Crop failures are a frequent phenomenon of saskatoon berries, Amelanchier alnifolia Nutt., in Saskatchewan. The curculionid beetle Tachypterellus quadrigibbus Say is shown to have a pronounced effect on the relation and quality of fruit produced. Its feeding and reproductive habits on the berries are proposed as a major cause of crop failures.

Mesopolobus finlaysoni sp. n. and M. longicaudae sp. n. (Peteromalinae) are described from the Vancouver district, British Columbia. Relationships with allied species and some biological data are given.

Eggs from a laboratory colony that had been in colonization for 34 generations at 25° ± 2 °C and 60% ± 10% R.H. were planted on thinning apples and held at temperatures ranging from 19.4 °C at night to 33.3 °C during the day. Humidity fluctuated freely with temperature changes. Then equal numbers of adults from the 1st generation of the fluctuating temperature colony and of adults from the 35th generation of the constant temperature colony were released. In a second series of tests, equal numbers of gamma irradiated (25 kr gamma irradiated) and unirradiated adults from the 2nd and 3rd generations of the fluctuating temperature colony and irradiated (25 kr) and unirradiated adults from the 36th and 37th generations of the constant temperature colony were released There were no statistical differences in recaptures of the 1st generation of the fluctuating temperature colony and the 35th generation of the constant temperature colony. Recaptures of the 2nd and 3rd generations of the fluctuating temperature colony were significantly greater than recaptures of the 36th and 37th generations of the constant temperature colony.

Eggs of Hexagenia rigida McDunnough transferred directly from 20° to 36°, 32°, 28°, 24°, 20°, 16°, 12°, and 8 °C were monitored for start of hatch, hatching rate, success of hatch, and hatching period. Eggs did not hatch at 36 °C or 8 °C. There was a direct relationship between temperature and start of hatch (from day 7 at 32 °C to day 77 at 12 °C). Over 90% hatch occurred at all temperatures except 12 °C. Hatching periods ranged from about 6 days at the higher temperatures to over 80 days at 16 °C and 12 °C. Hatching occurred at 36 °C when eggs were transferred in increments of 4 °C every 2 days.Storage capabilities of eggs in "early", "middle", and "late" stages of embryonic development were tested at 12 °C and 8 °C using a direct or stepwise transfer method. Hatching parameters monitored were hatch rate, success of hatch, and hatching period up to 90% hatch of total number of eggs. Middle stage eggs transferred in a stepwise manner could be held at 8 °C for up to 52 weeks with least effect on hatching parameters. Middle and late stage eggs could be stored for up to 16 weeks at 8 °C using the direct transfer method, and early stage eggs, which were affected most by cold storage, could be held for 2 days at 12 °C with minimal effect on hatching parameters. The storage of eggs, shown here to be possible, is potentially useful for providing such material for bioassays throughout the year.

A key to species for adults and figures of the three North American Cinygma are presented. New distribution records are given; the range of C. lyriformis McDunnough is extended to Alaska and the genus in the Palearctic is discussed. Nymphs are undescribed except for C. integrum (Eaton). The life history of the latter is given for Oregon. Nymphs of all size classes are present throughout the year but adult emergence is restricted to mid May to mid July. Nymphs apparently are restricted to a submerged wood habitat.

An open arena, airflow olfactometer was developed and used to test the response of adult Cyrptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens) to various volatile stimuli. Beetles of mixed age and sex oriented positively upwind to the odor of beetles, frass, pentane extracts of frass, and pentane extracts of Porapak Q-captured volatiles from beetles or frass. Both sexes responded to the odor of beetle populations of mixed sex as well as to the odor of males, indicating that males produce a true population aggregation pheromone Only females responded to the odor of females. C. ferrugineus may utilize the aggregation pheromone in conjunction with fungal odors to locate suitable habitats.

Two new species of Phytocoris Fallén are described: alpinus from Alberta and brooksi from Manitoba. Adults and male genitalia are illustrated.

The six larval instars of Stegopterna mutata (Malloch) and seven larval instars of Simulium vittatum Zetterstedt can be definitively separated by differences in postgenal length, body length, and number of primary cephalic fan rays. Counts of the number of rows of hooks and hooks/row in the anal circlet were inconclusive in separating all instars of either species.

Several of the “subspecies” and “forms” of Acrididae listed but not named by Brooks are discussed and a subspecies of Melanoplus packardii is named. Subspecies of Melanoplus sanguinipes and Pardalophora apiculata proposed by Brooks are not recognized. Trimerotropis longicornis E.M. Walker is removed from synomymy with T. campestris McNeill, as the names apply to different taxa.

The life stages, feeding habits, and some aspects of natural control of Symmerista leucitys Franclemont, a univoltine defoliator of sugar maple, are described.

Black horned tree crickets, Oecanthus nigricornis (Walker), were continuously reared for the first time in the laboratory. Optimum rearing conditions per unit effort involved 2 months at −5 °C to terminate egg diapause, and subsequent incubation of eggs from infested raspberry cane segments at 27 °C and 45% relative humidity. Eggs began hatching in 2 weeks, and second generation eggs were obtained within 2.5 months. The best survival from egg to adult was 55%. The possibility that male tree crickets provide a nutritional investment in their progeny is discussed.

Three new species of fleas are described, two of the family HYSTRICHOPSYLLIDAE Tiraboschi 1904 (Nearctopsylla grahami n. sp. and Rhadinopsylla (Micropsylla) rauschi n. sp.) and one of the family CERATOPHYLLIDAE Dampf 1908 (Ceratophyllus calderwoodi n. sp,). N. grahami is known only from western Ontario where it has been collected from marten, Martes a. americana. R. (M.) rauschi was collected from deer mice, Peromyscus maniculatus osgoodi, in southwestern Saskatchewan. C. calderwoodi was collected from a nest of cliff swallow, Petrochelidon pyrrhonota, in eastern New Brunswick.

Satin moth, Leucoma salicis (L), larvae from parents which fed on eastern cottonwood and largetooth aspen were laboratory-reared from eclosion to diapause (3rd stage) on fresh foliage of seven poplar and one willow species. Larvae from parents which fed on eastern cottonwood weighed more at eclosion, developed more rapidly, had higher survival, and gained more weight by the onset of diapause relative to larvae from aspen-fed parents. Larvae which were fed the host foliage of their parents developed more rapidly. The highest survival and greatest weight gains occurred where progeny of individuals that developed on eastern cottonwood were reared on that host. Lombardy poplar and eastern cottonwood were the most suitable host species, while white, Simon, and balsam poplars were the least suitable.

The postbloom and summer sprays recommended in Florida commercial citrus cultures for management of insect and mite pests and phytopathogenic diseases caused a significant (P < 0.05) reduction of citrus blackfly, Aleurocanthus woglumi Ashby, infesting urban dooryard citrus. There were no observed adverse chronic effects on populations of the parasite Amitus hesperidum Silvestri, or the predator complex consisting of spiders, chrysopids, and coccinellids attributable to the chemical treatments. The absence of chronic pesticide-induced interference with biological control agents was interpreted as an indication of the potential for development of integrated control strategies against A. woglumi should this insect invade commercial citrus areas in Florida.

Dry-weight changes in the midgut, abdominal fat body, flight muscles, pterothoracic cuticle, and reproductive tract were measured in unfed male Rhodnius prolixus Stål following eclosion and in males fed a single blood meal on day 5 post-ecdysis. Males, which had fed to repletion as fifth instar nymphs, emerged from the nymphal–adult moult with approximately the same quantity of blood solids in the midgut as observed in fully engorged males. Carry-over of the blood-meal from the fifth instar was sufficient to allow the fat body, flight muscles, and pterothoracic cuticle in unfed males to attain over 85% of the weight accretion observed in fed males. The reproductive tract dry weight in unfed adults increased only 60–65% of that in fed adults. Flight-muscle and reproductive-tract development in fed insects reached growth plateaux in 2 and 3 weeks after the final nymphal moult, while cuticle development continued for up to 10 days. It is concluded that R. prolixus males which emerge from fully engorged fifth instars do not require a blood meal in the adult stage to trigger growth processes and tissue development, but if the adult takes at least one blood meal, significant increases in the reproductive-tract dry weight and slight increases in the dry weights of other tissues will occur.

The effect of depriving female field crickets of conspecific male contact upon the frequency of phonotaxic response to conspecific mating song was tested in Gryllus integer Scudder and G. veletis Alexander and Bigelow (Orthoptera: Gryllidae). In both species, positive phonotaxis was 5 to 9 times more frequent in male-deprived females than in females kept with males. Increased phonotaxis in the former group was apparent with 3 days separation. Addition of G. veletis males to the female-only culture greatly reduced subsequent phonotaxis. As female field crickets sometimes occur in male-free areas in the field, such increased phonotaxis may well be of adaptive importance.

The green lacewing, Meleoma schwarzi (Banks), is reported from the southern interior of British Columbia. Characters are provided which distinguish this species from other Canadian chrysopids, in particular Chrysopa gravida Banks.

Banchus flavescens Cress. and Athrycia cinerea (Coq.) were reared each year (1972–1975) from larvae of bertha army worm, Mamestra configurata Walk. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), collected during an outbreak of this species on rapeseed in Manitoba. Neither parasite was reared from other Lepidoptera collected at that time from rapeseed; two separate attempts to propagate the parasites on native Lepidoptera other than M. configurata were unsuccessful (Wylie and Bucher 1977; Ewen and Arthur 1976). Since 1975 M. configurata has been rare in Manitoba. In 1976 both B. flavescens and A. cinerea were reared from bertha armyworm larvae from temporary artificial populations on rapeseed at Glenlea, south of Winnipeg. The presence of the two parasites in this locality, where M. configurata was not found during the outbreak, suggested that both B. flavescens and A. cinerea parasitize other lepidopterous species in Manitoba, especially when bertha armyworms are not present.

A sterile insect release may reduce the rate of reproduction in the pest population exposed but has no carry-over potential to succeeding generations. Serebrovskii (1940) suggested the use, in release programs, of semi-sterile insects of such genetic make-up that their reproductive potential is low. The advantage claimed is that this trait would be inherited and would lower the reproductive rate in succeeding generations (Curtis 1968; Rai et al. 1973; Knipling and Klassen 1976). The genetic factor most widely suggested for producing this type of continuing semisterility is the chromosomal rearrangement called a translocation (Fitz-Earle 1976; Robinson 1976). In laboratory and field cage tests, it has been demonstrated that chromosomal translocations reduced the reproductive rate in several insect species in the generation in which the translocation is introduced (Robinson 1976). However, in such experiments, the effect of a single release of individuals on population levels in subsequent generations has not, to date, been demonstrated.

Telenomus californicus Ashmead is a major egg parasite of the Douglas-fir tussock moth, Orgyia pseudotsugata (McDunnough), throughout the host's range. This parasite is effective at finding host egg masses. Even when host insects are sparse, over 90% of egg masses may be attacked and 50% of the total egg complement destroyed (R.R. Mason and T.R. Torgersen, unpub.). In the southwest an undetermined Tetrastichus species can also be a significant egg parasite of the tussock moth. Because host finding might involve some degree of kairomonemediated behavior we were interested in any effect that synthetic pheromone, applied to disrupt mating of the host, might have on parasitism by these valuable species.