The life history and biology of Ips latidens (LeConte) were investigated using bark-sandwich and whole-log rearing methods. In contrast with other Ips spp., some females initiated galleries under conditions of female-biased sex ratios, and sometimes 2 or more males were present in a gallery. In general, however, I. latidens exhibited typical ipine characteristics. A single male usually admitted 1–3 females into a gallery. Females oviposited at a rate of 2.25 eggs/day and achieved a mean fecundity of 64.4 eggs. The larval stage comprised 80% of the generation time (egg to teneral adult) and analysis of head-capsule widths disclosed 3 larval instars. The mean survivorship within broods was 56.0% after 70 days; the reproductive success of monogamous pairs of beetles was 36.1 teneral adults. Single females constructed 3–4 egg tunnels/gallery system; hence, harem size cannot always be inferred from the number of egg tunnels in each gallery. The mean generation time in the laboratory was 2.07 × greater than for I. pini. By comparing laboratory data on I. latidens with laboratory and field data on I. pini, the generation time of I. latidens is estimated at 64–124 days in the field. In south-central British Columbia, I. latidens probably has 1 generation, and possibly 2 broods, per year.

The mullein bug, Campylomma verbasci (Meyer), was successfully established on eggplant cv. “Black Beauty” using the twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, as a source of prey for early instars. Colony-raised teneral females lived 17.4±0.8 days (mean±SE) at 25°C, and their progeny averaged 6.7±0.6 nymphs per 48-h oviposition period (range 0–36). Fecundity peaked during days 6–10 and declined steadily beyond day 16. Over their lifespans, females produced eggs that hatched into 37.5±8.2 nymphs (range 2–184). Eggs from a 24-h oviposition period required from 7.2±0.1 days at 27°C to 13.0±0.2 days at 20°C for 100% hatch. An estimated developmental threshold of 9.5°C (r2 = 0.50) was obtained using the equation: rate of development = −0.075 + 0.008 (temperature). The frequency distribution of hatch at each of four constant temperatures was unimodal and approximated a normal distribution. Nymphal development at 22°C required 2.8±0.2, 3.8±0.2, 4.0±0.3, 3.9±0.2, and 6.0±0.3 days for instars 1–5, respectively.

Evidence for a female-produced sex pheromone in the white pine cone beetle, Conophthorus coniperda (Schwarz), and the red pine cone beetle, C. resinosae Hopkins, was obtained from laboratory bioassays and field experiments conducted with C. coniperda beetles from Ontario and North Carolina. In an olfactometer, males from both species responded significantly more to volatiles from females than to volatiles from males or cones. Generally, females did not differ in their response to female-, male-, or cone-produced volatiles. Both sexes responded to host volatiles. The strong response by male C. coniperda to females was confirmed in field tests.

Laboratory bioassays and field tests demonstrated that the (+) enantiomer of endo-brevicomin is an antiaggregation pheromone for the western balsam bark beetle, Dryocoetes confusus Swaine. (+)-endo-Brevicomin significantly reduced the response of beetles of both sexes to the aggregation pheromone exo-brevicomin in laboratory bioassays and in field experiments using multiple-funnel traps. It also prevented attack on subalpine fir, Abies lasiocarpa (Hook) Nutt., trees baited with exo-brevicomin. The (−) enantiomer of endo-brevicomin was inactive. These results suggest that (+) or (±)-endo-brevicomin has potential for protecting selected trees from attack, or suppressing western balsam bark beetle activity in high hazard or infested stands.

Field experiments demonstrated that the western balsam bark beetle, Dryocoetes confusus, responded best to multiple-funnel traps baited with mixtures of (+)- and (−)-exo-brevicomin. (±)-exo-Brevicomin released at 0.8 mg per 24 h performed as well as or better than release rates of from 0.2 to 1.0 mg per 24 h in terms of the number of baited trees which were mass attacked (80%), average attack density, and average number of trees attacked within a 10-m radius of baited trees. Baiting more than one tree in a spot resulted in an intensification of attack on baited trees and increased the number of trees attacked within 10 m of each spot.

The responses of Ips latidens (LeConte) to multiple-funnel traps baited with various monoterpenes were determined in stands of lodgepole pine in British Columbia. β-Phellandrene was attractive to I. latidens in the absence of the pheromone ipsenol. β-Phellandrene increased the attraction of I. latidens to ipsenol-baited traps while α-pinene, 3-carene, terpinolene, and myrcene reduced trap catches. Differential responses by males and females to sources of ipsenol with or without β-phellandrene suggest that the information conveyed to males differs from that conveyed to females. Species-specific responses to monoterpenes by I. latidens and three sympatric species of scolytids suggest that unique combinations of kairomones could be important in facilitating matings with conspecifics. Pheromones need not be the sole constituent of species-specific chemical messages.

The mullein bug, Campylomma verbasci (Meyer) (Heteroptera: Miridae), was studied in and around 17 apple orchards in the Okanagan Valley during 1982–1984. Apple and pear were overwintering hosts and the principal perennial hosts during summer months. Campylomma verbasci was the most abundant mirid on apple and occurred in 16 orchards, with two or three generations per year. Nymphs first emerged from overwintered eggs near full bloom, but variation in timing occurred between orchards and years. Population densities of C. verbasci were higher (P<0.05) in unsprayed than in sprayed orchards, but no differences were observed between commercial and “organic” orchards. In June, some adults moved onto herbaceous plant hosts, primarily common mullein, Verbascum thapsus L. Two generations of C. verbasci were found on mullein and the bugs were distributed in an aggregated pattern. Significant associations occurred among height, raceme length, or flower number of mullein plants and the number of C. verbasci on them. From mid-August to October, adult numbers declined on mullein and increased on apple. The number of mullein plants per orchard was not always associated with the density of overwintered C. verbasci in the following year.

Atmospheric permeation of apple orchards with 16:1 butyl butyrate (BB): 2(E)-crotyl butyrate (CB), the sex pheromone of the mullein bug, Campylomma verbasci (Meyer) (Heteroptera: Miridae), demonstrated potential for pheromone-based mating disruption; atmospheric permeation with single components did not. In traps baited with 16:1 BB:CB, catches of male C. verbasci were 3, 64, and 105% of catches in nontreated controls for disruption treatments of 16:1 BB:CB, CB alone, and BB alone, respectively. With the two-component pheromone as a disruptant, catches of male C. verbasci were significantly reduced relative to controls at dispenser densities of 250, 500, and 1000 per hectare; catches were lowest at 1000 dispensers per hectare. For monitoring of operational trials, pheromone-baited open wing traps hung 1.5 m above ground were judged to be more practical than open wing traps hung 2.5 m above ground, or closed wing traps or white sticky cards at either height. Atmospheric permeation with pheromone did not affect numbers of males and females captured on nonbaited white sticky cards, and trap height did not affect catches of females. However, in pheromone-treated plots, significantly more males were captured on 2.5-m-high nonbaited cards than on 1.5-m-high cards, probably representing incidental catches of males following false trails to pheromone dispensers hung in the upper canopy. This study is the first reported example of pheromone-based disruption of orientation behavior in the Heteroptera.

A two-choice feeding bioassay was used to investigate the effects of larval source (colony versus wild larvae) and rearing medium (artificial versus foliar diet) on the feeding-deterrent activity of the oral exudate of the spruce budworm and the western spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.) and Choristoneura occidentalis Free., respectively. Feeding by both wild and colony larvae was deterred by conspecific oral exudate. Larvae reared on artificial diet responded to exudate from both diet- and foliage-reared larvae, whereas the foliage-reared larvae responded only to exudate from other foliage-reared larvae. These results suggest that differences exist between artificial diet- and foliage-reared larvae in the composition of oral exudate, in the concentrations of its biologically active constituents, or in differential sensitivity of diet- and foliage-reared larvae to exudate from foliage-reared larvae.

An open arena, airflow olfactometer was developed and used to test the response of adult Cyrptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens) to various volatile stimuli. Beetles of mixed age and sex oriented positively upwind to the odor of beetles, frass, pentane extracts of frass, and pentane extracts of Porapak Q-captured volatiles from beetles or frass. Both sexes responded to the odor of beetle populations of mixed sex as well as to the odor of males, indicating that males produce a true population aggregation pheromone Only females responded to the odor of females. C. ferrugineus may utilize the aggregation pheromone in conjunction with fungal odors to locate suitable habitats.

Semiochemical-mediated behavior of the striped ambrosia beetle, Trypodendron lineatum (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), has received extensive study. In selecting and mass-attacking hosts in nature, it utilizes a blend of volatiles, including the aggregation pheromone, lineatin, and the host kairomones α-pinene and ethanol (MacConnell et al. 1977; Vité and Bakke 1979; Borden et al. 1982; Bakke 1983; Lindgren et al. 1983). In single cell recordings of European T. lineatum olfactory cells, Tømmerås and Mustaparta (1989) reported no response to pheromones of other scolytid species. However, Benz et al. (1986) reported some response in the field by European T. lineatum to a blend of synthetic Ips typographus (L.) pheromones, although a single attractant was not identified. We report that frontalin, a pheromone utilized by numerous Dendroctonus spp., is an attractive kairomone for T. lineatum in western North America.

Z8-tetradecenyl acetate (Z8-14OAc andZ8-tetradecenyl alcohol (Z8-14OH) were identified as sex pheromone components of the eyespotted bud moth, Spilonota ocellana (Denis and Schiffermüller) (Lepidoptera: Olethreutidae). Compounds were identified by gas chrornatographic-eleclroantennographic (GC-EAD) and GC-mass spectroscopic analyses and field tested in apple orchards in the Okanagan Valley, B.C. Although Z8-14OAc alone was attractive to male S. ocellana, the addition of 1–5% Z8-14OH strongly synergized its attraction. Field tests comparing the attractiveness of virgin female S. ocellana with various doses of a 99:1 blend of Z8-14OAc and Z8-14OH indicated the natural sex pheromone has only two significant components. A 99:1 blend of Z8-14OAC and Z8-14OH is suggested for monitoring and control of S. ocellana populations in British Columbia.

To mitigate the effects of mosquitoes, settlers in the Revelstoke area of British Columbia reportedly burned the sporophores of the Indian paint fungus, Echinodontium tinctorium (Ell. & Ev.) Ell. & Ev., a pathogen of western hemlock, Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg., and true firs, Abies spp. Larval and adult yellowfever mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti (L.), were exposed to aqueous extracts of smoke (smoke-waters) from E. tinctorium sporophores, and from western hemlock sapwood and heartwood. Smoke-waters were of approximately equal toxicity to larvae. Fungus smoke-water, but not sapwood or heartwood smoke-waters, lost 50% of its potency in 5 months. Vapors from fungus smoke-water were significantly more toxic to adult mosquitoes than those from sapwood or heartwood. Thus smoke from E. tinctorium sporophores and T. heterophylla wood apparently contain different water-soluble combustion products toxic to A. aegypti.

In the absence of secondary attraction, 2 species of Scolytidae, Ips latidens (LeConte) and Hylastes gracilis LeConte, showed significant preference while in flight for high-girdled over non-girdled lodgepole pines, Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelmann. In contrast, beetles in 2 genera of Elateridae, Ampedus and Ctenicera, showed significant preference for non-girdled over high-girdled lodgepole pines. Beetles in 12 other families, as well as other scolytids and elaterids, did not show any significant preference or aversion to high-girdled trees. This is the first clear demonstration of primary attraction for a North American Ips species and the second for an Hylastes species.

Females of the polyphagous ichneumonid parasitoid, Exeristes roborator (F.), that were conditioned for 10 days to hosts in a specific habitat demonstrated associative learning by responding with ovipositor probes into the habitat alone. Females conditioned immediately after eclosion showed a higher participation rate, intensity, and duration (approximately 7 days) of learned behavior than those conditioned 5 or 10 days after eclosion, despite the fact that newly eclosed females did not probe for hosts with their ovipositors until 4 or 5 days after eclosion. The reduction in the learning ability of females within a short time after eclosion may impart a selective advantage to E. roborator by reducing the costs of learning. It could also reflect developmental constraints on the process of learning. The results suggest that carefully controlled associative learning could be exploited to improve the efficiency of host location by parasitoids released in biological-control programs.

Male mullein bugs, Campylomma verbasci (Meyer), were attracted in field experiments in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia to traps baited with females, extracts of crushed females, or Porapak Q-captured volatiles from females on common mullein, Verbascum thapsus L. Extracts from the female head and thorax attracted more males than did abdominal extracts. Traps baited with C. verbasci of both sexes caged together were not attractive. Analysis by coupled gas chromatography – mass spectrometry revealed n-butyl butyrate and n-hexyl butyrate in female extracts and captured volatiles, but only the latter compound in male extracts. However, these esters were unattractive, either alone or combined. We suggest that Porapak Q-captured volatiles could be used in pheromone isolation, and that pheromone-baited traps have promise in monitoring populations of C. verbasci.

First-generation mullein bug, Campylomma verbasci (Meyer), nymphs damaged four major cultivars of apple in commercial and research orchards from 1982 to 1984. In commercial orchards, C. verbasci was ranked among the top three pests in 22 of 40 samples collected at harvest, and its damage exceeded the economic injury level of 1% culled apples in 17 of the samples. Injury was greatest in "Delicious" cultivars, for which a linear relationship was derived between population density and damage at harvest. Economic injury levels of one and four nymphs per tap are proposed for cvs. Golden and Red Delicious, respectively, in British Columbia.

The effects of fenoxycarb, ethyl[2-(p-phenoxyphenoxy)-ethyl]carbamate, an insect growth regulator with juvenile hormone activity, on reproduction in Ips paraconfusus Lanier were investigated. Topical treatment of either females or both sexes of parent beetles with 50 μg of fenoxycarb per insect resulted in a significant reduction in hatching of eggs and numbers of progeny produced by beetles allowed to infest logs of ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa Laws. When pairs of beetles were allowed to attack logs that were surface-treated with fenoxycarb, the effects on reproduction at a dose of 100 μg/cm2 of bark surface were comparable to those of a topical treatment at a dose of 50 μg per insect. However, at doses of 1000 or 10 000 μg/cm2 the adverse effects included reductions in the length of egg galleries, fecundity (number of egg niches), and number of freshly laid eggs. Percentage reductions in progeny were 35.8, 82.5, and 95.7 for doses of 100, 1000, and 10 000 μg/cm2, respectively, if brood beetles were allowed to emerge from the logs. This study indicates that fenoxycarb acts as an effective chemosterilant on I. paraconfusus.

Pine oil (Norpine-65, Northwest Petrochemicals) was assessed as an oviposition deterrent for gravid female onion maggots, Delia antiqua (Meigen), in two types of laboratory experiments. When given a choice for 24 h between a control onion half treated with hexane and an onion half treated with pine oil in hexane, the females oviposited preferentially on or around the control onion half. In a no-choice experiment the females laid over three times as many eggs on or around solvent control onions as on or around onions treated with 1.0% pine oil. The DC50 (deterrent concentration50) was calculated to be 0.09%. The results suggest that pine oil (or its constituents) may have potential as an oviposition deterrent under field conditions.

The cylindrical bark beetle, Lasconotus intricatus Kraus., is attracted to multiple-funnel traps baited either with black spruce logs infested with male four-eyed spruce bark beetles, Polygraphus rufipennis (Kirby), or the male-produced aggregation pheromone, 3-methyl-3-buten-1-ol. The addition of the host terpenes, bornyl acetate and β-pinene, to 3-methyl-3-buten-1-ol reduced the attraction of L. intricatus. 3-Carene, myrcene, and α-pinene appeared to have a partial inhibitory effect. Catches in spring and summer disclosed a high degree of temporal coincidence between the two species. We hypothesize that L. intricatus utilizes the aggregation pheromone of P. rufipennis as a host-finding kairomone.