When an apple orchard is abandoned in Eastern Canada the trees may continue to grow reasonably well for many years. As a rule the fruit is ruined by apple scab, but damage from insects or mites may be relatively minor. Under such conditions, phytophagous insects and mites are commonly held to an acceptable commercial level by natural control factors. On the other hand, when an apple orchard is abandoned in the semi-arid, southern interior of British Columbia the trees generally die from desiccation in a short time. Occasionally, when particularly favoured by sub-irrigation, they may survive for ten years or more. But they produce no marketable fruit; invariably it is ruined by insects. Unlike the abandoned eastern orchard. that in British Columbia his little natural protection from the codling moth, Carpocapsa pomonella (L.), and the blister mite, Eriophyes pyri (Pgst.), to mention but two common pests.

Although many forest insects feed in or on trees, a larger number live on the shrubs and herbs of the forest floor. The shrub and herb feeders should not be overlooked since they comprise an important part of the fauna and may serve as reservoir hosts of parasites of the more destructive forest insects. Some larvae of the genus Itame are tree feeders but many of them feed on shrubs. These larvae are frequently collected within the Boreal Zone of Canada. As no means for the identification of the larvae could be found in the literature this paper was written. It consists of an account of the life history and external morphology of the larvae of the genus, a key to separate the mature larvae and descriptions of ten species. These species are: I. ribearia (Fitch), I. evagaria (Hlst.), I. brunneata (Thunb.), I. andersoni Swett, I. occiduaria (Pack.), I. anataria (Swett), I. exauspicata (Wlk.), I. bitactata (Wlk.), I. denticulodes (Hlst.), and I. decorata (Hlst.). Studies of the first four species are based on material obtained on loans and studies of the other species were made on material reared by the Forest Insect Survey of the Forest Zoology Laboratory, Calgary, Alberta.

Interest in the growth of insect head capsules was aroused by the observation of Dyar (2) that for a number of lepidopterous larvae the ratio of the width of the larval head capsule in a given instar to that in the following instar tends to be constant throughout development, This observation, generally known as “Dyar's Law” or “Dyar's Rule”, has proven valid for many lepidopterous larvae, for whch it was proposed. Many attempts have been made to apply Dyar's Rule to insects of other orders. Various authors, notably Miles (6) and Taylor (71, have considered the application of Dyar's Rule to sawfly larvae, and although they report some inconsistencies, they conclude that the rule is useful if its application is restricted to checking upon the number of feeding instars. The head capsules of non-feeding prcpupal sawfly larvae are generally of the same size as those of the last feeding instar, so that this stage is not expected to satisfy Dyar's Rule.

Identification of mounted specimens of Microlepidoptera is facilitated by good spreading technique. Although the larger specimens may be readily spread on a standard spreading board, small specimens present a problem. A special technique has been developed whereby small moths may be successfully spread and mounted on double-mount pins.

During the latter part of June, 1955, a larva of the European corn borer, Pyrausta nubilalis (Hbn.), dissected from overwintered corn stalks in experimental plots at St. Jean was observed to be parasitized by hymenopterous larvae. These were reared to the adult stage and were then identified by Dr. O. Peck, Entomology Division, Ottawa, as of Dibrachys cavus (Wlkr.). This parasite has only once been reported from North America (Blickenstaff et al., 1953, p. 377) and once from Russia (Thompson, 1946, p. 517).

For several years the author has been engaged in a study of the predacious mites of value in controlling the European red mite, Metatetranychus ulmi (Koch), in southeastern England. During this time, extensive collections of mites of the subfamily Phytoseiinae were made and several new species found. These are described here.

New species of Phytoseiinae have usually been described from female specimens only; the males have been frequently unknown. It is essential in ecological investigations to be familiar with both mature forms. During this study the males of some species of which the females had been described were collected and reared. Some of these have been described elsewhere (Chant, in preparation) and in this paper the male of Typhlodromus bakeri (Garman), 1948, is dealt with.

Today methyl bromide is being used throughout the world to control insect pests. Intrinsically it is not among the most toxic of insect fumigants, but it has a combination of properties which gives it an unique position among gaseous insecticides. Of particular importance are its powers of penetration and its non-inflammability under normal fumigating conditions. Methyl bromide is important also as the leading fumigant in a group, the halogenated hydrocarbons, which includes other widely used fumigants such as ethylene dibromide, ethylene dichloride, and ethylene chlorobromide.