The sex pheromone components of European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hbn.), from southern Alberta were identified in washes and extracts of abdomen tips from calling female moths. This is a Z strain population as (Z)-11- and (E)-11-tetradecenyl acetates were isolated in a ratio 100:2.4, and a corresponding synthetic blend in a ratio of 100:3 attracted males in the field. Dodecyl alcohol, tetradecyl alcohol and acetate, and (Z)-11-tetradecenol were also identified, but none of these components nor other "pheromone-like" mono-unsaturated C10 to C16 acetates had any effect on increasing the trap catches of male moths under field conditions. However, the addition of (Z)-9-dodecenyl acetate or (Z)-9-tetradecenyl acetate to the synthetic pheromone blend significantly reduced the capture of male moths, even though these compounds were not detectable in the female extracts. Pheromone blends used for monitoring the Z strain of the European corn borer must be essentially free, ca.< 0.1%, of these acetates. A commercially available, sticky-surface, delta-type trap was the most satisfactory of several tested for capturing moths under prairie conditions.

Sperm transfer in the aphidophagous ladybird beetle, Harmonia axyridis Pallas, is by a spermatophore (unpublished data). Although the utilization of spermatophores in insects has been considered to be a more primitive method of insemination than direct sperm transfer, males of many orders produce spermatophores (Chapman 1969; Gerber 1970; Leopold 1976). The remains of the spermatophore, after the sperm has migrated to the spermatheca, is ejected by the female in some species and dissolved within the female genital tract in others (Chapman 1969; Leopold 1976). In Coccinellidae, Fisher (1959) reported on spermatophore formation of Chilocorus spp. and indicated that the female ejected the empty spermatophore 18–24 h after copulation. In this paper evidence is presented that H. uxyridis females not only eject the empty spermatophore but also feed on it.

Water suspensions of the entomogenous nematode, Steinernema feltiae Filipjev (“All” strain), were applied to the soil of caged microplot stands of canola, Brassica napus L. cv. Tower, colonized by overwintering adults of the crucifer flea beetle, Phyllotreta cruciferae (Goeze), at the rate of about 1 × 106 infective juveniles per 0.8 m2 soil surface. Single treatments, which were applied before and after the colonization, did not affect the flea beetle adults or their progeny as evidenced by the number of new generation adults that subsequently emerged from the soil. Bioassays with wax moth larvae, Galleria melonella (Linn.), showed that the infectivity of nematodes in the soil declined sharply within 6 days of treatment. High concentrations of the herbicide Treflan®, with which the soil was treated, did not affect the infectivity of the nematodes. Under the conditions of the test, S. feltiae appeared to have no potential as a biological control agent for the crucifer flea beetle.

The balsam gall midge, Paradiplosis tumifex Gagné, oviposits in newly opening buds of balsam fir. Eggs hatch in 2–3 days. First-instar larvae crawl to and usually settle on the proximal adaxial surface of developing needles. Needle tissues near the larva proliferate, and the larva appears to sink into the needle as the gall forms around the feeding site (West and Shorthouse 1982). Another gall midge, Dasineura balsamicola (Lintner), is an inquiline in the gall of P. turnifex. Its eggs are laid at approximately the same time and place as those of P. tumifex, and larvae of both species are often found in the same gall.

In 1984 and 1985 a total of 51 mummies of the genus Therioaphis sp. (Hornoptera: Aphididae) were collected on alfalfa, Medicago sativa L., in several localities in southern Manitoba: Glenlea, Oakbank, Rosenort, St. Adolphe, and Ste. Agathe [status of North American species of Therioaphis is uncertain; some workers regard Therioaphis on alfalfa and those on clover as different species, whereas others regard those found on alfalfa as merely strains of the species from clover (A.G. Robinson, personal comrnunication)]. The mummies were held in gelatin capsules at 20°C and a 16L:8D cycle, and 44 parasite adults that emerged were identified. Two primary parasites pecies. Praon exsolelurn (Nees) and Binodoxys sp. (Hymenoptera: Aphidiidae), were recorded (Table 1). Cocoons from which adults of P. exsoleturn emerged were formed between the mummy and the substratum, whereas cocoons of the two Binodoxys specimens were inside the mummies. The three secondary parasite species (Table 1) emerged only from the hosts with external cocoons and presumably had developed on P. exsoleturn. Each of the seven hosts from which no parasites emerged had an external cocoon which contained a decomposed parasite larva, either P. exsoletum or one of the secondary species.

More than 94% of all spiders captured by Trypoxylon politum (Say) were from three genera: Neoscona, Araneus, and Eustala. The contribution of these spider genera to provisions of T. politum in the eastern and southeastern United States was estimated as follows: Eustala, 17%; Araneus, 21%; and Neoscona, 59%. Provisions in early summer were dominated by Araneus marmoreus Clerck, Eustala sp., and Neoscona hentzii (Keyserling); in mid-summer by N. hentzii; and in late summer by A. marmoreus and Neoscona domiciliorum (Hentz). The proportions of juvenile, subadult, and adult spiders captured depended on the time of year and the developmental stage of the spider. Trypoxylon politum captured male and female subadults, and female adults, but took very few male adults. Trypoxylon politum was found to be stenophagous with respect to prey species and euryphagous with respect to prey size.

The larva of Helluomorphoides praeustus bicolor Harris is described and illustrated from two specimens. This is the first larva of Helluomorphoides Ball, a New World genus belonging to the tribe Helluonini, described although parts of an undetermined species of the genus were figured by Thompson (1979). Analysis of larval characters of the tribes Helluonini and Anthiini supports the hypothesis that these two groups are closely related. At least three autapomorphic character states are identified for members of Helluonini and Anthiini: the antacoria between the antennomeres II and III is represented by a suture or is absent; the stipes has a medial excrescence which may or may not be fused with the first galeomere; and the urogomphi are stout, fixed dorsally to the ninth tergite, and possess numerous long setae in the first instar. The sister group of the Helluonini–Anthiini lineage could not be identified but a number of the synapomorphies of this complex also occur in the Galeritini and Pseudomorphini.

Parasitism of Colorado potato beetle, Leptirwtarsa decemlineata (Say), by the tachinid fly Myiopharus doryphorae (Riley) was monitored over four summers. Beetle larvae were collected from potato and a wild host species, Solanum sarrachoides Sendt., and allowed to complete development in the laboratory. Parasitism rates were high, averaging 67, 58, and 45% over the 4 years, in June, July, and August, respectively. Categorical analyses indicated that parasitism rates were dependent upon year, month, and host plant species of the beetle. During 1983–1985, rates were highest in June, and decreased over the summer; results for 1986 were somewhat atypical, with parasitism rates being low in June and increasing somewhat in August. Host plant effects on parasitism varied with year. During 1983–1984, rates were higher for beetles collected from potato than beetles collected from S. sarrachoides; this tendency was reversed in 1985.

The status of Anarta cordigera (Thunberg, 1788), formerly treated as a circumboreal holarctic species, is reassessed in the light of characters of the male vesica and female bursa copulatrix. Populations are arranged in four species: A. cordigera in Europe; A. carbonaria Christoph, 1893 in Siberia and the Far East; A. luteola Grote and Robinson, 1865 in North America; and A. macrostigma Lafontaine and Mikkola, new species, in western North America. Adults and genitalia are illustrated for the four species.

Tarsi of male Colorado potato beetles adhere to glass and plastic surfaces limiting locomotion greatly. This is not observed with females. Scoop-like tarsal hairs present only in males are responsible for the adherence. The effect of this morphological difference on toxicological or behavioral research conducted in glass or plastic cages is discussed.

Wild bee pollinators were collected in tree-fruit orchards and uncultivated habitats in the Okanagan Valley. Higher abundance and diversity of wild bee pollinators were found at uncultivated sites than on tree-fruit crops. Wild bees were not abundant enough in orchard habitats to provide adequate tree-fruit pollination. Variable flower visitation patterns by polylectic bees in orchard and uncultivated habitats make it difficult to predict floral visitation patterns. Therefore, orchardists cannot rely on a substantial and predictable contribution to pollination of fruit crops by wild bee species. Research into the use of wild bees as managed pollinators for tree-fruit crops in the Okanagan Valley may have potential. Future studies should consider three wild bee species collected in Okanagan Valley orchards, Bombus terricola occidentalis Greene, Bombus bifarius nearcticus Handlirsch, and Osmia lignaria propinqua Cresson, for pollination management.

Principal components analysis was used to assess niche partitioning between four aphid predators on the basis of oviposition strategies. The study was conducted by sampling abundance and position of the eggs of these predators in corn monocultures in two locations of southern Quebec. The results indicated that the chrysopid Chrysopa occulata Say laid its eggs on corn leaves usually without aphid colonies, and late in the season. All other predators reacted to aphid concentrations. The syrphid Sphaerophoria philanthus (Mg.) oviposited close to the ground, early in the season, and among colonies of the aphid Rhopalosiphum padi (L.). The two coccinellids laid their eggs during July and August with a maximum during tasseling for Coleomegilla maculata lengi (Timberlake) and after pollination for Hippodamia tredecimpunctata tibialis Say. Of these two species, the latter one selected sites at higher levels on the plant, and was more abundant at the edges of the field. It is suggested that the observed niche partitioning cannot be the result of interspecific competition in variable environments such as maize monocultures.

Anoplius tenuicornis (Tournier) is a holarctic species with a broad distribution both in Europe (Wolf 1967) and North America (Wasbauer and Kimsey 1985). Despite the widespread occurrence of the species, individuals are not frequently encountered, so it is not surprising that biological information on it has not been available for North America and very little for Europe. Richards and Hamm (1939) gave two fragmentary reports of some significance on A. tenuicornis in England, reported as A. piliventris (Morawitz). In one case, cocoons of the wasp were found in dead thistle stems. In the other, an old burrow of Ectemnius continuus (Fabricius) (Sphecidae) (reported as Solenius) in rotten wood contained a series of wasp cocoons and fragments of clubionid spiders, the presumed prey.

Graham (1968) demonstrated that logs became attractive to ambrosia beetles after the sapwood was subjected to anaerobic conditions. Pursuing this lead, Cade et al. (1970) and Moeck (1970a, 1970b, 1971) extracted, analyzed, and bioassayed anaerobic products from western hemlock and Douglas-fir trees and ascertained that ethanol was the principal “primary attractant” to the ambrosia beetles, Gnathotrichus sulcatus (LeConte) and Trypodendron lineatum (Olivier), respectively. The demonstration that ethanol enhanced the response of the Douglas-fir beetle, Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopkins, to its aggregation pheromones frontalin and seudenol (Pitrnan et al. 1975) suggested that ethanol could also be involved in the primary attraction of or host recognition by bark beetles. We report that the mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, is arrested to ethanol in a laboratorv olfactometer.

Only a few studies have been made on the colonization of coniferous stumps by insects. Studies by Richards (1926), Krogerus (1927), Wallace (1953), and Hayes and Tickell (1984) indicated that beetles were the common insect group in coniferous stumps in Europe.

The purpose of this study was to identify the insect species colonizing lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl.) stumps in the Hinton area and assisting in their breakdown.

The strawberry cutworm, Amphipoea interoceanica (Smith), has recently become an important pest of strawberry plants in Manitoba (Ayre 1980) and Quebec (Mailloux and Bostanian 1985). Larvae damage or kill the plants and commercial plantings are sometimes heavily damaged. Strawberry cutworm is widely distributed in North America and is broadly sympatric with a morphologically similar species, Amphipoea americana (Speyer) (Forbes 1954), which is occasionally a pest of corn (Gibson 1920). Sex pheromones of these species have not been reported, although Roelofs and Comeau (1971) found that males of strawberry cutworm were attracted to (Z)-9-tetradecenyl acetate (abbrev. Z9- 14:Ac). A sex attractant for strawberry cutworm would provide a convenient method for monitoring population levels in the vicinity of strawberry fields.

During the summer of 1985, an intensive effort was made to collect the invertebrates, particularly insects and spiders, of the Wagner Natural Area. This is a 162-ha area 6 km west of the city limits of Edmonton, Alta., on the south side of Highway 16X.

An examination of the spiders collected in the pitfall pans revealed two species of pisaurids, Dolomedes striatus Giebel, 1869, and Dolomedes triton (Walckenaer, 1837). This is the first record of Dolomedes striatus for Alberta. The previous known western limit of its distribution was more or less between Lake Nipigon and Thunder Bay, Ont. (Carico 1973).

Pteromalus venustus Walker is the most common parasitoid associated with the alfalfa leafcutter bee, Megachile rotundata (F.), in western Canada (Richards 1984). Leafcutter beekeepers in Canada and the United States use several methods to control P. venustus during incubation of leafcutter bee larvae, including light traps (Hobbs 1973; Richards 1984), dipping the cells in an insecticide (Brindley 1976; Parker 1979), and placing dichlorvos resin strips in the incubator (Hill et al. 1984). Previously we described the influence of temperature on survival and rate of development of the egg, larval, and pupal stages of non-diapausing P. venustus (Whitfield and Richards 1985). Here we report on the influence of temperature on rate of postdiapause development in P. venustus during leafcutter bee incubation and consider the value of this information for timing control measures for this parasitoid.

Research into the feasibility of growing peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] in a protected environment structure (PES) was initiated in 1981 by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food at the Horticultural Research Institute, Vineland Station (Leuty and Miles 1983).

The 0.2-ha PES comprised seven gutter-connected greenhouses, each 5.3 by 58.5 m, with 3.4-m gutter height fibreglass walls and a double polyethylene roof. Temperatures suitable for plant growth were obtained by capturing solar energy beneath the plastic enclosure. Diurnal temperatures ranged between 6 and 27°C. Relative humidity varied between 40 and 95% and remained above 90% within the covered structure for greater than 50% of the time period between bloom (March 20) and roof removal sometime in May.