The calling posture, diel periodicity of calling, calling pattern, photoperiodic cue of calling, and endogenous circadian rhythm of calling were studied in virgin females of the bertha armyworm, Mamestra configurata Walker, at 20°C, 60% RH, and a 16 h light: 8 h dark photoperiod. The female had a definite calling posture: the ovipositor was extruded and curved downward at an angle of about 45°, the wings were raised above the abdomen in the form of a “V”, the antennae were directed posteriorly and held close to the sides of the thorax, and the abodmen was bent so that the two ends were raised slightly and the middle was lowered. Calling had a discrete diel periodicity, occurring in the last two-thirds of the scotophase. The calling pattern was characteristic of the continuous pattern of calling. The lights-off signal was the photoperiodic cue responsible for setting the timing of the diel periodicity of calling. The circadian rhythm of calling was endogenously based.

The damsel bug, Nobis americoferus Carayon, develops through two generations a year in eastern Ontario. In early fall, females of the second generation develop a reproductive diapause but both sexes continue to feed until freeze-up. Post-diapause development begins in late March. Eggs are deposited singly in plant stems but several may be laid in close proximity. In alfalfa, most eggs were found where stem diameter measured from 0.8 to 1.9 mm but height of oviposition site was not related to length of stem. Females reared at 23°C laid an average of 157 eggs during a 3-week oviposition period. The immature stages of the first generation occurred from mid-April to mid-July and those of the second generation from mid-July to early September. The duration of each stage of N. americoferus, fed pea aphids, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harr.), and held at four constant temperatures, 18, 23, 28, and 31°C, decreased with increasing temperature. There was a highly correlated linear relationship between rate of development and temperature for all stages. The theoretical temperature threshold for development of eggs was 11.1°C and that for the nymphal stage was 10.6°C; degree-day requirements for these stages were 123.5 and 370.4, respectively. Developmental rate of nymphs varied with host as well as temperature; nymphs fed larvae of the alfalfa blotch leafminer, Agromyza frontella (Rondani), developed significantly faster than those fed pea aphid.

In free-choice trials with Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess), a serious greenhouse pest, and 16 species of weeds commonly found near greenhouses in Nova Scotia, the leafminer produced feeding punctures and mines in every weed tested. There were wide variations in mean numbers of punctures per plant and larval mines per plant and less pronounced variations in the mean ratios of punctures to mines. In single-host trials, development time and survival of larval and pupal L. trifolii were determined on 10 of these weeds and on Chrysanthemum morifolium cv. White Marble. Pupal survival with all weeds was as high or higher than with chrysanthemum and larval survival was as high or higher than with chrysanthemum in 6 of the 10 weeds. Time from oviposition to adult emergence was as short as that on chrysanthemum on two weeds and shorter on six others. Only creeping Charlie, Glechoma hederacea, was an unsuitable host with no larvae developing to the pupal stage. The ability of L. trifolii to use common weeds as alternate hosts indicates that weed control in and around greenhouses should be included in any program to protect greenhouse chrysanthemums from this leafminer.

Cyromazine was effective in controlling Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess) (Diptera: Agromyzidae) larvae within chrysanthemum leaves. Ovipositor puncturing was not deterred by this larvicide. Adult emergence was inhibited when 3rd-instar larvae were exposed to cyromazine. Reduced dosages of 0.003, 0.030, and 0.300 g AI/L did not inhibit initiation of mines, but at the highest rate caused significant mortality. Diflubenzuron reduced L. trifolii ovipositor punctures but did not cause larval mortality. Methomyl applied at 0.5 mL/L gave significant control of larvae. Neither larvicide proved phytotoxic to a range of cultivars tested in a commercial greenhouse. Aldicarb applied to the soil at rates ranging from 28.8 to 575.0 g AI/100 m2 was found effective against L. trifolii larvae but severe phytotoxicity resulted from single applications at the two highest rates. Ovipositor punctures were not reduced as treatment rates increased, but oviposition tended to diminish in response to dosage. Complete leafminer control from a single application would require a highly phytotoxic dosage.

Comparisons of three isomers of the San Jose scale [Quadraspidiotus perniciosus (Comstock)] pheromone showed that SJS3 was slightly more attractive than SJS1 or SJS2. Pheromone-baited traps were compared with sticky barrier traps for the detection and monitoring of male emergence activity and each trap type produced a different activity pattern relative to both calendar days and accumulated degree-days (DD). San Jose scale phenology varied between geographic areas of the Okanagan Valley when compared by using DD accumulations above either 7.2 or 10.5°C and suggests a trend towards decreasing DD requirements as the insect’s distribution moves north.

Based on a simple graphic analysis, I conclude that blackheaded budworm population density cycles are caused by delayed negative feedback processes, probably due to the numerical response of insect parasitoids. The parasitoid–host interaction, however, has a stable solution and continuous population density cycles can only be maintained in a variable environment.

The threshold temperature (t0) for both oviposition and egg development and the thermal constant (K) for egg development were determined using linear regression analysis for an Ontario population of the spotted tentiform leafminer, Phyllonorycter blancardella (Fabr.). Fecundity was highly variable, ranging from 1 to 152 eggs, and was not significantly affected by temperature. Calculation of the daily oviposition rates for the first 4 days of the experiment and for the period from the beginning of the experiment until the day on which the last egg was laid resulted in estimates of the oviposition threshold of 9.1 and 8.9°C, respectively. The threshold temperature for egg development was estimated as 2.5°C and the thermal constant for egg development as 172.5 degree-days.

In two field tests, larvae of Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess) were not controlled by aldicarb (Temik 10G) at three times the recommended rate when applied to soil, dry foliage, or wet foliage of chrysanthemums (cv. White Marble) in Ontario. A second treatment of aldicarb 3 weeks after the first did not prevent the increase in leafmining. Assessment of the top 10 leaves at harvest showed no significant differences in numbers of mines greater than 2 cm between check and treated plots. Residues of aldicarb and its degradation compounds, aldicarb sulfoxide and aldicarb sulfone, were detected by capillary gas chromatography with thermionic specific detection. Substantial residues (> 100 μg/g as total residues), particularly of aldicarb sulfoxide, were found within the 1st week after treatment, but dissipated rapidly in upper leaves by day 7 after the first aldicarb application. Lower leaves, however, maintained residue levels at a constant level for a 3-week period following the first and second applications. Residue levels on lower leaves were consistently higher after wet-foliage application of aldicarb than after soil application.

Factors influencing spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana) mating and mating suppression in an enclosed environment in the laboratory were investigated to develop a quantitative assay suited to statistical analysis. Mating in the absence of the two major components of spruce budworm sex pheromone (control) was not affected by changes in moth population density nor by increasing the experimental duration from 20 to 44 h. The proportions mated increased with an increase in the male:female ratio to 1.5:1 and when the experimental duration was prolonged to 68 h. Using a population density, sex ratio combination of 15:10 (male:female) the proportions of mated females decreased with increasing source concentrations of the two major spruce budworm sex pheromone components (95:5 E/Z-11–14-tetradecenal). This effect was diminished with increases in the population density and with extended test duration. Mating in the presence of pheromone remained lower than controls over all durations tested.

A series of samples of the twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, from 16 experimental populations on “Totem” strawberry, Fragaria × ananassa Duch., were examined to determine the index of dispersion, the variance–mean relationship, the distribution, and the relationship between the mean number of T. urticae/leaflet and the proportion of leaflets without T. urticae. The slope of the variance–mean relationship, 1.64 ± 0.0355(SE), did not differ between sample dates but the intercept decreased significantly (p < 0.01) from 2.56 ± 0.0969 before harvest to 1.76 ± 0.140 during harvest. At 0.0136 T. urticae/leaflet before harvest and 0.0644 T. urticae/leaflet during harvest, the variance equaled the mean, implying that at these densities the data followed the Poisson distribution. Above these densities the data were overdispersed, most samples conforming with the negative binomial distribution but some tending towards greater dispersion than the negative binomial. There was no common k for the negative binomial nor did the data fit the expectation for 1/k that was consistent with the variance–mean relationship. A distribution-free sampling scheme based on the sample mean and the proportion of leaflets without T. urticae () was developed. Tetranychus urticae density can be quickly determined in the field using the naked eye, by iteratively observing leaflets for the presence or absence of T. urticae and referring to a small table that gives both the mean density for a given and the number of leaflets required to obtain a specified standard error.

This paper treats taxonomically 10 North American species of the genus Pardosa. The coloradensis group contains only the three species Pardosa metlakatla Emerton, 1917, Pardosa coloradensis Banks, 1894, and Pardosa ontariensis Gertsch, 1933 (= Pardosa pristina Fox, 1937, new synonym). The xerampelina group contains three Nearctic species, namely, Pardosa diuturna Fox, 1937, Pardosa xerampelina (Keyserling, 1877) (= Pardosops impavidula Roewer, 1954, new synonym), and Pardosa nordicolens Chamberlin and Ivie, 1947. The lapponica group comprises the Holarctic species Pardosa lapponica (Thorell, 1872) (= Pardosa harperi Bishop, 1949, new synonym) and the Nearctic Pardosa concinna (Thorell, 1877). The tesquorum group is composed of the Holarctic species Pardosa tesquorum (Odenwall, 1901) and the Nearctic Pardosa mulaiki Gertsch, 1934.

Ether extracts from Eurygaster integriceps (Evlakhova and Chekhourina 1962) and Bombyx mori (Koidsumi 1957) have been found to inhibit germination of conidia of the white muscardine fungus, Beauveria bassiana, and of Aspergillus flavus, respectively. Free fatty acids, such as caprylic acid, which inhibit the germination of B. bassiana conidia (Smith and Grula 1981), have been found on the cuticle of several insects (Smith and Grula 1982; Saito and Aoki 1983). However, Smith and Grula (1982) found that the toxicity of free fatty acids to B. bassiana conidia in vitro is dependent on the nutritional conditions present. The germination of B. bassiana conidia onthe integument of the mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae, is seldom observed without nutrient enhancement (Hunt et al. 1984). My objective was to determine whether the relative absence of conidial germination on D. ponderosae cuticle is due in part to the action of toxic free fatty acids.