The nymph of Coenagrion interrogatum (Hagen) is described for the first time and the nymph of C. resolutum (Hagen) is redescribed. A species key to the nymphs of Coenagrion in Alberta is presented along with characters to separate Coenagrion nymphs from Enallagma nymphs.

A description of the previously unknown larva of Coenagrion interrogatum (Hagen) is presented. In addition, information on larval habitat and the flight period of the adult is documented.

Five types of hemocytes (plasmatocytes, granular cells, spherule cells, oenocytoids, and prohemocytes) were identified in the larval, prepupal, and pupal stages of the spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.). Hemocyte numbers (total hemocyte counts and absolute hemocyte counts) increased during larval development. The absolute counts were greater in female larvae than in the male larvae during the fourth instar but were higher in the males during the fifth and sixth instars. Hemocyte numbers peaked in the prepupal stage in females and in the early pupal stage in males. The plasmatocytes and granular cells were the predominant hemocytes in both sexes. The plasmatocytes decreased and the granular cells increased throughout larval development of both sexes. There were more plasmatocytes in the males than in the females in all stages of development. There were more granular cells in the males than the females until the sixth instar when the reverse occurred.

Toxicity and persistence of six insecticides, including three pyrethroids and three organophosphorus insecticides, against Euxoa messoria (Harris) larvae were evaluated. These insecticides were applied to winter rye or tobacco seedlings in the field, and the residues on the foliage were bioassayed in the laboratory. The pyrethroids, cypermethrin, fenvalerate and permethrin, were more effective and persistent, and killed the larvae more rapidly than the organophosphorus insecticides, sulfopros, chlorpyrifos and trichlorfon. The higher rate of cypermethrin and fenvalerate gave a longer period of protection than the lower rate of the same materials and both materials were persistent longer than permethrin. No visible phytotoxicity was found on the tobacco plants treated directly with sulfopros, trichlorfon, cypermethrin, fenvalerate, and permethrin in the 3 years of tests.

In the laboratory, endosulfan and phosalone were non-toxic to adult Pterostichus melanarius and Harpalus affinis and of relatively low toxicity to Amara spp. Phosmet was non-toxic to P. melanarius but was toxic to Amara spp. and to a lesser extent to H. affinis. Azinphos-methyl, permethrin, and dimethoate were considerably more toxic to the latter two species than to P. melanarius. Diazinon was toxic to all species and methyl and ethyl parathion were highly toxic to P. melanarius. Bembidion quadrimaculatum was susceptible to most insecticides except endosulfan and phosalone. Mortality in the field generally supported laboratory findings. Diazinon caused the greatest mortality to all species and permethrin caused some mortality to all species. Phosmet was highly toxic to H. affinis and Amara spp. Generally the toxic effects of the insecticides were of relatively short duration.

Pieris callidice from the French Alps was hybridized with the phenotypically similar P. occidentalis nelsoni from Fairbanks, Alaska in order to examine the degree of genetic divergence within a group of Pleistocene origin. Egg hatch for the cross nelsoni male × callidice female was zero. In the reciprocal cross, egg hatch was normal, but most of the larvae failed to feed on the normal host-plant of nelsoni, and died. The hybrid pupae and the single adult were intermediate between the parents. It is inferred that P. callidice and P. o. nelsoni are more divergent genetically and physiologically than phenotypically.

Populations of the spotted tentiform leafminer, Phyllonorycter blancardella (Fabr.), from sprayed orchards across southern Ontario were found highly resistant (about 160-fold at LC50) to azinphosmethyl. Cross resistance to phosmet and partial cross resistance to diazinon were also indicated. All populations were highly susceptible to several synthetic pyrethroid insecticides. Resistant populations were controlled with pyrethroid insecticides applied when eggs were first found or by methomyl applied at about 50% hatch.

A re-investigation of the taxonomic status of Bombus franklini (Frison) is described. Comb architecture was found to be characteristic of other taxa within its subgenus (Bombus s.s.) but multivariate analysis of wing venation data taken from queens gave a clear separation of franklini from other species within the subgenus. The male genitalia of franklini are markedly distinct from those of B. occidentalis Green. The authors advocate retention of specific status for franklini.

Observations, measurements, dissections, and histological preparations were made daily of the eggs and larvae of Bathyplectes anurus (Thomson) while in their host, Hypera postica (Gyllenhal) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Observation of development began 24 h after oviposition and ended when parasite larvae emerged from their hosts.

Parasite eggs doubled in length and width during their 3- to 4-day incubation period. Parasite larvae fed on hemolymph initially but later instars preferred the fat body and other tissues. B. anurus has five instars. From 18 to 21 days were required for the larvae to complete development and total development time was 21–25 days at 21 ± 1 °C.

The phenologies and distributions of pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris)), blue alfalfa aphid (A. kondoi (Shinji)), and spotted alfalfa aphid (Therioaphis maculata (Buckton)) were intensively studied in California alfalfa. The results showed, as expected, that aphid populations across all densities were aggregated; but that ladybird beetle (Hippodamia convergens (G.-M.)) predation increased the degree of aggregation. The distribution parameters of the aphids were estimated using methods developed by Iwao and Kuno (1971).

Twenty species of predaceous mites were collected from apple foliage in Maine during a 2-year survey of commercial and abandoned orchards. Phytoseiids and stigmaeids comprised 97.3% of the total mites. The phytoseiid Amblyseius fallacis (Garman) was the predominant predaceous species in commercial orchards. Predaceous mites were collected in commercial orchards primarily in the latter part of the growing season following cessation of spraying. In abandoned orchards, the stigmaeid Agistemus fleschneri Summers was the most abundant predaceous mite, with the phytoseiids Phytoseius macropilis (Banks) and Typhlodromus pomi (Parrott) also frequently collected. In abandoned orchards, predaceous mites were collected throughout the season and were generally more abundant.

The upper and lower leaf surfaces of apple and the lower leaf surfaces of pear and peach leaves were the preferred oviposition sites of the codling moth, Cydia pomonella (L.). Eggs were not deposited close to the leaf midvein or on peach fruit where pubescence was heavy. However, the density of leaf hairs was not the only physical factor affecting egg deposition. The nature of the wax scales on some surfaces also appeared to influence the number of eggs deposited.

Epiblema (Notocelia) cynosbatella (Linnaeus), introduced into British Columbia in 1978, is discussed and compared with the native North American Epiblema illotana (Walsingham).

In southern Louisiana, Corticeus glaber (LeConte) outnumbered Corticeus parallelus (Melsheimer) 3.7:1 during 15-month study from October 1976 to December 1977. Corticeus spp. varied significantly (P < 0.01) among the 52 sample dates and three sample heights on infested tree boles. Corticeus spp. were significantly correlated with numbers of southern pine beetle eggs, Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann, in the bottom and middle samples but not in the top sample. Corticeus glaber peak arrival occurred from 14 days prior to 14 days following pine beetle mass attack, while C. parallelus peak arrival occurred from 7 days prior to 10 days following pine beetle mass attack.

Moths of the genus Dioryctria are important insect pests of North American conifers (Baker 1972). Of the species that occur in the southern United States, e.g., D. clarioralis (Walker), D. disclusa (Heinrich), and D. ebeli Mutuura and Munroe, the southern pine coneworm, Dioryctria amatella (Hulst), is the most destructive (Ebel et al. 1975). Our paper reports the results of laboratory tests aimed at determining the relative toxicities of commercially available or promising experimental insecticides to D. amatella larvae.

Priesner (1979) reported five types of receptor in the trichoid sensilla on the antennae of male spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana. One responded maximally to (E)-11-tetradecenal (Ell-TDAL), the primary component of the natural sex pheromone (Sanders and Weatherston 1976). Two other receptors showed maximum response to (E)- 11-tetradecen-1-yl acetate (E 11-TDACET) and (E)- 1l-tetradecen- 1-ol (E11-TDOL), respectively, both of which are present in female glands, but neither of which has been found in significant amounts in the emitted pheromone. The other two receptors showed maximum responses to (E)-9-tetradecenal (E9- TDAL) and (E,E)-9, 11-tetradecadienal (E9, E 11-TDDAL), respectively, neither of which has been reported from gland extracts or the emitted pheromone.

The predaceous mirid Deraeocoris nebulosus (Uhler) is found on more than 50 species of ornamental trees and shrubs where it feeds on several important pest species (Wheeler et al. 1975). It is a common mite and aphid predator in commercial apple orchards in Virginia (Parrella et al. 1978). Wheeler et al. (1975) described the nymphal stages and biology, but made no mention of the egg or oviposition site. We describe the egg and oviposition site which we discovered while studying various predators of the European red mite, Panonychus ulmi (Koch), in Virginia apple orchards. Eggs and oviposition sites of other predaceous mirids associated with apple have been described (Kullenberg 1942; Collyer 1952, 1953; Sanford 1964; Horsburgh and Asquith 1968, 1970).