Relationships within the Pardosa groenlandica species complex (sensu Slowik and Sikes 2013) were analysed to test two competing hypotheses – the species complex consists of either four or seven species. We conducted a partitioned Bayesian analyses of the mitochondrial gene COI and the nuclear genes ITS1, 5.8S, and ITS2. These genes provided a dataset composed of 1874 nucleotides each from 144 specimens. Additional analyses included application of the DNA barcoding protocol and a phylogeographic study of a subset of specimens. Analyses found no support for either hypothesis and only one species was found monophyletic in a subset of analyses. Mitochondrial DNA yielded clades discordant with geography. Species in the P. groenlandica species complex show various amounts of genetic support, with a general lack of agreement between genetics and morphology for species boundaries.

Species of the Aleiodes compressor (Herrich-Schaeffer) species group (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Rogadinae) from the New World are revised. Two new species are described (Aleiodes mantiqueirensisnew species and Aleiodes marinoniinew species) and geographical range of the species group is extended into the Neotropical Region. Both new species are known only from the type locality in Brazil. Including the current descriptions, there are six species within the Aleiodes compressor species group, four of them from the New World. Some new diagnostic characters for the group are proposed such as the relative length of antenna and the shape of ovipositor sheaths. The males of this group are difficult to distinguish from males of the Aleiodes gastritor-circumscriptus species group because most diagnostic features are found only in females.

The holotype of Praepristus nepalensis Kirschenhofer, 1999 (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Platynini), the type species of the genus, is revised and it actually shows all basic characters of Platynini, not Lebiini: Pericalina as considered before. The genus is redescribed, based on fresh material, and the new transfer to the tribe Platynini is briefly discussed. Ten new species are described: P. cavicepsnew species, P. depressusnew species, P. foveicepsnew species, P. grandisnew species, P. kabakovinew species, P. similisnew species, P. sulcifernew species, P. testaceusnew species, and P. tonkinensisnew species all from Vietnam, and P. borneensisnew species from Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia. Both Colpodes planus Landin, 1955 and Notagonum rugifoveatus Louwerens, 1955 are newly transferred to Praepristus Kirschenhofer, 1999. A key to all 13 currently known species of the genus is given.

The previously monotypic genus Myrmolimosina Marshall (Diptera: Sphaeroceridae) is expanded to include the new speciesM. batus Marshall from Guatemala and Mexico and M. llama Marshall from Mexico, and redefined to include specimens with and without the strongly petiolate abdomen reflected in the generic name. Myrmolimosina batus is known only from females and M. llama is known only from males. The possibility that these two putative species represent the same sexually dimorphic species is considered and rejected based on molecular data.

A honey bee (Apis mellifera Linnaeus; Hymenoptera: Apidae) queen’s life expectancy is strongly dependent on the number of sperm she obtains by mating with drones during nuptial flights. Unexplained replacement of queens by the colony and young queens showing sperm depletions have been reported in North America, and reduced drone fertility has been a suspected cause. The aim of this study was to evaluate drone reproductive qualities during the queen-rearing season, from May to August. Drones from two different genetic lines were reared six times during the 2012 beekeeping season at our research centre in Québec (Canada). Semen volume as well as sperm number and viability were assessed at the ages of 14, 21, and 35 days. Results showed (1) a greater proportion of older drones with semen at the tip of the genitalia after eversion; (2) an influence of rearing date on semen production; and (3) no influence of drone genetic line, age or time of breeding on sperm viability. These results highlight the necessity of better understanding drone rearing and how it can be improved to ensure optimum honey-bee queen mating.

Seasonal dynamics of louse (Phthiraptera) populations on feral pigeons, Columba livia Gmelin (Aves: Columbiformes: Columbidae) were investigated from 2003 to 2012 in southern Manitoba, Canada. Pigeons were infested with: Philopteridae – Campanulotes compar (Burmeister), Columbicola columbae (Linnaeus), and Coloceras tovornikae Tendeiro; Menoponidae – Hohorstiella lata (Piaget). We consider the hypothesis that four species living on the same host show similar seasonal dynamics, coordinated by the life history of the host. Adults of both sexes and nymphs of all four species were present on pigeons throughout the year, consistent with continuous feeding and reproduction. Campanulotes compar and C. columbae populations were low in spring and peaked in September, with C. columbae showing greater seasonal changes for all population parameters. Coloceras tovornikae showed two annual peaks in abundance in spring and late summer, and H. lata was most abundant in the cold months of the year. Over 10 years, the four species showed distinct seasonal dynamics, although they live on the same birds. Seasonal patterns provided no evidence that louse reproduction or abundance is coordinated by the long breeding and moulting seasons of the host.

Populations of the chewing louse, Mulcticola macrocephalus (Kellogg) (Phthiraptera: Philopteridae), were investigated on its host the common nighthawk, Chordeiles minor (Forster) (Aves: Caprimulgiformes: Caprimulgidae), from 1992 to 2013 in southern Manitoba, Canada. The louse was present in all but one year with an annual prevalence of 0.52, mean intensity of 16 lice per infested bird, a ratio of 0.81 males and 1.89 nymphs to female (n=178). Intensity was the same in the first 11 and last nine years of the study, but prevalence dropped from 0.59 to 0.34 between the two decades. Population variability for annual abundance, measured as PV, was 0.49. In August, adults and newly fledged nighthawks had a prevalence of infestation similar to the adults that immigrated in the spring, but mean intensity did not reach spring levels until September–October. Samples of hosts were small in some years, reducing the precision of parameter estimates, particularly those based on ratios. The population parameters for M. macrocephalus on a native migrant host were intermediate in the ranges of parameters for four species of lice on non-migratory, introduced feral pigeons, Columba livia Gmelin (Aves: Columbiformes: Columbidae), but the distributions of M. macrocephalus among nighthawks was less severely aggregated than those from pigeons.

Wolbachia Hertig (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae) is a genus of endosymbionts that are widespread in insects and can have important implications on population dynamics through cytoplasmic incompatibility or sex-ratio distortion. We considered Wolbachia as a possible explanation for female-biased sex ratios often observed in mountain pine beetle populations, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae), a major pest species in western Canada whose most recent outbreak and range expansion has killed many millions of mature lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelmann (Pinaceae). We used wsp primers to screen for Wolbachia in 10 mountain pine beetle populations with varying degrees of female bias in southeast British Columbia and southwest Alberta, Canada. We found no evidence of Wolbachia in these populations and suggest that other factors may explain the sex-ratio bias.

Aedes japonicus japonicus (Theobald) (Diptera: Culicidae), the Asian bush mosquito, is a keen biter linked to the transmission to humans of a variety of diseases. It has moved significantly from its historical Asian distribution, with its arrival in North America first noted in 1998 in New York and New Jersey, United States of America. Here we report the presence of A. j. japonicus within our collections of mosquitoes in the capital city of the easternmost province in Canada: St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, in 2013. This observation provides further evidence of this mosquito’s ability to significantly expand its geographic range, potentially affecting connectivity between subpopulations globally.

Dryocoetes krivolutzkajae Mandelshtam (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), a scolytine bark beetle previously known only from the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia was discovered in Labrador and New Brunswick, Canada. It is unknown whether the Canadian populations represent an introduction or the natural range of D. krivolutzkajae. The habit of this beetle is particular because it is one of the few scolytines that complete their lifecycle within herbaceous roots. This species feeds on the rhizomes of Rhodiola rosea Linnaeus (Crassulaceae) an important natural medicinal plant. Currently it is unknown if, and how rhizome infestation affects the active chemical constituents. The impact of D. krivolutzkajae on the quantity and quality of R. rosea rhizomes requires study.

Stem-group Phasmatodea, known as the Susumanioidea, are previously established from the Jurassic through the Paleocene. Here, we extend this record to the early Eocene with five new fossils: two forewings from the Klondike Mountain Formation exposures at Republic, Washington, United States of America, and three partially complete specimens from the McAbee locality in southern British Columbia, Canada. We assign both of the Republic specimens to the new genus and species Eoprephasma hichensinew genus, new species. Two of the McAbee fossils appear to represent two further new species, which we refer to as Susumanioidea species A and B for lack of clearly preserved diagnostic species-level character states. The third might belong to one of these two species, but this is unclear. In all three, the mesothorax and metathorax are not notably extended, the forewings are not shortened, the foreleg femur is straight, and species A possesses an extended, external ovipositor with an operculum (unknown in the other specimens). These conditions are rare and never found in combination in Euphasmatodea. All other stem-group Phasmatodea younger than the Early Cretaceous of China are only known from isolated wings.

Six resistant spring wheat cultivars with the Sm1 gene were assessed for seed damage by the orange wheat blossom midge (Sitodiplosis mosellana (Géhin) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae)) in laboratory and field tests. All resistant cultivars deterred larvae from developing on the seed and had significantly less yield losses than susceptible wheat cultivars. Vesper was the first cultivar with Sm1 that also deterred oviposition by the wheat midge. Seed damage to all resistant cultivars decreased the later plants were exposed to adult midge from the time spikes emerged from the boot until anthesis. Spikes of susceptible wheat cultivars had lower yield losses when exposed two or more days after emergence than spikes exposed at the time of emergence. Seed damage to resistant wheat caused dorsal and lateral distortions of the seed and often altered seed colour and shape. The pedigree of the resistant cultivars had no effect on the extent of seed damage. Shaw wheat had the least amount of seed damage and no third instars on the seed in both field and laboratory tests. All other cultivars had a few small third instars and similar levels of seed damage in laboratory tests, with Fieldstar being the least effective. In at least one mean site-year Shaw had significantly less yield losses than the other resistant cultivars. It is recommended that Shaw be used as the standard for the selection of future spring wheat cultivars with Sm1.

In Manitoba, Canada, commercial soybeans and two types of field beans, navy and pinto, were sampled for plant bugs. At the centre and margins of 36 fields, sweep net and tap tray samples were taken weekly. In all three crops, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois) (Hemiptera: Miridae) comprised >78% and Adelphocoris lineolatus (Goeze) (Hemiptera: Miridae) <10% of adult mirids. Species composition varied among years but not among crops. For Lygus Hahn, nymphs were 46% of the catch in trays and 23% in sweeps, but total Lygus catch in trays was >2% of that in sweeps. Catch/sample effort was similar at field centres and margins for both Lygus adults and nymphs. Lygus lineolaris reproduced and developed in all three crops. In field beans, Lygus adults were first collected in late vegetative and early pod set stages and late instar nymphs and adults were present from pod elongation until maturity – results consistent with immigration of first summer generation reproductive adults and development of the second generation in the crops. There was evidence of late season immigration of Lygus into all crops. There was no loss of seed quantity attributable to mirids in any of the crops; in field beans there was no evidence that mirids reduced seed quality.

Understanding factors that influence attraction of tephritid fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) to objects can lead to development of more sensitive traps for fly detection. Here, the objective was to determine if differences in attractiveness between two sticky yellow rectangle traps to western cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis indifferens Curran, depend on ambient light intensity and direction. The translucent plastic Yellow Sticky Strip (YSS) was compared with the less translucent yellow cardboard Alpha Scents (AS). Flies were released inside a box or cage opposite a trap or traps illuminated from outside at different intensities to generate variable light passage. Regardless of type, the trap with greatest light passage was most attractive. When the same light intensity was shone on both traps, the YSS, which allowed greater light passage, was more attractive than the AS. When the light was inside a cage and shone onto the two traps in the same direction as approaching flies, the AS reflected more light and was more attractive. A field experiment generally supported light passage effects seen in the laboratory. Results suggest trap placement with respect to sunlight intensity and direction affects light passage and the attractiveness of yellow traps to R. indifferens.