Only a few studies have been made on the external morphology of both the adults and larva of a single species of sawfly, viz.: Hoplocampa balcyon (Nort.) (Bird 1926; 1927); Lygaeonematus subarcticus Forsl. (Forsslund 1936); Diprion pini (L.) (Arora 1953; 1959); Cephalcia marginata Middlekauff (Rivard 1955); and Taxonus agrorum Fallén (Ciampolini 1957). The following paper presents a detailed study of the external morphology of the larch sawfly, Pristiphora erichsonii (Htg.) and represents a consolidated revision of interim technical reports prepared earlier (Wong 1958a; 1958b). A recent paper by Bracken (1961) drew heavily from the wording and organization of the earlier of these reports for description of the external morphology of the adults of Anoplonyx luteipes (Cress.) and A. canadensis Harr. Unfortunately, Bracken incorporated minor morphological misinterpretations that have been corrected in the present paper.

The surviving material of C. F. Baker's collection of aphid parasites comprises a total of 107 specimens of which 27 are syntypes representing 9 species described by Baker. Lectotypes are designated for Ephedrus californicus, E. nevadensis, Praon nanus, P. occidentale, Aphidius delicatus, A. coloratus, A. ferruginosus, A. pulcher, and Diaeretiella (= Diaeretus sensu auctt.) californica. The synonymy of all taxa is discussed, and redescriptions of most of the species are given. The remaining 80 specimens of the collection represent 7 genera and 14 species.

In the past twenty years in Saskatchewan the rate of nymphal development of three species of grasshoppers has varied considerably from year to year and region to region. Camnula pellucida appeared as early as, or earlier than, the other two species. The average date of attainment of the adult stage was July 21 compared to August 4th for Melanoplus bilituratus and M. bivittatus. Adult surveys in Saskatchewan have generally coincided with the time when the dominant species of grasshoppers, in any region, have attained full morphological and sexual maturity and have had an opportunity to disperse and stabilize density. Duration of the surveys, in any one of seven regions, in the years 1958-1961, varied from 4-31 days and averaged 19 days per year. The total period of survey for the province varied from 25-42 days and averaged 30 days per year.

Variations in seasonal histories of the several grasshopper species demand an elastic schedule for surveys. The concept of maintaining a standard and rigid “best time” for surveys is untenable in the light of the present investigations.

In this paper a new species of Fullawaya Essig is described. The genus is broken down to include subgenera Neopterocomma H.R.L. and Pseudopterocomma new subgenus. The species Fullawaya saliciradicis Essig and Pterocomma braggi (Gillette and Palmer) are discussed.

Last instar larvae and the pupae of Gluphisia avimacula, Notodonta simplaria, Dasylophia thyatiroides and Hyparpax perophoroides are described, compared with those of related species, and in part figured. Various ecological aspects are discussed and host plant information is provided in each case, with comments on the number of generations, times of occurrence and, with respect to simplaria and thyatiroides, on the regional prevalence of melanism.

This paper deals with the Trinidad Tachinids (Diptera) of the group of genera assembled by L. P. Mesnil (1939) as the tribe Winthemiini, of which the type genus is Winthemia R.-D. The group was subsequently recognized by F. I. van Emden (1954) and later by B. Herring (1960) but has not, so far as I am aware, been considered as a taxonomic unit in relation to the tachinids of the Americas. It is simply a relatively small section of the vast mass of genera called by Mesnil (1939, 1944) the Salmaciinae, or as we now say, the Goniinae, defined by the possession of a bristled prosternum, reclinate posterior frontals, a first post-sutural supraalar as strong as or stronger than, the first postdorsocentral, an absence of infrasquamal setulae, a second abdominal segment excavated to the posterior border and a short robust form. From the other Goniinae, the Winthemiini are separated mainly by the hairy “barrette”, the pattern of the humeral bristles and the reproductive habit of depositing large plano-convex undeveloped eggs on the body of the host insect, the ovipositor having the form of a membranous tube, retractile and of moderate length, reinforced by some elongate sclerites.

In the present paper, in addition to the well-known Winthemia and Nemorilla, the genera Hemisturmia and Triodontopyga have been included. The genitalia of all the Trinidad species have been studied. Their structure appears, on the whole, to reinforce the taxonomic status of the group but whether it will survive a more extensive survey of tachinid genera, remains to be seen.Seven species are described as new.

Some problems in the use of the nomenclatorial systems devised by Hinton (1946) and Mutuura (1956) for identification of the setae of lepidopterous larvae are discussed, and it is evident that our knowledge of setal origins in the larvae of this order are still far from complete.

While sweeping for Hymenoptera in early June, 1961, in the Gatineau Park region of Quebec, about 15 miles northwest of Ottawa, Ontario, one of the authors took a specimen of the rare and interesting genus Streblocera Westwood. Discovery of this specimen, in a relatively recently glaciated region remote from all localities previously reported for the genus, prompted a search for further material, which however was without avail. Finding the species to be undescribed and also easily recognizable by a number of distinct structural features, the writers venture to present the following description based on the single example at hand.

The life history and the later larval instars of Tetrastichus garryana Burks (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) are described and figured. The parasite has been collected from several species of oak gall cynipids, to which general group it seems to be restricted. In British Columbia it is most commonly associated with the gall-wasp Besbicus mirabilis (Kinsey).

Pear and quince are primary hosts of the pear psylla, Psylla pyricola Foerster (Smith, 1941; Wilde, 1962), but the scarcity of quince in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia eliminates it as an important host in that area.

In 1962 suspicious chlorotic streaking, symptomatic of feeding by sucking insects, was seen on downy chess grass, Bromus tectorum L., growing in two pear orchards heavily infested with pear psylla. As a result, greenhouse and field trials were conducted to ascertain if pear psylla, on occasion, feeds on this grass and causes phytotoxic symptoms. Cages, enclosing small, potted Anjou pear trees and clumps of downy chess grass growing around the base of these trees, were used in the greenhouse for confining 30 adult pear psyllids. An equal number of potted trees and clumps of grass were maintained under the same greenhouse conditions but without adult psyllids. Observations on feeding and phytotoxic symptoms produced in downy chess grass by the pear psylla were made between July 12 and October 19.