For many years studies of cutworm bionomics and control, especially of pest species, have been carried on in the Prairie Provinces of Canada. During these studies a number of cutworm parasites and hyperparasites of the bombyliid genera Poecilanthrax Osten Sacken, Villa Lioy, and Hemipenther Loew have been encountered. These species do not appear to be important factors in the natural control of cutworms, for they cause from two to five per cent of the total parasitism. No detailed data are available on the life-history of any of the species.

The formerly monotypic genus Mioctenopsylla Rothschild, 1922, was erected to accommodate an unusual ceratophyllid flea collected from nests of the kittiwake, Rissa tridactyla ssp., during the Norwegian Expedition to Novaya Zemlya in 1921. Although it could be assigned to Jordan's “Group C” of Ceratophyllus s. lat., this species, described as M. arctica Rothschild, differed in many remarkable ways from all other species and genera of the group. The spines of the pronatal ctenidium, large and deeply pigmented in all other Ceratophyllidae, are reduced in Mioctenopsylla to short, pale structures that could easily be overlooked (Fig. 7). Other characters of the genus not found elsewhere in the Ceratophyllidae include denticulate dorsal margins to the abdominal terga, numerous minute punctuations on the sterna, and narrow mid- and hind-coxae, as well as distinctive sexual features.

The successful transfer of adult insects from jars or cages to killing bottles or other cages is at best tedious and often difficult. The device illustrated in the accompanying plate was designed to facilitate this work. It has been tested in the insectary at Indian Head throughout one season with very satisfactory results. The model described and illustrated (Fig. 1) is a convenient size for use in transferring insects from small jars.