Five trap designs were evaluated for their efficiency in capturing overwintering adults of the carrot weevil, Listronotus oregonensis (Le Conte). Trap catches were compared with counts of oviposition and nutrition cavities found in carrots placed on the ground. A trap consisting of 22 wooden plates, separated by metal washers and placed over a carrot which was used as bait, proved to be the most efficient. The weevils crawl between the plates, feed on the carrot, and are collected by dismantling the trap over a pan. This technique provided a seasonal record of carrot-weevil activity comparable to that obtained with carrot sections and can be used to issue insecticide-treatment recommendations prior to the beginning of the carrot-weevil oviposition period.

Between 1973 and 1983 two newly introduced parasites, Agathis pumila (Ratz.) and Chrysocharis laricinellae (Ratz.), caused an increasing impact on populations of the larch casebearer, Coleophora laricella (Hbn.), as measured by percentage parasitism based on adult emergence and the associated mortality of hosts that did not produce parasites. Total impact of the parasites cannot be measured by adult emergence alone but must include parasite-killed hosts from which no parasites emerged. Nevertheless, trends in parasite effectiveness are represented by percentages based solely on adult emergence. Only 53.1% of the adult A. pumila successfully emerged in 1983 samples. Furthermore, the number of emerged plus non-emerged A. pumila was only 53.3% of the number expected based on previous samples of that same generation. This mortality of A. pumila took place even in the absence of significant populations of C. laricinellae, indicating that although C. laricinellae may cause some reduction in parasitism by A. pumila, other factors are also responsible.

A new species of Hyposoter Foerster from western North America is described based on features of the adult, final-instar cephalic structure, cocoon, and biology. Hyposoter masoni n. sp. is a common parasite of the Douglas-fir tussock moth, Orgyia pseudotsugata.

Lepidoptera larvae on highbush blueberry fed more frequently in flower and fruit clusters than in leafrolls during April, May, and early June. Their feeding reduced the harvest from individual clusters to about half of that of undamaged clusters. Larval feeding caused losses of production in blueberry fields of from 2.5 to 7% depending on leafroller densities. Insecticide treatments in experimental plots decreased leafroller populations and increased cluster yields.

Norwegian pipe traps, used with pheromones to mass-trap Ips typographus (L.) in Scandinavia, were used in central British Columbia to determine whether any native beetles would respond to the pheromone of I. typographus. The spruce-infesting Ips tridens (Mannerheim) was the only species captured. Traps baited with “Ipslure” packets (1400 mg 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol, 70 mg (S)-(−)-cis-verbenol, 15 mg racemic ipsdienol), ipsdienol, or ipsdienol plus cis-verbenol, caught significantly more beetles than unbaited traps. cis-Verbenol, which attracted no beetles when used alone, acted synergistically when added to ipsdienol. Methylbutenol used alone was no more attractive to beetles than the control, and inhibited the response of female beetles when added to traps baited with ipsdienol or ipsdienol plus cis-verbenol. Ipsenol alone attracted no beetles. The sex ratios of responding beetles (mean 1 male: 7.15 females) did not differ among treatments, but all differed significantly from the ratio of 1 male: 3.12 female beetles emerging from naturally infested spruce bolts.

The systemic insecticides oxydemeton-methyl and acephate were injected at 10- and 15-cm spacings, and acephate and dimethoate were implanted at 10-cm spacing in Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca (Beissn.) Franco, to improve seed yield. Nutrients were also injected at 15-cm spacing. All treatments except nutrients and dimethoate increased the yield of filled seeds when compared with the checks. The western spruce budworm, Choristoneura occidentalis Freeman, and spruce coneworm, Dioryctria reniculelloides Mutuura and Munroe, caused most of the damage to cones.

The diets of 25 species of forest-inhabiting birds were examined in California from 1962 to 1968. Coleoptera and Hymenoptera comprised the bulk of the diets. Coleopterans were, in decreasing amounts, the most common food of the three-toed woodpecker, Steller's jay, American robin, brown creeper, hairy woodpecker (both sexes), dark-eyed junco, downy woodpecker (both sexes), olive-sided flycatcher, western wood-pewee, and white-headed woodpecker (both sexes). Hymenopterans, mainly ants, were the most common food of the northern flicker, Williamson's sapsucker, red-breasted sapsucker, and acorn woodpecker. White-headed woodpecker (both sexes) also ate ponderosa-pine seeds in the fall. Hairy woodpecker (both sexes) fed on the seeds of ponderosa pine and sugar pine. Detailed estimates of foods consumed by item and volume from analyses of stomach contents of 241 specimens are presented.

Eggs of the larch casebearer, Coleophora laricella (Hübner), were sampled for 6 years at 3 sites in Oregon to determine causes of mortality. Infertility was of minor importance. Predation by Deraeocoris diveni Knight, Phytocoris calli Knight (Heteroptera: Miridae), and perhaps other predators caused up to 28.4% mortality. Up to 58.5% of the remaining embryos died before or at the time of hatching, probably as a result of high temperatures.

A cattle-baited (C-B) trap and a Trueman–McIver (T-M) segregating CO2 trap provided information on seasonal abundance, host-seeking activity, and blood-feeding of biting-flies near St. John's, Newfoundland. A total of 19 682 biting-flies (26 species) were collected (C-B trap = 11 407; T-M trap = 8275) from 26 May to 16 September 1982. Black-flies (Simuliidae) comprised 94.1% of the total sample (C-B trap = 10 747; T-M trap = 7773). Mosquitoes (Culicidae), biting midges (Ceratopogonidae), and tabanids (Tabanidae) comprised the remainder. Blood-fed flies represented 54.7% of the total catch in the C-B trap, but the proportion varied considerably among species. Black-fly activity was concentrated in June and July, though flies were also collected in May, August, and September. Prosimulium mixtum was the predominant species in June and Simulium venustum/verecundum complex was the major pest in July. Prosimulium mixtum was most active from mid-morning to late-afternoon, with little evening activity. Simulium venustum/verecundum complex showed 2 peaks of activity, one in the morning and another in the early evening. A few P. mixtum and S. venustum/verecundum complex were active after dark. Captures from the T-M and C-B traps were compared to test the reliability of the T-M trap as an indicator of activity of biting-flies attracted to cattle. Significant correlations (P < 0.001) between the number of flies collected in the 2 traps were found for P. mixtum and S. venustum/verecundum complex. Remaining species were taken in numbers too low for analysis.

Three pyrethroids, deltamethrin, fenvalerate, and cyfluthrin, were assayed against 2nd-instar nymphs of the grasshopper Melanoplus sanguinipes (Fab.) at 5 dosages and at 5 post-treatment temperatures ranging from 15.6 to 37.8°C. All three showed a negative temperature coefficient of toxicity but there was considerable variation in the pattern of response. Deltamethrin proved to be the most effective and cyfluthrin the least effective, both in terms of the amount of active ingredient required for 90% mortality and in having the lowest negative coefficient, respectively. The extent of the negative temperature coefficient of toxicity was much more pronounced at the LD90 than the LD50. Apparent mortality was recorded at 24, 48, and 72 h post-treatment and with each of the pyrethroids, recovery of some hoppers took place after 24 h. This phenomenon of delayed recovery was greatest at the lower temperatures.

Spelobia tenebrarum is a troglobitic sphaerocerid restricted to a large number of isolated eastern North American caves. The Quaternary origin of this species from its sister species, S. semioculata, is discussed.

Carrot rust fly (CRF), Psila rosae (Fabricius) (Diptera: Psilidae), caged with 2-month-old carrot plants at 20 °C, 50–70% RH, and 16:8 L:D laid an average of 109 eggs per female. With ca. 50% survival from egg to pupae, the rearing procedure yielded a 25 × population increase per generation. The duration of the life cycle at 20 °C was ca. 65 days. Calculated threshold temperatures and degree days above those temperatures necessary for complete development were: eggs, 4.5 °C and 94 degree days (°D); larvae, 2.02 °C and 625 °D; and pupae, 1.47 °C and 374 °D. Larvae collected in the field in fall developed normally when incubated at 22 and 19 °C; ca. 40% of the pupae entered diapause at 16 °C, and 100% at 13 and 10 °C. Fall-collected larvae chilled at 1 °C for ca. 3 months developed normally at all temperatures including those which induced diapause in pupae from unchilled larvae. With laboratory-reared pupae, 100% diapause was induced with > 10 days exposure to 13 or 10 °C. Twenty weeks storage at 1 °C was sufficient to terminate diapause in > 95% of the pupae. The ability of both CRF larvae and pupae to survive cold temperature conditions suggests that 2 separate spring emergence peaks may occur, which could have important implications if the spring flight is to be predicted on the basis of °D accumulations.

Direct-contact toxicity tests were done with 21 insecticides to assess their potential for controlling adults of the carrot rust fly, Psila rosae (Fabricius) (Diptera: Psilidae). Chlorpyrifos, chlorfenvinphos, fensulfothion, carbofuran, cypermethrin, and mevinphos were 1.2 to 2.8 ×, and deltamethrin 22 ×, more toxic to flies (24–48 h old) than was diazinon, the insecticide currently used most commonly to suppress first-generation adults of the carrot rust fly.

A key is given for 4 subgenera in the aphid genus Uroleucon Mordvilko in America north of Mexico. An annotated list and keys are presented for 44 species of the subgenus Uroleucon, 12 species of the subgenus Uromelan Mordvilko, and 1 species of the subgenus Satula Olive. Nine new species are described in the subgenus Uroleucon: Uroleucon (Uroleucon) alaskense n. sp., U.(U.) arnesense n. sp., U.(U.) boreale n. sp., U.(U.) chani n. sp., U.(U.) deltense n. sp., U.(U.) elephantopicola n. sp., U.(U.) ivae n. sp., U.(U.) maximilianicola n. sp., and U.(U.) vancouverense n. sp. Two subspecies, U. (Uromelan) illini subspecies crudae and sangamonense, are listed here merely as color forms of illini (Hottes and Frison), not subspecies. Uroleucon (Uroleucon) muralis Buckton, U. (Uromelan) compositae (Theobald), and U.(U.) solidaginis (Fabricius) have been listed as present in North America, but there appear to be no authentic records of their occurrence. Uroleucon (Uroleucon) pseudochrysanthemi (Olive) is declared to be a synonym of U.(U.) lanceolatum Patch, and U. (Uromelan) squarrosum (Sanborn) as a nomen dubium.

Pupae and 3rd-instar larvae of Pseudaletia unipuncta (Haw.) survived longer at 0 and −2°C than other immature stages, and insects reared at 15°C were more cold tolerant than those reared at 20°C. Egg survival at 0°C varied greatly among replicates suggesting genetic differences among females. No adults survived 2 weeks at 0°C. Peridroma saucia (Hub.) would not rear satisfactorily at 15°C and, other than eggs, all stages tested were from rearings at 20°C. Eggs from adults at 15°C were more cold tolerant than those from adults at 20°C. There were no differences in survival among any of the larval stages or pupae. Some adults survived 6 weeks at 0°C. No stage of either species survived over 8 weeks at 0°C nor 4 weeks at −2°C indicating that overwintering on the Canadian prairies is unlikely.

Two tephritid flies of European origin have been introduced into North America for biological control of spotted knapweed, Centaurea maculosa Lam., and diffuse knapweed, C. diffusa Lam. One, Urophora affinis Frauenfeld, was released in British Columbia in 1970 and in 5 states, including Montana, in 1973 (Hanis 1980a; Maddox 1979; Story and Anderson 1978). The other, Urophora quadrifasciata (Meigen), was introduced at Ned's Creek, British Columbia but was not released in the United States. The larvae of both flies induce galls (1 larva/gall) in immature knapweed flower heads and thus reduce seed production. Galls of Urophora affinis occur in the flower-head receptacle whereas galls of U. quadrifasciata are in the ovary wall. In contrast with U. affinis, which has only a partial second generation, U. quadrifasciata normally has 2 complete generations per year, induces thinner galls, and attacks more-mature flower heads than does U. affinis (Harris 1980a).

In the course of investigations of the cabbage maggot, Delia radicum (L.) (= brassicae Wiedemann, brassicae Bouché), a pest of canola (rapeseed) in northern Alberta, an epidemic of the parasitic fungus Strongwellsea castrans Batko and Weiser (see Humber 1976) was documented during July 1983. Infected flies (mostly females) can be recognized by the presence of one or more cavities in the abdominal membrane, into which the fungus discharges its spores (conidia). The flies continue to feed (as vital organs are not attacked), but their eggs fail to mature, apparently because of inadequate nutrition. The presence of this fungus as a pathogen of the cabbage maggot in Canada is well known (Nair and McEwen 1973).

The bertha armyworm, Mamestra conjigurata Wlk., is a polyphagous climbing cutworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) that attacks canola (Brassica napus L. and B. campestris L.) in the prairie provinces of Canada. Following the outbreaks of 1971–1974 (Turnock and Philip 1977), sampling methods to determine larval density in the field were developed by researchers in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. The methods were basically similar, using a 3-sided metal frame to outline each 0.5-m2 sample unit, with the long side of the frame (1 m) parallel to the rows of the crop. The differences were in the way in which the plants and soil surface were searched for larvae. In Manitoba, the plants within each sampling unit were shaken by hand, then the soil surface was examined for larvae and earthen lumps and plant debris were moved to expose hidden larvae. In Saskatchewan, the plants were shaken, then cut near the base and discarded before the ground surface and debris were searched. In Alberta, the plants were cut near the base, then shaken over a sheet, and the sheet and ground surface were examined for larvae.