The punctigera group of the genus Euxoa is defined on the basis of genitalic characters. Species included in this group are Euxoa punctigera (Wlk.), E. spumata McD., E. stigmatalis (Sm.), E. aurantiaca n. sp., and E. cana n. sp. Adults and genitalia of the species are illustrated and a key to species is included.

A procedure is described for evaluating commercial residual pesticides commonly used for house fly control. Blotting paper panels were treated with candidate products and aged up to 5 weeks. During aging, these panels were tested thrice at 1, 3, and 5 weeks after their treatment for efficacy based on mortality of female house flies exposed to them for 24 h in a cage. A product is reported satisfactory if the average percentage kill obtained is not less than 80, 60, and 50 at 1, 3, and 5 weeks aging respectively or within 5 percentage points less than these limits. A product meeting first and third week mortality limits is also considered acceptable.

Twenty-four species of parasitoids were found associated with the large aspen tortrix in interior Alaska. Keys are supplied for determining adults and, in the absence of adults, the parasitoids based on host stage and on late-instar larval remains. Brief biological and descriptive notes are given for each species appearing in the key.

The food habits and biologies of the Miridae, or plant bugs, were studied during research on the arthropod fauna associated with alfalfa, Medicago sativa L., at Ithaca, N.Y., from 1966 to 1969. Seasonal history, population trends, and natural enemies are summarized for the following species found breeding on alfalfa: Adelphocoris lineolatus (Goeze), A. rapidus (Say), Lopidea marginalis (Reuter), Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), Plagiognathus chrysanthemi (Wolff), and P. politus Uhler. Field observations of predation and scavenging by mirids are reported, including feeding on the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris); potato leafhopper, Empoasca fabae (Harris); and alfalfa weevil, Hypera postica (Gyllenhal). The most common sources of animal food on the plants were Hylemya flies killed by fungus, and pea aphid mummies containing pupae of aphidiine wasps. It is concluded that utilization of some animal food on their host plants is a common phenomenon among the Miridae.

A key to macrotype tachinid eggs, actually or potentially occurring on larvae of Heliothis spp. in North Carolina, is provided, based primarily on eggs from reared and trapped gravid adults. This key is probably valid for most of the southeastern United States. Eggs of Winthemiini are described (the common Heliothis parasites Winthemia rufopicta (Big.) and W. sinuata Reinh., and also W. manducae Sabrosky and DeLoach, W. datanae (Tns.), and Nemorilla pyste (Walk.)).

In Saskatchewan, Lestes unguiculatus Hagen, L. disjunctus disjunctus Walk., and L. dryas Kirby overwinter as eggs in a late stage of embryonic development. The embryos enter diapause in September and, in this condition, can survive exposure to temperatures as low as −20 °C. Under field conditions adequate snow cover is necessary to prevent egg mortality due to desiccation or exposure to air temperatures lower than −20 °C. Post-diapause development can take place at 0 °C but does not occur until the eggs are wetted as the pond fills with runoff water in the spring. Hatching in L. disjunctus and L. unguiculatus is highly synchronous and occurs when the water temperature is about 10 °C. Larval development is completed in about 60 days. Emergence is highly synchronous and is virtually complete within 10 days. Sexual maturation requires 16 to 18 days. Oviposition immediately follows copulation while the pair is still in tandem. Eggs are laid only in green stems of Scirpus L., between 5 and 60 cm above the water surface. The stems selected are those either growing in small groups or bordering larger stands. The significance of the observations is discussed in terms of the species’ ability to survive the climatic extremes of central Canada.

Entomophthora phytonomi Arthur, a pathogen recognized for many years under the name Entomophthora sphaerosperma Fres. as an important natural control agent in populations of the clover leaf weevil, Hypera punctata (Gyll.), has now been identified from the alfalfa weevil, Hypera postica (Gyll.). Both conidial and resting spore stages are described.

Early in the summer of 1973, the fungus was responsible for an epizootic in populations of the alfalfa weevil throughout much of east-central Ontario. In three study plots, mortality levels in larvae and cocoons ranged from 65–90% and 42–53%, respectively. This suggests that the fungus is capable of playing a significant role in the dynamics of weevil populations.

The life history of Monarthrum fasciatum was studied from 1971 through 1973 on oak in Missouri. Three generations of the beetle were observed each year and the measurements of the life stages and the gallery components were recorded. The female to male ratio was approximately 2:1. No relationship was found between oak-wilt-killed trees and M. fasciatum.

Various models of a device for detecting insects in stored grain were effective for trapping adults of the rusty grain beetle, Cryptolestes ferrugineux (Stephens), in laboratory experiments in which the insect population was known. At 30 ± 1 °C and 65 ± 5% relative humidity the number of beetles trapped increased with the time the traps were immersed in the grain. The number of beetles caught was affected by population density, duration of trapping period, position and contour of the trapping surface, location of the trap, size and shape of the container, and chemotactic stimuli. The distribution of beetles in wheat-filled containers was influenced by the shape and size of the container, duration of the sampling period, and geotactic factors. More beetles were recovered from wheat nearest the floor of filled containers of 3.8-1. capacity than from higher levels. In similar containers held in darkness, as many beetles were found near the surface as near the floor up to 14 days, but at 21 days nearly 41% were found near the floor. Drums of 105-1. capacity kept in darkness contained approximately equal numbers of beetles in the top and bottom one-third portions of wheat. More beetles were found in traps baited with rotting grain than in unbaited traps. Males and females were found in equal numbers in baited traps, or near the floor of wheat-filled containers.

The toxicity of residues of three carbamate and nine organophosphorus insecticides in rutabaga, measured by bioassay with larvae of Hylemya brassicae (Bouché), for periods from 60 days after drilling (when roots were 5 to 6 cm diam.) until 150 days after harvest (roots in storage at 4 °C) are presented graphically. The insecticides were applied 3 to 4 cm below the soil surface in a 10 cm band at several rates ranging from 2.8 to 33.6 kg a.i./ha. Maximum toxicity for carbofuran and fensulfothion residues occurred within 75 days of drilling followed by a steady decline. Conversely, the toxicity of residues of trichloronat and chlorpyrifos increased steadily over the growing period with little or no decline during storage. The remaining insecticides exhibited toxicity patterns between these extremes. At high rates, phytotoxicity was recorded for all compounds except trichloronat and fonofos. Phytotoxicity was so severe with AC64475 ((2-diethoxyphosphinylimino)-1,3-dithietane) that all plants were destroyed with rates in excess of 11.2 kg a.i./acre. AC64475 was the most toxic insecticide to H. brassicae larvae. The nine organophosphorus insecticides included in these tests were mostly concentrated in the peel of rutabaga, whereas the carbamates were mostly concentrated in the pulp.

The fecundity of Hyssopus thymus Girault females does not normally vary between generations within a single year, but differences frequently occur between years. A weighted mean annual fecundity of 14 eggs per female under laboratory conditions has been determined by pooling several years’ records, although the maximum number of eggs laid by a female was 130. A mean of 20 eggs per female was determined under quasinatural conditions. The weight of the host, Rhyacionia buoliana (Schiffermüller) (Lepidoptera: Olethreutidae), limits the number of eggs laid per host during the early spring when shoot moth larvae are small. When the host larvae are larger, size is no longer a limiting factor in the number of eggs deposited per host. There is a preoviposition period of about 3 days and egg production is synovigenic. The number of fully developed eggs within a female at one time varies between about 7 and 12 eggs on a 3-day cycle, and never exceeds 16. Each female wasp attacks two or three large host larvae and this number is probably doubled when the host larvae available for attack are small.