The most important factor affecting the densities of pollinating species of bees on alfalfa seed fields in southern Alberta is competing flowering growth (Hobbs and Lilly, 1954, 1955). This is a report on the relative attractiveness of red clover and alfalfa to honey, bumble, and leaf-cutter bees in southern Alberta. Observations were made on the first crops grown in each of two newly cultivated and irrigated areas near Hays; the fields were isolated from all other entomophilous crops by at least five miles of virgin prairie. A third series of observations was made on crops grown in the isolated river valley near Lethbridge previously described by Hobbs and Lilly (1955).

The balsam woolly aphid, Adelges piceae (Ratz.), causes serious damage to balsam fir, Abies balsamea (L.) Mill., in Eastern Canada. It was introduced from Europe before 1900 (Balch, 1952) and has also become established in the northeastern United States. In continental Europe A. piceae is common on Abies alba Mill. but is not so serious a pest as in Canada. It has an extensive complex of insect predators in both Canada (Balch, 1934) and Europe (Delucchi, 1954). Balch (1934, 1952) found those in Canada inadequate as control agents. Some of the predators of Pineus pini Koch and Pineus strobi (Htg.) studied by Wilson (1938) in England, and recommended for introduction to new areas, were imported to Canada and released against A. piceae. Predators were first introdnced from Ensland in 1933 and later from continental Europe beginning in 1951.

Field studies in southwestern Quebec showed that feeding scars of the plum curculio Conotrachelus nenuphar (Hbst.), were made by overwintered and summer adults and occurred throughout the growing season. Egg-laying scars were made by overwintered adults only and occurred from the time of apple set to early August. The latter category included deep entries, which were made by the developing larvae in the fruit. In the McIntosh and Lawfam varieties feeding scars were found in 37.4 and 35.0 per cent respectively, averaging 36 per cent for the combined varieties, and egg-laying scars in 62.6 and 65.0 per cent, averaging 63.8 The extent of the two types of damage in the field appeared to be the reverse of those observed in the insectary, where feeding scars for the combined varieties averaged 63.2 per cent and egg-laying scars 36.8 per cent. In the insectary, 41.1 and 22.1 per cent of the feeding scars were respectively contributed by overwintered and summer adults. It was not possible to estimate these fractions in the field.

The larch sawfly, Pristiphora erichsonii (Htg.), overwinters in a cocoon in the ground and has an adult emergence period that may last two months. Ecological studies of this insect require information on the number of adults emerging and the seasonal pattern of emergence. Several types of open-bottomed screen emergence cages without traps were tested but the insects caught in such cages were difficult to remove. Also, many of the adults were lost in the vegetation unless the cages were visited more frequently than was practicable. The trap described here, attached to a screen cage, eliminates the objections given above and could be of use to persons interested in insects which emerge from the soil.

Agrilus anxius was described by Gory (1841), and later given the name “bronze birch borer” by Chittenden (1898). It was recently separated from a closely allied species attacking poplar, A. liragus (Barter and Brown, 1949; Smith, 1949). The borer is native to North America and occurs apparently throughout most of the range olf birch from Newfoundland to British Columbia, and south to New Jersey, Ohio, and Colorado (Barter and Brown, 1949; Fisher, 1928).

In 1947 and 1948 brown foliage on arborvitae trees caused by leaf miners became increasingly noticeable in New Brunswick. Since the literature contained little information on the miners this study was undertaken in 1950 to obtain information on their biology, control, and effect on the host tree. Part of the study dealing with the separation of the four species of leaf miners, Argyresthia thuiella (Pack.), A. freyella Wlshm., A. aureoargentella Brower, and Recurvaria thujaella Kft., is being published as a separate paper (7). This paper is concerned with the life-history and associated studies.

Rescue wheat has been grown in the prairie regions of Canada and the United States since 1946 as a control for the wheat stem sawfly, Cephus cinctus Nort. Although there is no evidence of the existence of a strain of sawflies to which Rescue is not resistant, the possibility of the development of such a strain is an important consideration. Callenbach (1952) found no differences in the percentages of Rescue sterns cut by the progenies of sawflies reared the previous year in Rescue and in susceptible varieties of wheat.

The present work was done to determine whether a strain that would survive readily in Rescue wheat could be segregated by rearing sawflies continuously in this variety.

The larva of the wheat stem sawfly, Cephus cinctus Nort., lives inside the host stem, cuts it off at ground level in late summer, and spends the winter inside the stub below ground level. This insect can be controlled by the use of resistant spring wheats such as Rescue and Golden Ball. The possibility of the existence of a strain of C. cinctus to which these varieties are not resistant is of major importance.

Platt, Farstad, and Callenbach (1948) found that the average percentages of Rescue stems cut by C. cinctus for five years were 36 at Regina, Saskatchewan, and two at Lethbridge. They suggested that this difference may have resulted from the effects of the environments in two areas, or from genetic variations between the sawflies at the two stations.

The Byron Bog is a sphagnum bog situated about three miles west of London and one mile northeast of Byron, Ontario in a depression adjacent to the southwest corner of Oxford Street and Hyde Park Sideroad in London Township of Middlesex County (Fig. 1). During the past it has been variously designated as “The Spruce Swamp”, “Foster's Bog” and “Redmond's (sometimes erroneously spelled “Redman's”) Swamp” or “Redmonds' Bog” Woolverton (1900) described it briefly in an account of a trip to the bog by members of the Geological Section of the Entomological Society of Ontario in 1899: “A number of the members of the section visited a peat bed, situated 3 miles west of London at Redmond's farm. It lies in a low spot bordered by high hills on the east and north. Towards the south a barrier not more than a few feet in height isolates it from the River Thames. In the centre is a pond of clear spring water over 60 feet in depth…” The bog has attracted the attention of local naturalists, particularly members of the McIlwraith Ornithological Club of London, who have studied various features of its fauna and flora, e.g. Dearness (19071, Judd (1956a), Saunders (1932) and Saunders and Dale (1933).

As part of a comprehensive investigation on insects affecting the low-bush blueberry carried on in New Brunswick during the past eight years, the writers accumulated considerable information on several species of climbing cutworms that previously received little attention. Life-history notes on four species are presented in this paper: Graphiphora smithi (Snell.), Graphiphora collaris (G. & R.), Eucirrhoedia pampina (Gn.), and Heptagrotis phyllophora (Grt.). Each species by itself is not considered as a serious pest of blueberry, but these and other species may cause an appreciable reduction in the blueberry crop.

Differences in resistance of varieties of peas to the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harr.), have long ago been shown in the field and by controlled rearings under glass, Russell and Morrison (1924, p. 63) apparently being the First to observe differences. Early investigations at Wisconsin by Searb (1932) showed that pea varieties differ in the number of aphids born upon them. Maltais (1937) corraborated these early findings and reported (1950) the development of a pure-line strain of aphid-resistant pea. The influence of resistance in peas upoil aphid development, reproduction, and longevity as investigated by Harrington (1941) with individual plants under controlled conditions in the greenhouse. His results confirmed the inability of the insect to develop and reproduce as fast on a resistant plant as on a susceptible one. Tt has been postulated that the composition of the available food in the host plant plays possibly the most important role in determining the resistance to aphid attack (Evans, 1938; Painter, 1941). Maltais (1948), Auclair and Maltais (1950), and Maltais (1951) gave preliminary reports on the probable factors in varietal resistance in peas.

In field investigations on the relative resistance of varieties of peas, Pisum sativum L., to the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harr.), the average number of aphids per terminal growth for 13 years (Maltais, 1937, 1950, 1951, and unpublished technical report, 1950-54) for six varieties was as follows: Perfection, 39.6; Daisy, 32.6; Lincoln, 35.6; Laurier (H-103), 9.8; Champion of England, 11.8; and Melting Sugar, 16.8. In a preliminary investigation by Auclair and Maltais (1950), 11 free amino acids were detected in pea plant extracts by paper chromatography. From a visual comparison of chromatograms, the variety Perfection appeared to contain a higher concentration of most free amino acids than the variety Laurier. This is a report on the quantitative estimation of the free and total amino acid contents of the three susceptible varieties (Perfection, Daisy, and Lincoln) and the three resistant varieties (Laurier, Champion of England, and Melting Sugar) by the method of paper chromatography.

In the description of the Byron Bog (Judd, 1957) it was pointed out that the Pitcher-plant, Sarracenia purpurea L., is a plant commonly associated with leather-leaf, Chamaedaphne calyculata, in the “Chamaedaphnetum calyculatae” association in the bog. The period of blooming of this plant in 1956 was from June 13 to June 22. During this period, and subsequently, collections were made of larvae of the moth Exyra rolandiana Grt. from the flowers and leaves. The moths were kindly identified by Mr. D. F. Hardwick, Systematic Entomology, Department of Agriculture, Ottawa.

The Ischnoceran genus Mulcticola Clay and Meinertzhagen, 1938, contains five forms found on the avian family Caprimulgidae. The known species, and type host, are: M. hypoleucus (Denny), 1842, found on Caprimulgus europaeus europaeus Linnaeus; M. macrocephalus (Kellogg), 1896, found on Chordeiles minor henryi Cassin; M. nacunda nacunda Carriker, 1945, found on Podager nacunda minor Cory; M. nacunda peruviana Carriker, 1945, type host is unknown (presumed to be a member of the Caprimulgidae); and M. tenuiceps Carriker, 1945, found on Podager nacunda nacunda (Vieillot). A new species is described from material collected by one of the authors while assigmed to the United States Operations Mission to Thailand. The other new species is described from material in the British Museum (Natural History), which was graciously loaned by Dr. Theresa Clay. Appreciation is also expressed to the United Staces National Museum and to the Snow Entomological Museum of Kansas University for the loan of specimens.

Experimental aerial spraying by Butcher (3), Butcher and Eaton (4) and Peterson (7) has been described; but potency tests of the synthetic organic insecticides against the larch sawfly, Pristiphora erichsonii (Htg.), have not been reported.

The first screening tests were carried out in 1955 at Cass Lake, Minn., with DDT, chlordane, methoxychlor, benzene hexachloride (BHC) and malathion against larvae of each of the five different instars. High temperatures in the field laboratory killed an inordinately large proportion of the control insects, making interpretation of the test data hazardous. Examination of the data indicated that BHC and malathion were the only promising toxicants. Work was continued by the author at Cass Lake in 1956 with these insecticides as well as with DDT, which has been used frequently against forest defoliators.

A considerable number of insect species of potential economic importance new to Canada, some being new to North America, have been recorded in the Canadian Insect Pest Survey since new records were reviewed (McNay, 1955). These and others, mainly from 1954 records, are brought together in this paper. Two new mire species are included. Sources of information include Survey reports from officers of the Entomology and Plant Protection divisions, provincial entomologists, and other co-operators; The Canadian Entomologist; The Canadian Insect Pest Review; Proceedings of the Entomological Society of British Columbia; and the Bi-monthly Progress Report of the Forest Biology Division, Canada Department of Agriculture.

While investigating the biology of the North American species of Hypomolyx, field workers in Manitoba found a vestigial, or short-winged, and a long-winged form under apparently identical conditions in about equal numbers. Although biological differences were nor then apparent, there was doubt as to whether they were dealing with one dimorphic species or with two distinct species, A search for morphological characters brought to light numerous differences between the two forms, supporting the view that two species were present. These differences, a description the previously unrecognized species, and notes concerning the status of the genera Hylobius and Hypomolyx are reported below.

Methods of rearing various stages of the pale western cutworm, Agrotis orthogonia Morr., in the laboratory have been described (Hocking, 1952; Jacobson, 1952; King and Atkinson, 1927; Lindsay. 1954; Parker et al, 1921; Seamans and McMillan, 1935). From these a very satisfactory method has been evolved at the Lethbridge laboratory that this insect to be reared for several generations, providing a source of experimental material at any stage of development. The rearing may be done very satisfactorily a t room temperature but, if desired, the method is adaptable to rearing at various conditions of constant temperature and relative humidity.

The Dutch elm disease is caused by the fungus Ceratostomella ulmi (Schwartz) Buis. It was first reported in the United States at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1930 (ll), and has since spread westward to Colorado and northeastward into Vermont (22). It is believed that the disease was accidentally introduced into the United States from Europe, where it has caused heavy mortality of elms since its discovery in 1919 (7, 19, 20). In Canada the disease was first recorded by Pomerleau (14) at St. Ours, Que. This infection proved to be centred around Sorel, Que., and since it was isolated from the nearest known infection in the United States by approximately 200 miles, is regarded as a separate introduction from Europe. The Sorel infection spread very rapidly, and by the end of 1950, the area between Montreal, Quebec City, and Sherbrooke was heavily infested by the fungus (17). I t has since spread westward as far as Ottawa and Kingston in 0ntario (16).