A study of the attacking behavior of Simulium arcticum Mall., an important pest of livestock in Saskatchewan, is required to guide livestock management practices during outbreaks. Such a study has been hampered by the lack of a convenient device for obtaining collections representative of attacking populations.

In research on insect immunity, bacterial antigens were injected into Galleria mellonella L. larvae (Stephens, 1959). It was suspected that the quality and quantity of the blood, or hemolymph, might differ if the larvae were obtained from different sources. This note reports the effects of food and storage on the specific gravity and osmotic pressure of the blood, and of storage on the blood volume.

Studies on the ecology of Megachile perihirta Ckll. (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae), a leaf-cutter bee that is a valuable pollinator of alfalfa in southern Alberta, indicated that the pillager (depredator) Nemognatha lutea Lec. (Coleoptera: Meloidae) and the parasite Dasymutilla fulvohirta (Cress.) (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) have other hosts besides M. perihirta (Hobbs, 1956). Adults of both species at the nesting habitat of a population of M. perihirta have been too numerous to have come solely from the cells of M. perihirta; also, the wide range in size of the adults of N. lutea indicated that other insects also served as hosts for this species. Mickel (1928, 1928a) found that D. fulvohirta was a pillager of Anthophora occidentalis Cress. In southern Alberts, the wingless females of D. fulvohirta would be within reach of A. occidentalis while parasitizing M. perihirta, as the vertical clay banks that house A. occidentalis are topped by the prairie into which M. perihirta tunnels. As N. lutea lays its eggs in masses on the phyllaries of the buds of wavy-leaved thistle, Cirsium undulatum (Nutt.) Spreng., a favourite food source of M. perihirta, and as A. occidentalis also uses C. undulatum as a food source, investigations were conducted in whether A. occidentalis might be one of the principal hosts of N. lutea too.

Pullus impexus (Muls.) is one of many species of predators that have been introduced into Eastern Canada since 1933 as part of a biological control program against the balsam woolly aphid, Adelges piceae (Ratz.) Delucchi (1954) has published many details of the systematics, biology, and natural control of this species in Europe where he found it to be associated with all A. piceae infestations. According to Pschorn-Walcher and Zwölfer (1960), it is one of a group of predators that are usually associated with lower population densities of A. piceae and other related adelgids, rhan are Aphidoletes thompsoni Möhn and Laricobius erichsonii Rosen. Because it is common on adelgid infestations in Europe and because it can easily be reared en masse, large numbers have been released in North America. The purpose of the present paper is to bring together available information on releases, life-history and natural control, and control value of this species, obtained from studies carried out over the past nine years in New Brunswick.

The lamiine genus Hyperplatys Haldeman is represented in Eastern Canada by two species, H. maculata Hald. and H. aspersa (Say). Both are small grevish long-horned beetles with spotted elytra. These species have suffered from considerable taxonomic confusion, having been misdetermined by Blatchley (1910), Felt (1924), Knull (1946), and probably a number of other authors. Craighead (1923) described the larva and pupa of H. asperus Say (sic), but apparently this was also a misdetermination, since his pupal description obviously refers to H. maculata.

A study of the genus Diaphnidia Uhler showed that D. debilis Uhler, the type of the genus, was markedly different and not congeneric with the five other species hitherto included. A new genus, Diaphnocoris, is described for four of these: pellucida Uhl. (type), capitata Van Duzee, crockeri Van Duzee, and provancheri Burque; the fifth species, heidemanni Knight, is considered to belong to Brachynotocoris Reuter. Following are descriptions of the three genera of this group as now considered.

Prior to 1950 the European red mite, Panonychus ulmi Koch, was a major pest in Nova Scotia apple orchards, and brown mite, Bryobia arborea M. and A., was practically non-existent. Lord (1949), showed that the sulphur fungicides, commonly in use up to that time, were detrimental to some of the predacious species and toxic to the brown mite. After 1950 red mite populations became negligible and, although the brown mites increased, they did not become sufficiently abundant to cause economic damage. This shift of population balance in Nova kotia orchards has been attributed to the gradual replacement of sulphur and other detrimental materials by pesticides less harmful to predators of the mites (Pickett 1953).

This bumblebee is rather common in southeastern Brazil, northern Argentina, and in parts of western South America. However, no detailed specific data have yet been published on its biology or nesting habits.

On November 5, 1955, while searching for bumblebees in Brazil, the writer succeeded in finding a newly established nest of this species about one-fourth mile from rhe coast in Parana, north of Guaratuba near Praia de Leste, some eight miles south of Matinhos. The coastal terrain at that location is somewhat irregular, not exceeding fifty feet in elevation and covered, for the most part, with rather dense, low woody vegetation. Near mid-day, from a vantage point at the side of the only north-south road, I spotted a queen in low direct flight toward a clump of shrubs growing about fifty feet to the west, where she suddenly vanished upon reaching that point. This behaviour instantly meant one of two possibilities–either she had stopped to visit flowers, or she had entered her nest close by.

Eurytoma pini Bugbee (Bugbee, 1958), a common parasite of the European pine shoot moth, Rhyacionia buoliana (Schiff.), in Ontario, was previously recorded from this host as E. appendigaster (Swed.) (Coppel and Arthur, 1953) and as E. thylodermatis Ashm. (Miller, 1953). Bugbee (1958) recorded it from various lepidopterous hosts that mine in plant tissues. These include: the Nantucket pine tip moth, Rhyacionia frustrana (Comst.); the bagworm, Thyridopteryx ephemeraefomis (Haw.); the ragweed borer, Epiblema strenuana (Walkr.); the lima bean borer, Etiella sp.; the pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saund.); Acrobasis rubrifasciella Packard; and Eucosma scudderiana (Clemens). Bugbee stated that the range of E. pini probably includes all of the pine growing regions of North America.

In studies of the behaviour of adults of the white pine weevil, it has been reported by Sullivan (1953) that the movenients of the beetles can be traced over long periods of time by means of Co60 tags attached to the elytra. Observations of the labelled insects over several months were feasible because of the long half-life and high specific activity of this isotope. Tags containing approximately 200 to 500 μc of radioactive cobalt did not have any appreciable effect on the survival of the insects over periods of one to two months, but records of the longevity of labelled insects revealed excessive mortality after several months. As field trials had indicated that the amount of isotope in the tags was in excess of that required for accurate detection of the insects, the work was continued in an effort to determine the effects of different quantities of the isotope on short-, and long-term survival.

The flight capacity (duration and velocity) is an important phase of the flight behaviour of economically significant insects such as the Douglas-fir beetle, because it influences the feasibility of control or preventive measures which might be considered. An understanding of the flight capacity and how it varies in relation to environmental factors is necessary to evaluate the beetles' power of dispersal under different seasonal conditions. This would help to detect new areas of infestation by directing or narrowing the search. It also would help evaluation of the hazard at hand in timber surrounding the infestation and be a further aid in determining the size of areas of sanitation required around the comparatively beetle-free areas needed for special purposes, such as parks.

Aptesis basizona (Grav.), a parasite of pine sawflies in Europe, was propagated at Belleville, Ont. (Green, 1938) for release against the European spruce sawfly, Diprion hercyniae (Htg.), the European pine sawfly, Neodiprion sertifer (Geoff.) and other Diprionidae. Development of the insects in the laboratory was allowed to continue until feeding was completed and cocoons were spun, and was then retarded by placing the insects in cold storage pending shipment to release areas. Frequently stock for propagation was incubated after a period of cold storage, and occasionally the schedule was interrupted by decreases in the reproductive capacity of the adults. It seemed that there was some relationship between the fertility of the adults and the temperatures at which the immature stages were held, both while feeding and after they had reached the fully-fed stage. Experiments were initiated to investigate this hypothesis.

Certain investigations of the cattle grubs Hypoderma bovis (L.) and H. lineatum (De Vill.) have been hampered by difficulties in inducing the flies to mate and oviposit in captivity. For example, Parish (1955, 1957) suggested that infesting cattle with standard numbers of grubs would facilitate properly controlled experiments with therapeutic agents, and hc attempted artificial insemination of the female flies toward this objective. In addition, procedures that would induce mating and oviposition in thc laboratory could be used to analyse the reproductive behavior of the flies and the characteiistics of the resulting cattle grub populations.

During a stay at the Research Station, Canada Department of Agriculture at Kentville, Nova Scotia, from July 3 to October 16, 1959, I had the opportunity to make some observations on the natural enemies of the woolly apple aphid, Eriosoma lanigerum (Hausm.), the rosy apple aphid, Dysaphis plantaginea (Pass.), and the green apple aplud, Aphis pomi Deg. An inventory of these enemies was made in the Annapolis Valley in apple orchards. sprayed according to the principles of the spray schedule of Dr. A. D. Pickett. This schedule avoids spraying with fungicides and insecticides such as sulphur and phosphorus compounds, which are very harmful to the enemies of a number of pests, studied by Dr. Picktett and his staff (cf. Pickett 1959). The dipterous predators and their enemies are dealt with in this paper.

The role of natural enemies in the control of the pear psylla, Psylla pyricola Foerst., has been of minor importance in the published history of this pest in North America. Jensen (1957) listed six species of parasites that attack the pear psylla nymph, but only one, Psylledontus insidiosus Cwfd. (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), is recorded from North America. Slingerland (1896) stated that the predators Chrysopa oculata Say (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) and Adalia bipunctata (L.) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) were observed in the field feeding on psyllid eggs, nymphs and adults. Georgalla (1957) reported that Anthocoris nemorum L. (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) fed upon pear psylla eggs and nymphs, but made no reference to effect upon psyllid populations.

An improved method of rearing the Douglas-fir beetle (Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopk.) was recently developed by using wax-coated slabs of Douglas-fir. To fully utilize this method, it was desirable to follow beetle development within the slabs without removing the bark. If this could be achieved it would oDen the door to manv advances in research. Several radiological techniques $ere considered and the x-ray appeared well adapted. The slabs were small enough to be moved to the x-ray machine and to fit on standardsize x-ray film. Also, x-ray units are readily available in hospitals and medical centres. Accordingly, tests were made of x-ray techniques for detecting Douglas-fir beetles in infested slabs of Douglas-fir.

In an article on inflating insect larvae, the writer (1957) prescribed the use of glycerine to prevent the larval skin from sticking to the glass inflating tube. Vaseline and glycerine were formerly used for this purpose but they have not been satisfactory. The Technical Information Service of the National Research Council of Canada was consulted about better parting agents and through their aid an entirely satisfactory substance was obtained. The compound is of the silicone type; it has the consistency of petroleum jelly, is heat stable, and has greatly improved the efficiency of larval inflation at the Vernon laboratory. The commercial name of this compound is “Slipicone” made by Dow Corning Silicones Ltd., Tippet Rd., Downsview, Toronto, Ontario.

Although there are many reports on the control of the pea aphid and its effect on the yield of peas, few are available on the effect of the aphid on the yield of alfalfa hay, particularly on irrigated land. The experiments of Cook and App (1956) and Franklin (1953) were done under climatic and edaphic conditions different from those encountered in southern Alberta. Outbreaks of the aphid occur only occasionally in Alberta, but in 1957 it was very abundant in some irrigated alfalfa fields. This is a report on the effect of the aphid on yields of alfalfa hay in an irrigated area in southern Alberta.