Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 May 2012
A natural virus epizootic, caused by a nuclear polyhedrosis virus, was observed in several populations of the European skipper, Thymelicus lineola (Ochs .), at Normandin, Que., in 1974 (Smirnoff 1974). A substantial supply of this virus was collected and experiments were conducted under laboratory and field conditions to evaluate its pathogenicity against the skipper, its possible transmission from one generation to the next, and its potential as a means of control of T. lineola, a serious insect pest of forage crops in several regions of Quebec (McNeil et al. 1975).