The seasonal life history and mortality of the lodgepole terminal weevil, Pissodes terminalis Hopping (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), were investigated in young lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta Douglas var. latifolia Engelmann (Pinaceae), at three sites in west-central Alberta. Flight was monitored with traps. Development and mortality of all stages were investigated by dissecting infested leaders biweekly from late spring to early fall. Two years were required for P. terminalis to complete its life cycle, and generations overlapped. Overwintered adults emerged from the duff and commenced flight in late May, with a peak in mid-June. Eggs were present from mid-June to late July. There were four larval instars. The first two instars fed only in the phloem. Third and fourth larval instars eventually entered the pith to continue feeding, overwinter, and complete development the following spring. The new generation of adults emerged between mid-July and early August, fed on new shoots for several weeks, and overwintered in the duff. Adults have an obligatory diapause and did not reproduce until after winter. Fourth larval instars suffered the highest mortality. The major attributable cause of mortality was resinosis among eggs and young larvae and cold temperatures during the winter among mature larvae. Pathogens caused little mortality. Six species of parasitoids were collected.

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.

Mature larvae of Pissodes strobi (Peck), Pissodes schwarzi Hopkins, Pissodes nemorensis Germar, and Pissodes terminalis Hopping are described and external morphology illustrated. A key to species is presented. A phylogenetic analysis is done using single- and multiple-outgroup comparisons, which both find trees of identical topology. Character states of clypeus pigmentation and premental sclerite shape putatively support a monophyletic relationship of the P. strobi complex.

Cast exuviae from final-instar larvae of four species of hymenopterous parasitoids of Dendroctonus rufipennis (Kirby, 1837) were examined for diagnostic characters. The head capsules of Bracon tenuis Muesebeck and Walkley, 1951, Coeloides rufovariegatus (Provancher, 1880), Roptrocerus xylophagorum (Ratzeburg, 1844), and Dinotiscus dendroctoni (Ashmead, 1894) each displayed unique combinations of characters allowing discrimination among species. Head capsules are illustrated, and a key to species is presented.

In the 20th century, five species of birch-leafmining sawflies were inadvertently introduced from Europe to North America: Heterarthrus nemoratus (Fallén), Fenusa pumila Leach, Profenusa thomsoni (Konow), Fenusella nana (Klug), and Scolioneura vicina Konow. All have been recorded at outbreak levels in North America, and three (F. pumila, P. thomsoni, and H. nemoratus) have been the targets of successful biological control programs. The most recently detected species, F. nana and S. vicina, are good candidates for future biological control in Canada. We review the biology of all five of these birch-leafmining sawflies in North America and present keys to adults, larvae, and mines to aid correct identification.