Alate aphids were sampled in five fields of commercial blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum L. (Ericaceae), during 2001 and 2002 using yellow tile, green tile, and Tremclad® yellow water traps. Eighty-seven species were identified among a total of 7722 alatae. Several of the species are known virus vectors, including Aphis fabae Scopoli, Brachycaudus helichrysi (Kaltenbach), Hyalopterus pruni (Geoffroy), Hyperomyzus lactucae (L.), Myzus persicae (Sulzer), Rhopalosiphoninus staphyleae (Koch), and Rhopalosiphum padi (L.). The number of species caught varied with year, and the number of species and the total number of alatae varied with field, trap colour, and season. More species were caught in 2001 than in 2002, in yellow than in green traps, and in the summer than in the spring or the autumn, and more alatae were caught in Tremclad® yellow traps than in yellow or green tile traps, and in the autumn than in the spring or the summer. However, numerous interactions limit generalizations. Analyses of the data for individual species revealed similar patterns and interactions. The effects of year, field, trap colour, and season varied with species. Given nonpersistent virus transmission and the large numbers of alatae caught of species that are known virus vectors, there is considerable potential for spread of Blueberry scorch virus by migrant aphids. Field- or area-specific and season-specific control strategies could be developed once the virus vector status of the different species is known. In addition, given the number of significant interactions observed in the data, there is a need to investigate alternative, generalized approaches to reducing virus transmission rates, such as applying whitewash or kaolin particle film to blueberry leaves.

We examined the successional community of insect fauna on exposed carrion in shade and sun in the Boreal Forest Region of Canada, near Edmonton, Alberta, over a 3-year period. This paper focuses on results obtained in the final year of study. Recently killed pigs (Sus domesticus L.) were clothed and placed in direct sunlight or shade on 18 and 20 May 1999. There was no difference in start time or duration of decomposition stages between the two habitats. Species abundance differed between the sun and shade habitats for Protophormia terraenovae (Robineau-desvoidy) larvae (Diptera: Calliphoridae), Necrobia sp. adults (Coleoptera: Cleridae), Catops basilaris Say adults (Coleoptera: Leiodidae), Onthophagus nuchicornis (L.) adults (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), Heterosilpha ramosa (Say) adults and larvae (Coleoptera: Silphidae), Creophilus maxillosus (L.) adults (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae), and Ontholestes cingulatus (Gravenhorst) adults and larvae (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae). The orders Diptera and Coleoptera were important components of all communities and had the greatest diversity at both the family and the species level throughout succession. Overall species abundance within families was greater in the sun habitat than in the shade. Similar species dominated the sun and shade carcasses during early succession, but dominance was not clearly evident later in succession.

An oviposition trap recently developed to survey hemlock looper (Lambdina fiscellaria (Guenée)) eggs and consisting of a small strip of white polyurethane foam stapled to the tree bole provides reliable estimates of Telenomus spp. parasitism on hemlock looper eggs. Oviposition traps are a standard tool that never varies. They allow us to avoid the tedious and expensive extraction process used when collecting eggs from branches. This new method can be implemented rapidly in a high number of plots and provides the egg parasitism estimates needed in spring to improve hemlock looper population management.

The widely occurring fungal genus Lecanicillium Zare & W. Gams (formerly Verticillium) includes species that are pathogenic to insects. We collected 27 Lecanicillium isolates from soil and from dead adult Pissodes strobi (Peck) in British Columbia, Canada, and assessed their virulence against this host. Eighteen isolates were identified as L. longisporum (Petch) Zare & W. Gams and six as L. muscarium (Petch) Zare & W. Gams, while three isolates could not be identified to the species level. We assayed a subset of these isolates (14 L. longisporum, 3 L. muscarium, and 1 Lecanicillium sp.) as well as the fungal component of the commercial products Mycotal® (L. muscarium) and Vertalec® (L. longisporum) and a herbarium isolate (Lecanicillium sp.). When adult weevils were inoculated with a conidial suspension (1 × 107 conidia/mL), mycosis-related mortality at the end of a 17-day incubation period varied between 20% and 100%, depending on the isolate tested. Eight of the isolates killed >75% of weevils: a Lecanicillium sp. isolate, PFC19, which displayed the lowest LT50 value; five indigenous L. longisporum isolates; and both commercial products. In a goodness-of-fit test comparing isolate virulence among species, the unidentified PFC19 isolate was found to be more effective than either L. longisporum or L. muscarium, while L. longisporum caused somewhat greater mortality than L. muscarium. In a similar analysis, isolates extracted from soils tended to be more effective than those obtained from cadavers. Horizontal transmission to live P. strobi was observed using different isolates of Lecanicillium species. Notwithstanding the variability in virulence, the indigenous Lecanicillium species that we isolated and assayed are confirmed as pathogenic to P. strobi in British Columbia.

An approach to enhance the performance of probe traps in detecting Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens) adults in stored wheat is described. The repellent property of protein-enriched pea flour is exploited to increase the efficiency of the probe trap by treating the stored grain with the flour. The enhancement in performance of the traps was evaluated by placing the traps in wheat grains treated with protein-enriched pea flour at concentrations of 1%, 5%, and 10% (w/w) and observing the number of adult beetles trapped in comparison with the trap catch in untreated wheat. The traps kept in wheat treated with protein-enriched pea flour caught more beetles than traps placed in untreated wheat. The practical implications of this work are discussed with reference to sampling for C. ferrugineus.

Populations of Orius spp. were surveyed in the lower Fraser Valley, British Columbia, to determine whether O. insidiosus Say, a non-indigenous species, had established in the region as a result of being released inside greenhouses for biological control of pests. Field collections over 8 years revealed a low incidence of O. insidiosus (10 specimens, <1% of total Orius spp. collected). Numbers in collections did not increase, and collection localities did not become more widespread over the 8 years of survey. Competitive exclusion and temperature and diapause thresholds are discussed as possible mechanisms limiting the establishment of this otherwise widespread North American species.

The sex pheromone of the peach twig borer, Anarsia lineatella (Zeller), was identified 30 years ago but the communication biology of this species has hardly been studied. In laboratory experiments, female moths kept at a photoperiod of 16L:8D (20 ± 2 °C, 70% ± 5% relative humidity) emitted pheromone before, during, and after sunrise (0400–0600 Pacific standard time), whereas pheromone was present in pheromone glands at similar quantities throughout the 24 h recording period. These data suggest that pheromone production and emission are not closely linked. In field experiments during July 2001 near Livingston, California (CA), and during June 2002 near Keremeos, British Columbia (BC), males were attracted to traps baited with synthetic sex pheromone (CA) or conspecific females (BC) only between 0300 and 0600 (Pacific standard time), suggesting overlap between periods of pheromone emission by females and attraction response by males. Groups of females in the presence of conspecific males, which were physically separated from females, emitted less sex pheromone than groups of females in the absence of males, suggesting that males communicate their presence to females and females change their behaviour in response.

Seven species of parasitoids and two species of moths emerged from bud galls induced by two species of gall midges (Asteralobiasoyogo (Kikuti) and A. sasakii (Monzen)) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) on four species of trees of the genus Ilex (I. pedunculosa Miq., I. crenata Thunb., I. chinensis Sims, and I. integra Thunb.) (Aquifoliaceae). Larvae of the moth Rhopobota ustomaculana (Curtis) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) bored into bud galls induced by A. soyogo and A. sasakii on I. pedunculosa and I. crenata, respectively. Rhopobota ustomaculana larvae fed on leaves as well as gall tissues of I. pedunculosa, suggesting that R. ustomaculana is a facultative cecidophage. To clarify consequences of gall tissues as a food resource for cecidophagous moths, we compared the chemical properties of galls with those of normal plant tissues (leaves) of I. pedunculosa. Bud galls of I. pedunculosa had higher water content and lower nitrogen, carbon, and polyphenol (a chemical associated with plant insect defenses) contents than leaves. Therefore, bud galls may be a richer food resource for R. ustomaculana larvae because of the higher water content and lower carbon and polyphenol contents, although they are a poorer resource in terms of nitrogen content.

We investigated the use of wooden boards to sample ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) and compared their efficacy with that of single pitfall traps and two modified pitfall traps (barrier and grouped traps). Carabid captures and species richness were similar between wooden boards and single pitfall traps, but higher in barrier and grouped traps. Although captures were higher in the modified pitfall traps, no method was consistently superior or capable of capturing all carabid species recorded at our study site. A distinct advantage of wooden boards is their ease of installation and maintenance and the fact that they can be left in remote areas for extended periods of time, eliminating the need to visit areas to open traps (if livetrapping is the desired outcome). These time savings and reduced site disturbance may make wooden boards an alternative to single pitfall traps.

Field trapping trials showed that Cameraria gaultheriella Walsingham and C. lobatiella Opler and Davis (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) were attracted in significant numbers in British Columbia, Canada, to sticky traps baited with 10 µg of (E,Z)-8,10-tetradecadienal (E8Z10-14Ald), the sex pheromone of the European horse chestnut leafminer, C. ohridella Deschka and Dimic. There was perfect specificity in captures at habitats located only about 8 km apart from each other: C. gaultheriella was captured exclusively at a humid habitat covered by the shrub salal, Gaultheria shallon Pursh (Ericaceae), whereas C. lobatiella was trapped at an arid location with Garry oak trees, Quercus garryana Dougl. (Fagaceae). Seasonal flight patterns of these two Canadian Cameraria species, as monitored by pheromone traps, indicated differences in their respective flight periods. The possibility of additional cryptic components in the respective pheromones of these three Cameraria species attracted to E8Z10-14Ald is discussed.

An artificial rearing apparatus for the aquatic firefly Luciola leii Fu and Ballantyne is described, consisting of two small rearing boxes placed inside a larger outer box, a choice of diet, and a suitable substrate for oviposition. Larvae feeding on crushed prey snails (Gyraulus convexiusculus Huton and Lymnaea stagnalis (L.)) showed moderate growth, while those feeding exclusively on muscle of the snail Bellamya purificata Heude grew the best, with a pupation rate of 71%, adult emergence rate of 88.7%, larval duration of 203 days, and pupal duration of 5.1 days. Larvae feeding on fish meat (Carassius auratus L.) and pork meat did not rear well, having lower pupation rates (11% and 5.5%, respectively) and lower emergence rates (54.5% and 54.5%, respectively). Analysis of the three species of aquatic snails, isolated fish meat, and isolated pork meat revealed that the concentrations of amino acids in a protein sample of B. purificata were higher than those in samples of the other two snails, G. convexiusculus and L. stagnalis, but less than those in samples of the fish and pork meat. It is concluded that the rearing apparatus and the diet, which affects water quality, are important factors in the successful rearing of the aquatic firefly L. leii.