During the summers of 1949 and 1950, studies on the biology of mosquitoes were carried out at Whitehorse, Y.T.

At Whitehorse, the principal area under study centred about the Royal Canadian Air Force Station. Some additional collections were made along the Northwest Staging Route, at Fort St. John and Fort Nelson, B.C., and Watson Lake, Y.T.

Although lamae was described as a species (Freeman, Can. Ent., Vol. 73, p. 123. 1941), there seems to be considerable doubt in some quarters whether it should continue to stand as such. Since I am apparently the only Lepidopterist with the opportunity to observe annually large numbers of this moth flying in its native haunts, it is felt that a few comments might be of interest.

It is a paradox that a common wasp such as Chlorion ichneumoneum (L.) should be so unknown. Fernald (1907) states that the great-golden digger is found from South America to New England, and some parts of Canada, but until Frisch (1937) published his excellent paper only piecemeal accounts were written about its bionomics, prey, and parasites.

On the campus of Cornell University, two large colonies (about 50 wasps) have thrived for years. These conveniently located colonies offered a rich opportunity for a long range study.

It has been generally accepted by insect microbiologists and physiologists that many insects harbour beneficial micro-organisms. The contributions of Buchner (1933), Glaser (1946), Jeanne1 (1949), Steinhaus (1946), Wigglesworth (1950) and Woodward (1949) are relevant. Some experimental evidence has been contributed by Aschner 1935, Blewett and Fraenkel (1944), and Brecher and Wigglesworth (1944). It seems that the micro-organisms may sometimes supply the host with vitamins of the B group. (Blewett and Fraenkel). Many species of insects have special organs, called mycetomes, whose chief function seems to be the housing of micro-organisms. Furthermore it has been suggested that special arrangements exist for the transference of micro-organisms from one generation of insects to the next. (Mansour, 1935; Murray and Tiegs, 1935; and Woodward 1949).

Shortly after the publication of my paper on this species, (Can. Ent., Vol. LXXXV, No. 1) I received a letter from Mr. R. W. Smith, of the Belleville Laboratory, giving some of the results obtained in a study of leucoptera in the parsnip webworm, Depressaria heracleana L., in 1926. In this study, writes Mr. Smith, “first-stage larvae were found in fifth and sixth instar hosts. Their most frequent location was in the musculature of the rectal region of the hind gut”.