While working at Cedar Lake in Northwestern Ontario in the summers of 1957 and 1958 the author was able to observe the feeding sites of various species of Cinara. Most of the observations were made within an area of a few square miles on either side of Highway 105, between Red Lake Road and Ear Falls, Ontario. This area is fairly typical of the Laurentian Shield, with numerous lakes, rocky ridges, sandy patches, and small bogs. The principal coniferous trees in this locality are black spruce, jack pine, and balsam fir. White spruce, white cedar, white pine, red pine, and common juniper are also present.

During studies on the control of the onion maggot, Hylemya antiqua (Meig.), in late September, 1958, from one to 10 dead adults were found clinging to the tops of onion leaves in a three-acre field of green bunching onions in the Toronto area (Fig. 1). The dead flies were more abundant in the outside three rows, adjoining a non-cultivated grassy area, than throughout the rest of the field. A fungal growth was evident between the abdominal terga and sterna in many specimens. Infected live flies were somewhat pale, appeared bloated, and moved very sluggishly in comparison with non-infected adults. Dead flies were sent to Dr. G. Bucher, Entomology Laboratory, Belleville, Ontario, who identified the pathogen as Empusa muscae Cohn.

The effect on insect populations of the widespread use of plant growth regulators and herbicides is a neglected field. Fox (1948) reported on a relationship between the use of 2,4-D and wireworm damage to wheat. Putnam (1949) suggested that 2,4-D could be an environmental factor in the ecology of grasshoppers. A recent report (Maxwell and Harwood, 1958) indicates that even slight dosages of 2,4-D increase the rate of reproduction of pea aphids on broad beans. This note is a preliminary report on similar investigations with the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris), and broad bean, Vicia faba L.

Records of diseases of Cerambycidae have appeared very infrequently in the literature. Crawshay (1907) described an unidentified disease of larvae of Tetropium gabrieli Weise. Garman (1921) and MacLeod (1954a) reported a fungus, Beauveria globulifera, a strain of Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) Vuill., from adults of Cyllene robiniae (Forst.) and a larva of Acanthocinus aedilis (L.) respectively. Duffy (1953) recorded the fungi lsaria sp. on adults of Phryneta spinator (Fab.), and Entomophthora grylli on larvae of Saperda carcharias (L.). A wilt disease, suspected of being caused by a virus, was reported by Beeson (1931) in larvae of Celosterna scabrator Fab.) reared in glass tubes.

The following is an illustrated discussion of pupal abdominal characters observed in British Columbia species of Dioryctria, a genus containing some of the most economically important cone-feeding and wood-boring Lepidoptera. Species examined and referred to herein are: cambiicola (Dyar), zimmermani (Grote), abietivorella (Grote), auranticella (Grote), rossi Munroe, reniculella (Grote), and pseudotsugella Munroe. Dioryctria reniculella and pseudotsugella are defoliators, but they may occasionally feed on cones.

A number of authors who have mentioned phytoseiid mites as predators of tetranychids reported that “Seius” or “Seiulus” spp. hibernated in the bark of trees, but until recently the taxonomy of the Phytoseiidae was so confused that the identity of the species concerned is uncertain. Herbert (1952), in Nova Scotia,was apparently the first to deal with species that can be definitely identified; she reported that a number of species of Typhlodromus, including most of those occurring on peach in Ontario, overwintered on apple trees under bark scales, in empty hibernacula of the eye-spotted bud moth, Spilonota ocellana (D. & S.), in empty oyster-shell scales, Lepidosaphes ulmi (L.), and in cocoons of the codling moth, Carpocapsa pomonella (L.). Chant (1958) found numbers of T. pyri Scheut. hibernating in burlap pads tied to apple trees in England.

Routine grasshopper egg surveys in southern Alberta from 1954 to 1957 revealed unexpectedly small numbers of egg pods in certain locations that were regarded as favoured oviposition sites for Mlelnnoplus bivittatus (Say). These locations were graded roadsides with a bare or sparsely covered slope on the field side of the ditch. The bottom of the ditch and the other slope up to the roadway were usually covered with a moderate to heavy growth of weeds and grass. In these years the grasshoppers hatched late, the nymphs developed slowly, and the adults did not mature until September. As oviposition took place in cool fall weather,it was restricted mainly to the bare ditchbanks facing south or west, which provided sheltered spots warmed by insolation. Sampling in these spots revealed fewer egg pods than should have been produced by the number of M. bivittatus found in the preceding adult survey.

In 1955 and 1956, while sampling corn stalks for larvae of the European corn borer in experimental plots at St. Jean, the author noted 23 adults of Coleomegilla maculata lengi Timb. and two adults of Coccinella novemnotata Hbst. that were parasitized and attached to the upper surfaces of corn leaves. Each beetle was astride a freshly formed cocoon and was held by a network of silk; many were alive when found. The parasite cocoons and the hosts were placed in closed petri dishesfor observation. The parasites that emerged were identified by Dr. W. R. M. Mason, Entomology Division, Ottawa,as Perilitus coccinellae (Schrank) (= Dinocampus terminatus (Nees).

In late August, 1957, a parasitized second-generation pupa of Pyrausta nubilalis (Hbn.) was observed in silks of an immature corn ear in the experimental plots at St. Jean. The pupa was incubated at 75°F. in a petri dish, and two weeks later an ichneumonid parasite emerged and was identified by Mr. G. S. Walley, Entomology Division, Ottawa, as Scambus pterophori (Ashm.). Asecond generation of P. nubilalis is very unusual in the St. Jean area. This is apparently the first record of this ichneumonid as a parasite of P. nubilalis in Canada.

The pale western cutworm, Agrotis orthogonia Morr., has been successfully reared in the laboratory on a number of different foods (Jacobson and Blakeley, 1958; McGinnis and Kasting, 1959). Initial evaluation of the nutritional adequacy of diets for the cutworm has been achieved by comparing growth curves based on mean weights of the groups of larvae on test (McGinnis and Kasting, 1959). This note shows that the relative value of diets for the larvae of the pale western cutworm can be established more simply by comparing growth curves based on mean weights recorded two days after each moult.

In the irrigated districts of southern Alberta larvae of Culiseta inornota (Williston) were found to be infected with the fungus Coelomomyces psorophorae Couch, identified by J. N. Couch, Department of Botany, University of North Carolina. This is the first record on C. inornata in Canada.

The resting sporangia (Fig. 1) were found in the thoracic and abdominal cavities of the larvae. The infected larvae were darker brown in color, larger in size, and slower in movement than the non-infected ones.