The termitophilous tribe Termitohospitini was discovered in Japan. Sinophilus yukoaesp.nov. and Japanophilus hojoigen.nov., sp.nov. are described from specimens collected in Nansei-shotô. The genus Sinophilus is redefined. These species are the first-discovered inquilines of Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki in Japan. This suggests that C. formosanus is native to Japan rather than an introduced species, as previously believed.

Sections of stem galls induced by Diplolepis triforma Shorthouse and Ritchie obtained by plant histological techniques were used to examine anatomical features of immature stages of the insect found in situ. First-instar larvae feed over the entire surface of larval chambers, whereas maturing larvae feed only at one end of the chambers. Last-instar larvae undergo two phases of development: feeding occurs in the first phase, whereas in the second, or prepupal phase, feeding has ceased, the mid- and hind-guts become joined, contents of the gut are voided, and compound eyes, gonads, and internal ovipositional apparatus begin to differentiate. The prepupal phase also consists of two phases: the first occurs in the fall and winter, and the second occurs in the spring prior to pupation. The spring phase exhibits external adult features within the integument of the last-instar and moults to the pupa. Sections of some maturing larvae contained endoparasitoid larvae of the genus Orthopelma Taschenberg (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae).

Morphometric data were collected on 15 characters in adults of the species of the Pissodes strobi complex (P. nemorensis (Germar), P. schwarzi Hopkins, P. strobi (Peck), and P. terminalis Hopping). Data were examined using stepwise discriminant analysis to determine if all characters contribute significantly to the diagnosis of taxa, and their relative amounts of resolving power were illuminated using canonical variates analysis. Discriminant functions were generated to diagnose species. Separate discriminant functions were generated for each sex for populations from eastern and western North America. Significant sexual dimorphism and variability in body size decrease the utility of morphological characters for diagnosis, but did not prevent the formulation of useful discriminant functions, particularly when selected ratios that control for body size were added.

Descriptions of the larvae of Lancetes angusticollis (Curtis), L. lanceolatus (Clark), L. subseriatus Zimmermann, L. flavoscutatus Enderlein, L. delkeskampi Ríha, and L. nigriceps (Erichson) are provided. Characters from larval morphology are analyzed to infer the phylogenetic relationships of the genus Lancetes Sharp with other genera of Dytiscidae. A parsimony analysis based on 51 informative larval characteristics was conducted with the program NONA. The most parsimonious tree supports a sister-group relationship between the genus Lancetes and members of the subfamily Dytiscinae. The only unambiguous synapomorphy in support of this hypothesis is the secondary subdivision of some cephalic appendages. Other putative synapomorphies are the proximal articulation of the primary seta CO7 both on meso- and meta-coxa and the presence of additional primary setae on the ventral margin of the tibiae. Based on several character states including the presence of multifragmented urogomphi, the genus Lancetes is monophyletic.

The meiotic formula of the European spruce beetle, Dendroctonus micans (Kugelann), is 10 AA + Xyp in males and 10 AA + XX in females. This karyotype is different from the morphologically similar Dendroctonus punctatus LeConte (14 AA + Xyp), which is consistent with the taxonomic validity of both species. The chromosome number found in D. micans, added to karyological data from other species of the genus Dendroctonus Erichson, suggest that the karyological diversification within this genus may have occurred in two directions: one toward more southerly latitudes in North America and the other toward Europe and Asia.

Four compounds were identified from female sex-pheromone gland extracts of Acleris fimbriana Merick, an important pest in northern fruit orchards of China, by gas chromatography, gas chromatography – mass spectrometry, and flight-tunnel and field-trapping tests. These compounds were (E)-11,13-tetradecadienal (E11,13-14:Ald), (E)-11,13-tetradecadien-1-ol (E11,13-14:OH), (E)-11-tetradecenyl acetate (E11-14:Ac), and (E)-11,13-tetradecadienyl acetate (E11,13-14:Ac). In field-trapping tests, traps baited with E11,13-14:Ald alone produced the highest trap captures of male A. fimbriana, but the other three individual compounds did not capture any mates. Addition of E11,13-14:Ac to E11,13-14:Ald enhanced trap capture, whereas addition of E11-14:Ac had no effect. A ternary blend of E11,13-14:Ald, E11,13-14:Ac, and E11-l4:Ac in a 6:4:1 ratio captured 7.5 times mean males per trap than virgin females. E11,13-14:OH inhibited trap capture when it was added to E11,13-14:Ald or the ternary blend. This pheromone could be used to monitor populations of A. fimbriana and to control this important pest of fruits in China.

Ips paraconfusus Lanier is a vector of the pitch canker fungus, Fusarium circinatum Nirenberg and O’Donnell, in California. Multiple infections of Monterey pine, Pinus radiata D. Don. (Pinaceae), branches and main stems appear to predispose trees to infestation by I. paraconfusus. The effect of cankers produced in response to F. circinatum on oviposition and gallery construction was investigated. Introduction of beetles into artificially induced or naturally occurring cankers was less likely to result in oviposition and resulted in shorter galleries than introductions into logs without cankers. Of all adults that produced eggs, the mean number of eggs per adult was no different in logs with cankers than in canker-free logs; however, the distance across the grain from the introduction point to the first egg was greater for adults introduced into cankers than for adults introduced away from cankers. These results indicate that the pitch canker pathogen has a negative effect on I. paraconfusus, as cankers produced in response to the pathogen are unsuitable for exploitation by the insect.

A field study was carried out to determine the intracrown distribution of the balsam fir sawfly, Neodiprion abietis Harris (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae), throughout the season on balsam fir, Abies balsamea L. (Pinaceae), during the first 2 years of an outbreak in western Newfoundland. Eggs were usually laid one per needle on current-year shoots, and the following year, newly emerged larvae usually initiated feeding on the same shoots. Balsam fir sawfly larvae were gregarious on needle and shoot levels in the early instars but gradually became solitary as larvae developed. The process of becoming solitary was not due to the increased physical area required for the growing larvae as some older individuals, in mainly solitary stages, were seen feeding together. Unlike the continuous change from gregarious to solitary at the needle and shoot levels, the seasonal variation in larval density among whorls varied in an inconsistent manner. The majority of early-instar larvae were found in the middle crown, but on at least one date in both years the majority of late instars were in the lower crown. Seventy-five percent of crawling larvae trapped within the crown were third and fourth instars, suggesting that changes in the intra-tree distribution are due to larval movement.

We conducted laboratory experiments assessing the relationship between commercial greenhouse polyethylene coverings and bumble bee, Bombus impatiens Cresson (Hymenoptera: Apidae), activity and loss from ventilation systems. Bee activity was measured in four small greenhouses, each with a different polyethylene covering. Bee activity was quantified using photodiode tunnels mounted in the hive entrances. Contrary to commercial greenhouse experiments, there was no difference in bee activity based on covering type. There was a positive linear relationship between temperature in the experimental greenhouses and bee activity. The potential for bee loss through open ventilation systems for five covering types was quantified using a Y-maze decision box. Bees were more attracted to direct light than to light transmitted through ultraviolet (UV) blocking coverings, whereas bees were equally attracted to direct light as they were to UV-transmitting coverings. These experiments suggest that greenhouses with UV-transmitting plastics may result in less bee loss through ventilation systems.

Egg load of newly emerged adult parasitoids of the southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), was examined. Infested bark was collected from D. frontalis infestations in southwestern Arkansas (Clark and Montgomery counties; 1995), the Bankhead National Forest in Alabama (1999), and the Talladega National Forest in Alabama (1998–2000) between June and September of each collection year. Newly emerged parasitoid females were dissected and numbers of mature and immature eggs counted. There was no significant difference in number of eggs within a species and between parasitoids from the Bankhead National Forest compared with those from the Talladega National Forest in Alabama in 1999. There were differences in number of eggs within a species between years at the same location. Dendroctonus frontalis parasitoids in the family Pteromalidae (Hymenoptera) had the most mature eggs, followed by Braconidae (Hymenoptera) and Eurytomidae (Hymenoptera). Within the D. frontalis parasitoids in the family Pteromalidae, Dinotiscus dendroctoni (Ashmead) and Heydenia unica Cook and Davis had more mature eggs than did Roptrocerus xylophagorum Ratzeburg. Within the D. frontalis parasitoids in the family Braconidae, Meteorus hypophloei Cushman females contained the most mature eggs, followed by Dendrosoter sulcatus Muesebeck, Spathius pallidus Ashmead, and Coeloides pissodis (Ashmead). These data constitute a foundation for defining baseline egg load of the D. frontalis parasitoid complex.