Several species of native syrphids have been found to prey upon the introduced balsam woolly aphid, Adelges piceae (Ratz.), in New Brunswick and three of these, Syrphus torvus O. S., Metasyrphus lapponicus (Zett.), and Neocnemodon coxalis (Curr.), are sometimes very common. As part of a long-term study of the biological control of the balsam woolly aphid by native and introduced predators, the life histories, natural control, population fluctuations and control value of these native syrphids have been investigated.

A previous paper (Canadian Entomologist 40(2): 81–89, 1958) considered the general nature of an air-borne scent and suggested a mechanism by which a flying insect could be guided towards the source of an attractive odor. At first sight, it might seem that a repellent is merely an attractant with a minus sign, but this is an oversimplification, because an attractant may and often does bring the attracted insect in from a distance of a few miles, whereas the repellent has done its work if it removes the unwanted insect to a distance of no more than a few inches. The quantitative difference in the effect is so great as to imply a qualitative difference in the mechanism. On the naive view, the attractant draws the insect upwind and therefore the repellent should drive it downwind. A qualitative difference implies some third result, possibly a tendency to move the insect across the wind. This may, in fact, be the way repellents work in some circumstances, but it can scarcely be the whole story and is mentioned at this point merely to bring out the inherent difference between the attraction and repulsion of insects by odors.

A distinctive new species of Austromenopon from two species of shearwaters, Puffinus kuhlii (Scopoli) and Puffinus leucomelas (Temminick), is described herein. The new species is based on specimens collected from museum study skins and also from material lent to me by Dr. Theresa Clay, British Museum (Natural History) and the U.S. National Museum. I am indebted to Dr. Clay for the opportunity to examine material from the Meinertzhagen collection and to Dr. K. C. Emerson for reviewing this manuscript.

During current studies of Cerambycidae at Laniel, Quebec, new information on the immature forms and biology of the common woodborer, Xylotrechus colonus (Fab.) was obtained. This species belongs to the tribe Clytini of the subfamily Cerambycinae, and was first described by Fabricius in 1775 as Callidium colonus. Packard (1890) described and figured the larva, pupa, and adult in a general way; the mature larva was described in detail by Craighead (1923). Synonomy and adult description were given by Hopping (1932).

The Douglas-fir cone moth has been reported causing damage to cones and seeds of Douglas fir for a number of years; reports of seed loss range from light to almost 100 per cent. The insect occurs throughout the range of the host in British Columbia, the Pacific Coast States, and the Rocky Mountains.

Observations recorded here were made during 1957 and 1958 in the Cowichan Lake area of Vancouver Island, and 1959 in the interior of British Columbia.

The predacious mite, Melichares dentriticus (Berlese), has been mass-cultured (Burnett, 1960) for the past few years at this laboratory on populations of Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank) (= castellanii (Hirst)) (Acarina: Acaridae) (Robertson, 1959). Individual rearings, however, were required to obtain detailed information on the life history, behaviour, and ecological requirements, prior to the use of this species as an experimental animal in the study of predatorprey interactions. This paper is an account of the various techniques tested and of the observations made throughout these studies.

This is the second of a series of papers (Miller, 1959) describing the interaction of primary parasites and the spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.), based on data collected during an outbreak of the budworm in northern New Brunswick during the period 1947–1958. The first paper showed that the interaction between the spruce budworm and Apanteles fumiferanae Vier. is adequately described by the general mathematicai model developed by Watt (1959). The data on the parasite Glypta fumiferanae (Vier.) to be presented in this paper are also analysed by means of Watt's model and consequently the method is essentially the same. There is, however, one important difference. In the case of A. fumiferanae, the estimated number of adult parasites was only an index based on the potential number emerging from the previous host generation. The observed density of G. fumiferanae is a more realistic estimate. It is based on the actual number of cocoons found on the foliage during the adult emergence period.

Richards (9) recognized five species of Lecanium for Canada – namely L. coryli L., L. cerasifex Fitch, L. tiliae L., L. nigrofasciatum Pergande and L. caryae Fitch. L. coryli L. and L. cerasifex Fitch were distributed from British Columbia to Nova Scotia; L. tiliae L. occurred only in British Columbia.

Further, Richards (9) drew the following conclusions:

1.) L. coryli is the L. corni Bouché of Marchal (1908) and of most European workers but is not the L. corni of North American workers.

2.) L. corni Bouché of Sanders (1909) and subsequent North American workers is a mixture of two species, L. corni Bouché of Marchal and L. cerasifex Fitch of Richards.

3.) L. tiliae is L. coryli of Marchal (1908) and subsequent workers.

Although the European pine shoot moth is well known as a pest of pines where winters are moderate, particularly in southern Ontario (1, 2, 3, 6), its occurrence in the Province of Quebec has been sporadic and confined chiefly to the more southern regions. There have been occasional reports of this insect in Montreal since 1931 and in Grand' Mère since 1934, but it was not until 1954 that it was discovered in Quebec City. Since that time, however, it has been recorded from several other localities. In 1958, it was found in a nursery at Sayabec, in the Matapedia Valley.

Cyzenis albicans (Fall.) has been introduced into Nova Scotia as a control measure against the winter moth, Operophtera brumata (L.). The parasite attacks the late larval stages of the winter moth, pupates within the host in the ground, and emerges in the spring. The first liberations were made at Oak Hill near Bridgewater and the dates of releases as well as the numbers released were reported by Graham (1958) as follows: 1954, 31; 1955, 1008; 1956, 1005; 1957, 250. Graham made recoveries of C. albicans from rearings of larvae collected at Oak Hill in 1956 and 1957 and found that parasitism was less than two per cent both years. While liberations have been made at other locations in the Province since 1957, no further releases have been made at or near Oak Hill.

Swaine (1918) recognized 31 species of Pityophthorus. Subsequently 91 new species have been described (Blackman 1920, 1921, 1922a, 1922b, 1928; Swaine 1925; Schedl 1930, 1931) making a total of 122. Some have been transferred to other genera, and others have been placed in synonymy (Blackman 1928; Wood 1957) leaving 115 species now recognized. The following description of a new species was prepared after examination of 50 species of Pityophthorus, including examples from the U.S. National Museum, the Canadian National Collection, and Forest Biology Laboratories across Canada. The loan of this material is greatly appreciated. No species have been described previously from alpine larch, Larix lyallii Parl. The description is based on examination at a magnification of 50 times.

Since Fye and Medler (1954) described methods of obtaining establishment of bumble bee queens in artificial domiciles in Wisconsin, we have been obtaining colonies for pollination and food-preference studies by similar means. The following is a summary of our experiences with the Fye-Medler type of above-ground domicile. Most of the trials were conducted in the prairie region of southern Alberta with grassland species of bumble bees; one was conducted in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in southern Alberta, where species peculiar to treed areas are common. Because bumble bee queens make their nests in deserted mice nests, domiciles with entrance holes 1 ¼ inches in diameter were partly filled with roughed-up flax straw and set out in the fall to first provide homes for mice. The following spring, the mice were expelled and mice-excluders (thin metal plates 2 inches square, with holes 5/8 inch in diameter) were nailed over the original holes (cf. Fye and Medler, 1954).

During the course of investigations of the life history of the pine root collar weevil, Hylobius radicis Buchanan, in Wisconsin, a larval parasite was encountered by the junior author. The Braconid adults which emerged represent an undescribed species of the genus Bracon.

Long-term studies of the biology of bark and cambium-feeding insects have been limited to observations in the field or to rearing methods which present conditions deviating from the natural habitat and requiring considerable labor and material. A simple rearing technique is required which will simulate the normal habitat yet will allow the rearing of a numerous and continuously visible stock of specimens without repeated handling.

Recent study of three Ontario Petrova specimens in the Canadian National Collection, tentatively identified as P. albicapitana (Busck), showed them to be the Virginia pitch-nodule moth, P. wenzeli (Kearfott). This insect was previously unknown outside the range of its Virginia pine host, Pinus virginiana Mill. (Miller and Altmann, 1958). Following this discovery, the Canadian Forest Insect Survey assembled nearly 300 specimens labeled as Petrova albicapitana for restudy, and among these 2 more P. wenzeli specimens were identified by the writer. With the writer's differentiation guide given below, Forest Insect Survey personnel distinguished two more P. wenzeli moths from a large group of P. albicapitana specimens reared subsequently.