be correctly understood only when the stimulus is presented in a natural way, and, moreover, one which is fully understood by the experimenter.

Molecular diffusion is an extremely slow process, and diffusion gradients are relatively unimportant in providing directional guidance. Aluch more important are the mass movements of the scented air, so that, for example, Drosophila melanogaster give one kind of response to an attractive scent when it is presented in a moving air current and a comp1etely different response to the same smell when the air is still.

Some of the changes in esterase content which occur during embryogenesis of the large milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus (Dallas), have been considered in relation to the stage of development and commencement of function of specific organs and tissues. A similar study involving the changes in protein as well as in esterase content during moulting and metamorphosis, has been made with larvae, pupae and adults of the tomato hornworm, Protoparce quinquemaculata.

The wing folding mechanism was investigated after a detailed study of the wing base morphology had been made (Sharplin, Canad. Ent. 95: 1024; 1121). Living moths were observed with a binocular microscope equipped with a micrometer eyepiece.

The first and second axillary sclerites do not move anteroposteriorly; only the distal half of the wing base is involved in wing folding. The folding muscle originates on the pleural ridge and inserts on the third axillary sclerite. The movement of the third axillary is communicated to the bases of the anterior veins through the median plates. The radial plate rotates around the ventral second axillary sclerite which lies underneath the radial bridge at point p, (Fig. 1). Bending cuticle allows the radial bridge to buckle when the wing is folded. The first median plate ( Ml ) rotates about its articulation ( f ) with the dorsal second axillary sclerite. The distal median plate (M2) passes underneath the second cubitus and is fused to the radius. This connection to the radius restricts the backward movement of the second median plate so that point e instead of following the wider arc eg of a circle with its centre at f, must follow the arc cegd drawn about pivot p. The median plates are bent upwards during wing folding and their effective length is shortened so that they can follow the shallow arc epg. When point e is in position g the posterior margin of the median plates is straight, although the anterior margin remains arched causing the median plates to be buckled, (Fig. 2).

Though historically noted as one of the most noxious pests of vines in Europe, California, and other places where vinifera-type grapes are grown extensively, the grape phylloxera, Phylloxera vitifoliae (Fitch), was for many years of little concern to grape growers in Canada. In the Niagara Peninsula, where more than 98% of Ontario grapes, and more than 95% of Canadian wine grapes, are grown, the insect has been known for many years in its most conspicuous form, in galls on the leaves of wild grapes and a few unimportant cultivated varieties. The more infamous root form was known to be present, but the resistance of the older American varieties growing in most of the vineyards was regarded as sufficient protection from a native American pest that at one time threatened to destroy the French wine industry.

The classification of the flower flies often referred to Syrphus s.l. has long been confused. European workers have usually placed all species in Syrphus or in Syrphus and Epistrophe; until 1950, American workers usually recognized the genera Syrphus, Metasyrphus, Epistrophe and Allograpta. Earlier attempts to revise the classification were in large part successful as far as many of the smaller, more distinctive groups of the tribe Syrphini were concerned, but Syrphus s.l. remained in a very unsatisfactory condition. In 1950 Fluke proposed a new classification of Syrphus s.l. based almost entirely on the male terminalia and treating particularly the New World species. It was a great advance on preceding attempts but left one large group in an unsatisfactory state. However, because no key to genera was provided, and because characters other than those of the terminalia were neglected, his arrangement was not generally accepted.

Parmi les espèces de bactéries comprises dans le groupe “cereus”, il en existe une très pathogène pour certaines espèces d'insectes, c'est le Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner. Ce bacille produit des spores et des cristaux toxiques dans la cellule et excrète diverses substances toxiques dans son milieu de culture. L'action du B. thuringiensis varie avec les espèces d'insectes; chez certaines il provoque une septicémie typique, chez d'autres il cause une intoxication, alors que quelques espèces sont réfractaires à ses attaques. Depuis quelques années notre laboratoire envisage la possibilité d'utiliser le B. thuringiensis et d'autres espèces proche parentes dans la lutte à certains insectes forestiers fort nuisibles tels que la tordeuse des bourgeons de l'épinette (Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.)), l'un des plus graves ravageurs des forês de conifères dans l'est de l'Amérique du Nord. En laboratoire avec une suspension contenant 200 gr. du pathogène par gallon d'eau, toutes les chenilles en expérience sont mortes de septicémie typique dans l'espace de 8 jours. Lors d'expériences conduites dans un peuplement hébergeant une forte population de I'insecte et dans des conditions climatiques optimales, 84 pour 100 de la population larvaire fut détruite en dedans de 24 jours après l'application d'une suspension contenant 80 gr. du pathogène par gallon d'eau. Ces premiers résultats nous incitérent à rechercher une lignée du B. thuringiensis plus pathogène pour le C. fumiferana surtout aux basses températures, et capable de résister à l'action bactéricide et bactériostatique de certaines substances produites par le feuillage du sapin et de l'épinette.

Pour la première fois en 1953 un virus fut décelé parmi les populations larvaires de N. swainei, une tenthréde extrêmement nuisible au pin gris dans la province de Québec. Ce virus à polyhèdres appartient au genre Borrelinavirus et se développe dans le noyau des cellules épithéliales de l'intestin moyen. Des recherches conduites depuis 1957 au laboratoire de Québec ont permis de sélectionner une lignée très virulente de ce pathogène et de mettre au point une technique pour sa productoin en quantité suffisante pour effectuer des traitements à une échelle considérable. On s'est préoccupé également de la mise au point de formules économiques et pratiques pour son application suivant les conditions particulières de chaque lieu et des moyens d'assurer une dispersion adéquate du pathogène lors des traitements aériens et terrestres.