On three occasions in late August 1985, during the course of a study of the arthropod community associated with collards (Brassica oleracea var. acephala) (Cruciferae) in central New York State, two species of predaceous Heteroptera, the spined soldier bug, Podisus maculiventris (Say), and Nabicula americolimbata (Carayon), were observed feeding on adult flea beetles of the genus Phyllotreta. Evidence for predation on adult flea beetles is rare. Tahvanainen and Root (1972) and Kareiva (1985) reported practically no predation on adult Phyllotreta cruciferae (Goeze) in central New York, but scattered observations in Canada have documented occasional attacks on adult crucifer-infesting flea beetles by various insect predators (Gerber and Osgood 1975; Burgess 1977, 1980, 1982). This is the first record of predation on adult flea beetles by P. muculiventris and N. americolimbata. Burgess (1982) noted predation on adult P. cruciferae by another nabid, Nabis alternatus Parshley.

Setodes furcatulus Martynov, S. amurensis Martynov, S. crossotus Martynov, and Leptocerus moselyi Martynov are redifined. Setodes obscurus n.sp. and Rhyacophila maritima n.sp. are described. Setodes argentatus Matsumura, Trichosetodes polonorum Botosaneanu, and Agapetus inaequispinosus Schmid are recorded for the first time from the Maritime Province.

Weed trap-strips on summerfallow were evaluated in Saskatchewan in 1982 and 1983 to determine their effectiveness, the costs and benefits associated with insecticidal treatments of the strips, and their effect on the biotic potential of grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae). Trap-strips, 10 m wide, containing primarily flixweed [Descurainia sophia (L.)], concentrated grasshopper populations, predominantly 3rd-instar Melanoplus sanguinipes (Fabr.), by as much as 4.9 times the initial field density. Sprays of dimethoate (400 g/ha) were about 20% more effective than bran-bait formulations containing dimethoate (200 g/ha). Unlike the field margins that were adjacent to trap-strips, 3 of the unprotected (no bordering trap-strips) margins required at least 1 insecticidal application to minimize crop damage. Field margins that were adjacent to insecticide-treated trap-strips contained 60–66% fewer egg pods than margins of check subplots. Summerfallowing also reduced egg numbers significantly (35%).

The threshold temperature (t0) for both oviposition and egg development and the thermal constant (K) for egg development were determined using linear regression analysis for an Ontario population of the spotted tentiform leafminer, Phyllonorycter blancardella (Fabr.). Fecundity was highly variable, ranging from 1 to 152 eggs, and was not significantly affected by temperature. Calculation of the daily oviposition rates for the first 4 days of the experiment and for the period from the beginning of the experiment until the day on which the last egg was laid resulted in estimates of the oviposition threshold of 9.1 and 8.9°C, respectively. The threshold temperature for egg development was estimated as 2.5°C and the thermal constant for egg development as 172.5 degree-days.

The olfactory responses of male and female diamondback moths (Plutella xylostella [L.]) to leaf extracts of the following plants were examined by behavioral and electrophysiological tests: white mustard (Brassica hirta cv. Ochre); Argentine canola (B. napus cv. Regent, B. napus cv. Westar); Polish canola (B. campestris cv. Tobin); and faba bean (Vicia faba). In behavioral tests both two-choice and four-choice situations were used. All extracts attracted more moths than the control except for Regent canola extract which attracted males only. White mustard extract was about twice as attractive as that of Regent or faba bean. White mustard and faba bean extracts appeared slightly more attractive to females than to males. Oviposition was greatly stimulated by white mustard extract, but other extracts had no significant effect. Electroantennogram (EAG) tests showed that both male and female moths perceived the plant extracts through antennal receptors. Antennae of females gave a stronger EAG response than those of males, especially to white mustard and faba bean extracts.

Emergence patterns, sex ratios, and dispersal characteristics of Ips typographus L. (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) emerging from hibernation sites were studied under field conditions. A total of 8666 emerging beetles were caught in 14 tent-traps, covering brood tree stumps at 3 different hibernation sites. Samples of these beetles were sexed at frequent intervals. The proportion of females increased as emergence progressed and the overall proportion of females was 62%. A total of 3433 beetles emerging after hibernation were marked and released on 19 separate occasions. The recapture rates were 13 and 4% in nearby and distant pheromone traps, respectively. Recaptures were recorded at distances of up to 1800 m. Beetles were able to respond and fly to pheromone sources shortly after emergence without prior feeding or prolonged flight activity. Trapping and marking techniques, temporal and spatial emergence patterns, seasonal sex ratio changes, and factors influencing pheromone trap catches are discussed.

The confused flour beetle, Tribolium confusum J. du Val, is a cosmopolitan pest of stored products and is widely distributed in Canada, primarily in flour and feed mills. This insect prefers some grain products or cultivars to others (Loschiavo 1952) and seems to be attracted mainly by an olfactory response to certain fatty acids (Loschiavo 1965) and triglycerides (Starratt and Loschiavo 1972; Tamaki et al. 1971). Differential effects of diets on the rate of development of T. confusum are directly related to temperature, being greatest near the optimal temperature for development (Lamb and Loschiavo 1981). Crowding also affects development and size (Park 1938).

Study of a collection of biting midges made by Stewart and Jarmila Peck in the Drakensberg Mountains, Natal, South Africa, yielded records of 42 species of Ceratopogonidae, of which the following 21 species are described as new: Forcipomyia aenigma, F. arcis, F. campanula, F. montana, F. stewarti, F. brunnea, Dasyhelea salta, D. falcata, Notoceratopogon minutus, N. vockerothi, Fanthamia aniculae, F. draconis, F. forsteri, F. montana, F. sani, Alluaudomyia rudolfi, Kolenohelea jarmilae, K. monticola, Serromyia silvatica, Stilobezzia fulva, and Palpomyia armigera. The genus Notoceratopogon with 4 species, all from southern Africa, is described as new with N. minutus n.sp. as the type species. A key is given for the separation of the 12 known species of Fanthamia, all from Subsaharan Africa.

Seasonal history, adult flight activity, and damage of the obliquebanded leafroller, Choristoneura rosaceana (Harris), on filbert were studied during a 7-year period between 1976 and 1984. Data from periodic field counts and moth catches in sex-attractant traps indicated two generations per year. The first-generation adult capture peak was generally higher than the second, except in 1978 when about an equal number of moths were trapped from both generations. A physiological time scale, using degree-days (DD), was devised for predicting emergence of obliquebanded leafroller adults. The first adults from overwintering larvae emerged at approximately 374 DD above a threshold of 10 °C starting 1 March. A total of 1172 DD were required between the first and the last adult emergence during the first generation and about 519 DD during the second generation. The obliquebanded leafroller causes both foliar and nut damage in filbert orchards of Oregon. Foliar damage was insignificant, but nut damage, caused exclusively by the first-generation larvae during June and early July, was highly destructive. Larval feeding on nuts caused staining and premature drop of infested nuts resulting in substantial yield reduction in heavily infested orchards.

In two field tests, larvae of Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess) were not controlled by aldicarb (Temik 10G) at three times the recommended rate when applied to soil, dry foliage, or wet foliage of chrysanthemums (cv. White Marble) in Ontario. A second treatment of aldicarb 3 weeks after the first did not prevent the increase in leafmining. Assessment of the top 10 leaves at harvest showed no significant differences in numbers of mines greater than 2 cm between check and treated plots. Residues of aldicarb and its degradation compounds, aldicarb sulfoxide and aldicarb sulfone, were detected by capillary gas chromatography with thermionic specific detection. Substantial residues (> 100 μg/g as total residues), particularly of aldicarb sulfoxide, were found within the 1st week after treatment, but dissipated rapidly in upper leaves by day 7 after the first aldicarb application. Lower leaves, however, maintained residue levels at a constant level for a 3-week period following the first and second applications. Residue levels on lower leaves were consistently higher after wet-foliage application of aldicarb than after soil application.

Larvae in the subfamilies and genera of Diprionidae in North America are described. Keys and illustrations are provided to aid in their identification.

The taxonomy and biology of New World species of Chrysolampinae are reviewed with diagnoses given for the subfamily, genera, and species. A key to the species of Chrysolampus and a summary of geographic distribution and information on host and floral associations are presented. Three new species are described from North America (Chrysolampus improcerus, C. luridus and C. elegans); Chrysolampus lycti Crawford is transferred to Perilampus and synonymized with the European species P. micans Dalman. The genus Chrysomalla is recorded in the New World for the first time based on the new species Chrysomalla hesperis. An explanation of the historical biogeography of the genera is proposed that is consistent with Late Cretaceous and Tertiary geological, botanical, and climatic information. It is suggested that the extant species are descendents of elements of a widely distributed arid biota.

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.

Laboratory tests showed that a Colorado potato beetle (CPB), Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), strain collected from potatoes on a farm near Sherbrooke, Quebec, and known in 1979 to be resistant to most recommended organochlorine, organophosphorus, and carbamate insecticides, also had developed 23- to 38-fold levels of resistance to the pyrethroid insecticides permethrin, fenvalerate, and cypermethrin by 1982. Piperonyl butoxide (PB) had only a minor effect on fenvalerate and deltamethrin toxicity to insecticide-susceptible CPB and on deltamethrin toxicity to pyrethroid-resistant CPB. However, PB effectively synergized fenvalerate in pyrethroid-resistant CPB, e.g. a 1:8 fenvalerate:PB mixture was 12-fold more toxic than fenvalerate alone.

Experiments were done in fields of potato in Fredericton, New Brunswick, in 1981, 1982, and 1984 to determine the effect of native predators on the abundance of aphids. The populations of predators were altered by pitfall trapping within plots enclosed by polythene barriers and by applying a selective insecticide. The abundance of aphids was monitored in the enclosed plots and in unenclosed areas serving as control. The experimental design was successful at significantly reducing the numbers of Carabidae in the enclosures compared with the open plots. Aphid populations tended to be larger in the plots with depleted populations of Carabidae than in the control areas and were significantly larger in the plots where the insecticide depleted the populations of canopy level predators. These results suggest that the Carabidae play a relatively minor role in aphid control on the potato crop compared with specific predators.

Mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) population dynamics, as well as potential for outbreaks and resulting tree mortality, are related in part to habitat temperature. As a first step in development of a life-stage, event-oriented simulation model, we have modeled the temperature-dependent development of the egg stage. The completed model includes a full description of variation in developmental rates and is capable of predicting duration and eclosion patterns for any temperature regime. This model was parameterized using data obtained from constant-temperature experiments at temperatures of 8, 10, 12.5, 15, 20, 25, and 30°C. Validation experiments were conducted for constant temperatures of 15, 17.5, 22.5, and 27.5°C and for variable-temperature regimes of 15±5 and 15±10°C. Validation results indicated that the model is capable of accurately describing the emergence curve for constant temperatures below 27.5°C. The model also faithfully represents emergence under variable temperatures of 15 ± 10°C. Potential reasons for lack of model fidelity in describing emergence at constant high temperatures and for 15 ± 5°C are discussed in the text.

As far as we can determine there are no previous records of Strepsiptera parasitizing psyllids (Jensen 1957; Hodkinson 1974; Kinzelbach 1971). Here we record 3 separate examples.

Fenitrothion accumulates in foliage tissue of balsam fir, Abies balsamea (L.) Mill., in the forest, but only until about 1.5 μg/g is reached. The balsam fir sawfly, Neodiprion abietis (Harris), which belongs to the family of forest insects known to be most sensitive to fenitrothion, has become rare but persists in New Brunswick in spite of the use of fenitrothion for control of spruce bud worm, Choristoneura fumerifana (Clemens).

Larvae of the mourning cloak butterfly, Nymphalis antiopa (L.), are gregarious feeders occumng most commonly on Salix spp. (willows), Ulmus spp. (elms), Populus spp. (poplars), and Betula spp. (birches), but occasionally on other trees and shrubs (McGugan 1958; Tietz 1972; Howe 1975). They frequently cause noticeable defoliation of ornamental elms; hence the common name, spiny elm caterpillar (Rose and Lindquist 1982).