Studies were conducted under controlled laboratory conditions to determine the effect of temperature on development and oviposition of the variegated cutworm, Peridroma saucia (Hübner). Developmental thresholds and Celsius degree days necessary for completion of a given stage are: egg (threshold 5.6°C) = 89 DD; larvae (threshold 6.2°C) = 387 DD; pupa (threshold 8.5°C) = 210 DD; and total development (threshold 7.2°C) = 676 DD. The threshold for oviposition was 3.5°C with 128 DD necessary for oviposition to occur.

Light trap catches of variegated cutworm moths from 1965 to 1979 were plotted as a function of accumulated heat units based on laboratory data. For the 15-year period, peaks of activity occur at 500 and 1200 DD based on 7.2°C threshold. The data generated in this study would be utilized best in an alert network for determining when scouting should occur, based on peak capture of variegated cutworm moths.

In laboratory tests, Ravinia lherminieri (Robineau-Desvoidy) larvae significantly reduced the numbers of face fly, Musca autumnalis De Geer, eggs or larvae (98% mortality), in 100 ml of bovine feces at R. lherminieri to face fly ratios down to 10:200. Face fly immature mortality due to R. lherminieri decreased from 98% to 0% as the volume of feces per larva increased from 10 ml to 80 ml. Although R. lherminieri larvae survived on feces alone, their survival increased 26% (63% vs. 89%) when face fly immatures were added to the feces.

A technique is presented that requires no direct measurement of gallery length to estimate the total gallery length. Required to obtain the estimate are: (1) an appropriate model for time of year, sample period, and host, (2) tree diameter at breast height, (3) length of infested bole, (4) total tree height, and (5) inner bark thickness. The technique is accurate, less time consuming, and less expensive than direct estimation techniques.

Discovery of new external structures permit easier separation of species of Phymatocera for both sexes. A key is given and a phylogeny is reconstructed for all species. The name P. rusculla (MacGillivray) is a junior synonym of P. offensa (MacGillivray).

Adult females of the velvetbean caterpillar, Anticarsia gemmatalis Hübner, from larvae fed on progressively aged soybean, Glycine max (L.), foliage had variable reproductive characteristics. Mean oviposition rates ranged from 963.4 to 515.0 eggs/female when larvae fed on early vegetative and senescent leaves, respectively. Average daily oviposition peaked ca. 4 days after adult emergence, decreased sharply to day 10, and remained at a low level until adult mortality. Mean daily egg hatch decreased with female age, but female longevity was not affected significantly.

The Nearctic species of the genus Metaclisis are revised. Of 18 species recognized, 16 of them new to science as follows: M. acericola (Quebec, Ontario), M. acerina (Quebec, Ontario, Illinois), M. aceris (Quebec, Ontario), M. acuta (Arizona), M. alticola (New Mexico), M. annae (Texas), M. attenuata (California), M. borealis (Labrador), M. ensifer (California), M. filicornis (Ontario), M. longula (Illinois, Maryland, Ontario), M. masoni (Manitoba), M. pumilio (Ontario, Quebec, Illinois, Maryland, N. and S. Carolina), M. sulcata (Eastern Canada and U.S.A., Tennessee), M. verna (Ontario), and M. vernalis (Quebec, Ontario, Maryland). M. carinata (Ashmead) ♀ and M. floridana (Ashmead) ♂ are redescribed and the male of M. floridana is newly described. A generic diagnosis of Metaclisis and keys to females and males of Nearctic species are given. The higher classification, bionomics, world distribution, and character states of Metaclisis species are discussed.

When male drone flies (Eristalis tenax (L.)) of the spring and summer generations stop dispersing, they settle within individual home ranges that provide them with sheltering, resting, basking, grooming, feeding, and mating sites. Away from its mating place, a resident male rarely responds to other insects. On its mating site, however, it is territorial, attacking alien species, such as bees, wasps, and butterflies, as well as conspecific intruders. Territorial duty is demanding, and resident males take rest periods outside their territories whenever they can. When prevented from doing so, either by sky conditions which confine them to the territory, or by crowding which eliminates many neutral sites, they become increasingly aggressive. Males on open, horizontal territories (e.g., in flowerbeds) are more likely to notice intruders, and therefore are more liable to attack them, than males on vertical territories (e.g., on broad-leaved shrubs). The aggressiveness of E. tenax has social and ecological ramifications beyond its own species, since bees may stop foraging and aphidophagous syrphids may not oviposit in places where drone flies are exceptionally active.

Second and third instar mosquito larvae of 34 Canadian species belonging to the genera Anopheles, Aedes, Culex, Culiseta, and Wyeomyia may be reliably and simply separated by the absence or presence of the thoracic setae, 8-M and 7-T, and even more so by the number of the metathoracic setal support plates. As the 7-T seta is always inserted on a plate, a larva in the third stage will bear one more plate than in the second stage. In the species studied, the number of metathoracic plates is constant for a given genus at a given instar. Thus an intermediate instar larva, once identified to genus, can be assigned to second or third instar fairly readily by counting the number of setal plates on one side of the metathorax.

A thermal summation model based on heat units above 9°C accurately predicted peak hatch of eggs, an event critical to management of the alfalfa weevil, Hypera postica (Gyll.), in southern Ontario. The model also gave accurate predictions for maximum numbers of the larval and pupal stages, as well as other significant events such as cocooning and adult emergence.

A simple model for growth and development of the ladybird beetle (Hippodamia convergens G-M.) which partitions aphid biomass eaten into components of excretion, assimilation, growth and/or reproduction, and metabolic costs associated with searching and maintenance respiration is reported. All parameters in the model were estimated from simple minimal laboratory experiments, and have biological and/or physical meaning. The effects of predator nutrition on aging, survival, and emigration were also modelled. Most rates in the model for growth, reproduction, and respiration are controlled by the interplay between prey consumption and maximum prey biomass demands. The model for biomass flow is related to standard predator/prey theory.

Bran treated with four different insecticides was field-tested as a crop protection measure against mainly third instar grasshopper populations composed mostly of Melanoplus sanguinipes (Fab.). The order of toxicity of these four insecticides was dimethoate 〉 fenvalerate 〉 propoxur 〉 pyridaphenthion. Five dosages of dimethoate were tested against mainly adult grasshopper populations. Rates of mortality due to both aqueous sprays (previously published results) and bran baits were compared. Degradation of both dimethoate and fenvalerate mixed with bran was small when stored in the laboratory at either 1°C or 20°C.

The free fatty acid composition of the southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann, and associated bark beetles was determined by gas-liquid chromatography. The lipid composition of several species of hymenopterous parasites matched the bark beetle hosts from which they were reared. Lipids from field collected parasites were compared with the lipid composition of possible bark beetle hosts to determine host of origin. Parasites ovipositing on a host were usually found to have a lipid composition matching that host. Approximately 20% of the parasites that were observed attempting to parasitize the southern pine beetle apparently developed on other bark beetle hosts.

Under laboratory conditions, Corticeus glaber (LeConte) and C. parallelus (Melsheimer) adults were facultative predators of southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann, eggs and first and second instar larvae. Southern pine beetle frass and blue stain fungus, Ceratocystis minor (Hedgecock) Hunt were also suitable for survival for both species of Corticeus. Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) phloem was not utilized as a food source by either species. Corticeus spp. larvae were predators of D. frontalis eggs.

The effects of three trap variables (age, saturation, and density) on catches of male spruce budworm moths were tested using Pherocon 1CP® traps baited with synthetic sex attractant in high-density budworm populations in Maine and low-density populations in Ontario. As trap age increased, the number of moths captured decreased significantly; traps aged 2, 10, and 16 days caught an average of 5.4, 28, and 27% fewer moths than unaged traps. Traps functionally saturate and trapping efficiency diminishes in both high and low density populations after ca. 50 moths are caught, although maximum observed catch was 193 moths/day. Density or spacing of traps also affects trap efficiency. Traps spaced 5 m apart may act as a single attraction source. Interference between traps was evident for traps spaced 10, 20, and 30 m apart, while traps spaced at 40 m had the least interference. However, interference at all spacings was noted during peak moth flight in 1978 when mean catch was ca. 140 moths/trap/day.

Pherocon 1CP traps can be used for detecting and monitoring spruce budworm populations; however, influences of trap age, timing of trap placement, trap saturation, spacing of traps, and lure strength should be taken into account.

The behavior of larval stages of the green lace wing, Chrysopa carnea Stephens, and of the ladybird beetle Hippodamia convergens G.-M. were studied in the laboratory. With increasing hunger level, only first instar H. convergens larvae spent more time searching in the upper part of alfalfa stems, where both prey aphids, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris) and Acyrthosiphon kondoi (Shinji), are found. All larval instars tested except first instar C. carnea visited more stems per unit time with increasing hunger level. The weight gain, the developmental time, and the mortality of all larvae were adversely influenced at low food levels, but differently for each predator size and species. C. carnea larvae had higher rates of fat body utilization and weight gain than coccinellid larvae.

Fenitrothion injected into a stream at 73 μg/L diminished to 23 μg/L 343 m downstream and resulted in a decline of standing crop of benthic arthropods between 343 and 375 m downstream. Large and small insect larvae were not affected differentially. Most of the kill consisted of Leuctra spp. (Plecoptera: Leuctridae) larvae. Benthos recovery was complete 50 days after the treatment.

Regression models of the form lnY = b0 + b1ln(X−c) + b2X are presented that describe the within-tree distribution of the pupae of Thanasimus dubius (F.), a clerid predator of the southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis Zimm. More T. dubius pupae/100 cm2 of bark area were found in loblolly pine, Pinus taeda L., than in shortleaf pine, P. echinata Miller, and the number increased with increasing tree diameter class. Peak densities were found at a height of 1–4 m.

Cypermethrin was more toxic to adults of the braconid parasite Apanteles ornigis Weed than fenvalerate, permethrin, azinphosmethyl, or methomyl. Endosulfan was the least toxic insecticide. Permethrin, however, was 19 × more toxic to the leafminer host Phyllonorycter blancardella (Fabr.) than to A. ornigis and could be most useful in an integrated pest management program. Several chalcids, Sympiesis spp., showed less sensitivity to azinphosmethyl than did A. ornigis.

In greenhouse tests conducted in moist acid mineral soils, propoxur was highly toxic and fast acting as an adulticide against flies of the cabbage maggot, Hylemya brassicae (Bouché), and many other types of adult insects. Some flies in contact with the surface of treated soil were killed in 30 sec or less. When banded at depths of 1, 3.5, and 7 cm, propoxur moved upward and reached peak toxicity to flies standing on the surface in ca. 5, 20, and 35 days, respectively. Deeper placement of the insecticide resulted in lower levels of peak toxicity. Toxicant from 5 to 10 cm depth treatments was still detectable 6 months after soil treatment. Adulticide tests demonstrated that propoxur could be leached downward by addition of excess water to the soil surface. Under the conditions of tests where flies in cages landed at random on treated soils in miniplots, no toxicity was detected when the surface of the treated soil became air dry.

A single preplanting subsurface application of propoxur banded below the soil surface in field experiments provided all season protection against cabbage maggot infestations during normal to relatively dry growing seasons but was ineffective during abnormally wet seasons.

Seven fumigants, used alone or in combination, were tested in the laboratory for toxicity to winter eggs of the European red mite, Panonychus ulmi (Koch), on harvested apples cv. Red Delicious. Fumigation with ethylene dibromide (EDB) 6 mg/l. for 4 h at 25°C, and CO2 90% for 72 h at 18°C or for 48 h at 25°C killed 100% of the eggs; CO2 75% for 60 to 168 h killed over 98% of the eggs. No injury or off-flavour of fruit resulted from the treatments though the extended period of storage, ca. 200 days, to break diapause in the eggs did reduce the fruit quality in the usual way. Post treatment storage under controlled atmosphere (CA) conditions did not increase the percentage of eggs killed with 75% CO2. Mixing CO2 with EDB, ethylene oxide, or dichlorvos did not increase egg mortality. Ethylene oxide, dichlorvos, methyl bromide (MBr), and HCN were each ineffective and combinations of MBr + EDB, and MBr + acrylonitrile were also ineffective. Carbon dioxide is a safe, effective fumigant for controlling P. ulmi winter eggs and other pests on harvested apples.