A simple and inexpensive olfactometer based on that of Gaston and Shorey (1964) is described for bioassaying the sex pheromone of the eastern spruce budworm. The number of males buzzing (rapidly beating their wings while circling on the substrate) after the introduction of the sample into the airstream of the olfactometer was used as measure of response. Males held under continuous illumination showed maximum response when 2 to 3 days old. Under natural lighting males showed a circadian rhythm, with peak response shortly after dark and a minor peak in mid-morning. Since per cent response under continuous illumination exceeded the maximum response under natural lighting, it is recommended that bioassays be carried out with 2- to 3-day-old males held under continuous illumination.

Larvae of the marsh fly, Sepedon tenuicornis Cresson, were used to determine (1) number and approximate volume of snails killed before pupation, (2) time required to make the first kill as a function of distance and snail density, and (3) vulnerability of snails of different sizes to larvae of different sizes.Results1. Mean number of snails killed (by 34 larvae): 8.1 ± 2.5, (S.E.) Volume: 544 ± 256 mm3.2. Regression line relating time required to kill as a function of snail density: T (minutes) = 65.3–111.6 × (snail density).Regression line relating time to kill and snail densities of 0.6 and 1.2 snails/cm as a function of distance from snails: T = 0.79–0.33 × (distance).Data from a snail density of 0.3/cm could not be pooled because of high day-to-day variation in larvae.3. Vulnerability of snails can be expressed for each larva length by the equation: Fraction of snails killed = a + b × (snail size).

Values of a and b are as follows:

DDT, carbaryl, Dursban® (0,0-diethyl 0-3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridyl phosphorothioate), and AC-47031 (cyclic ethylene (diethoxyphosphinyl) dithioimidocarbonate) were applied at different rates on rye and/or soil for control of the dark-sided cutworm, Euxoa messoria (Harris), attacking flue-cured tobacco in Ontario. All insecticides tested caused significant reductions in cutworm damage in comparison with the untreated check. Dursban at 1/2 lb/ac on rye, or 1 lb/ac incorporated in the soil tended to give better control than DDT at 4 lb/ac on soil and showed a significant difference from split applications of DDT at 11/4 lb/ac on rye and 4 lb/ac on soil in the large scale test. Carbaryl and AC-47031 showed less effect than DDT. There was no advantage in the split application of DDT or Dursban on rye and on soil since each treatment singly could provide effective control of this pest. Rye treatment is more economic than soil treatment and could apparently provide adequate control. Dursban showed promise as a substitute for DDT for control of the dark-sided cutworm in tobacco fields.

Brachymeria intermedia (Nees), an introduced parasite of the gypsy moth, was recovered from gypsy moth pupae collected in Fryeburg, Maine (latitude 44°). The recovery of this parasite in Maine shortly after it was reported established on gypsy moth in Connecticut suggests that B. intermedia is rapidly expanding its range. The wide range of hosts attacked by the parasite, and its occurrence in northern New England, make it a promising potential biotic agent on a variety of northern pest species of lepidopterans, either through natural spread or by artificial introduction.

Feeding studies showed that survival to adult and adult body weight were much reduced when colonies of the migratory grasshopper, Melanoplus sanguinipes (Fabricius), were reared on a diet of fresh lettuce alone. This was largely due to the high moisture content of the fresh lettuce. Dried-lettuce meal, bran, or alfalfa meal as supplements to increase the intake of solids improved survival and body weight very markedly.

Podisus modestus (Dallas) has one generation per year in the boreal forest of Quebec. Adults hibernate in the litter and soil from mid-autumn to late spring. Overwintered adults were found in the field until the latter part of August. Adults mated shortly after emergence from hibernation. Females mated an average of three times during the summer; the maintenance of a supply of highly fertile eggs apparently required this periodic mating. Young adults, which emerge from August to October, neither mated nor laid eggs before hibernation.The preoviposition period after first mating was 10 to 19 days. Females laid an average of 7.9 egg masses (average of 16.7 eggs per mass) at intervals of 1 to 25 days on jack pine, and on Kalmia and Vaccinium spp.Eighty per cent of the eggs hatched successfully after a mean incubation period of 15.3 days; 12% did not develop while 8% developed and were destroyed, during hatching, by other first-instar nymphs in the brood. Maturing nymphs spent an average of 7.7, 7.7, 7.8, 11.9, and 23.8 days in each of the five respective stadia, and required 59 days from hatching to adult emergence. A logistic curve describes the relationship between developmental time and temperature. First-instar nymphs required no animal food, but during each of the last four instars animal food was required for maturation. The hunting and feeding behavior, food consumption, abundance and mortality of P. modestus are also described.

The following behavioral patterns of three chalcidoid parasites, Monodontomerus obscurus, Pteromalus venustus, and Melittobia chalybii, were compared in the laboratory: feeding by adults, precopulatory routines, copulating, anesthetizing the host, ovipositing, mobility of the larvae, cannibalism among larvae, overwintering, diapause, life cycle, and the ability of a host to support a parasite.

Species of the genus Trigonotylus Fieber are revised for North America. A new species, mexicanus, is described from Mexico and British Honduras. Synonyms proposed are: californicus Carv. = longipes Slat. & Wagn., and montanus Carv. and viridis (Prov.) = ruficornis (Geoff.). Redescriptions are given for 15 previously described species known from North America: americanus Carv., antennatus Kelt., brooksi Kelt., canadensis Kelt., coelestialium (Kirk.), confusus Reut, dohertyi (Dist.), flavicornis Kelt., longipes Slat. & Wagn., pulcher Reut., ruficornis (Geoff.), saileri Carv., slateri Carv., tarsalis (Reut.), and uhleri (Reut.). A key to species, additional records on distribution, and illustrations of the male genitalia of all the species are given.

The results of behavioural, chemical, and histological studies are reported showing the presence of a sex attractant in female Orgyia leucostigma J. E. Smith. A method of bioassaying the attractancy of the female moths by the use of 4-ft-long glass tubes is given. Extraction of female abdominal tips with dichloromethane yields material biologically active when tested against male O. leucostigma.The pheromone-producing gland is a dorsally situated, crescent-shaped structure formed by modification of the epidermal cells in the intersegmental membrane between the eighth and ninth abdominal segments. The glandular cells are goblet-shaped and are arranged in an unusual manner.

A simple method for separating and surface sterilizing spruce budworm eggs is described. The egg masses are incubated with constant agitation in a 1% solution of NaOH for 10 minutes at 35 °C. The separated eggs are rinsed serially in distilled water, 1% bovine albumen solution, and 70% ethanol, and placed on a moist, sterile filter paper in a petri dish. When surface sterilized eggs are not required the 70% ethanol wash can be omitted.

Studies on the population dynamics of the cabbage maggot, Hylemya brassicae (Bouché), on cabbage were carried out at two locations in Ontario from 1967 to 1970. Analysis of life-table data for nine generations showed that extensive mortalities occurred during the following age intervals: (1) egg stage; (2) between hatching and the second moult; (3) third-instar larvae; (4) pupal stage. Density dependent mortality occurred only during the latter period. The analysis of age interval survivals and graphical key factor analysis showed that "misadventure" of the larvae between hatching and the second moult was the key factor. The overall mortality process from egg to adult eclosion was density dependent, revealing the importance of pupal parasitism as a stabilizing factor. A predictive model based on density relationships was found to explain 62% of the variance in generation survival. The remainder of the variance is unexplained and may be due to sampling error and/or the influence of factors not measured.

Nine new species of Forcipomyia are described in all stages, two belonging to the subgenus Proforcipomyia, five to Forcipomyia s. str., and two to Trichohelea.

Experiments on an anautogenous strain of Culex pipiens L. failed to support the theory that sustained gut stretching initiates egg development by anautogenous mosquitoes. The stomach expanded in females fed sugar after the anus was sealed, but eggs did not develop. Also, the ovaries were not activated by an enema of agar which congealed in the stomach and kept it distended. Development of eggs by females given enemas of γ-globulin or egg albumen was presumably an ovarian response to nutrient; development of eggs by some females that received nutrient (amino acids) by direct injection into the haemocoele supported this interpretation. When 1, 4, 7, and 10% egg albumen or γ-globulin were supplied as volumetrically equal enemas, response to 1% was least (few eggs matured and these by only a few females), but was greater with increased amounts of nutrient. It is proposed that certain mechanisms permit the mosquito to evaluate the nutrient potentially available in a blood meal before its complete digestion and to start maturation of an appropriate number of eggs.