During the year 1955 Dr. D. M. Scott and Mr. R. E. Lemon conducted a study of the nesting habits of the cardinal, Richmondena cardinalis (L.), on the campus of the University of Western Ontario and in areas adjacent to the campus in London, Ontario. After the study of the breeding cycle at each nest was completed, some of the nests mere removed from their sites and put in brown paper bags and given to the writer for examination for their content of insects and other invertebrates. Each nest was torn apart over a white porcelain tray and the creatures falling on the tray were collected and preserved. The specimens so collected were distributed to the following taxonomists for identification (USNM refers to the United States National Museum): P. D. Ashlock, USNM (Miridae), E. W. Baker, USNM (Acarina), W. J. Brown, Canada Department of Agriculture, Ottawa (Coleoptera), N. B. Causey, Fayetteville, Arkansas (Diplopoda), K. Christiansen, Grinnell College, Iowa (Collembola), C. D. Dondale, Canada Department of Agriculture, Kentville, N.S. (Araneida, Phalangida), E. L. Mockford, USNM (Corrodentia), K. O'Neill, USNM (Thysanoptera), M. R. Smith, USNM (Formicidae), R. W. Strandtmann, Texas Technological College, Lubbock, Texas (Orinthonyssus), W. W. Wirth, USNM (Culicoides).

Near Grand Manan Island, in the Ray of Fundy and about 20 miles from the coast of Maine and 30 miles from Nova Scotia, lie Kent Island and Hay Island. During the summer of 1961, we secured collections of bird nests from these islands so as to study the flea fauna. Nests of the following species were collected: Larus argentatus, herring gull; Somateria mollissima, common eider; Corvus brachyrhynchos, crow; Oceanodroma leucorhoa, Leach's petrel; Riparia r. riparia, bank swallow; Hirundo rustica erythrogaster, barn swallow; Petrochelidon pyrrhonota albifrons, cliff swallow; Iridoprocne bicolor, tree swallow; and Passerculus sondwichensis, savannah sparrow. The nests of herring gulls, eiders, crows, and Leach's petrels proved to be without fleas, but from the other nests 797 fleas were collected.

The sampling of bark beetles and their natural enemies requires that bark be removed for examination of broods contained in the phloem. Counts of populations on bark samples are used to evaluate infestations for purposes of control and for studying population dynamics in the field. Bark samples have been cut from western conifers by chopping, sawing, or a combination of these operations. However, both these methods have disadvantages. Chopping produces ragged samples of varying size, and a saw tends to catch in the bark when cutting boundaries parallel to the trunk. Also, with either chopping or sawins, sample boundaries must be measured and marked as a guide during the cutting.

The European, or Essex skipper, Thymelicus (= Adopaea) lineola (Ochs.), was accidentally introduced into North America at London, Ontario, sometime before 1910 (Saunders, 1916). The history of its subsequent spread through southern Ontario and adjoining parts of Michigan and Ohio was reviewed by Pengelly (1961), who received the first report of extensive damage to hay and pasture crops by this insect in Ontario from the Markdale area of Grey County in 1956. A survey in 1958 (Pengelly, 1961) showed that the skipper “appeared to be present throughout the southern part of the province except for the Bruce peninsula and possibly the Windsor area. The northeasterly boundary appeared to he along a line from Midland, south around the west side of Lake Simcoe, east to Lindsay and south to Whitby.” The present author collected T. lineola larvae from the Belleville area for the first time in 1959.

Contrary to a common conception, employment of biological control of weeds is fundamentally the same as the employment of biological control of insect pests. The goal in each case is not eradication but the reduction of pest populations to non-injurious levels. The ecological relationships which apply in the regulation of any organism by natural enemies in the undisturbed natural scene also apply when we attempt to introduce a natural enemy not already present. While it is true that our work has an economic or applied objective, the pursuit of objectives in biological control in general takes us deeply into fundamental considerations – fundamentals which constitute the broad science of ecology.

Proof of insect predation by small arthropods is difficult to obtain under orchard conditions. The act of predation is seldom observed and unless some characteristic sign is left by the predator there is little chance of recognizing the species responsible. Many special techniques to study predation have been designed, but because they all have limitations it is still necessary to present circumstantial evidence in most predator-prey field studies. Perhaps the most common technique used is the limb or tree cage whereby both prey and suspected predators are released within the cage and observations made at regular intervals. This cage method, as well as the insecticidal check method of DeBach (1946) as modified by Lord (1956), the precipitin test (MacLellan (1954), West (1950)), the use of radioisotopes (Ahmed et al., (1954), Baldwin et al., (1955), MacLellan (1958b)), and others were considered for use in the present studies but were rejected because of particular limitations.

The quantities of excreta produced by aphids (Auclair, 1957) and locusts (Dadd, 1960) have been used to estimate the relative consumption of different food materials. Likewise the quantities of food consumed by some other insects have been conveniently estimated by counting fecal pellets (Thorsteinson, 1953; Ito, 1960). Ito (1960) stated without supporting data “there is a highly significant correlation between the amount of mulberry leaves ingested and numbers of feces produced”. Nevertheless there appear to be no published quantitative measurements made on individual insects that show the relationship between the quantities of food consumed and excreta passed. This note gives the relationship between the quantities of dry matter (D. M.) consumed and excreted for three larval instars of the pale western cutworm, Agrotis orthogonia Morr., fed two varieties of etiolated wheat sprouts, Thatcher (Triticum aestivum L. emend Thell.) and Golden Ball (T. durum Desf.). In addition the relationship between D. M. consumed and numbers of fecal pellets produced or D. M. excreted by fifth-instar larvae were determined for two diets that differed considerably in nutritional value.

A survey was recently undertaken by the author with Dr. V. P. Rao, Entomologist-in-charge, Indian Station, Commonwealth Institute of Biological Control, Bangalore, India, for natural enemies of Adelges spp. attacking silver fir (Abies spp.) and spruce (Picea spp.) in the North-West and Eastern Himalayas. In the course of this survey it was found that the coccinellids Coccinella septem-punctata L., C. septempunctata L. var. divaricata Oliv. and C. septempunctata L. var. confusa Wied, were three of the most common predators of Adelges spp. in both these areas. With a view to sending laboratory-reared material to Canada for trial against Adelges piceae Ratz., which is a serious pest there, large numbers of these Coccinellids were collected in the fir and spruce forests to provide breeding material.

Large and small strains of the rice weevil Sitophilus oryza (L.) (Calandra oryzae (L.) of authors following European usage) have been reported from several localities (Birch, 1944 in Australia; Kiritani, 1956 in Japan; Kono, 1955 in Nepal; Richards 1944 in Britain; and Utida, 1958, in Canada, Japan and U.S.A.). Birch and Richards both seem to have considered it probable that the two strains were separate species: but they did not make the separation. Floyd and Newsom (1960), after careful work on both strains found in the U.S. and reared in the laboratory on a variety of materials, decided that the small strain could be validly made a separate species, thus agreeing with Takahashi who, according to Floyd and Newsom (1960), had elevated this strain to species rank as Calandra sasakii. In conformity with modern North American usage Floyd and Newsom refer to this small species as Sitophilus sasakii (Tak.). In addition to differences in size, they found differences in the male and female genitalia, interstrain sterility and various ecological differences. There were also differences in pronotal markings as had been, according to Kono (1953), noted by Takahashi (1928). Kono states “…the adult of the large strain has pits dotted densely on the central part of the pronotum, the small strain does not, and, furthermore the shape and size of the pits differ distinctly”.

Life-history and development of Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Thomas) have been studied by Smith (1919), Patch (1925), and MacGillivray and Anderson (1958). In most of these studies, considerable variation in temperature was experienced. The effects of different constant temperatures have never been reported. The following experiments were conducted to determine the influence of temperature on development, survival, and fecundity of M. euphorbiae under closely controlled conditions.

During investigations of lepidopterous needle-miners and bud-borers on spruce in the Province of Quebec between 1956 and 1959, four closely-related species belonging to the family Gelechiidae were found. One of the species, atrupictella, is the type of the genus Eucordylea Dietz (1900); a second, piceaella (Kft.) has been formerly assigned to the genus Recurvaria Haworth, and the remaining two were undescribed entities. In this paper, the four species are assumed to be congeneric and are tentatively assigned to Eucordylea Dietz. However, there is considerable confusion regarding the taxonomic status of this group and further generic divisions may be justified in future (Freeman 1960).

The genus Psithyrus Lepeletier is closely related to the genus Bombus Latreille. A large number of similar and dissimilar characters of these genera have been enumerated (Richards, 1927), but the major modification of Psithyrus to an obligate, parasitic mode of life has been the loss of the pollen-collecting apparatus and the lack of a worker caste. However, Psithyrus still visits flowers for nectar, and the general morphology of the “tongue” has not been modified as has the pollen-collecting apparatus. Detailed measurements on the labium of Psithyrus have not been reported previously. This paper gives data on 10 species. The information adds to basic knowledge on Psithyrus, and may be of value in relation to the question of the monophyletic or polyphyletic derivation of species of Psithyrus. Also, as with Bombus, considerable variation exists in the sizes of the parasitic bees, which is associated with the nutrition of the larvae. The measurements of the radial cell of the forewing show size relations within a species. The length of the radial cell (Fig. 1) has been selected as the most convenient method, although the size of an individual can be expressed also by the measurement of either its wing length or weight.

The influence of surface active agents (surfactants) such as “wetters”, “spreaders” and “stickers” on the deposition of pesticides on foliage is not always readily predictable. The results are influenced by the physical state of the pesticide (solution, emulsion, suspension), its chemical properties, the concentration of borh pesticide and surfactant, the nature of the plant surface, and the mode of application. Kearns (1) has particularly emphasized that the plant surface must be considered when a formulation of a pesticide is produced, and that there can he no general prescription satisfactory for a wide range of crops. For instance, a fungicide formulation that was excellent for banana, the leaves of which are difficult to wet, produced poor results on coffee, a crop relatively easy to treat. Our results now show that opposing results may also be obtained with the same pesticide, same surfactant and same crop, when two different methods of application are used.

Senecio longilobus Benth. (thread-leaf groundsel) is considered to be one of the most poisonous of the groundsels, especially to cattle and horses, although it has been used extensively in the domestic medicine of the Indians (Kearney and Peebles, 1951). Apparently the leaves of new growth are most toxic and the primary effect is to produce lesions in the liver. Other species in the genus are less poisonous but are capable of developing cumulative effects when ingested by livestock in small doses over extended periods of time. The alkaloids present in several of the toxic species have been isolated, but not all of the Senecio species contain alkaloids, nor are all of the alkaloids toxic to livestock. Manske (1931) has reviewed some of the literature on the subject and proposed the generic name necine for the basic hydrolytic product and necic acid for the acid fragment.

Female: General body color dark brown to blackish-brown; legs lighter brown. Length: body, 2.0-2.7 mm.; wing, 2.1-2.3 mm.

Head dark, posterior and undersurface densely covered with long, pale yellow hair; a row of stout, erect, dark hairs along posterior and lateral margins of eye. Frons tinged with gray; moderately broad, diverging above; covered with moderately long, decumbent, pale yellow hair. Clypeus lighter than frons, tinged with gray; longer than wide; densely covered with fine, pale yellow hair. Antenna short, eleven-segmented; uniformly dark brown, covered with short, pale yellow hair; flagellun about 2.5 times as long as scape and pedicel; pedicel considerabIy larger than other segments. Palpus yellowish-brown, covered with fine, pale ykllow hair and some coarser, dark hair; third segment slightly longer than fourth and slightly shorter than fifth; sensory vesicle of third segment globular, small, about one-fifth as long as the segment and is proximally situated; the tube leading from the sensory vesicle to the exterior is short, arises dorsally on the distal portion of the vesicle, extends nearly vertical and is nearly of uniform width (Figs. 4, 5). Edges of mandible with about 32 fine serrations; galea of maxilla with about 32 large, retrorse teeth. Median space of buccopharyngeal apparatus broad and shallow; dorsolateral arms broad, outwardly curved and directed posteriorly, a sclerotized ridge occurs on inner margin (Fig. 6).

Examination of the aphid parasites in the Canadian National Collection, Ottawa, provided evidence that several well-known European species are much more widely distributed than has been assumed. Material of the genus Monoctonus Haliday 1833 contained 11 females and 7 males of a species which was identified as Molonoctonus crepidis (Haliday 1834). A comparison with specimens from various European localities did not reveal any differences in the external morphology or in colour. This is the first record of this species from North America.

During the Tears 1959 and 1960 galls on rose bushes were collected in Westminster Township south of London, Ontario. Thc bushes grew along fencerows at the sides of roads surrounding the comniunity of Pond Mills. This community, is centred around tw ponds, North Pond (Fig. 1-A) and South Pond (B) which are joined by a narrow, shallow stretch of water. Nearby roads are Pond Mills Road leading south from London, Commissioners Road leading east from London and the road separating Concessions 1 and 1 of the Township of Westminster. The dates of collection of the galls and the location of the bushes from which they were taken are shown in Figure 1.

The eggs of the pale western cutworm. Agrotis orthogonia Morr., are laid in the soil between about August 15 and September 15, the peak of oviposition usually occurring hetween August 25 and September 5. The eggs commence development as soon as they are laid and in most years the embryos are fully developed by winter (Jacobson and Blakeley, 1958). Hatching occurs in the spring, usually soon after all snow has melted and the soil has thawed.

In 1957, some officers of the Forest Insect Survey of Canada discovered a species of Nepticula mining the leaves of white birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.) and yellow birch (Betula lutea Michx. f.) in Ontario. At that time the species was considered to be undescribed, but to confirm this it was necessary to study the life-history. This has been done by Mr. O. H. Lindquist, Forest Insect Laboratory, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and the results of his studies are being presented in a companion paper. His investigations confirmed that the species had not been named and the following description is presented.