This paper reports on studies of biology and life history of the Zimmerman pine moth, Dioryctria zimmermani (Grote), in southern Michigan.

Adults emerged during the last 3 weeks of August and eggs hatched through mid-September. Eggs were laid almost entirely on the main stem and, upon hatching, the larvae entered recesses in the bark and spun hibernacula, ostensibly without feeding.

Studies on the vertical distribution of larvae and pupae showed a fairly uniform distribution over the main stem in spring and early summer. In late summer, a larger percentage was found in middle whorls.

Based on head capsule measurements, it is tentatively proposed that there are six larval stadia. Occurrence of parasitism in the last larval stadia is discussed, and a new egg parasite is reported.

The presence of D. abietivorella Grote in the study areas is noted, and discussed briefly.

The effect of semiochemical interruptants was examined for Ips latidens (LeConte) and Ips pini (Say) using artificial trees (tall-traps) consisting of an array of seven Lindgren multiple-funnel traps suspended vertically on a rope ladder. S-(+)-Ipsdienol reduced the numbers of I. latidens captured in (±)-ipsenol-baited funnel traps relative to funnel traps immediately above them and to control tall-traps. The combination of (±)-exo-brevicomin and cis- and trans-verbenol reduced the numbers of I. pini captured in (±)-ipsdienol-baited funnel traps relative to funnel traps immediately above them and to control tall-traps. These results provide support for semiochemical-based pest-management tactics that utilize a point source of interruptant at the base of a tree while noting limitations in behavioural effects and efficacy.

The phylogenetic relationships between species groups and subgenera in the Forcipomyiinae are presented for the first time, from a consideration primarily of male genitalic structures and comparative morphology of all stages. A dendrogram showing the phylogenetic relationships within the subfamily and a figure showing the evolutionary trends in claspette development in the subfamily are given.The genitalia of Atrichopogon are considered as plesiomorphic and the genus a possible living prototype of all Ceratopogonidae.

The millipede Perunosoma trojanicagen. nov., sp. nov. is described on the basis of specimens from the Prekonoška Pećina Cave in southeast Serbia. Scanning electron micrographs of the gonopods and legs are presented. Comparative photomicrographs of the closely related genus Serbosoma Ćurčić and Makarov, 2000 are also presented. The central part of the anterior gonopods in these genera can be species-specific and provide grounds for initial recognition of species. The Anthroleucosomatidae occupy three disjunct areas globally: one on the west coast of North America, the second in Asia, and the third in Europe. The North American anthroleucosomatid fauna is composed of one monotypic genus, while the Asian one includes six genera with seven species and the much more diverse European anthroleucosomatids include 14 genera with 39 species.

Records on Megachile centuncularis (Linn.) were obtained in connection with research on pollination of alfalfa in Wisconsin. At no time abundant, specimens were collected while tripping alfalfa flowers in Bayfield, Brown and Dane Counties. One bee tripped 95 per cent of the alfalfa flowers visitedand the earliest record was June 9th in Dane Co. Other flower records included fireweed, Epilobium angustifoliurn L., and goldenrod, Solidago sp. In Ontario, Pengelly (1953) found a female on sow thistle at Guelph, and observed a few specimens on alfalfa at Cayuga; alfalfa flowers were visited at the rate of 26-28 per minute and tripping efficiency was 99-100 per cent. Mitchell (1935) listed flower records that indicated a generalized habit, but the bee showed preference for composites

The two new species of fleas described in this paper are of unusual interest. The first belongs to the well-known genus Catallagia Rothschild (Hystrichopsyllidae: Neopsyllinae), but is notable for the extreme modification of the male genitalia, a condition not reflected in the female; the second, a bird flea, belongs to Ornithophaga Mikulin (Leptopsyllidae: Amphipsyllinae), a remarkable genus recently described from the U.S.S.R. on the basis of one female specimen.

Cyrtinus araguaensis n. sp. from northern Venezuela and Cyrtinus querci n. sp. from eastern Mexico are described and figured.

Preliminary studies of the effectiveness of benzene hexachloride, or more exactly 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6–hexachlorocyclohexane, against the paralysis tick, Dermacentor andersononi Stiles, have revealed an acaricide more promising than any hitherto tested by this laboratory.

Various biological parameters of Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess) were investigated to maximize mass-rearing efficiency of this insect. Average percentage emergence from a cohort of uniformly aged pupae was 90.0% of which 37.0% were males. A significant difference in the among-day emergence sequences from a pupal cohort was detected with 77.5% of all females and 80.1% of all males emerging during the first 2 days of the emergence sequence. Adults emerging on day 3 within the emergence sequence lived significantly longer than did flies emerging on the other days within the sequence. Male flies lived an average of 9.9 days or 33.1% less than the 14.8-day average for female flies. Cage size was also found to influence adult longevity significantly with the greatest average longevity (20 days for females and 12 days for males) occurring in 385.6-cm3 cages. Emergence time within an emergence sequence and the physical size of an experimental unit are two previously experimentally undocumented sources of variation influencing longevity of Liriomyza. A significant nonlinear relationship between the number of flies leaving the rearing cages (as a result of normal rearing procedures) and the daily number of pupal L. trifolii added to each cage was detected. From these biological parameters, a birth and death rate simulation model was developed to predict adult population sizes of L. trifolii within a mass-rearing program. The gender-specific simulation model consisted of adult emergence (quantified in terms of the adult emergence sequence from a known number of pupae entered into each rearing culture), and adult death rate (quantified in terms of the survivorship of adults within the culture and the number of adults escaping from the culture). The adult population sizes predicted by the simulation model were not significantly different from the average population sizes observed from the rearing cages in validation studies utilizing normal mass-rearing practices. Use of this model should reduce the effort expended on maintaining host populations for commercial mass-production of natural enemies of L. trifolii.

Enaphalodes rufulus (Haldeman) (red oak borer; Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) is a native wood borer that colonises and develops in oaks (Quercus Linnaeus; Fagaceae) across southeastern Canada and the eastern United States of America. It is rarely considered a pest because it normally occurs at low population density levels in stressed or dying oak trees. In the late 1990s and early 2000s there was a large, historically unique outbreak of E. rufulus in the Ozark mountains of Arkansas and Missouri, United States of America. This outbreak provided an opportunity to investigate within-tree spatial distribution of attacks during unusually high insect population levels. Fifty trees from northern Arkansas were felled and destructively sampled. The locations of attack sites by female E. rufulus were standardised across varying heights and diameters for comparison across trees. Attack sites showed a significant clustered pattern within trees. Attack sites were aggregated towards the lower and middle bole, and on the south-facing side of trees. This pattern has been seen in other insects, including wood borers, and is potentially related to differences in temperature. These patterns of ovipositional behaviour in outbreak situations have implications for E. rufulus resource partitioning and facultative intraguild predation among larvae.

The group of species related to Rhamphomyia basalis Loew is characterized in the male by an enlarged femorotibial joint of the hind leg and usually by modifications of the femur or tibia or both, and in the female by broad, usually infuscated wings and more or less pennate legs.

A series of rearing chambers that have given satisfactory control of temperature and humidity have been in use in the entomological laboratory at Kentville during the past three years. The unit requires very little attention except a service check of the cabinets every two or three months.

The dimensions are given in Fig. 1 except for the depth, which is 30 inches on the outside. The cabinet is constructed of 3/4-inch plywood without a supporting frame. Trays with perforated steel bottoms are arranged inside the cabinet on adjustable shelf brackets. The cabinet is provided with an upper and a lower door with removable jamb between them that may be removed when installing the trays in the cabinet. The doors are provided with a double glass window, which in turn is covered by a plywood door. A thermostat and a hygrostat are installed on the inside wall of the chamber about one foot from the bottom. The cabinet sets on a 15-inch base as shown in Fig. 1. The cabinet is painted inside with a steam-resistant paint to facilitate cleaning, and is provided with two 15-watt fluorescent lights inside at the top.

Larvae of the sawfly genus Gilpinia Benson, a Palaearctic genus, attack conifers. Smith (1974) listed 24 species, two of which, G. frutetorum (Fabricius) and G. hercyniae (Hartig), were accidentally introduced into North America. Keys to known species of Gilpinia have been published for adults (Enslin 1917; Takeuchi 1940; Gussakovskij 1947; Berland 1947; Benson 1951; Okutani 1958) and for most European larvae (Lorenz and Kraus 1957; Běnes and Kristek 1979).

Parasitoids of the overwintering generation of the introduced pine sawfly were surveyed in Minnesota. The parasitization rate was greatest in cocoons collected from foliage in fall 1971, but there was nearly complete mortality of sawflies and parasitoids in cocoons above the snowline by April 1972. Monodontomerus dentipes (Dalm.) most commonly emerged from cocoons collected from trees and shrubs in fall 1971. Exenterus amictorius (Panz.) was the most common parasitoid of cocoons collected from duff in both 1971 and 1972.

A technique for rearing the root weevil, Hylobius warreni Wood, is described and figured. Plastic cages containing weevils were attached to stumps placed in pans containing moist moss. Observations of adult behaviour and records of eggs deposited, egg mortality, and early larval development are presented as evidence of success of the technique. Third instar larvae were obtained without handling and required only the addition of moisture.

Among the new genera lately separated by Theobald from Ædes and Uranotœnia, the differences seem at times puzzling, and without an opportunity to study the types, it is not always easy to feel sure of the position of a new insect. It is also to be noted that in some of these genera the male is unknown, and it may possibly happen that they belong to the class having long palpi in the male. This is very definitely suggested by a mosquito received recently from Bayamban, Pangasinan, P.I., which, while having long palpi in the male, flat scales (no curved ones) on the head, curved scales only on the scutellum, still has the wing characteristics of Uranotœnia.

The original larval description of Epinotia criddleana Kearfott (MacKay 1959) was based on misidentified material, and a description and illustration of the true larva of this species is presented here. The eastern Pseudexentera sp. and the western Pseudexentera oregonana Wlshm., both feeding on trembling aspen, are now considered to be one species, P. oregonana Wlshm. The identity of P. oregonana has been confirmed by comparison of adults with the Walsingham type in the British Museum (Natural History).

The species of aphid described here was collected from Sorbus scopulina Greene near Field, British Columbia. It belongs in the genus Nearctaphis Shaposhnikov, and the subgenus Nearctaphis, closely resembling the type species, Aphis bakeri Cowen, but with fused sclerotic plates on the dorsum of the abdomen in the apterous, as well as in the alate female.

The cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hünber) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is a polyphagous pest that causes severe damage to economical crops in most parts of the world. The juvenile hormone analogues are a group of insect growth regulators that increase larval ages and disrupt larval development. Moreover, they affect reproductive system in adult insects. In this study, the effects of sublethal doses of fenoxycarb on fecundity, fertility, and longevity parameters, as well as on oocyte size, ecdysteroid titer in ovaries, and expression level of the ultraspiracle (USP), ecdysone receptor (EcR), hormone receptor 3 (HR3), and vitellogenin (Vg) genes in adult female H. armigera, were examined. Feeding on artificial diet containing fenoxycarb (LC10 and LC25) significantly decreased the percentage of larval survival rate, pupation rate, pupal weight, fecundity, fertility, and oviposition period. It also clearly shortened female longevity. Fenoxycarb treatment suppressed the expression of the USP, EcR, and Vg genes in H. armigera but had no effect on the HR3 gene expression level in either pupae or adults. Overall, our results show that using fenoxycarb as a juvenile hormone analogue can reduce reproduction in H. armigera and may work as an alternative to the use of insecticides for controlling this important agricultural pest.