Some wasps make important and prolonged use of the abdomen in the final closure of the tunnel in nesting. This is well illustrated by several species of the spider wasps belonging to the Pompilidae. The use consists of forceful blows or a rapid tapping of the soil with the end or body of the abdomen, resulting in a packing of the nesting material and subsequent greater safety and security to the young. Less well-known and conspicuous examples may sometimes be met with in other wasps.

The following observations and reflections on the primititive composition of the clypeus and labium of insects were made during the course of a study of the head capsule and its appendages, together with their musculature, of Grylloblatta and other orthopteroid forms.

Animal and plant enemies undoubtedly play an important part in controlling mosquitoes, but it is fully recognized that a study of these organisms forms only one phase of a very complex subject spoken of generally as natural control. Climate, weather conditions, topography, etc., all have an important bearing on mosquito abundance. Precipitation, whether in the form of rain or snow, and temperatures, exert a vital influence on mosquito populations. If the winter accumulation of snow is heavy, the spring infestation of snow pool and floodwater mosquitoes may be expected to be heavy too.

The seasonal history of Dryocoetes confusus Sw., in trunks of Abies lasiocarpa (Hook) Nutt., as found under cage conditions at Stanley, B.C., during the two years 1929 and 1930 is summarized in the following statement.

1999 C. florea Guen. Two specimens from Malta in July.

2001 C. omissa Dod. One specimen from Hamilton, July 11, 1928.

2004 C. similaris Sm. Scattered specimens from all parts of the state except the southern Plains region. July-August. Rather common at Malta in 1928. It is quite probable that some of these records refer to montonae.

In a region where heavy rains constitute an elenlent of the climate, it is imperative that all creatures meet these exigences with protective responses. The responses of many insects to rain are very interesting. Naturally their activities are usually favored by fair weather and sunshine. During, rains many insects withdraw to protected places and await the return of sunshine to begin their activities.

One of the most outstanding instances of the benefits to be derived from the importation of parasites of our injurious insects, be they of foreign or domestic origin, is to be found in a study of the Larch Sawfly situation in Canada, especially in Manitoba, during the past twenty years.

The cage shown in the accmpanying photograph was devised by the writer as an oviposition cage for Oriental peach moths, and for this purpose proved to be very satisfactory. It has also been used with codling moths and strawberry leaf-rollers, and probably could be used with many other insects.

Xylomoea Staud.

2615 X. didonea Sm. Scattered specimens from all parts of the State except the northern Plains region. August. Rare.

Namangana Staud.

2626 N. praecuta Sm. One specimen from Butte. Aug. 29, 1900, and one from Bozeman, Sept. 14, 1928.

Helotropha Led.

2636 H. reniformis Grt. One specimen from Havre, one from Bozeman, and two from Hamilton, August-September.

Clothes moths are the chief household pests in Vancouver, British Columbia. Two species occur, Tineola biselliella St. the webbing clothes moth and Tinea pelionella L. the case-making clothes moth; the former is uncomfortably abundant while the latter is rare.

Previous to the present year noctuid moths were collected for breeding purposes and flight records, in various ways, entailing long hours spent in the field at night. The methods employed were variations of the old practice of “sugaring” and collecting from bloom. Fairly good results were obtained by systematic night collections, but it seemed desirable to devise a method whereby material might be secured in sufiicient quantities without so much night work. During the past winter the trap under discussion was designed and constructed as an experiment towards simplifying moth collections and flight records.

While making peach twig collections for parasite recoveries during the first part of June, a few Chrysopid adults were observed throughout the orchards. No particular attention was paid to this insect until late in July, when adults could be found on almost every tree throughout the orchards of the Niagara district. Several specimens were sent to Ottawa for determination and it was found that two species were represented, viz., Chrysopa oculata Say. and Chrysopa albicornis Fitch., the former being by far the more numerous. Eggs began to appear the latter part of July and could be located in numbers varying from one to four on almost every tree.

Three new species of Agromyza (Liriomyza, Dizygomyza and Agromyza of European workers) are presented herewith. Some of the material has been in the writers possession for a long time awaiting description. The Holotypes will eventually be deposited in the U. S. National Museum.

Resembling calliandrus in size and form but light with vertex slightly acute and twice banded with ivory. Length 4 mm.

Vertex slightly acute but shorter, broader than in loricatus with a rounding apex, only slightly exceeding the pronotum in length. Color: grey much lighter than in calliandrus with the appearance of three or four transverse light bands, the first of which, half way between the eyes and apex of vertex, is made up of an ivory semi-circle around a dot on the margin, on either side and two pairs of dashes between these: the second is on tlie basal third of vertex; the third across the scutellum and soinetimes a narrow one on the disk of pronotum.

Male.—Head and thorax deep black, the membranous portions of the pleura being slightly tinged with ruddy. Abdomen dorsally dirty whitish, the segments crossed by broad and slightly oblique bands of deep smoky which leave traces of ground color only on anterior and posterior margins, thus giving to the naked eye the appearance of a smoky-black abdomen ringed with whitish; ventrally more evenly smoky-black with posterior margins of segments narrowly pale.

Little appears to have been written about the tiny biting midges known popularly as “punkies”, “no-see-ums” or “sand-flies” which are prevalent in June and July and persist into August, in many wooded sections of Eastern Canada.

During the course of breeding experiments in Ephemeroptera which we have been carrying on during the past few years, considerable nymphal and associated adult material of the genus Ephemerella has been accumulated. The main source of these collections has been the district around Knowlton, Que. where the diversified nature of the country has been particularly favorable for our studies; in addition material is also at hand from the Lachine-Taudreuil section of the St. Lawrence Valley and from the Gatineau region in the vicinity of Wakefield., Que.

Two of the species described below were discovered very recently and constitute a very interesting addition to our Melyrid fauna. The individuals or units of a species vary more or less and this variation makes the work of the taxonomist rather uncertain and difficult as regards the characterization of a species, until considerable series has been studied from some single locality. When a knowledge of the range and degree of variation has once been obtained, the systematist can proceed with greater confidence as regards the status of the species he describes. Collectors should bear in mind the need of series for the study of variation.

The following study is based on the types of LeConte and Horn and material from the American Museum, Museum of Comparative Zooslogy, Canadian National Collectioas and from the collections of Messrs. Owen Bryant, C. A. Frost, Ralph Hopping, W. Knaus, and J. B. Wallis. Dr. W. Horn supplied specimens of two European species, of Aegialia rufa Fab. and sabuleti Panz.; these were of much aid in the study of the subgenera, the descriptions of which were made as detailed as possible so that descriptions of the species could be shorter.

The following four species are very closely allied and in the adults possess no very definite characters for specific distinction, even the male genitalia failing in this respect. This leads me to believe that we are dealing with a group the individuals of which have split away either from each other or from a parent form at a comparatively recent date and that even now fresh species may be in the act of formation. The nymphs offer much better specific characters and, once recognized, are not readily confused; long series of bred material may result in the discovery of good adult characters but for the present I am basing my conception of the different species largely on nymphal distinctions.