The spring emergence and seasonal abundance of the trivoltine spotted tentiform leafminer, Phyllonorycter blancardella (Fabr.), were monitored in a Connecticut apple orchard to provide phenological data for control programs. Spring emergence of each sex lasted 28 or 29 days in 1980 and 1981 although large emergences (≥5% of the total) occurred over a period of 12 to 18 days. When spring emergence was forecast in 1981 by using degree-day accumulations (above 5 °C) from the 1980 emergence, the predicted and actual 10 and 50% emergence time differed by 4 or 5 days. Even though daily catches of moths in pheromone traps preceded those in emergence traps, the abundance patterns indicated by these traps were similar. Low temperature and rain reduced emergence and flight activity. Seasonal abundance in pheromone traps showed three or four peaks, which usually decreased in size as the year progressed. From 1978 to 1981, the onset of male flight activity varied by as much as 3 wk. When emergence and pheromone traps are used together, they indicate the duration and peaks of emergence and flight activity.

The effects on carabids of natural, fescue, and rye sod types and of tillage were investigated in a pest management apple orchard. Carabids were sampled before and after the treatments by pitfall trapping and by two types of soil sampling. There were no significant effects of sod type on pitfall trap catches; however the abundance of all common species in soil samples was significantly affected by sod types. Usually in soil samples carabids were most abundant in natural sod and least abundant in tilled plots; numbers were intermediate in fescue and rye. Sod type did not affect structure or diversity of the carabid fauna.

Connatichela artemisiae, a new genus and species of leptopiine weevil endemic to the Yukon Territory, Canada, is described and illustrated. The genus is placed in the group of leptopiine genera characterized by the absence of metepisternal suture, lack of scales on antennal funiculus, and presence of broad scales on antennal scape. Connatichela members are readily distinguished from related leptopiine genera by the presence of connate tarsal claws and the structure of male and female genitalia. Phylogenetic and zoogeographic relationships of the genus are unresolved at present. Adult specimens were found in association with plants of a small species of Artemisia.

Fossil material of mid-Wisconsin age assignable to C. artemisiae from the Yukon Territory, extreme western Northwest Territories, and Alaska suggests a slightly more widespread Pleistocene distribution, with recent restriction to the Yukon Territory. This restriction may have resulted from a decrease, during the post Wisconsin, in availability of dry steppe-tundra habitats throughout most of Beringia.

Cyanobacterial mats of Oscillatoria spp., found in the habitat of Bembidion obtusidens, a halophilic carabid beetle, emit metabolites that act as allelochemic attractants to these insects. In a wind tunnel designed for use with small, fast-running carabid beetles, B. obtusidens adults responded to a homogeneously dispersed wind-borne mixture of these allelochemics by walking upwind. These results suggest that wind-borne metabolites of Oscillatoria spp. could act as distant chemical cues that invoke positive, odor-mediated anemotaxis in migrant B. obtusidens, enabling them to locate their habitat.

Spatial segregation between the colonial homopterans Aphis vernoniae Thomas and Publilia reticulata Van Duzee on New York ironweed, Vernonia noveboracensis L., does not occur either among plant patches or among plants. Before August, spatial separation occurs on the plants, with A. vernoniae concentrated in the inflorescences and P. reticulata concentrated on the middle leaves. Apparent overlap increases as A. vernoniae moves onto senescing leaves late in the season. However, the A. vernoniae colonies are found nearer to the petiole, and there is little actual overlap in the distributions of the two species.

The behavioural responses of insects to insecticides and the relationships of these responses to physiological resistance are reviewed and discussed in terms of their potential economic importance and their genetic and evolutionary bases. In addition, responses to insecticide are compared with responses of phytophagous insects to host-produced toxins, with the discussion centring upon the genetic and evolutionary bases of these similar types of response and their possible roles in adaptation and speciation.

The rate of hatch of overwintered eggs of the strawberry aphid, Chaetosiphon fragaefolii (Cockerell), at five temperatures in controlled environment chambers was used to determine the thermal threshold of development. Samples of eggs were taken from two field locations several times before hatch. These samples were subdivided and placed into two or three different constant temperature chambers. The day-degree requirements for hatching from the time of collection were estimated. These estimates corresponded to the number of day-degrees actually accumulated in the field between the time of egg collection and the time of hatching.

This method of simulating the effect of temperature on egg development was an accurate method of predicting the time of hatch in the field at least 3 weeks prior to the observed time.

In the field in Europe, Lenta cyanella (L.) has been reported to breed only on Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop.) whereas in the laboratory it breeds on species in the genera Cirsium, Carduus, and Silybum. In one laboratory choice test, L. cyanella preferred Cirsium drummondii T.&G. over Canada thistle. In one field-cage test, it concentrated feeding and oviposition on one C. drummondii which thrived in preference to three other C. drummondii and Canada thistle which grew poorly. In a second field-cage test, Canada thistle predominated and L. cyanella fed and oviposited most on Canada thistle although its intrinsic preference for C. drummondii was still apparent. A review of the field host-plants of three accidentally introduced thistle-feeding insects, Orellia ruficauda (F.), Cleonus piger Scop, and Cassida rubiginosa Müller, and the introduced biocontrol agent Rhinocyllus conicus Froel., showed that these insects, which have a wider range of hosts than has L. cyanella, concentrate breeding on introduced species of Cynareae (Compositae). Based on this evidence, it is extrapolated that L. cyanella will exploit Canada thistle and will not damage populations of native Cirsium species when established in North America.

Probit analysis of the dosage response of first instar, fruittree leafroller larvae to azinphos-methyl indicated that a strain from a commercial orchard in East Kelowna, B.C. was 7.8 times more tolerant than a susceptible strain. Azinphos-methyl applied to experimental apple blocks in the same area did not provide satisfactory control. Leafroller damage as high as 10.5% was found in several orchards which had received multiple azinphos-methyl and other organophosphorous insecticide treatments. The development of an organophosphorous resistant strain of fruittree leafroller in this orchard area is strongly suggested. Bacillus thuringiensis applied at the pink stage of apple blossom development gave adequate control of fruittree leafroller in East Kelowna field trials and will be suggested as the control material for commercial orchards in this area.

Parasitoids of the trivoltine spotted tentiform leafminer, Phyllonorycter blancardella (Fabr.), were studied in Connecticut apple orchards to determine their relative importance, emergence patterns, and seasonal abundance. Sixteen parasitoid species, including 12 eulophids, emerged from mines formed by 4th- and 5th-instar leafminer larvae. The species were primary, secondary, or facultative secondary parasitoids. Five were new records. The braconid Pholetesor ornigis (Weed) was the most abundant in the first and third leafminer generations, and the eulophid Sympiesis marylandensis Girault was the most abundant in the second generation. Ratios of parasitoids to Phyllonorycter spp. were generally higher in samples from unsprayed trees than in those from sprayed trees. Major parasitoids usually emerged 1 to 4 wk before their larval hosts became plentiful. Sweep samples indicated relatively high abundance of one or both major parasitoids during the first and second leafminer generations. Monitoring of parasitoids and the judicious use of insecticides may have a critical role in pest management programs utilizing native parasitoids of leafminers.

Both adult females and larvae of Agromyza frontella (Rondani) exploit the same food source, alfalfa leaflets. In laboratory studies, larval development in leaflets with many adult nutrition holes resulted in a higher incidence of mortality than in leaflets with low levels of adult feeding. Furthermore, in heavily attacked leaflets, survivors had a slightly longer larval developmental time and lower pupal weights. In heavily attacked alfalfa fields where adult nutrition holes are numerous, the above-mentioned adult–larval interaction could play a density-dependent role in the population dynamics of A. frontella. However, in most situations adult feeding probably has an indirect effect, accentuating intraspecific larval competition by decreasing the quantity of the available limiting resource.

Fossil oribatid mites were recovered from the Paskapoo Formation exposed along the Red Deer River valley near Blackfalds (fossil insect site 1, 12UUP 171 030). The fossils are Late Paleocene (approximately middle Tiffanian) in age (Fox in press). Other adult and immature fossil insects collected from the same locality reported by Mitchell and Wighton (1979) inhabited a mixed forested environment with associated low-energy, shallow, fresh water. The climate at the time of deposition is suggested by Wighton (1980, 1982) to have been warm-temperate to subtropical. The 11 adult and seven immature fossil mites (Fig. 1 specimen no. UAPC6186) are associated with an unidentified fossil insect larva and two chironomid fly pupae on the underside of a compression-impression fossil leaf of “Viburnum” cupanioidea (Newbeq) R. W. Brown (Caprifoliaceae). Most structures on the larvae are obscured, but the size (length 220–240 μm, width 140–150 μm), absence of dark pigmentation, presence of 3 pairs of legs, and general appearance closely resemble oribatid mite larvae (Fig. 2a,b). The adult specimens have several characteristics in common with the extant genus Hydrozetes. The triangular prodorsum lacks microsculpture and narrows to a pointed rostrum (Fig. 2c,d). Examination of the bothridial area in two specimens indicates that the bothridium is reduced and the sensillus is not present. The legs are monodactylous (Fig. 2d,e) and pteromorphae are absent. The notogastral margin is incomplete anteriorly and bears a round, concave area that probably represents the lenticulus. The size (length 495–520 μm, width 325–355 μm) and general habitus of the fossil mites closely resemble those of extant Hydrozetes species.

Maris Kestrel kale, Brassica oleracea L., was planted and sampled in two locations during 1977–78. The aphids Brevicoryne brassicae (L.) and Myzus persicae (Sulzer), syrphids in the genera Syrphus and Scaeva, the cecidomyiid Aphidoletes aphidimyza (Rond.), the parasite Diaeretiella rapae (M'Intosh), and the fungus Entomophthora aphidis Hoffman were observed in the samples. A volumetric technique for assessing aphid numbers was developed and evaluated. Peak numbers of B. brassicae differed by an order of magnitude between plots, but the pattern of monotonic increase in the spring, followed by an abrupt decline in the rate of increase, a mid-summer peak, and an autumn population decline was consistent throughout. The first major decline in the rate of increase of B. brassicae was correlated with the appearance of A. aphidimyza and syrphid larvae. Declining adult aphid weight, which suggested declining fecundity, increased alate production at high aphid densities, parasite pressure, and leaf fall added to the damping effect of predators. In autumn, cool temperatures and production of sexuals further reduced the rate of increase of B. brassicae.

Adults of four new species of Trisetacus are described from southern British Columbia, Canada: T. neoabietis from foliage of Amabilis fir, T. neopiceae from foliage of Engelmann and Sitka spruce, T. uclueletensis from foliage of Sitka spruce, and T. columbiensis from buds and foliage of Douglas-fir.

In western Canada, three wax-infesting moth species are serious pests of honey bee products, Vitula edmandsae serratilineella Ragonot, Achroia grisella (F.), and Plodia interpunctella (Hübner). The latter two species are found only in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia, while the driedfruit moth (sometimes called the bumble bee wax moth), V. edmandsae, is found throughout western Canada.

Three female-produced pheromone components of V. edmandsae were identified as (Z,E)-9,12-tetradecadien-1-ol, (Z)-9-tetradecen-1-ol, and (Z)-11-hexadecen-1-ol, and field tested. Pheromone baits were used in traps outdoors and in bee equipment storage facilities in the Fraser and Okanagan valleys of British Columbia. The peak indoor trapping period occurred during May in the Okanagan Valley, while catches in indoor traps in the Fraser Valley were negligible throughout the entire trapping period. Catches in outdoor traps peaked during July in both regions. Traps baited with (Z,E)-9,12-tetradecadien-1-ol, alone or in binary combination with (Z)-11-hexadecen-1-ol, were significantly more attractive to male V. edmandsae than all other treatments tested. At one apiary, cumulative moth catch from a trap line 1.0 m from hives was significantly greater than that from a trap line 4.5 m away. The results suggest that a pheromone-based monitoring and control program for V. edmandsae is feasible.

Adult tipulids were collected at weekly intervals in a southern New York open woodland. Sweeping, light trapping, and Malaise trapping yielded 4003 crane flies representing 125 species. The 25 most common species were identified and enumerated. The Malaise trap data were used to examine phenology, diversity, and species evenness. Further numerical analysis with the Malaise trap data indicated similarity among collecting periods. These results were used to outline the seasonal subcommunities that existed over a 2-year period.

The spotted tentiform leafminer, Phyllonorycter blancardella (Fabr.), is an important pest of apple in Michigan (Dutcher and Howitt 1978), New York (Weires et al. 1980), and Ontario (Pree et al. 1980). In Ontario, the leafminer has three generations per year (Johnson et al. 1976) and overwinters as a diapausing pupa in the leaf litter (Johnson et al. 1976; Trimble 1983a). The spring activity period usually begins during late April or early May (Trimble 1983b) and the two summer activity periods usually begin during mid-June and mid-August (Johnson et al. 1976; Trimble, unpublished).

The distribution and adult flight activity of obliquebanded leafroller, Choristoneura rosaceana (Harris) and threelined leafroller, Pandemis limitata (Rob.) were studied in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys of British Columbia using traps baited with the sex pheromone of each species. Adult activity began in early June and continued through September and the two species were distributed throughout the apple-growing region of the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys. In the northern Okanagan and in uncultivated areas at higher elevation, the trap captures indicated that both species are univoltine. In the southern Okanagan and the Similkameen Valley, large numbers of both species were captured throughout the season which may indicate more than one generation. Traps captured similar numbers of adults in orchards with known infestations and in orchards lacking infestations, suggesting that males are attracted to traps in orchards from native hosts in uncultivated sites.

Nymphs and adults of both sexes of six species of grasshoppers, Camnula pellucida, Dissosteira carolina, Melanoplus infantilis, M. sanguinipes, M. packardii and M. bivittatus, were fed wheat seedlings to determine daily feeding rates. The relationships between the feeding rates and five indices of body size were checked with five types of equations — power, parabolic, exponential, linear, and logarithmic. For combined data for all species, the power equation (y = axb) produced the best correlations with the feeding rate being proportional to the 1.56 power of pronotum length, 1.87 of femur length, 1.94 of body length, 0.72 of live weight, and 0.66 of dry weight. The power equation underestimated nymphal feeding and overestimated adult feeding. Better correlations were obtained when separate power equations were used for nymphs and adults. While the b parameters for the nymph equations did not differ significantly from those for the adult equations, the a parameters for nymphs were much larger, reflecting that nymphs ate more relative to their size than adults. For individual species, the parabolic equation (y = a + bx + cx2) was as good or sometimes better than the power equation. Generally, ranking the indices of body size by their coefficients of determination (r2 values) produced the following hierarchy: pronotum length (best), femur length, live weight, dry weight, and body length (worst). However, as the differences between the best and worst indices were minor (usually less than 10%) and as live weight and body length are easy to determine, we recommend the use of either of these two indices for estimating feeding rates.

Plant galls are growth deformities developed under the influence of parasitic insects. The process of differentiation of normal plant tissue into gall tissue has been examined by many authors (Kostoff and Kendall 1929; Rohfristch 1977; see also Mani 1964) but less effort has been made to study the effects of the gallmaker on plant tissues outside the vicinity of active gall formation. Negative effects on the overall growth of the host plant can be expected because the gall acts as an energy and nutrient sink (Palct 1972; Hartnett and Abrahamson 1979), which can cause abnormal patterns of resource allocation among plant organs.