The following notes report the occurrence in Nova Scotia of Sthereus ptinoides (Germ.) and indicate the distribution in North America of 35 species introduced there from the Old World. Of the Old World species, ten are reported from America for the first time; previous records of two others are probably erroneous. Two, which were named and described in Rhyssemus Muls. and Scolytus Geoff. as species native to America, are considered introduced, and new synonymy is proposed for them. Confusion of introduced with native species is noted in Stethorus Weise and Rhinoncus Schön. The material recorded from Newfoundland was collected in the Northern Insect Survey, which is a co-operative project of the Canada Department of Agriculture and the Defence Research Board, Canada Department of National Defence.

The current rapid advance in many fields of biology is being facilitated by the discovery of new ‘tools’ or the extended application of old ‘tools’. Radioactive isotopes, paper chromatography, the electron microscope and cytogenetics are but a few examples. Entomology is benefiting by the use of these tools. Recently the serological reaction known as the precipitin test is being more frequently applied in numerous biological studies. It is the purpose of this paper to point out the uses of the precipitin test in Entomology.

Eleven species of the family Cixiidae have been recorded from Canada (Metcalf, 1936, Gen. Cat. Hemip. 4 (2)). Ten of these are represented in the Canadian National Collection. In addition, ten other species are represented by Canadian specimens. Three of these are previously undescribed. The following are descriptions of the new species, keys to the genera and species known to occur in Canada, and distributional notes on the species from specimens in the collection. External characters are used in the keys. These are not always reliable in determining the males of some closely allied species, because of the frequent absence of dark elytral markings in that sex. The male genitalia show good specific characters, and figures of these are given for the species difficult to determine reliably an external characters.

The data presented in this paper were obtained during preliminary tests of acaricides that have been carried on in the greenhouse since 1947. Special attention has been given to the duration of residual action because this is one of the most critical indications of the potential value of an acaricide under field conditions. Residual toxicity in these experiments may he defined as the toxicity of a dry deposit to mites introduced on foliage subsequent to spraying.

The modes of action of the various acaricides are uncertain. In most cases it is undoubtedly contact action, although the more volatile materials may have some fumigant effect. Toxicity by direct ingestion is unlikely because of the feeding habits of the mites, but it is possible that some of the compounds tested may have a systemic action, being absorbed by the plant and remaining within the tissues for an extended period.

The work described here is an attempt to assess the effect of insecticides, particularly DDT, on the more prominent elements of the insect fauna of alsike clover Trifolium hybridum L., and on the yield of seed harvested. The decline in legume seed production, over a period of years, in districts which were once major seed producing areas is a familiar story in North America. For instance, Sorenson (1939) records that in 1925 Utah produced nearly 40 per cent of the total alfalfa seed in the United States. Five years later this state produced less than 4 per cent, the drop being largely the result of a decline in yield from an average of 6.4 to 1.2 bushels per acre. A similar history has been experienced in the production of alsike clover seed in Southern Ontario in the last twenty years. Haldimand County once produced heavy and profitable yields of over 5 bushels per acre but now yield is so poor and unprofitable that it is difficult even to find fields left for Experimental work. No doubt many causes are at work in this reduction but there is good reason to believe that the successful establishment oi specific insect pests, as a large and permanent part of the fauna, has been partly responsible in both these cases.

The results obtained in the experiments just described indicate that the discriminative ability of the female parasite operates to enable the parasite to distinguish between hosts which have been parasitized previously, not only by itself but by other members of the species, and perfectly health; hosts. If this were not the case, series in which the densities of the female parasite populations were high would have given results which were more nearly approximate to a random distribution of progeny among the available hosts. As we have seen, the tendency was for the parasite to avoid superparasitism under all conditions, i.e., to exercise a deliberate choice of hosts.

During the course of examining a white pine tree on May 25, 1945, the writer noticed a small black weevil clinging to the sheath of a needle fascicle, on the current year's shoot. The weevil was in a position parallel to the fascicle, its head directed upward, and its beak resting against the needle sheath. Closer scrutiny revealed a droplet of resin about the tip of the beak, and several small holes in the sheath distal to the beetle. When the beetle was removed, it was in the act of boring another similar hole in the needle fascicle. A brief search resulted in the finding of additional weevils in the same position on other twigs. Since no weevil of this habit on pine could be called to mind, six specimens were collected and two more were taken on May 29.

A recent study of that complex of the genus Diarsia which at present is found in collections under the name rosaria Grt. has convinced me that at least two species, easily separable on the basis of maculation and colouring, have gone under this name. One of these, the true rosaria, is confined to the more northerly portions of the California coast. The other species ranges from Alaska south through British Columbia into the Pacific Northwest of the United States, and from the coast of British Columbia east through the northern coniferous forest zone to the coast of Labrador. The latter species is divisible on the basis of well defined genitalic differences into a subspecies inhabiting the Cordilleran region and a subspecies confined to the northern coniferous forest.

The pale western cutworm, Agrotis orthogonia Morr., has been a major pest of cereals in the prairie region of Western Canada since 1911. Present control measures consist of (a) cultural measures that inhibit oviposition in fields being summer-fallowed and (b) starvation of the young larvae by destroying the volunteer plant growth by means of cultivation at a critical period. Cultural operations to minimize oviposition in fields being summer-fallowed have become accepted procedure throughout the area. Control by starvation is practised during outbreak years in fields that have-been “stubbled in” or in those tilled during the moth flight. This procedure has been recommended generally throughout potentially infested areas, but more precise methods of evaluating larval numbers are required so that control may be used only where critical populations are present.

It has for some time been realized that the genus Pyrausta as it stands in current North American lists is a very unnatural one. Forbes (1926) pointed out that a fundamental division of the Pyraustinae possible on the basis of the presence or absence in the male fore wing of the frenulum hook, and that species of both types have ordinarily been included in Pyrausta. Subsequent studies of genitalic structure—particularly that by Pierce and Metcalfe (1938)—have borne out the importance of this division.

Pineus pinifoliae (Fitch) belongs to the Adelginae, a group characterized by unusually complex life-cycles. The typical species have at least five distinct forms, one bi-sexual and the others parthenogenetic. They alternate between two coniferous hosts, one of which is always a species of spruce (Picea). Galls are formed on spruce by a modification of the growth of the new shoot.

The life-history of P. pinifoliae is only partially known. Patch has reported on observations in Maine which showed that the gall-making form flew from “black spruce” to the needles of white pine and that its offspring settled on the new shoots. She also described a morphologically similar winged form which developed on white-pine shoots and which she believed to be the return migrants. Annand made similar observations in Oregon and gave careful descriptions of three forms: the fundatrix, the gallicola migrans, and the exulis.

Tropidophryne melvillei Compere is apparently indigenous to the region of Kenya Colony, Africa, where it was found to parasitize Pseudococcus sp. (Compere, 1939). In 1948 this parasite was introduced into California from Kenya Colony by the Division of Biological Control of the University of California Agricultural Experiment Station (Smith and Flanders, 1949).

Species of Balcluthini show great similarity in external appearance and many exhibit much individual variation. Examination of the male genitalia is the only certain means of identification. Baker (1896, Can. Ent. 28: 35-42) attempted to separate the species on external characters, and Davidson and DeLong (1935, Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash. 37: 97-112) revised the North American species and figured the male genitalia. Little has been published on the species occurring in Canada. Five species from Canada are represented in the Canadian National Collection. One of them is previously undescribed.

Fulgorids of the genus Epiptera Metcalf are well represented in the Canadian fauna, probably because they are associated with conifers. Metcalf (1938. Gen. Cat. Hemip. IV, Part 10) listed 12 North American species, of which seven had been recorded from Canada. Ten species are represented by specimens from Canada in the Canadian National Collection. Two of these are previously undescribed. As there has been much confusion among certain species of this genus, due partly to misinterpretations of some of the original descriptions, it is probable that previous Canadian records for some species were based on mis-identifications. The species show external characters that are usually of good specific value, although there is some variation. The colour and type of markings of the face and the shape of the vertex are of particular value. The male genitalia exhihit good specific characters in the form and structure of the acdoeagus (Figs. 8-12).

The large scale production of Coccinellids at the Fontana Laboratory, Commonwealth Bureau of Biological Control, Fontana, California, for shipment to Bermuda where they are used against the Diaspine Cedar Scale, Carulaspis visci Schrank has created a variety of problems. Potato tubers are being used to rear the Diaspine scales Aonidiella aurantii Mask., Aspidiotus lataniae Signoret, and Aspidiotus hederae Vallot for host material for the Coccinellids Zagloba ornata Casey, Cephaloscymnus occidentalis Horn, Microweisea suturalis Schwartz, Lotis nigerrima Casey, Lotis neglecta Muls., Pharoscymnus exiguus Weise, Telsimia sp., and the Nitidulid Cybocephalus sp. One of the outstanding difficulties was the damage caused by several species of predaceous mites as contaminants in our production program. The elimination of these mites led to the rather novel use of miticides as a means of sanitation control. The results although effective were open to experimental error. This preliminary report deals primarily with the effectiveness of Neotran on these mites, Hemisarcoptes malus Schimer, Iphidulus sp., Tyroglyphus americanus Banks, the associated effect upon the praducrion of the Diaspine scale Aspidiotus lataniae, and the subsequent effect on the prodection of the Coccinellids.

In observations on the root maggots of garden crops in Canada made by A.R. Brooks in 1947 and later mimeographed (1) for officers of the Division of Entomology, Mr. Brooks indicated that there is frequently a complex of species in a field sample of larval Diptera; that the species and their numerical proportions are likely to vary both seasonally and geographically; and that not just one but 15 species of Diptera have been found in the roots of cabbage and as many as 14 in onions. He observed further that certain species of maggots appear directly responsible for the plant injury; others play a secondary role so that there is sometimes an involved ecological succession of species.

The jack-pine budworm, Ohoristoneura sp., was first recorded by Graham (5, 6) as a new variety or race on jack pine. Subsequent studies by Graham (6 showed that in the early stages of their development the larvae of this insect prefer jack-pine staminate flowers as a habitat. Population records from Manitoba and northwestern Ontario indicate that infestations of the jack-pine budworm are invariably associated with an abundance of staminate flowers.

Certain species of Aedes occurring in North America have been considered difficult if not impossible to identify from adult females alone. Five band-legged species, Aedes excrucians (Walker), A. stimulans (Walker), A. fitchii (F. & Y.), A. riparius D. & K., and A. increpitus Dyar, are in this class. They form a compact group, and female specimens have been very difficult to identify with assurance. Matheson (1944) used mesonotal colour and mesepimeral bristling for separating most specimens of these species. To these characters Gjullin (1946) added the colour of the torus and of the palp, but he also was unable to definitely identify some specimens of excrucians and fitchii. Ross (1947) used the characters employed by Matheson to separate stimlans, fitchii, and excrucians, but admitted that the characters are often unsatisfactory.