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.

Using field and laboratory (stereoscope) observations, we investigated copulation and oviposition behaviours of Protopiophila litigata Bonduriansky, which mates and oviposits exclusively on discarded cervid antlers. Typically, a male leapt onto a female, briefly tapped the sides of her abdomen with his legs, then stimulated her abdominal tip with his tarsi, parameres, and gonopods until she extended her genitalia (~4 min), after which the pair established genital lock (~10 min). Meanwhile, the female emigrated to a part of the antler where density of single males was lower. Following sperm transfer (~87 min) and genital separation (~5 min), the female deposited and ingested two droplets containing spermatozoa (~6 min). Then she oviposited (~29 min) into cracks or pores in the antler’s surface while the male remained in tandem and pushed away single males with his wings. Males often wrestled for possession of females, but take-overs were rare. Whereas most aspects of the copulation-oviposition cycle of P. litigata are characteristic of other necrophagous or scatophagous flies, the manner in which P. litigata females expel and ingest ejaculate materials after copulation has not been reported in any other-species of Diptera.

Nine species of the subfamily Typhlocybinae (Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadellidae) were collected from Corylus avellana L., Solatium tuberosum L., and Vitis vinifera L. Seven species were parasitized by Dryinidae, among which Alebra coryli Le Quesne 1977 and Edwardsiana staminata (Ribaut, 1931) were recognized for the first time. Clearly parasitized and apparently unparasitized leafhoppers and dissected dryinid larvae were assayed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The α-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase (α-GPD) enzyme system proved to be a reliable tool for indicating the presence of dryinids in all sampled species: the parasitized adults always showed a fast band, which was absent in unparasitized adults. The α-GPD was a reliable enzyme system to detect dryinids at an early stage of their development but not to discriminate among dryinid species. The occurrence of dryinids in the males of A. coryli and Zygina rhamni Ferrari, 1882 was also pointed out by the change of their colouration.

Observations of apple blotch leafminer moths, Phyllonorycter crataegella (Clemens), during daylight hours in commercial apple orchards in New England from 1982 through 1984 indicated a diurnal pattern of activity. Substantial flight in the morning, almost exclusively by males, was associated with mating, and lesser flight from midafternoon until darkness, predominantly by females, was associated with oviposition. Moths were comparatively inactive during midday hours, at which time they were located primarily on the lower third of the tree trunk during the first moth flight (overwintering generation moths), and on leaves during the second and third moth flights (first and second generation moths, respectively). Moths were concentrated at the inner half of the tree canopy during all three moth flights, and especially below 1.5 m height during the first moth flight.

The North American genus Ceratagallia Kirkaldy, 1907 is redefined to include subgenus Aceratagallia Kirkaldy, 1907 (= Ionia Ball, 1933, syn.nov.) with 78 species in two subgenera. Two additional new species are unplaced to subgenus: C. acerata from Oregon, and C. emarginata from Mexico. The typical subgenus Ceratagallia has 30 species, including C. gillettei (Osborn & Ball, comb.nov.), C. sordida (Oman, comb.nov.), and two new species C. ana from Mexico and C. vipera from Washington state. Subgenus Aceratagallia has 46 species, all new combinations under Ceratagallia. The economic "species" formerly known as "sanguinolenta" is divided into the Canadian clover leafhopper C. humilis (Oman) and the American clover leafhopper C. agricola sp.nov. Other new taxa in subgenus Aceratagallia include 18 new species and seven new subspecies: alaskana (ssp. of siccifolia) from Alaska; omani on the Pacific coast from Oregon to British Columbia; clino and lophia from the Oregon interior; compressa (ssp. of siccifolia), gallus, modesta, okanagana, and zacki (ssp. of nanella) from intermontane valleys of the Pacific northwest and southwestern mountains; interior (ssp. of humilis) and rossi from the Sonoran subregion; australis (ssp. of nanella), coma, ebena, entoma, falcata, oionus, and venosa from Mexico and Texas; alvarana (ssp. of humilis), cerea, cristula, harrisi, semiarida, and viator widespread between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains; and whitcombi (ssp. of robusta) from Florida to Arizona. Four former species are reduced to subspecies: compacta Oman and poudris Oman in C. robusta (Oman), helveola Oman in C. cinerea (Osborn & Ball), and truncata Oman in C. humilis. The taxa are keyed and illustrated, and their phylogeny is discussed.

Chlorita nearctica is described from the Yukon Territory and is the first member of its genus found in the New World. A synopsis is presented to the Old World species of Chlorita Fieber, 1866 (Typhlocybinae, tribe Empoascini). A new typhlocybine tribe Forcipatini is created for Forcipata DeLong & Caldwell, 1936 and Notus Fieber, 1866. A synopsis of the genus Notus is presented, with Curta as a subgenus containing only the type species. Notus isolatus sp.nov. is described from Drummond Island, Michigan, in Lake Huron and from Quebec. A synopsis of the genus Forcipata DeLong & Caldwell is presented; all species belong to a single subgenus. Five new species are described: F. forficula from Florida, F. ips from Alaska and Yukon, F. montana from the mountains of British Columbia and Montana, and F. unica and F. xlix from Wisconsin. The New World species of the forcipatine genera are keyed.

The susceptibility of Colorado potato beetle [Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say), Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae] to entomopathogenic nematodes (Steinernema carpocapsae, ’All’ strain, Nematoda: Heterorhabditae) was tested in the laboratory and the field in 1992 and 1993. Under laboratory conditions, applications of 5.0 × 105S. carpocapsae per square metre to larvae, pupae, and (or) adults resulted in 100% mortality in all experimental groups. Steinernema carpocapsae persisted through the larval–pupal and pupal–adult transitions. A single application of nematodes was sufficient to control the Colorado potato beetle. The following treatments were tested at field sites in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island: (i) untreated check, (ii) application of nematodes, or (iii) application of insecticides. Straw mulch was either present or absent in each treatment. In 1992 in New Brunswick, nematodes and fenvalerate reduced Colorado potato beetle populations by 31% compared with the untreated check. However, in 1993, differences among treatments were not significant. The results from the field trials in Prince Edward Island were variable; the life expectancy of nematodes is likely shorter in the field than under laboratory conditions. Further investigation into the benefits of repeated applications of nematodes, higher rates, or improvements in application technology are required to achieve consistent control of the Colorado potato beetle.

One hundred and two Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner strains isolated from six different types of Canadian soil and dust from different grain storage bins were cultured in shake flasks containing Great Northern White Bean (GNWB) protein concentrate (48.6% protein) as the main nitrogen source and dextrose as the main carbohydrate source. The resulting endotoxins were bioassayed against the bertha armyworm, Mamestra configurata Wlk. Thirty-three percent of soil and 66% of grain dust samples were positive for B. thuringiensis. The bacterium was found most frequently in organic-rich soil. The four most toxic soil isolates (which were seven to 15 times more toxic than the international standard, HD1-S-1980), and two nontoxic grain dust isolates were characterized by serological typing, biochemical analysis, carbohydrate utilization, plasmid profile analysis, protein profile analysis using sodium dodecyl sulfate – polyacrylamide gels, and polymerase chain reaction. Four isolates were determined to be subsp. kurstaki containing 130–140 and 63–65 kDa proteins, and two isolates (tested for comparison) were subsp. canadensis containing 31 and 38 kDa proteins. Nonpyramidal-crystal-producing strains did not grow well in culture media containing GNWB, degossypellized cotton seed meal (61% protein), defatted soy flour (55% protein), or peptone as nitrogen sources. Excess of GNWB protein concentrate in shake flask culture media (30 g/L) inhibited bacterial growth and reduced the toxicity of isolate A1.2/72 subsp. kurstaki, which was the most toxic soil isolate. Isolate A1.2/72, which was 15 times more toxic for bertha armyworm larvae than the international standard (HD1-S-1980), contained three cry1A genes (cry1Aa, cry1Ab, and cry1Ac), whereas HD-1 lacked the cry1Ab gene. This strain was synergistic with strain HD-551 subsp. kenyae (cry1A, cry2A, and cry1B genes) but not with HD-133 subsp. aizawai (cry1Ab, cry1B, cry1C, and cry1D genes) when the strains were cultured together in a cotton seed meal medium and fed to M. configurata. The growth rate, economic yield, and toxicity of the new isolate, A1.2/72, produced in a 14-L laboratory fermenter declined when the fermentation ingredients were tripled. We believe that the indigenous strain A1.2/72 warrants further research development for bertha armyworm control.

Flight durations of male spruce budworm moths, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.), that were locked-on to pheromone plumes from female moths were measured in a wind tunnel. Flight was sustained by use of a movable patterned ceiling. The longest sustained flight was 53 min. The effects of different background concentrations of synthetic pheromone were tested by surrounding the female moths with rubber septa loaded with synthetic pheromone. The duration of sustained flights decreased as the concentration of background synthetic pheromone increased, but at all concentrations some males persisted in orientated flight for 10 min or longer.

The genus Gynaephora Hübner (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) is represented in North America by two closely related species, Gynaephora groenlandica (Wocke) and Gynaephora rossii (Curtis), whose geographic distributions overlap broadly across the Canadian arctic archipelago (Ferguson 1978; Møllgaard and Morewood 1996). Like other lymantriid moths, females of these species fly little, if at all, whereas males are strong fliers and apparently rely on pheromones to locate mates. Cross-attraction has been observed but there is no confirmed evidence that the two species interbreed. This report describes experiments designed to document reproductive isolation of G. groenlandica and G. rossii at Alexandra Fiord, Ellesmere Island (78°53′N, 75°55′W).

Intraguild predation, a common interaction among arthropods (Polis et al. 1989), has been investigated recently in aphidophages (Rosenheim et al. 1993; Lucas et al. 1998). Sessile stages of coccinellids, gall midges, and lacewings (eggs, moulting individuals, and pupae) were shown to be highly vulnerable to intraguild predators (Lucas et al. 1998). Several defensive mechanisms have already been described for eggs of aphidophages, including chemical protection (Eisner et al. 1996), structural protection (Canard and Duelli 1984), and behavioural avoidance through the selection by females of protected oviposition sites (E. Lucas, and J. Brodeur, unpublished data).

Green lacewings (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) are commercially available augmentative biological control agents. Despite centuries of recognition as beneficial insects (Darwin 1800), scant information can be found describing what lacewing larvae prey upon in the field when several different prey species are present (New 1975). I assessed the types of prey that Chrysoperla plorabunda (Fitch) larvae consume when they are released on peas, Pisum sativum L. (Fabaceae), in western Washington. In 1997, two field assistants and I made observations at three sites: the Rent's Due Ranch (RDR: 48°14′N, 122°22′W), an organic farm located just outside Stanwood, Washington, and two research farms (Sumner: 47°11′N, 122°13′W; and Fife: 47°12′N, 122°20′W) in the Washington State University extension station system. Planting dates differed among these sites; at RDR, peas were planted in the spring, whereas we planted peas at the Sumner and Fife farms in June and July, respectively. Despite this and other differences, the peas at each site harbor similar insect communities (unpublished data).