For several years we have been investigating the effects of natural and artificial acoustical and electrical phenomena on the behaviour of insects with a view to the development of new methods of control.

A. Sounds can be exploited in two ways:–firstly to affect insects whose behaviour is stimulated by naturally-occurring sounds; secondly to use the very rapid pressure changes associated with sounds as a sort of “death ray.”

Studies of 19 species of bumble bees, Bombus Latr., representing seven of the nine subgenera that occur in North America north of Mexico show that queens construct first broods in at least two ways. Queens of species belonging to the subgenera Subterraneobombus Vogt, Fervidobombus Skor., Pyrobombus D. T., Bombus., Latr., Cullumanobombus Vogt, and Bombias Robt. construct adjoining cells of pollen and lay a single egg in each. When an egg is laid, the pollen forming the wall of the cell is immediately manipulated with the mandibles to enclose the egg. Usually, an egg is laid when a cell is completed, but sometimes as many as four cells are made before any eggs are deposited. Two to three days are needed to complete the first brood mass, which usually consists of about 10 eggs. Additional pollen, on which the first-brood larvae apparently feed, is packed beneath the brood mass after all the eggs are laid and after the envelope covering the eggs in the cells has been infused with wax. The pollen is packed beneath the cells through gaps in either end of the wax-pollen envelope covering the brood. Honey is fed to the larvae by biting holes in the envelope and pumping the honey into the cells. The holes are repaired immediately after the larvae have been fed. Queens of balteatus Dahl. of the subgenus Alpinobombus Skor. deposit the full complement of first-brood eggs in a single cell built out of a rough mass of pollen. The eggs are deposited in vertical positions as are the first-brood eggs of species that lay only one egg per cell. Pollen is added to the base in the manner described above.

Several thousand specimens of arctic butterflies were accumulated in the Canadian Northern Insect Survey. When the distributions of the various species were recorded and plotted on a map, some evidence appeared that these insects entered Canada in postglacial times from the northwest, and from the south. There is also some evidence that a few may have come from the north. The most common invasion was from the northwest, and it appears that some, such as Erebia youngi Holl., probably entered Canada rather recently, as it is only known to occur in the Yukon. Boloria pales D. & S. occurs from the Yukon to within about 150 miles west of Hudson's Bay. Colias boothii Curt. occurs as far east as Southampton Island, and Erebia rossii Curt. is distributed to Baffin Island. Others such as Boloria polaris Bdv. have spread to northern Quebec and Labrador. Thus it appears that there are successive stages of distributional spread from the northwest.

Members of the genus Ips are polygamous. The male excavates the entrance hole and a small nuptial chamber between the inner bark and sapwood. The females then enter and each excavates an egg gallery starting from the nuptial chamber. The number of females per gallery system ranges from 1 to 5 but the most common number is 3. This sex ratio of approximately 3 ♀ ♀: 1 ♂ has been attributed to some mortality factor more lethal to the males in some stage of development. Breeding of isolated pairs under laboratory conditions was carried out primarily to determine the variability between individuals from the same brood and between individuals from different broods. The objective was to resolve the complex of closely related species in the Ips tridens–I. engelmanni group. An unexpected result was a clarification of the sex ratio problem.

A principle of visual attraction has been used in the design of mosquito traps for ecological studies. Tests in the field have shown that the design is efficient in capturing large numbers of mosquitoes in locations where ordinary light traps were unsatisfactory. Positive 24-hour attraction is achieved under naturally varying light conditions by using a black and white pattern that is superior in contrast to competing patterns in the environment. The sampling unit, in terms of air space, depends on the distance between contours in the pattern. Comparison with a suction trap under identical conditions show no significant differences in the ratio of empirically divided day to night catches. In very dark environments, a relatively uniform contrast in the pattern may be maintained between night and day with white light confined to the cylinder by collimators. Illumination in the yellow-red end of the spectrum reduces attraction to the pattern.

Until now this family has been known only through one species Nymphomyia alba Tokunaga, found in Japan in 1932. The specimens taken in New Brunswick and shown in the exhibit differ strikingly from Nymphomyia and represent a new genus.

With one exception, the thirty-eight individuals recovered from collections to date, were taken by fine-mesh screens set in the rapids of a small stream. These had been placed to catch casualties among aquatic insects drifting downstream following spraying of the adjacent forest with DDT. The spraying operation was of an experimental nature, carried out cooperatively by Forest Protection Limited, the Chemical Control Section, Canada Department of Forestry and the Fisheries Research Board of Canada.

In resistant wheats, although many eggs and early-instar larvae of the wheat stem sawfly die, most of the effect is in the high mortality of late instar larvae as the stems ripen. In oats, which are immune to sawfly damage, most sawfly eggs hatch but all larvae die in the first or second instar.

The amount and distribution of the pith in the stem determines the sawfly resistance of wheat. The stems of all resistant wheats are at least partially solidly filled with pith in the lower three internodes whereas those of susceptible wheats are hollow. Significant sawfly mortality occurs only in the solid part of resistant stems; in the hollow part survival is as high as in susceptible wheats. Shading the growing plants of the resistant bread wheat Rescue reduces its solidness of stem and at the same time its resistance to sawfly.

The Byron Bog lies within the city limits of the City of London in southwestern Ontario. It is a relic bog lying about 300 miles south of the forested region of Ontario in which bogs are prevalent. It lies in the northern border of the Carolinian Zone.

The wooded slopes around the bog include trees characteristic of southern Ontario, including White Elm, Bur Oak, Hackberry, Silver Maple, Black Cherry and Choke Cherry. The slopes encircle a zone of damp woods with Alder Buckthorn, White Pine, White Birch, Larch, Black Spruce with an undergrowth of Purple Chokeberry, Huckleberry, Blueberry and Leather-leaf.

This exhibit shows pictorially the part that entomological evidence played in a murder trial. Some unusual “hairs” were found stuck in a drop of blood on a 25¢ shinplaster (Canadian bank note) in the possession of a suspect. More of the unusual plumose hairs were taken from the pocket of the murdered man (Patrick Martin). The hairs were brought by the R.C.M.P. to the Entomology Research Institute where they were identified as either dermestid or bee hairs. Subsequent investigation turned up fragments of a bumble bee (Bombus sp.) in the desk where the murdered man kept his collection of shinplasters. These hairs proved to be identical to those in the murdered man's pocket and to the ones on the shinplaster in the possession of the suspect.

The introduction of natural enemies of an insect pest from foreign countries is one method of biological control which relies on the addition of missing factors to increase pest mortality. The Research Institute, Belleville is the Canadian agent that obtains and provides biological control information and material required anywhere in Canada from foreign countries. This is usually done through the Commonwealth Institute of Biological Control.

A standardized technique for establishing the susceptibility levels of adult stages of stored product pests to residual contact insecticides has been designed using disposable containers, standard kits and standard procedures. Filter papers are impregnated with a series of concentrations of the material being tested. Acetone is the preferred solvent for impregnation. Sufficiently non-volatile materials are supplied on the papers. Volatile materials are applied by the testers using standard solutions and papers, a ‘bed-of-nails’ and a hypodermic syringe. Paper cups with perforated lids serve as both exposure and holding cages and are then destroyed. Fittcd glass rings keep exposure areas constant and prevent insect escape. When an anaesthetic is required carbon dioxide is employed. Pre-exposure holding (i.e. starvation or other procedures), lengths of exposure periods, duration of holding or recovery period and other pertinent points are established for all common pests. Data forms are supplied to cooperators. Calculated probit-log-dosage regression lines and LD50's obtained therefrom indicate susceptibility levels and allow for comparisons between populations separated both in time and space.

Adults attracted to heap-traps are normally mixed with a large quantity of hay trash which makes the recovery of beetles tedious and difficult. To facilitate this work, an insect sorting box was designed and built. To recover the beetles, the heaps are shaken above the cover of the box and the insects with the trash fall into the box through the wire mesh. The beetles run in all directions to avoid daylight and finally enter one of the darkened compartments where they drop through the funnel opening into the attached glass jar. The beetles are then recovered from the jars and separated out under clean conditions within a very short time.

Solid-stemmed varieties of common wheat are more resistant than hollowstemmed varieties to the wheat stem sawfly, Cephus cinctus Nort. If closely related lines of wheat with a considerable range of sawfly-resistance and stem solidness were available, entomologists could use them to analyse some of the mechanisms of resistance.

A display that exemplifies relationships between mites and insects is especially appropriate for an exhibit of acarology at the Centennial of Entomology in Canada. Mites of some 15 genera in ten families are associated with bark beetles. Those of a species group in the genus Tarsonemoides (Acarina: Tarsonemidae) are specialized as egg parasites of Ips (Scolytidae). This exhibit is based on research by Lindquist and Bedard (1961: Canad. Ent. 93: 982-999) on species of Tarsonemoides with Ips in California and is illustrated with similar material from Toronto.

Soil micro-arthropods, as such, have hitherto been little studied in North America. Investigations, particularly of woodland soils, near Ste Anne de Bellevue, Quebec, have, however, been in progress for several years. Micro-arthropods are present in very large numbers in most soils. They include mites, Collembola, Diplura, Protura, Symphyla, Pauropoda and pseudoscorpions.

The Northwestern Queen Elizabeth Islands, i.e., Meighen, Ellef Ringnes, Amund Ringnes, King Christian, Lougheed, Borden, Mackenzie King, and Brock, constitute the most barren part of the high arctic fell field. Within this group, the richest area is at Isachsen on Ellef Ringnes Island; there the relief is higher and the variety of habitats greater and richer than at any other place on any of these islands. Despite this relative richness, however, Isachsen has the coldest summer climate of any arctic weather station (July mean, about 38°F.) and the smallest arthropod fauna (55 species of spiders, mites, collemboles and insects, according to studies conducted there in 1960) of any locality investigated during the Northern Insect Survey.

To minimize travel to light traps sited at a considerable distance from headquarters, the authors have developed a battery of seven light traps, to keep nightly catohes separate and in good condition for a period of up to one week.

The 100-watt clear, incandescent attractant lights are switched on in succession by a programmed multiple switch based on a seven-day, clock-driven thermograph drum. Seven cams are fitted at intervals equivalent to 24 hours on the drum surface, each of arc length to keep one of the seven roller lever actuator switches closed for the night hours of orie dav per week.

In biochemical studies of resistance of plants to insects knowledge of the nutritional needs of the insect is required. Some methods that have been developed or were adapted from studies with large animals are displayed.

Larvae of the pale western cutworm, Agrotis orthogonia Morr., have been reared on diets prepared from wheat sprouts that have been lyophilized and ground to a fine meal. Diets may be prepared by adding water (two parts) to the meal (one part), packaging in aluminum foil, and storing in the frozen state. By lyophilization, other plant tissues have also been preserved successfully for periods up to one year. The lyophilized tissue provides a uniform dietary medium that can be readily extracted or supplemented in nutritional studies.

One aspect of lepidopterous taxonomy concerns the adult; of at least equal importance is that concerning the larva, the destructive stage of a butterfly or moth. There are many reports in the literature whose value has been reduced, if not nullified, by failure to recognize the larvae of the one or more species involved. Yet there are, to-day, no truly satisfactory family keys to the l'arvae of Lepidoptera, and no keys to the early instars of any one family. There are workable keys to the late instars of only two or three families in this order of insects, and these are far from complete on a world or even a continental basis. An example of the last are those of the Tortricidae (MacKay 1959, 1962), and a plea is extended to our entomological colleagues for correctly associated larval material (much of which can be obtained so easily where it is common or when its biology is being examined) to serve as a basis lor the necessary similar studies in other families.

Parasitic Hymenoptera in all parts of the world exhibit many striking color patterns. These patterns are differentiated into groups according to the locality, size and habits of the insect.

The really small species, i.e. those under 4 mm. long, can hardly be said to have a color pattern at all, and have virtually no regional differentiation anywhere except for a general prevalence of darker coloration in cool climates and paler in warm climates. In tropical regions many of the smaller Hymenoptera are confined to the shady interior of forests. These species often exhibit a disruptive pattern consisting of white spots at the tip of the antennae and the tip of the hind legs or ovipositor. These white spots show strikingly against a dark forest background and serve to draw attention away from the body of the insect itself. Such disruptive patterns are seldom found in temperate fhest species of the smallest sizes but are common in large sized forest-dwelling ichneumonids in all parts of the world.