Laricobius nigrinus Fender, native to western North America, was first released in 2003 for the biological control of the hemlock woolly adelgid, Adelges tsugae Annand (Hemiptera: Adelgidae), in the eastern United States. Members of the genus Laricobius are known to feed on adelgids, but there is a lack of detailed taxonomic and ecological information on this group of insects. Detailed descriptions and illustrations of various life stages of L. nigrinus are presented in this study, accompanied by notes on its life history to facilitate its recognition.

Seven species of introduced Carabidae are newly reported in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Trechus quadristriatus (Schrank), Amara ovata (Fabricius), and Harpalus rubripes (Duftschmid) are newly recorded in Atlantic Canada as a whole. Possible modes of introduction of these species to the region are discussed. Several may have been introduced in association with dry ballast shipments. Some may have arrived via natural dispersion from neighbouring areas; others appear to have been present and undetected for a considerable time. The possible impact of such introductions is also discussed. Synanthropic environments have higher proportions of introduced species than relatively undisturbed, native habitats. Some adventive species do become widespread in native environments; however, negative impacts on native species may not be readily apparent.

The higher classification of the families of the Noctuoidea with a quadrifid forewing (Nolidae, Strepsimanidae, Arctiidae, Lymantriidae, Erebidae, and Noctuidae) is reviewed from the perspective of recent classifications and the distribution of derived character states. On the basis of recent morphological and molecular studies, we propose a more inclusive definition of the family Noctuidae that adds the subfamilies Nolinae, Strepsimaninae, Arctiinae, Lymantriinae, and Erebinae to the subfamilies more traditionally included in the Noctuidae. Consequently, the superfamily Noctuoidea comprises the families Oenosandridae, Doidae, Notodontidae, Micronoctuidae, and Noctuidae. The tribe Cosmiini, currently in the subfamily Xyleninae, is downgraded to the status of subtribe Cosmiina and placed in the tribe Xylenini. The tribe Balsini, currently in the subfamily Xyleninae, is elevated to the status of subfamily Balsinae. The tribe Phosphilini is transferred from the subfamily Psaphidinae to the Xyleninae.

Lacconotus punctatus LeConte is reported for the first time from Atlantic Canada from a specimen collected in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. This is the first record of the family Mycteridae in the region. The bionomics and systematics of the species are briefly discussed. The report is also situated in the context of the developing knowledge of saproxylic beetles in the region.

The Canadian spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.; Poaceae) cultivar ‘Superb’ was less susceptible to damage by Hessian fly, Mayetiola destructor (Say), than the spring wheat cultivars ‘AC Barrie’, ‘AC Foremost’, ‘McKenzie’, ‘AC Domain’, and ‘Glenlea’ in Manitoba. The partial resistance of ‘Superb’ was similar, at the seedling stage, to that of ‘Guard’, which possesses the resistance gene H18. Females laid eggs readily on all cultivars, providing no evidence for antixenosis, but few larvae developed on seedlings of ‘Superb’ and ‘Guard’, showing that antibiosis against larvae is the mechanism of resistance in these seedlings. In the field, where infestation of spring wheat takes place about 4 weeks after the seedling stage, ‘Guard’ continued to show high levels of resistance, but ‘Superb’ was less resistant, although still more resistant than highly susceptible cultivars. Infested stems of ‘Superb’ and ‘Nordic’ were less likely to break than infested stems of other cultivars, showing that these two cultivars are partially tolerant to infestation. Infested stems of ‘Guard’ and other cultivars showed high levels of stem breakage and are intolerant. Yield losses due to infestation by Hessian fly were mostly caused by the breakage and falling over of infested stems, which prevented the seeds on these stems from being harvested. Infested stems of all susceptible cultivars that remained standing at harvest had lower seed masses and fewer seeds per spike than uninfested stems, which contributed to yield loss. ‘Grandin’, a parent of ‘Superb’, is the probable source of resistance in ‘Superb’, but the pedigree of ‘Grandin’ provides no clue as to the gene(s) involved. The partial antibiosis and tolerance expressed by ‘Superb’ is sufficient to reduce losses to Hessian fly by 65% in comparison with a susceptible cultivar such as ‘AC Barrie’. ‘Superb’ is the first Canadian spring wheat cultivar identified to have an agronomically useful level of resistance to Hessian fly.

Using 4 years of potato monitoring data containing insect counts, population development of the green peach aphid (Myzus persicae (Sulzer)) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), ladybird beetles (Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) and Coccinella septempunctata L.) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), and hymenopterous aphid parasitoids is described and used to consider revisions to current sampling plans. Depending on the year, field monitoring for aphids commenced between early May and early June. Aphid populations typically increased after 1 July and fluctuated until the end of the monitoring period (September). Winged M. persicae began to appear in sweep-net samples in late May, well in advance of the detection of aphids in visual samples. Aphid counts from field edge and interior sample sites were correlated and edge population levels were slightly and significantly greater than interior levels over the period 10 June – 14 July in 2 of the 4 years analyzed, suggesting a mild but inconsistent edge effect approaching mid season. Using an action threshold of 1 aphid/leaf to restrict the aphid-mediated spread of potato leaf roll virus (PLRV), the earliest whole-field action threshold was exceeded during 18–24 June in 1997. Using an action threshold of 10 aphids/leaf to address aphid-induced yield loss in fields not at risk to PLRV, the earliest whole-field action threshold was exceeded during 16–22 July in 1997. Therefore, monitoring for aphids can begin much later than the time it is currently commenced. A case is presented for monitoring only the edges of potato fields for an action threshold of 10 aphids/leaf, as interior samples rarely exceeded this action threshold when edge samples were below. This would further reduce the effort in sampling potato fields for aphids. Population development of ladybird beetle adults and larvae showed peaks occurring at different times during the growing season, depending on the year. Parasitism of aphids by hymenopterans occurred at low to moderate levels throughout the growing season (13% of total aphids in visual samples, on average), with peak parasitism appearing toward the end of the growing season in each year.

The cynipid Diplolepis triforma Shorthouse and Ritchie induces a fusiform, multi chambered stem gall from leaf buds on Rosa acicularis Lindl. in central and western Canada. Galls at all stages of development were fixed and sectioned using botanical histological techniques to illustrate, for the first time, the unique host-modifying abilities of gall-inducing cynipids that distinguish them from other phytophagous insects. Key events in gall ontogeny, whereby D. triforma gains control and redirects the development of attacked host tissues to provide larvae with shelter and food, include proliferation of cytoplasmically dense parenchymatous cells within the strands of the procambium at the point of egg contact, appearance of nutritive cells when larvae first begin to feed, formation of new xylem and phloem extending from un affected vascular bundles to the larval chambers, formation of several layers of nutritive cells during the period of larval feeding, and formation of sclerenchyma cells around each larval chamber. The role of these tissues in galler biology is explained.

Stem galls induced by the cynipid Diplolepis triforma Shorthouse and Ritchie are frequently inhabited by several species of parasitic chalcids and ichneumonids that consume inducers or other parasitoids. Two of these parasitoids, the eurytomid Eurytoma spongiosa Bugbee and the torymid Glyphomerus stigma (Fabr.), consume gall tissues after they have consumed their insect hosts and are considered entomophytophagous. Both are koinobiont ectoparasitoids. Eurytoma spongiosa oviposits within gall chambers and attacks larvae of the inducer throughout the summer season, from the early growth phase of the galls until the galls mature. If the inducer is killed by E. spongiosa in early summer, nutritive gall cells degenerate into vacuolate parenchyma and are consumed. If the inducer is killed later in the summer, when galls begin to mature, nutritive cells persist in the chambers for about 1 week before degenerating. Glyphomerus stigma kills and consumes inducer larvae when galls are maturing. New nutritive cells appear under the influence of G. stigma and are then consumed. The ability of entomophytophagous chalcids to promote the formation of gall cells provides insight into the derivation of the gall-inducing guild.

In flight-tunnel assays in both clean and pheromone-permeated air, we compared attraction and behavioural responses of male Pandemis limitata (Robinson) to “calling” females, female pheromone gland extract (FGE), and synthetic sources of pheromone. In clean air, female-baited traps caught significantly more males than traps baited with rubber septa lures loaded with 10 or 100 µg of the known pheromone components ((Z)-11-tetradecenyl acetate (Z11-14:Ac) and (Z)-9-tetradecenyl acetate) blended in a 91:9 or 94:6 ratio. Traps baited with septa loaded with 500 µg of the 94:6 blend caught as many males as did female-baited traps. Proportions of males engaging in wing fanning, take-off flight, locking onto the plume, and upwind flight towards a rubber septum loaded with 100 or 500 µg of the 94:6 blend were not significantly different from proportions exhibiting these behaviours in response to calling females. Only 500 µg lures elicited as much source contact in the same time as did a calling female. In clean air, traps baited with FGE applied to filter paper at 5 or 10 female equivalents caught as many males as did calling females. In air treated with Z11-14:Ac applied as a pheromone disruptant, females attracted more males and did so sooner than did five equivalents of FGE on filter paper. Consequently, disruption of male orientation to calling females was significantly shorter (74 h) than disruption of orientation to FGE (146 h). However, FGE dispensed from a piezoelectric microsprayer at a rate equivalent to 50 pg of Z11-14:Ac·min–1 caught as many males as a calling female. At this delivery rate, two-choice microsprayer bioassays revealed that FGE containing the two known components at a 91:9 ratio was more attractive than a synthetic blend of these two pheromone components alone at the same ratio. In air permeated with Z11-14:Ac, disruption of orientation to this FGE lasted 74 h, equivalent to disruption of orientation to females. These results suggest the published two-component pheromone blend for P. limitata is likely incomplete, and in the absence of suitable synthetic attractants, we recommend use of calling females or FGE delivered using a microsprayer system for any laboratory examination of communication disruption in this species.

Fungus gnats (FG) (Diptera: Sciaridae: Bradysia spp.) are economically important pests of greenhouse flowers. Larvae feed on root tissue and transmit a variety of phytopathogens. Atheta coriaria (Kraatz) (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) is a new biological control agent (BCA) for FG. To support its successful use by the greenhouse industry, its compatibility with current integrated pest management (IPM) programs used in floriculture was assessed. This included investigations of prey preference, possible detrimental interactions with other soil-dwelling BCAs, and the toxicity to A. coriaria of registered and novel insecticides. Atheta coriaria showed little preference among eggs of different pest species or between pest eggs and eggs of the intraguild predator Hypoaspis aculeifer (Canestrini) (Acari: Mesostigmata: Laelapidae). It preferred FG 1st-instar larvae to larvae and pupae of other soil-dwelling pests. The entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema feltiae (Filipjev) (Rhabditida: Steinernematidae) was compatible with A. coriaria, but H. aculeifer mites fed on A. coriaria larvae. Insect growth regulators with limited contact activity (e.g., diflubenzuron) were compatible with adult A. coriaria and had minimal effects on larvae compared with other insecticides. Atheta coriaria can be incorporated into an IPM program for FG if harsh insecticides are avoided, but interactions with predatory mites, as well as its effectiveness against other greenhouse pests when FG are present, require further investigation.

Field studies were conducted to determine the attractiveness of monoterpenes and pheromones to the white pine cone beetle, Conophthorus coniperda (Schwarz), the most destructive cone and seed pest of eastern white pine, Pinus strobus L. (Pinaceae). Limonene was identified as a new attractant that acts synergistically when added to the female-produced sex pheromone, pityol. Trap catches were higher with increasing release rates of S-(–)-limonene. The enantiomers of limonene showed equivalent efficacy on mean trap catch. (–)-β-Pinene was not attractive and may be repellent to both sexes, and (–)-α-pinene was shown to have no effect on female response when added to pityol or pityol + S-(–)-limonene. The pheromones trans-verbenol, trans-pinocarveol, and myrtenol were not attractive to C. coniperda.

An approach to enhance the performance of probe traps in detecting Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens) adults in stored wheat is described. The repellent property of protein-enriched pea flour is exploited to increase the efficiency of the probe trap by treating the stored grain with the flour. The enhancement in performance of the traps was evaluated by placing the traps in wheat grains treated with protein-enriched pea flour at concentrations of 1%, 5%, and 10% (w/w) and observing the number of adult beetles trapped in comparison with the trap catch in untreated wheat. The traps kept in wheat treated with protein-enriched pea flour caught more beetles than traps placed in untreated wheat. The practical implications of this work are discussed with reference to sampling for C. ferrugineus.