Laboratory experiments were conducted to determine the effects of bark moisture content on the survival and development of Polygraphus rufipennis (Kirby). Adults and immature stages were reared in white spruce bark of five different moisture contents for 20, 40, and 60 days. Adult activity and brood success were related to the moisture content of the bark with the adverse effects of the drier bark becoming more pronounced with time. After 40 days factors associated with high bark moisture levels, such as fungus and rate of decomposition, may have been responsible for a decrease in survival and rate of development in the moister bark.

The genus Serropalpus differs from other genera in the tribe Serropalpini in having an almost obliterated suture between the prosternum and the episternum, long slender antennae, and strongly serrate maxillary palpi which have a cultriform terminal segment. It is like Phloeotrya and Dircaea in having a short prosternum before the anterior coxal cavity.

Our knowledge of the phylogenetic relationships of Diptera advanced through the 20th century at an unprecedented rate; the two crowning achievements of the century were Hennig's magnum opus – the Handbuch der Zoologie treatment of the order and Volume 3 of the Manual of Nearctic Diptera series, edited by McAlpine and Wood. The Manual is outstanding because of its scope and rigorous, consistent approach, treating the relationships of the entire order at family level using Hennigian argumentation. Synapomorphic characters from all life stages were identified using outgroup comparison and monophyletic taxa were established using synapomorphies mapped onto nodes. The Manual chapters energized a generation of students to publish rigorous, quantitative cladistic phylogenetic treatments of many dipteran groups. The chapters also acted as an authoritative scaffold for the development of dipteran molecular systematics in the 1990s. No other megadiverse insect order has had such an influential phylogenetic springboard into the 21st century.

Graham (1968) demonstrated that logs became attractive to ambrosia beetles after the sapwood was subjected to anaerobic conditions. Pursuing this lead, Cade et al. (1970) and Moeck (1970a, 1970b, 1971) extracted, analyzed, and bioassayed anaerobic products from western hemlock and Douglas-fir trees and ascertained that ethanol was the principal “primary attractant” to the ambrosia beetles, Gnathotrichus sulcatus (LeConte) and Trypodendron lineatum (Olivier), respectively. The demonstration that ethanol enhanced the response of the Douglas-fir beetle, Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopkins, to its aggregation pheromones frontalin and seudenol (Pitrnan et al. 1975) suggested that ethanol could also be involved in the primary attraction of or host recognition by bark beetles. We report that the mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, is arrested to ethanol in a laboratorv olfactometer.

A new species of halophilous water strider, Aquarius haliplous Yasunaga, Asanabe, and Nagashima new species (Hemiptera: Gerridae: Gerrinae), is diagnosed and described. This species is endemic to Omura Bay, Nagasaki, southwestern Japan, and has a unique adaptation to this mixohaline habitat. Based on unique morphology and ecology both in the adult and immature forms, this new Aquarius Schellenberg species can be separated unequivocally from a similar species inhabiting freshwater, A. paludum (Fabricius). A key is provided to facilitate identification of the Japanese species and subspecies of Aquarius.

We tested the hypothesis that the conophagous Douglas-fir cone gall midge, Contarinia oregonensis Foote (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), responds to infrared (IR) radiation and other electromagnetic wavelengths associated with cones of Douglas-fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirbel) Franco (Pinaceae). Early-season (March–April) thermographic images showed that cone orientation (upright, horizontal, pendant) and cone colour (green, purple, green/purple) did not affect apparent cone temperature (inferred from thermographic images). Tree components significantly differed in apparent temperature with foliage being coolest and branches warmest. There was no significant difference in the number of larvae in cones of different colours, and adult midges were equally attracted to traps painted green or purple, suggesting that cone colour does not affect oviposition decisions by gravid females. Adult midges were more strongly attracted to warm traps with IR frequency emissions higher than the background than to cold traps with IR frequency emissions lower than the background. They were also more strongly attracted to warm branch-shaped traps than to warm can-shaped traps. Collectively, these data indicate that the shape and IR attributes of Douglas-fir branches may serve as foraging cues for C. oregonensis.

Although additional papers of this series are in preparation, it is considered appropriate to publish the completed ones at this time and to present this interim, tabulated, summary of the preceding five papers to assist the reader in the recognition of the forms with which we have already dealt. Other forms occur on conifers in the mountainous regions of western Canada and the United States that are not well known taxonomically. When studies on them are completed, it is the intention to prepare a final summary of all work that has been done on this subject.

Leafy spurge (Euphorbia × pseudovirgata [Schur]) is an herbaceous perennial and serious weed of European origin that has been accidently introduced into North America. The European anthomyiid flies Pegomya curticornis (Stein) and Pegomya euphorbiae (Kieffer) are found on several spurge species in Europe and also attack leafy spurge. The two flies induce identical galls on the subterranean stems of their host plants, and the shoots wilt and die. Eggs are laid on the shoot tip, and the larvae bore into the stem by eating pith which is later replaced by callus. This is a rare example of an insect with both boring and gall-inducing feeding strategies. Galls are induced when larvae feed on the ring of vascular tissue. There is no proliferation of nutritive cells but instead thick layers of gall parenchyma are produced. The vascular connections are broken at the gall level and concentric vascular bundles appear in the cortical and gall parenchyma. After pupation an inner periderm differentiates around the chamber surface.

Since the writer's report on “The Subarctic Odonata of North America” was published, several collections have been received from localities included within the territory covered in that paper, which add materially to our knowledge of the dragonfly fauna of the Hudsonian Zone on this Continent. Most of these collections are from the Northwest Territories but a few are from northern Alberta and Newfoundland.

Dermanyssus gallinoides is described as a new species of mite. It is parasitic on a sapsucker in British Columbia and has been collected from the nests of a red-shafted flicker and Lewis’ woodpecker in Colorado.

A search for natural enemies of Hippelates eye gnats in Jamaica and Trinidad in 1963 resulted in the discovery of four pupal parasites, Trichopria nov. sp., Spalcmgia drosophilae Ashmead, a species of Spalangia and Encyrtidae, and one larval parasite, Trybliographa nov. sp., in Jamaica. What were probably phoretic mites of the Acaridiae infested up to 6.1 per cent of the adult populations in Jamaica. No parasitic Hymenoptera were found attacking Hippelates in Trinidad. Parasitization in Jamaica sometimes approached 40 per cent, but overall parasitization with all host exposures considered did not exceed 2.5 per cent. The effect of predators on naturally breeding Hippelates populations in both Jamaica and Trinidad seemed highly significant, and predominant species are listed.

A method for determining the sex of live adult Laricobius nigrinus Fender (Coleoptera: Derodontidae) is described. Beetles were briefly chilled and positioned ventral-side-up under a dissecting microscope. Two forceps with blunted ends were used to gently brace the beetle and press on the centre of the abdomen to extrude its terminal segments. Male beetles were distinguished by a sclerotised, reticulate ninth abdominal sternite. In females, the distinct ovipositor (tergite, valvifers (ninth sternite), and laterotergites of the ninth abdominal segment) was visible. The procedure was rapid and harmed only a small number of individuals (fewer than 5%).

Sperm competition generates selection for male traits to prevent it. These traits remain unclear in species where males compete for a virgin who is briefly receptive. Males of the parasitoid wasp Ooencyrtus kuvanae Howard (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) compete over females following emergence from host egg masses. Males engage virgins in a precopulatory ritual, mate, and then immediately perform a postcopulatory ritual after which the female becomes unreceptive. Often, sneaker (M2) males copulate with a female while she is engaged in the postcopulatory ritual, and they also perform the postcopulatory ritual. We investigated (i) paternity of M1 and M2 males using DNA microsatellite analysis, (ii) copulation and postcopulatory behaviour of both males, and (iii) morphological adaptations of the aedeagus for sperm removal. Eighty-eight percent of M1 males sired all daughters when they were first to perform the precopulatory and postcopulatory ritual, suggesting a linked effect of both rituals on paternity. The number and length of copulations by both males did not affect paternity, and the shape of the aedeagus does not seem to facilitate sperm removal. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that postcopulatory rituals represent forms of mate guarding that function to increase paternity in the context of sperm competition.

A survey was recently undertaken by the author with Dr. V. P. Rao, Entomologist-in-charge, Indian Station, Commonwealth Institute of Biological Control, Bangalore, India, for natural enemies of Adelges spp. attacking silver fir (Abies spp.) and spruce (Picea spp.) in the North-West and Eastern Himalayas. In the course of this survey it was found that the coccinellids Coccinella septem-punctata L., C. septempunctata L. var. divaricata Oliv. and C. septempunctata L. var. confusa Wied, were three of the most common predators of Adelges spp. in both these areas. With a view to sending laboratory-reared material to Canada for trial against Adelges piceae Ratz., which is a serious pest there, large numbers of these Coccinellids were collected in the fir and spruce forests to provide breeding material.

Female: General body color dark brown to blackish-brown; legs lighter brown. Length: body, 2.0-2.7 mm.; wing, 2.1-2.3 mm.

Head dark, posterior and undersurface densely covered with long, pale yellow hair; a row of stout, erect, dark hairs along posterior and lateral margins of eye. Frons tinged with gray; moderately broad, diverging above; covered with moderately long, decumbent, pale yellow hair. Clypeus lighter than frons, tinged with gray; longer than wide; densely covered with fine, pale yellow hair. Antenna short, eleven-segmented; uniformly dark brown, covered with short, pale yellow hair; flagellun about 2.5 times as long as scape and pedicel; pedicel considerabIy larger than other segments. Palpus yellowish-brown, covered with fine, pale ykllow hair and some coarser, dark hair; third segment slightly longer than fourth and slightly shorter than fifth; sensory vesicle of third segment globular, small, about one-fifth as long as the segment and is proximally situated; the tube leading from the sensory vesicle to the exterior is short, arises dorsally on the distal portion of the vesicle, extends nearly vertical and is nearly of uniform width (Figs. 4, 5). Edges of mandible with about 32 fine serrations; galea of maxilla with about 32 large, retrorse teeth. Median space of buccopharyngeal apparatus broad and shallow; dorsolateral arms broad, outwardly curved and directed posteriorly, a sclerotized ridge occurs on inner margin (Fig. 6).

The European pine shoot moth (Rhyacionia buoliana (Schiff.)) attacks pine species grown in Michigan for forestry, Christmas tree, and ornamental purposes. Much research has been carried out on life history and direct insecticide control, (Butcher and Haynes 1960; Donley 1960) in efforts to minimize injury. As a result of these studies, practical control methods have been developed for intensively managed stands such as Christmas trees and nursery stock. While the need for a better understanding of shoot moth biology and ecology is generally accepted, the inability of foresters and entomologists to obtain satisfactory shoot moth control with low gallonage insecticide applications under forestry conditions has given impetus to studies on host preference and the influence of the host on shoot moth success and development. Such information, when available, might conceivably suggest planting and management steps that foresters could take in order to minimize attack and injury by this pest in the future. In Michigan, the European pine shoot moth overwinters as a partially grown larva and feeding is resumed about April 20. By late May or early June, pupation takes place in the bud area and adults emerge in about 2 weeks. Eggs are laid on the bark and needles, and hatching occurs within 10 to 15 days. Newly hatched larvae feed at the base of the current year's needles, later moving to the terminal and lateral buds where they remain until the following spring. Pitch blisters or “tents” formed as a result of feeding. in the bud area are useful indicators of shoot moth presence and activity.

Siculaphis vittoriensis gen.nov., sp.nov., Myzocallis (Hoplocallis) microsiphon sp.nov., and M. (Agrioaphis) cocciferina sp.nov. are described. The new taxa have a Mediterranean distribution, and Quercus calliprinos Webb is their main host. Accounts are given of their morphology, taxonomic position, and ecology. A key is presented for the four species in the subgenus Hoplocallis.

Identification of mounted specimens of Microlepidoptera is facilitated by good spreading technique. Although the larger specimens may be readily spread on a standard spreading board, small specimens present a problem. A special technique has been developed whereby small moths may be successfully spread and mounted on double-mount pins.