Pseudoxenufens forsythi n. gen., n. sp. of trichogrammatid wasp from Ecuador is described and phoresy in the Trichogrammatidae is discussed.

A simple apparatus for the surface sterilization of a large number of chironomid eggs is described. The apparatus allows as many as 4000 eggs to be processed in 20 min without the inconvenience of manual transfer and washing procedures. Hatching percentages of untreated and treated eggs were 97.2% and 96.4% respectively. The hatching percentage of eggs produced by females that had developed from treated eggs was 96%. Comparisons between percentage emergence, sex ratios, adult viability, and fecundity of untreated and treated animals indicated that surface sterilization had little or no effect on chironomid development.

The trapping devices used in sampling larch sawfly populations (Ives et al. 1968) caught other species of insects as well. The oil traps gave information on the relative abundance of any insects that dropped from the trees to pupate or spin cocoons. One of the more common species trapped in this way, apart from the larch sawfly, was the green larch looper, Semiothisa sexmaculata Packard. It is a solitary-feeding geometrid, and although its seasonal development tends to be later than the larch sawfly, the numbers caught provide some indication of relative abundance from year to year.

Females of Eupteromalus dubius (Ashm.) oviposit on pupae of cyclorrhaphous Diptera and the larvae develop gregariously as ectoparasites. Details of the life history of E. dubius are described. A progressively lower percentage of female progeny of E. dubius matures as the parasite:host ratio increases. Three mechanisms that may cause this sex ratio change are examined and discussed.

The spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens), is susceptible to two types of granulosis virus. One is characterized by the formation of mostly small ellipsoidal inclusion bodies, the second by the formation of large cubic inclusion bodies. Different shapes and sizes of inclusion bodies were formed when these viruses multiplied in the same tissues, some resembling the ellipsoids, others the cubes.

The amount of damage to apples caused by the bugs Atractotomus mali (Meyer) and Campylomma verbasci (Meyer) is largely related to the density of the bug population and to the apple variety. Bug numbers can be reliably measured by a ’hatching’ method, and preventative insurance spraying can be avoided where indicated.

When the relative velocity of flies is estimated from the frequency of contact of flies with a given area, the resulting picture of activity is misleading because of time-wasting activities arising from encounters between flies. Prediction of this encounter rate is greatly facilitated by the use of Lloyds (1967) index of crowding, which allows for the effects of the non-random distribution of the flies. Prediction of the number of contacts of flies with an inscribed area within the experimental container, was highly successful when the effects of the non-random locomotion of the flies was included in the model of activity.

Male and female adults of Neoacarus lacus n. sp. are described. This species is unique among Neoacaridae in that male adults possess 5 or 6, rather than 3, pairs of genital acetabula, and the adults inhabit a shallow eutrophic lake rather than the interstitial habitat in a stream bed.

Male and female adults of Paenecalyptonotus fontinalis n. gen., n. sp., are described. This is the second known species of Acalyptonotidae, and is unique in that adults have the idiosomal dorsum nearly covered by a sclerotized plate rather than mostly membranous, have 3 pairs of genital acetabula rather than 7 to 16 pairs, and inhabit cold water seepage areas and springs rather than lakes. Discovery of this species contributes to the elucidation of the relationship of Acalyptonotidae to other Arrenuroidea.

The following new genera and species are described: Glyphodes militaris n. sp., Borneo; Gypodes n. gen., type-species G. vexilliferalis n. sp., South America; Nagiella hortulatoides n. sp., Burma; Laniipriva n. gen., type-species L. antobliqua n. sp., Venezuela; Scaptesylodes n. gen., type-species Scaptesyle(?) incerta Semper, Philippine Is., and also including Scaptesylodes modica n. sp., Malaysia and Sumatra. Nagiella is proposed as a new name for Nagia Walker, 1866, not Walker, 1858. Nagia desmialis Walker, 1866, is the type-species of both nominal genera; Scopula quadrimaculalis Kollar, 1844, and Sylepta inferior Hampson, 1898, are referred to Nagiella as new combinations. The genus is differentiated from Pleuroptya Meyrick, 1890, and Haritalodes Warren, 1890.

Data on the parasitic associations of larval water mites with imaginal aquatic insects are reviewed. Documented associations now are known for larvae of 47 genera of water mites in 23 families representing all seven superfamilies. The particular importance of the nematocerous Diptera, and especially the Chironomidae, as hosts of larval water mites is demonstrated, primarily on the basis of new data. New insights into the evolution of parasitic behaviour patterns in larval water mites are discussed.

A study was made of the developmental biology of two parasite species that attack the eggs of Rhodnius prolixus. The gregarious encyrtid Ooencyrtus trinidadensis has a life cycle of 14 days, from egg to adult. The larvae, which hatch after a 42 h incubation, are attached to the egg chorion during the first and second instars. The solitary scelionid Telenomus costa-limai has a longer life cycle (20 days), but its eggs hatch after only 17 h, and its first-instar larva is equipped with large mandibles. It is possible that this free larva is better equipped for elimination of multiple or supernumerary parasites than that of O. trinidadensis. The characteristic features of the larvae of each parasite species are also described.

Euxoa vernalis, allied to Euxoa olivia (Morrison) and Euxoa septentrionalis (Walker), is described from south-western United States and from Mexico. Adults and genitalia of the three species are illustrated.

The apple maggot, Rhagoletis pomonella (Walsh), is a major pest of apples in Nova Scotia, and has in recent years become a serious threat to integrated insect control. This paper is an account of its past history, economic importance, seasonal history, natural enemies, the present cultural and chemical control practices, and the prospect of using alternative control measures.

The sex pheromones of Archips argyrospilus (Walker) and Archips rosanus (L.) were field evaluated to determine if they could be used to monitor populations in orchards where pest management programs were applied. Traps baited with the sex pheromones of A. argyrospilus caught males which reflected population levels estimated by other sample methods. Traps baited with the sex pheromones of A. rosanus caught high numbers of males but the numbers did not correlate with other population estimates. A. rosanus has a wide host range, and trap data indicate that males were attracted from sources outside the monitored orchards. Results indicated that the sex pheromones of A. argyrospilus could be used to estimate populations but with A. rosanus further studies on trap placement are necessary to minimize male influx.

In the laboratory, diapause in adult Psylla pyricola Förster was induced by rearing nymphs with exposures to daily photoperiods of 13.5 h or less. The critical photoperiod that induced diapause was not influenced by temperature. Diapause was terminated in laboratory-reared adults and winter form adults collected from orchards in mid-October by exposure to photoperiods greater than 13.5 h. With adults collected from orchards during November, December, and January, diapause was terminated in the laboratory under both short and long photoperiods. With the earlier collections, long photoperiods markedly reduced preoviposition periods but with later collections the effect was not as pronounced because the preoviposition period under short photoperiods decreased markedly with the later collection dates. These results are discussed with relation to observations under natural orchard conditions.

Codling moth populations in six orchards in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys of British Columbia were monitored for 2 seasons with traps baited with trans-8, trans-10, dodecadien-1-ol, the sex pheromone of the codling moth, Laspeyresia pomonella (L.). Sprays were applied if traps within the orchard captured two or more moths per trap per week during 2 consecutive weeks. Traps installed in neighboring orchards minimized male moth influx. A 43.1% reduction in the number of required cover sprays for codling moth control was obtained over a 2-year period compared with a standard three spray program. Fruit injured by codling moth in monitored orchards varied, but was less than 1% in all but one orchard.

On 15 November 1971, during collection of galled balsam fir needles from two experimental plots in Edinburg, Maine, damaged galls were noted. The galls had obviously been torn open (Fig. 1). Since this was not recorded in the literature and damaged galls were numerous, the situation was evaluated.

Cacodylic acid was injected into hatchet-made frill girdles 60 cm above the ground on Dutch elm-diseased American elms (Ulmus americana L.) at the rate of 0.8 ml/cm circumference measured 1.3 m above the ground. Cacodylic acid was translocated up the trees into the phloem. Arsenic residue analyses at several different heights in each tree indicated an inverse relationship between height and amount of cacodylic acid residue in the phloem. Largest amounts were translocated in trees with 75% wilted crowns.

Cacodylic acid injection into elms had no significant inhibitory effect on Scolytus multistriatus (Marsham) brood development. Cacodylic acid residues as high as 1700 ppm caused little or no beetle mortality. Highest numbers of beetles/dm2 bark surface area emerged from acid-treated elms with 75% crown wilt and from untreated elms with 100% crown wilt.

The genus Misumenops F. Pickard-Cambridge, 1900 is represented in the Nearctic region by approximately 20 named species, most of which are restricted to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The new species described here brings to five the total known from eastern North America.