When the polyphagous parasite Itoplectis conquisitor (Say) was reared on either of two hosts, Thymelicus lineola (Ochs.) or Galleria mellonella L., it showed no preference for the host from which it had emerged when exposed to equal numbers of the two hosts in the same type of ecological niche. No evidence for the existence of preimaginal conditioning in I. conquisitor was obtained.

On 12–13 July 1964, forest tent caterpillar, Malacosoma disstria Hübner, adults were carried southward from an outbreak in the forested area of central Alberta for at least 300 miles by the turbulent air associated with a cold front. Details of the area of dispersal and the weather system responsible are given.

Eubasilissa rahtkirani n. sp. is here described from the Nepalese Himalayas.

Sex attractants were demonstrated in extracts of virgin females from four species, representing three genera, of elaterids. Each attractant was species specific. An olfactometer is described that permitted paper chromatograms of the extracts to be bio-assayed for pheromone activity. RF values of the attractants from the four species are compared.

A new species of Pristiphora from Brazil is described and compared with the only other known species of this genus from South America. The phylogenetic relationship to other species in the genus is discussed.

In planning control programs for the apple maggot, fairly precise information on the emergence and movements of the adult is required. Generally records of emergence are obtained by the use of cages which trap the flies as they emerge from the soil. Bait lures have also been used and Neilson (1960) and others have described their methods. The construction of the cages, their establishment within the orchard. and their careful examination each day for removal of flies is time consuming. The hanging of pans within apple trees containing liquid bait lures is also troublesome and time consuming. The lures require frequent replenishing and become diluted in rainy weather and evaporate in fine weather. Searching for maggot adults in the bottom of thc pans among other fauna is time consuming.

In a test at St. John's from 20 August to 9 September 1964, grooved-board traps captured more specimens of the Eluropean earwig, Forficula auricularia L., than pitfall traps containing attractants. On 19 August two replicates of one grooved-board and eight Legner traps (Fig. 1) containing bran flakes plus an attractant were set up on a city lot. The Legner traps were set in the soil so that their tops were level with the surface. They were protected from rain by a 12 in. × 12 in. board held in position over the opening by short legs at the four corners. The attractants used were: peanut butter, cod oil, sugar, molasses, honey and macerated earwigs. The traps were attended from 21 August to 9 September and all earwigs removed daily and counted in the laboratory.

The oviposition and fecundity of field- and lib-reared specimens of the black-headed budworm, Acleris variana (Fern.), were studied. Each female produced from 13 to 179 eggs. Those from field-collected pupae averaged B6.5 eggs in 1963 and 86.7 in 1964; those reared in the laboratory produced significantly fewer. Forcing late-instar larvae to feed on old foliage did not reduce fecundity significantly. Individuals with an early seasonal development produced more eggs than those with a late seasonal development. The regression of pupal size on fecundity was significant at the 1% level. Because the correlation coefficient for the relationship was low (0.48), pupal size provides only a rough estimate of expected fecundity.

The existence of a chemical female sex pheromone in the Oriental fruit moth has been demonstrated; it both attracts and sexually excites adult males. Males without antennae are neither attracted to, nor sexually stimulated by, the pheromone. Thus, the pheromone appears to be essential for reproduction. Active pheromone can be extracted with benzene from the tips of virgin female abdomens and bioassayed with males. The gland believed to produce the pheromone was located and examined histologically. It is now possible to investigate the chemical nature of the pheromone and its possible use in the control of the Oriental fruit moth.

Methods and materials for colonizing damselflies (Ischnura) in the laboratory are described. Adults cease escape behavior in vision-proof cages. Females copulate only after first rejecting several would-be mates in succession and do not begin to oviposit until two to four hours afterwards. Artificial Du Pont sponges provide the best material for egg deposition. Methods of rearing large larval numbers are briefly described.

Group VII of North American Ips contains I. thomasi, new species, I. borealis Swaine and I. swainei R. Hopping. They are less than 4.0 mm. long and females have the front of the head or at least the vertex smooth and shining, impunctate, or with very fine sparse punctures; males are more coarsely granulate-punctate on the frons. The species are described and a key is given. All breed in Picea in Canada and northern United States.

Examples and data based on the host-parasite complex of the California red scale, Aonidiella aurantii (Maskell), and its parasites in untreated test plots in the citrus areas of southern California, not including the San Joaquin Valley and the desert areas, show the following: (1) Weather does not impose upper limits to host population increase. (2) In areas of favorable weather, certain parasites regulate host population densities at very low levels, other factors also being favorable. (3) The parasite Aphytis lingnanensis Compere is affected by weather differentially with respect to the host, and to varying degrees in different localities. The effects of field weather for each 2-week period of the year on all stages of this parasite individually as well as on population growth in held experimental cages are discussed. Adverse effects of weather on the parasite preclude successful population regulation of the host by the parasite at certain times or in particular areas but the range of the parasite is not restricted. (4) Another parasite, Comperiella bifasciata Howard, has its range restricted by weather and not by competition with other parasites to intermediate and interior citrus growing areas. It is never found along the coast. (5) Yet another parasite, Prospaltella perniciosi Tower, has its range restricted by competition and not by weather although it gives the appearance of being restricted by weather because it occurs only in coastal districts. (6) Examples are discussed of interactions between weather and dust, ants, or chemicals with parasites and hosts which result in various modifications of the abundance of the host and parasites. (7) Examples are discussed of the effect of weather on interactions between competing species of parasites and the host which have resulted in striking modifications of the previous distribution of certain parasites.

Parkin (1942) reported the occurrence of pired epidermal structures containing fungal strands on the larvae of Sirex gigas (L.) and S. cyaneus (F.). He described the structures as “concealed in the deep fold between the first and second abdominal segments, and formed by local modifications of the cuticle and hypodermis on the posterior sides of the hypopleural folds of the first abdominal segments”. He referred to them as “hypopleural organs”.

Adults of the European pine shoot moth emerge for the most part between dawn and 0900 hr. E.S.T. within a temperature range of approximately 11 to 25 °C. Adult emergence follows a field rhythm, emergence behaviour being initiated in pupae that have completed their development by the daily dark:light transition. Pupae held at constant temperature and under continuous light or darkness in the laboratory produced adults at any time of the day or night, whereas adults emerging from pupae held in an altered light cycle showed peak emergence following the dark:light transition. Observations of adult emergence in the field indicate that an average of 71 minutes was taken from the first appearance of the pupa in the exit hole until the wings of the newly emerged moth were expanded, dried, and returned to the normal resting position. Duration of the various phases of emergence behaviour are given, and discussed in relation to physical factors and predators. Following emergence, adults moved about the trees to more secluded and cooler sites once temperatures in exposed sites exceeded about 30 °C. During the hotter parts of the day, these movements commonly took the insects deep within the multiple tops of infested trees. As conditions moderated in the evening, and light intensities became conducive to flight, mating, and oviposition, the moths appeared in more exposed sites on the host trees.

Parasites of the hymenopterous families Braconidae, Encyrtidae, Eurytomidae, Pteromalidae, and Torymidae are listed from many different species of California Scolytidae. A parasite-host list and a host-parasite list are included to facilitate use of the paper. Forty-two records new to North American literature are presented.