The larvæ of the four species described below were collected, with a large number of others, form temporary pools which form on the plains around this city after the seasonal rains. The different species were separated into breeding bottles, and specimens of the larval skin casts and of the larvæ themselves, when abundant, were preserved for study.

In the two years which have elapsed since I last wrote (Martin, 1950) of the potential uses of systemic insecticides, a deeper knowledge of the properties of these materials has become available to provide a sounder basis for their practical employment. A wide use of these materials has so far been hindered by scant information, particularly of the risks of harm following the consumption of treated food crops plants. Poisonous residues of the older insecticides which, by accident, remain on the plant surface are largely removed in the usual processes of preparation for the table such as washing, peeling, or discarding the outer leaves. These precautions fail with systemic compounds which not only pass into the plant tissue but which tend to accumulate in the storage organs and in the tenderer new growth, the very parts of the plant which serve for food. Clearly then an accurate and complete knowledge of the fate of the poisonous systemic insecticide must be available before its use on food crops can be recommended.

Occasions frequently arise in entomological work when it is necessary to hold an insect absolutely still in order to operate upon it. A year ago an apparatus was devised for holding sawfly larvae for injection. It has now been improved and is being currently used to hold sawfly larvae quiet while substances are introduced into the midgut, The apparatus, shown in the accompanying figure, consists of a grooved plastic platform with small holes in the base. These holes are connected to a vacuum line. A water pump may be substituted very nicely. The larva can be placed in any position on the platform by lifting it on a stick and pressing it lightly over the holes on the platform. The larva can be freed immediately by releasing the vacuum. As long as the vacuum is regulated carefully, there are no harmful effects upon the larva.

Swaine (1918) recognized 31 species of Pityophthorus. Subsequently 91 new species have been described (Blackman 1920, 1921, 1922a, 1922b, 1928; Swaine 1925; Schedl 1930, 1931) making a total of 122. Some have been transferred to other genera, and others have been placed in synonymy (Blackman 1928; Wood 1957) leaving 115 species now recognized. The following description of a new species was prepared after examination of 50 species of Pityophthorus, including examples from the U.S. National Museum, the Canadian National Collection, and Forest Biology Laboratories across Canada. The loan of this material is greatly appreciated. No species have been described previously from alpine larch, Larix lyallii Parl. The description is based on examination at a magnification of 50 times.

In this paper records are given for three species of leafhoppers described from Europe and not recorded previously for North America, and six names that have been applied to North American species are reduced to synonymy with the names of species described from Europe.

Studies in eastern Ontario showed that the exotic parasite Dacnusa dryas (Nixon) typically has three generations a year that correspond seasonally to those of its host, the alfalfa blotch leafminer, Agromyza frontella (Rondani). The mature larvae of the third generation enter diapause in September and resume development in the spring. The egg – first instar interval, which occurs within the actively feeding leafminer, developed at rates similar to those of the host larva. The remaining two instars and the pupa, which occur within the host puparium, developed at rates similar to those of the host pupa; in the two non-diapausing generations, the durations of these stages decreased with rise in temperature from 13 to 23 °C. Coincidence of wasp flight and hatch of leafminer eggs was high in all three generations. This host–parasite synchrony results mainly from a sequence of three events during their life cycles: lack of development of the parasite beyond the first instar within the host larva, a temperature-dependent rate of development of the subsequent stages which is similar to that of the host pupa, and different overwintering strategies which result in the parasite emerging later than its host to sustain the relationship. Behavior of the parasite is described in relation to host detection, egg deposition, and reproduction.

A single collection from a beaver lodge near George Lake, Alberta (53°57′ N., 114°06′ W.), in mid-May 1976 yielded 1362 female Anopheles earlei Vargas, of which 39.2% were blood-fed and 3.1% gravid. The mosquitoes could have overwintered in the lodge and fed on the beavers, but they could also have flown in from other overwintering and feeding sites earlier in the spring.

Five new species of western Rhyacophila, leechi, siskiyou, lurella, arcella, and tehama, are described; siskiyou is remarkably different from other described species. The vedra complex, comprising five species, is discussed with descriptions of two new species.

The willow beaked gall midge, Mayetiola rigidae (Osten Sacken), is univoltine in Michigan. Adults emerge from bud galls on Salix discolor Mühl. and other willows on mornings of warm days in early April. Eggs are laid singly on or near the buds of the host. Head capsule measurements indicate three larval instars. The last two instars each possess a spatula. The first-instar larva emerges in late April and penetrates the soft bud tissues. The gall begins to develop at the beginning of the second instar in mid-May. The third instar appears in early July and continues to enlarge the gall until fall. Prior to overwintering, the larva lines the inner chamber of the gall with silk and constructs one to seven silken septa across the passageway. Pupation occurs in mid-March. The gall deforms the stem and occasionally a galled branch dies or breaks off.

Adults of Camisia labradorica, n. sp., from Labrador are described. They are closely similar to those of C. lapponica (Trägårdh, 1910), but are distinguished by the shape of notogastral setae and number of genital setae.

The Lasionycta skraelingia (H.-S.) species complex, formerly considered to include only one species, is shown to consist of six species. Three species (Lasionycta buraetica Kononenko, from the Sayan Mountains, USSR; L. corax Kononenko from the Upper Kolyma River area, USSR; and L. taigata Lafontaine from northern Canada) are described as new. The name L. alpicola, proposed by Hampson as an aberration of L. skraelingia, is validated as a species. The taxon Lasionycta phaea (Hampson), currently treated as a subspecies of L. impingens (Walker), is shown to be a distinct species in the L. skraelingia complex; a lectotype is designated for Anarta phaea Hampson. Adults and genitalia are illustrated for the six species; a key to species and distribution maps are also included. Lasionycta membrosa (Morrison, 1875) is placed in synonymy with L. subdita (Möschler, 1860).

A method for weekly production in excess of 100,000 second-instar larvae of the spruce budworm, Choristoneura jumiferana (Clem.), is described. It depends on adherence to specific regimes of physical conditions and manipulation for the different immature stages. Standard, easily obtained utensils and materials are used in the rearing technique.

Of the five species of Homaemus recorded from America, north of Mexico, proteus Stal. and parvulus (Germ.) are cnnfined tn the southern half of United States; variegatus Van D. is known only from California; bijugis Uhl. ranges throughout middle and western United States and Canada, extending southward to Colorado, New Mexico and California; aeneifrons (Say) has been commonly recorded from the Atlantic to the Pacific in northern United States and Canada and has been reported from the southwest from Colorado, New Mexico and California.

Total foliage consumption per larva of Heterocampa manteo (Doubleday) was 334 ± 49.3 cm2 of leaf area. Approximately 85% of the consumption occurred during the fifth larval stadium. There was no significant difference in consumption by H. manteo when fed northern red oak, Quercus rubra L., or white oak, Quercus alba L. Foliage consumption at 27 °C, 24 °C, and 21 °C did not differ significantly; but larvae reared at 15.5 °C consumed 42.6% less foliage. Larvae parasitized by Diradops bethunei (Cresson) consumed 61.3% less foliage than non-parasitized larvae reared at the same temperature. Two methods of predicting defoliation are discussed based upon larval foliage consumption data.

Kissinger (1982) published the first program for producing labels on a microcomputer. This program was limited in that it allowed only 3 lines of labels, worked only on a printer connected to LPTI: (parallel port), had no print options, and restricted the number of characters per label. The program described here is written in BASIC for the IBM-PC microcomputer. It has none of the above restrictions and is more versatile. The program is self-activating with AUTOEXEC to an opening menu with 12 options. Each option is called by number and the user follows a series of explicit, on-screen prompts.