In 1941 Irvine Fox (Canad. Ent., 73:2) stated in an article on North American Japygidae that not a single species had been reported from Canada, and no subsequent record appears in the literature. It is therefore a privilege to be able to publish the first record of the occurrence of one of these interesting insects in Canada.

In Nov. No., 1885, I asked if readers of this magazine had ever found. the larva of Turnus feeding on willow, etc., to which I have had several replies.

Mr. W. Brodie, Toronto, Can., wrote that on Sept. 10, 1885, Thos. Parks, of Toronto, found three larvæ in bis garden under a peach tree, and he put them in a box and fed on peach leaves for several days, and till pupation. So far as I know, the peach has not before been observed to be a plant of Turnus.

We used pitfall trapping to measure the species richness and relative abundance of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in four forest habitats on Kent Island, a 80-ha island in the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, Canada. Sixteen species of ground beetles representing 11 genera were identified in the forested habitats on Kent Island; the relative paucity of ground beetle species may be a result of the island’s harsh climate, dense colonies of breeding seabirds, and isolation from the mainland. Estimates of ground beetle population densities on Kent Island ranged from 50 000 to 250 000/ha. Most ground beetle species were trapped in all habitats and appeared to be habitat generalists. In a series of experiments in which we removed all ground beetles trapped daily over a 3-week period in two experimental plots, ground beetle densities remained as high as in a control plot; other ground beetles quickly moved into the experimental plots to replace beetles that had been removed. The density of ground beetles was highest in intact forest and large forest patches; in contrast, the density of invertebrates other than ground beetles (i.e., possible prey or competitors of ground beetles) was highest in open habitats and isolated forest patches, where ground beetles were less common. Removing ground beetles from experimental plots did not result in an increase in the density of other invertebrates.

The ceutorhynchine weevils Hadroplontus litura (F.) and Microplontus edentulus (Schultze) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), are established in North America as biological control agents for Canada thistle, Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop., and scentless chamomile, Tripleurospermum perforatum (Mérat) M. Lainz (Asteraceae), respectively. In North America, both weeds occur sympatrically and in similar habitats as another ceutorhynchine, Ceutorhynchus obstrictus (Marsham) (cabbage seedpod weevil), an important pest of canola, Brassica napus L., and Brassica rapa L. (Brassicaceae). Ceutorhynchinae weevils released to control weeds in cultivated crops may serve as alternate hosts if agents released for biological control of C. obstrictus are not specific to that species. Parasitoids associated with M. edentulus and H. litura inflict similar levels of mortality on their hosts, yet a single species was associated with the latter host, whereas 13 species attacked the former. The stem-mining M. edentulus appears to be at some risk but not the root-crown feeding H. litura, should the parasitoids Trichomalus perfectus (Walker) and Mesopolobus morys (Walker) (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) be introduced as biological control agents of the silique-feeding C. obstrictus. These findings suggest that feeding niche may be an important criterion for developing a nontarget species test list for host-range testing of potential biological control agents.

The phylogenetic relationships among the members of Macronematinae (Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae) have long been debated and often revised. Our study based on a large subunit (28S) nuclear ribosomal DNA (D2 expansion fragment; 464 base pairs) of gene sequences found all genera to be monophyletic except for the genus Polymorphanisus Walker, which produced two clades in accordance with its species groups established using morphological characters. Phylogenetic reconstruction based on mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (658 base pairs) found the same monophyletic relationships, however, except for the genera Polymorphanisus and Macrostemum Kolenati. The placement of the genus Leptonema Guérin-Méneville as the basal clade in the subfamily was also ruled out, which is consistent with previous morphological findings. The monophyly of two previously recognised tribes (Macronematini and Polymorphanisini) was not supported. We also found that the genera Centromacronema Ulmer, Baliomorpha Neboiss, and Macronema Pictet are most closely related, having three head setal warts on the vertex of the head and unsegmented inferior appendages of male genitalia as their synapomorphies. Our study supported the hypothesis of close relationship of the genera Amphipsyche McLachlan and Protomacronema Ulmer with the morphological synapomorphies: absence of a forewing discoidal cell and the presence of elevated head carinae on the larvae. Some notable evolutionary novelties in the structure of adults in various lineages of this subfamily include reduction of maxillae and labium, reduction and loss of a discoidal cell and evolution of a c-sc crossvein in each forewing, fusion of segments in each male inferior appendage, and evolution of dark colour patterns in the forewings. Also, the head setal warts, which are unique organs in Trichoptera, evolved towards a decreasing number in the subfamily. This first molecular phylogenetic study, covering most genera in Macronematinae and including an interpretation of 12 key evolutionary novelties, provides an important basis for resolving long-standing questions regarding phylogenetic relationships and classification of genera and species and helps lay a stronger foundation for inference of testable hypotheses about functional traits for species of this common and widespread subfamily.

The water scavenger beetle, Hydrophilus acuminatus (Motschulsky) (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae), has two types of feeding modes: carnivorous during the larval stage and omnivorous during the adult stage. To investigate how the beetles detect food, larvae were provided with pond snails and snail visceral mass and adults were provided with algae and thawed blood worms. Larvae found snails and visceral mass hidden in the filter paper (only “smell” could be used); however, visceral mass was found 22–27 minutes sooner than snails, 40–53 minutes. Time to find the visceral mass that was exposed (all senses could be used) or hidden (only “smell” could be used) showed similar values, 5.4–8.0 or 7.6–8.5 minutes, respectively. Adults found algae exposed on the filter paper in 54 ± 73 minutes (mean ± standard deviation), whereas no adults found the algae hidden in the filter paper. In contrast, all adults found the thawed blood worms in the exposed (10.3 ± 13 minutes) and hidden conditions (11.0 ± 12.7 minutes). Adults did not show feeding behaviour towards the algae or thawed blood worms in the transparent microtube (only “sight” could be used). These suggest that larvae use smell, whereas adults use smell and touch and/or taste to detect their food.

The control of bud infesting insects presents a problem to which the systemic insecticides theoretically offer a promise of solution. The systemic action of some organophosphorus insecticides has been well demonstrated on many agricultural crops. An excellent bibliography on these and other systemic insecticides has been compiled bv Giang (1954). Anderson (1955), reported mortality of eastern tent caterpillars, Malacosoma americanum (F.) when fed on leaves from wild cherry seedlings grown in soil treated with parathion. Recently, Norris (1960) and coppel and Norris (1960, 1961), reported that some of the newer organophosphorus insecticides show a high degree of insecticidal action in both elm and white pine. In 1960 Dever and Davis reported success of phosphamidon against gypsy moth larvae feeding on white pine. This gave further indication that a systemic insecticide might be effective to defoliators on other conifers. Other investigators have shown that the absorption characteristics of systemic insecticides vary greatly with the soil type, absorption being greatest in sandy soils (Getzin and Chapman 1959, 1960), Zaki and Reynolds (1961)). These findings may be of practical importance in forest insect control since many forest sites are either rocky, sandy, or submarginal agricultural lands, and hence insecticide spray residues of this type may be reabsorbed into the tree.

A new species, Platydipteron balli (type locality near San José, Costa Rica), and first male specimens of Platydipteron are described. Based on these specimens, the genus is transferred from the Aenigmatiinae to the Metopininae. Male terminalia of Postoptica platypezoidea are described, and the genus is placed in the subfamily Phorinae.

In his recent revision Rupert (1949) has focused attention on the geometrid genus Plagodis. In the present paper the writer presents descriptions of larvae of three of the four Canadian species in this genus and of the larvae of Anagoga occiduaria (Wlk.) and Hyperetis amicaria (H.-S.). Forbes (1948) notes that these three genera make a neat subgroup in the tribe Anagogini and indicates that there are differences in the larvae. From studies during the summer of 1949 it was determined that there are differences in these larvae; and the differences, along with the similarities, are set forth in this paper.

On 5 September 1982, the third coauthor collected a single male of an unfamiliar geometrid moth in Vancouver, British Columbia. He sent it to the first coauthor, who recognized it as a species of Ennomos related to our native maple spanworm moth, E. magnaria Guenée. The second coauthor identified it as Ennomos alniaria (L.), a European species known in Britain as the canary-shouldered thorn.

The Palaearctic braconid Pygostolus falcatus (Nees) is recorded from Prince Edward Island parasitic on Sitona hispidula F.

From 1989 to 1993, trunk implants of acephate were tested for the control of seed and cone insect damage to conifer species in France and northeastern China. The treatments were promising for the control of the major pests that feed on cone and seed tissues, including cone flies, coneworms, and seedworms, in European and Siberian larch, Norway spruce, Scots and mountain pine. In contrast, acephate implants did not prevent seed chalcid damage nor that of gall midges in Douglas-fir, European larch, and Siberian larch. Treatment generally increased seed yield, but a significant increase in the number of filled seeds was seen only when chalcids and midges were absent. The 2-year effect of implants seemed limited. Acephate implantation did not seem to affect seed germination.

Two new species of Brachypauropodidae are described, Aletopauropus tanakai and Deltopauropus reticulatus. They represent the first records of the family from Japan.

Carvalho and Southwood (1955) made a world revision of the Cyrtorhinus-Mecomma complex, and listed 11 species and three subspecies of Mecomma. Those reported from North America are: ambulans (Fall.), gilvipes (Stål), luctuosa (Prov.), luctuosa pacifica Carv. and South., antennata Van D., and mimetica Carv. and South.

In the present paper, Mecomma bradora, n.sp., is described from Quebec, and the distinguishing external and genitalic characters are given. Additional notes on the habits, morphology, and distribution of Mecomma mimetica are given, and the status of Mecomma dispar (Boheman) in North America is discussed.