As a group, the wasps which inhabit the North American continent have not attracted very widespread interest, despite the excellent accounts of the habits of various species which have been published by such careful observers as the Raus, the Peckhams and other writers.

This, possibly, is due to the fact that relatively few of the numerous species appear to have a very direct relationship with insects that are consided to be of great economic importance. Exceptions to this general rule are found in such genera as Podalonia (Ammophila) and Sphex, which are conspicuous in their activities while hunting for cutworms and in, subsequently, dragging them to their subterranean nests.

Extensive stands of young tamarack throughout the forested areas of the Prairie Provinces are currently menaced by the depredations of this serious defoliator. Owing to the importance of the insect, this paper was prepared with the object of: (1) reviewing briefly available information concerning the present outbreak in the Prairie Provinces, (2) clarifying some of the main issues frequently raised, and (3) describing the investigations in progress in the Prairie Region.

On June 2, 1946, I was digging into a compost heap, made of weeds and sods in 1945, and soon came upon a bumble bee's nest. It was in a clean and apparently unused mouse nest, eight inches from the surface of the pile, and entered by a tunnel opening on the northwest corner. There were seven cells, two of them empty.

This is the first of a series of papers dealing with the Menoponidae of North America, in which it is hoped that each genus can be discussed and illustrated. The author wishes to acknowedge the kindness of Dr. G. F. Ferris in lending the Stanford Collection, containing V. L. Kellogg's type material, which is being used in these studies; and of Dr. C. F. Mr. Musebeck, for the loan of material from the United States National Museum.

On October 8, I was collecting insects from under stones by a little pond on the Commonage road near Vernon. B. C. Small, shiny, black carabids were common, and several were picked up with tweezers and dropped into a vial of alcohol. Though the day was cold and windy, a smell of acetic acid was noticed and traced to the tweezers. The next carabid taken I incautiously held close to my nose: the odor it emitted choked me and made my eyes smart for a second. Other specimens were tested with due caution, and nearly all produced a puff or spray of acid. The smell was as pungent as ever I have experienced when disturbing a colony of red ants.

While collecting butterflies in southern Florida, we were successful in rearing many of the native species. In checking through the literature, no data could be found on the early stages of three of these, although d'Almeida and Costa Lima have published some notes on the metamorphosis of the Brazilian subspecies of Appias drusilla. It was thought, therefore, that it might be helpful to other Lepidopterists if we were to note our observations on the life histories of these butterflies.

During an examination of the internal anatomy of several specimens of scarabaeid larvae it was found that the gastric caeca varied in number and shape with the species being examined.

Anatomically, gastric caeca are blind pounches varying in number and length and may occur on different parts of the ventriculus. Most commonly they occur at the anterior end surrounding the stomodaeal valve.

The eighth International Congress of Entomology will be held in Stockholm, Sweden, August 9-15, 1948. The fact that all steamship sailings are currently booked to capacity for months in advance makes it seem necessary for those expecting to attend the congress in 1948 to arrange for passage as early as possible. Steamship companies have not issued sailing lists for 1948, but expect to do so in the early fall. A number of lines have listed sailings for the present season, among them, the Cunard, French, Belgian, Swedish, Norwegian, Gdynia (Polish), Holland-American, etc., the first mentioned expecting soon to have two new steamers in service.

This list follows closely on the third of three previously published articles in the Canadian Entomologist. Mr. C. A. Frost of Framingham, Massachusetts, has checked and supplied me with identifications of all but two of the specimens. His generous interest in determining some of the beetles for which names have been difficult to obtain made this paper possible.

In 1935, De Leon published a comprehensive paper on Medetera aldrichii as a predator ol Dendroctonus monticolae Hopk., in western white pine and lodgepole pine in Washington. The following data may prove of value because a different species of bark-beetle is involved and additional information is given. The observations were made in 1941 and 1942 at the Trinity Valley Forest Insect Field Station, 22 miles from Vernon. This locality is 2,100 feet above sea level in a mixed timber stand of western larch, Douglas fir, western red cedar, Engelmann spruce, western hemlock, and western white pine. D. pseudotsugae breeds in Douglas fir, and occasionally in western larch.