The influence of soil properties on the diversity of plants and moths (Lepidoptera) were examined in two South Korean high mountain forest localities (Mount Hallasan and Mount Jirisan) and one seashore mountain forest locality (Mount Seungdalsan). Six sites at each locality were included in the study. Soil physical and chemical properties and plant data were obtained from 20×20 m quadrats at every moth sampling site. Moth community data were obtained from the 18 sites. Stepwise regression analysis identified total tree basal area and tree species richness as significant determinants of moth species richness, and plant diversity index as a significant determinant of moth abundance. Total tree basal area was closely related to organic matter (OM), clay content, NaCl concentration, and pH, and plant diversity was closely related to clay content. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling ordination between plant and moth species across 18 sites and 17 soil variables showed that soil fertility factors (OM, total nitrogen content, and cation exchange capacity) were major variables. Our results indicate that soil, plants, and moths communities in temperate forests form a close, interacting network that is primarily affected by the bottom-up impact of soil fertility.

Weight gain during the penultimate and ultimate stadia of the pale western cutworm, Agrotis orthogonia Morr., comprises about 37% and 39%, respectively, of the maximum larval weight. For the army cutworm, Euxoa auxiliaris (Grt.), the corresponding values are 20% and 69%. The proportion of final larval weight that is gained by the ultimate-instar larva of the army cutworm is similar to that reported for other noctuids, whereas the proportion gained by the ultimate-instar larva of the pale western cutworm is much lower and is likely related to the prepupal aestivation that occurs in this species. Because of the growth pattern of pale western cutworm, a substantial proportion of total food consumption, and consequently, crop damage, occurs during the penultimate stadium of this species.

The specific name curtipennis (Harris) is reinstated for North American Chorthippus, which is not (as erroneously supposed) conspecific with an Old World species. A neotype is designated and described for C. curtipennis (Harris), and a lectotype is chosen for C. montanus (Charpentier).

In identifying Chrysopidae from the South and West I have come across some new species, a few specimens have been in the collection for years, but more specimens have shown their distinctness. Correction is made of a misidentification in my Revision of the Chrysopidae and three Cuban forms have been taken in Florida.

Trichosirocalus (= Ceutorhynchidius) horridus (Panzer), introduced from Italy into the USA for the control of Carduus thistles in 1974/75, is well established in Virginia (Kok and Trumble 1979). Field studies on the development of this weevil on Carduus thistles in Italy (K. E. Frick, USDA, Stoneville, Mississippi — pers. comm; Boldt and Campobasso 1981) and in Virginia (Trumble and Kok 1979) revealed that weevil eggs were commonly found in rosettes during the winter months. In Virginia, first instars were detected in rosettes immediately after the snow melted (Trumble and Kok 1979). Therefore, the eggs are exposed to the coldest temperatures in January and February when air temperatures reach −20°C in western Virginia. The effects of such temperatures on the proportion of hatch and on the viability of the hatchlings are not known. In addition, T. horridus has consistently laid the maximum number of eggs in November and December in the laboratory for the past 10 years. Thus, a large supply of thistles had to be grown in the greenhouse to support the weevil population during the winter when plant growth was poor and mortality of laboratory reared T. horridus was high. In any successful biological control program the proper time of release of the beneficial organism as well as numbers available is critical. Successful storage of T. horridus eggs would greatly increase the number of T. horridus available when needed for inoculative releases or experimental purposes. The purpose of this study was to determine suitable temperatures and storage times for T. horridus eggs without affecting hatch and viability.

The genus Synosis Townes, 1959 (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Metopiinae) currently comprises 18 described species. A redescription of the genus is presented and three new species are described and illustrated: S. diaguita new species, S. nigra new species, and S. zezei new species. Two previously known species, Synosis rubinus Alvarado and Rodriguez-Berrios, 2013 and S. townesi Alvarado and Rodriguez-Berrios, 2013 are recorded for the first time in Ecuador. The genus is recorded for the first time for Ecuador and Argentina. An identification key to the New World species is presented.

Tuberculatus (Toltecallis) subg. nov. is characterized by the spiculation of the dorsal hairs of nymphs and by the basal pigmentation of the tibiae which differs from that of T. (Pacificallis). Three species are classified in the subgenus: T. (T.) mexicanus sp. n. (type of subgenus), distinguished by its long processus terminalis, T. (T.) garciamartelli sp. n. with spinal processes restricted to the two first abdominal segments and with short and thin spinal hairs on the embryo, and T. (T.) spiculatus Richards with processes on tergites I–IV and very long spinal setae on the embryo; the subspecies rebecae subsp. nov. of the last species has siphunculi and apical rostral segment longer and narrower at the base than in spiculatus s. str.

The viviparous winged form, the embryo, and the alatoid nymph are described. The sexual forms are unknown. All the species live on Quercus in the central part of Mexico between an elevation of 2200 and 2700 m.

This new genus somewhat resembles Philonix, Fitch (= Actaspis, Mayr), and agrees with it in having 14-jointed antennæ, but otherwise is quite different. The head, thorax and abdomen are highly polished, impunctate, the mesonotum being entirely without any trace of the parapsidal furrows, and in this character differing widely from all other of the agamous genera of the Cynipinæ. The absence of the parapsidal furrows being peculiar only to the sexual genera Neuroterus (Ameristus, Færster) and Dolichostrophus, Ashmead. The third joint of the antennæ is not quite as long as joints 1 and 2 or 3 and 4 united, joints 10–13 a little longer than thick, while the last joint is fusiform, a little longer than the penultimate. The scutellum has a depression across its base, but is without distinct foveæ, and is also not separated from the base of the mesonotum by a delicate grooved line; apically it is obtusely rounded, shagreened and somewhat densely pubescent. The mesopleura have a large, rather deep vertical femoral impression. The wings are represented by very short pads which do not extend beyond the apex of the metathorax or just reach to base of abdomen. The abdomen is about twice as long as the head and thorax united, polished, bare; the second segment dorsally occupies about half the whole surface; the third segment dorsally is not quite as long as segments 4 and 5 united; the segments 4–7 subequal; while the hypopygium terminates in a long, pubescent spine. The hind tarsi are as long as their tibiæ, the claws being simple.

Quite a little is known concerning the nesting habits of Anthidiine bees of the genus Anthidium and Dianthidium, but less of those of related genera, such as Callanthidium, Heteranthidium, Paranthidium, and Anthidiellum.

To date no entirely satisfactory control method has been developed for the European skipper, Thymelicus lineola (Ochs.), which was first introduced into North America in London, Ont., around 1910 (Saunders 1916) and has since spread throughout much of Canada and northern United States (Arthur 1966; Burns 1966; McNeil et al. 1975). In Quebec this insect has reached epidemic proportions in several areas (McNeil et al. 1975) and while Sevin® has been utilized, its application causes certain undesirable off-target effects. It is therefore essential to develop a means of control which does not cause these ecological problems.

A simple empirical model of temperature variation with elevation was successfully used to explain variation in observed rates of development of larvae and pupae of the western spruce budworm in mountainous terrain. Hopkins' Bioclimatic Law did not adequately describe development of stages earlier than the sixth instar. Regional differences in the effect of elevation are demonstrated and related to coastal and interior conditions. Direct solar heating effects appear to be of major significance in the early instars. The empirically-derived rates of temperature decrease could be generally applied to regions with dry inland conditions, but not to moist coastal regions.

There appear to be very few published records of the species of the Aquatic Coleoptera found in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. According to Hatch (1928, J. New York Ent. Soc., 36:335-354) only two papers deal with the Coleoptera of Nova Scotia and in each of these papers only a single species of the families of the aquatic beetles is named. Hatch also gives four references to the water beetles of the Labrador Province of Newfoundland; from these I have been able to extract a total of five species listed from Newfoundland proper and a further two species from Nova Scotia. An exhaustive search of literature, including the Leng Catalogue and Supplements, has produced a total of 31 species as previously known from Newfoundland proper, of which two species (Hydroporus obscurus Sturm & Oreodytes alpinus Payk.) must be deleted as erroneous; also 6 species as previously known from Nova Scotia, of which one species (Dytiscus marginalis L.) must be deleted as recorded in error.

During a visit to Professor Fernald, in Amherst, Mass., last spring, he showed me a Nepticula, bred from Apple, which he had described in manuscript as a new species, but which he afterwards had suspected to be Micropteryx pomivorella, Packard.

From reading the description and life-history of packard's species, I felt sure that it was a Nepticula and presumably the same as Professor Fernald's species, and a week after, while studying the collection in the Agassiz Museum, Cambridge, I obtained definite proof that we were right.

The pale western cutworm, Agrotis orthogonia Morr., has been a major pest of cereals in the prairie region of Western Canada since 1911. Present control measures consist of (a) cultural measures that inhibit oviposition in fields being summer-fallowed and (b) starvation of the young larvae by destroying the volunteer plant growth by means of cultivation at a critical period. Cultural operations to minimize oviposition in fields being summer-fallowed have become accepted procedure throughout the area. Control by starvation is practised during outbreak years in fields that have-been “stubbled in” or in those tilled during the moth flight. This procedure has been recommended generally throughout potentially infested areas, but more precise methods of evaluating larval numbers are required so that control may be used only where critical populations are present.

It is a well known fact that the flight of moths and some other insects is affected by barometric pressure, but it is not well known how this phenomenon affects other insect activity. In a study of the ecology of insects in vegetable gardens at Brandon, Man., in 1948, the relationship of barometric pressure to insect activity was recorded.

It was noted in the field that the imported cabbageworm adults behaved differently under varying weather conditions. During warm, clear days they did little but move about freely and feed, but on days that were overcast, particularly preceding rain, they became active about the plants and appeared to be engaged mainly in egg laying.

In the writer's treatise on the North American species of the genus Aeschna (Walker, '12) the nymph of A. juncea L. was described from exuviae collected by the late Dr. F. Ris at Cierfs, Switzerland. One of the exuviae was accompanied by a teneral imago. A single female exuvia from Nipigon, Ont., very closely resembling the Swiss specimens, was tentatively referred in the same work (p. 98) to A. subarctica Wlk. rather than juncea, although both species were flying at the spot where the exuvia was found.

Intensive sampling for eggs of Aedes vexans (Meigen) in upland wet-prairie habitats revealed that three species of plant, Echinochloa crusgalli (barnyard grass), Polygonum pennsylvanicum (smartweed), and Cyperus esculentus (yellow nutgrass), commonly occurring in contiguous U.S.A. and southern Canada and dense mats of vegetative detritus could be used as indicators of oviposition sites. Where a slope was steep, specific elevations indicated oviposition site preferences. Plant species and elevation were both indicators of areas where soil moisture was attractive to gravid females. Soil moistures between 55% and 69% were found optimal for oviposition.