Chromosonial studies have elucidated phylogenetic relations in Drosophila (White, 1954), culicids (Jucci, 1952) and chironomids (Bauer, 1936, 1945). Since it appeared promising to apply this approach to the Simuliidae, Rothfels and Dunbar (1953) began a cytological survey of the black flies of eastern Canada during the summer of 1951. They found that in this group the giant salivary gland chromosomes provided “a wealth of descriptive morphological detail in their number and gross morphology, in the characteristics of expanded centromere regions, in the location of specific nucleolar sites, in the degree of pairing of constituents, and in the ultimate discernible banding pattern…. Since these features are not functionally related to the external environment, the confusing effects of convergence are minimized, resemblances may be taken to indicate relation, and grouping is possible according to natural affinities” (Rothfels and Dunbar, 1953).

Every spring since it was first noticed in 1947, the first-generation immature stages of the European red mite, Metatetranychus ulmi (Koch), has suffered some mortality in peach orchards of the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario. Sometimes this mortality was negligible but in the cold, wet spring of 1949 it reached 80 per cent in some orchards. Mortality of similar extent has not been noticed on other hosts of the mite at this season; counts of a thousand or more living and dead mites on young shoots of each host at Vineland Station on May 16, 1957, showed apparent mortalities of 53 per cent on Elberta peach, 7 per cent on Italian prune, and 8 per cent on Melba apple. The mortality on peach leaves is difficult to determine, for if the mites are examined too early, many of those killed in the quiescent, premoulting condition cannot be distinguished from living ones, and if they are examined too late, the survivors may have suffered mortality from other causes.

It was observed that populations of Tyrophagus castellanii (Hirst) reared on cereal flakes and yeast for studies of predator-prey interactions were feeding on moulds rather than on the food material, and that an increase in humidity increased their rates of development. To discover whether this was caused by the direct effect of humidity on the mites or by a greater supply of fresh food brought about by an increase in humidity, rearings were made with a technique developed by Rivard (1958). The mites were reared exclusively on mould cultures under controlled temperature and humidity conditions. It was also possible with this technique to regdate modd growth to some extent, so that a supply of fresh food was always available to the mites. This is a report on the influence of various humidities on mortality and rate of development of the immature stages of T. castellanii at a constant temperature.

In studies of army ants on Barro Colorado Island, Canal Zone, Panama, C. W. Rettenmeyer collected two new species of Euryomma in association with colonies of Eciton burchelli (Westw.). Adults of both species were collected flying above refuse heaps of the ants, a good series of one was reared, and all stages of the larvae of both were taken in berlese samples of the refuse deposits. Descriptions of all stages of both species, except for the egg and puparium of the rarer species, are presented here. No immature stages of Euryomma spp. have been known previously, nor are there any published data on the life-history and habits of any species of the genus.

The following method of rearing the red-banded leaf roller, a pest that has recently become increasingly destructive and difficult to control on apple in Ontario, was developed to obtain a supply of insects for insecticide tests during the winter. No reference to methods of rearing this insect in the winter were found in the literature. As the Field Station at Simcoe has no greenhouse or plant growth room, the entire procedure was conducted in an office room and basement except that some of the bean plants used were obtained from the greenhouse of the Entomology Laboratory, Vineland Station, Ont.

The material on which the following descriptions are based was collected by the junior author during a study of the life-histories and ecologies of the Simuliidae of the Prairie Provinces. The type locality for both forms is the Shell River at the bridge on Provincial Highway No. 55, five miles west of Prince Albert and about 24½ miles above its junction with rhe North Saskatchewan River. Here the river is about 30 feet widc and has a bed of fine gravel or sand. When the collections were made, the water had a mean depth of one foot, a flow-rate of 1.5-2.0 ft. per second, and a temperature range of 55-59° F. Pupae were collected from emergent vegetation, chiefly grass blades, in the swifter parts of the stream. The following species were also taken at this site: Simulium (Hellichia) canonicolum (D. & S.), S. (Eusimulium) aureum Fries, S. (Byssodon) rugglesi N. & M., S. decorum Wlk., S. luggeri N. & M., S. tuberosum Lund., S. venustum Say, and S. (Neosimulium) vittatum Zett.

In the areae dentiparae, which slope far downward, nearly extending to the base of coxae III, this genus resembles Coelichneumonon Thoms. The propodeal slope, however, does not curve downward abruptly as in the latter genus, but slants gradually down in an oblique plane.

Gastrocoeli quite different from those typical of the Protichneumonini: much shallower and rather small, considerably narrower than their interval.

Postpetiole not longitudinally striated, but finely and irregularly reticulated in one species, almost smooth and shining in the other. Horizontal part of propodeum densely reticula-punctate, nearly opaque, costulae absent, areae superomedia and basalis not bordered by carinae, their place in one species indicated by a polished region.

The Entomological Society of Canada held its eighth annual meeting jointly with the ninety-fifth annual meeting of the Entomological Society of Ontario at the Ontario Agricultural College, Guelph, from October 29 to November 1. This was the first meeting of the national society at the headquarters of the Ontario society, which for many years served as a national society. A total of 172 members and friends attended, including 23 members and guests from the United States and 17 wives. At the beginning of the opening session, a minute's silence was observed in tribute to Dr. K. W. Neatby, Director, Science Service, Canada Department of Agriculture, who had died on October 27. Addresses of welcome were given by G. G. Dustan, President, Entomological Society of Ontario, Dr. J. D. MacLachlan, President, Ontario Agricultural College, and G. P. Holland, President, Entomological Society of Canada. At the opening session, Mr. Holland asked whether the Society was paying due attention to all its responsibilities. He considered that responsibilities to amateur entomologists might well be given more attention, possibly by providing a place for amateurs on the programs at annual meetings, by publishing handbooks, and by providing financial aid to students in entomology. He welcomed Dr. V. B. Wigglesworth, Cambridge University, England, to the meeting and also D. K. McE. Kevan, Head, Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Macdonald College, to Canada.

In an earlier paper (Syme and Davies, 1958), three new species in the hirtipes-complex (Prosimulium fuscum Syme and Davies, P. mixtum Syme and Davies and P. fontanum Syme and Davies) were described, compared with related species in other parts of the world, and their known distribution in northeastern North America indicated. In this paper are presented observations on the manner and dates of oviposition, on incubation, on the larval feeding, on the rate of larval growth during the fall and winter in a spring-fed stream, and on differences in habitat and seasonal emergence of the three new species.

At the Vancouver laboratory a large number of cages were needed to confine aphids to single leaves in virus transmission experiments. The cages had to be of simple construction, light, and easily manipulared. The cage developed was similar to that of MacGillivray and Anderson (1957), but was simpler to make, and the materials were easily obtained locally. The materials are: acrylic plastic tubing, metal hair-curl clips, foam rubber, corks to fit the tubing, and muslin.