George Ball, longtime Professor of Entomology at the University of Alberta, has retired. This does not mean that his contributions to entomology will cease; in fact, this academic earthquake will surely unleash a new tidal wave of excellent systematic work about ground-beetles. Nevertheless, many of George's friends, colleagues, and former students gathered in Edmonton on 6 November 1992 to participate in an entomological symposium entitled “Ball's Circle: a merry go 'round of systematics” to mark this occasion and to celebrate George's outstanding record of achievement as an entomologist and university teacher. We begin the proceedings with some rather personal reflections about George.

We tested the pyrethroid insecticide esfenvalerate in single, double, and triple applications for control of insects affecting seed production of blister rust-resistant western white pine, Pinus monticola Douglas. All treatments increased the proportion of normal seed produced and reduced the proportion of seed damaged by the western conifer seed bug, Leptoglossus occidentalis Heidemann. Only the triple application reduced the proportion of cones killed by the pine cone beetle, Conophthorus ponderosae Hopkins. Other seed-damaging insect species [seed chalcids, Megastigmus sp.; the fir coneworm, Dioryctria abietivorella (Grote); and seedworms, Cydia sp.] were present but in numbers too low to test for insecticide efficacy.

Parapediasia teterrella Bleszynski adults eclose in New Mexico during the months of June, July, and August. Nightly emergence occurred within 40 min and this time period became earlier in the scotophase as the season progressed, particularly during July. The timing of this period does not seem to be related to either temperature or photoperiod.

Though males emerged before females on each night, sex ratios of emerging moths were consistently 1:1. Following a short sedentary period while their wings dried, the moths left the emergence site.

Intra- and inter-crown distribution of eastern spruce gall adelgid, Adelges abietis (L.) (Homoptera: Adelgidae), on young white spruce, Picea glauca (Moench) Voss., was studied at three sites in New Brunswick, Canada. Within a branch, the majority of galls were found on lateral shoots. Similar distributions of galls within trees were observed regardless of whether 20 or 30 lateral shoots or all shoots on a branch were sampled. Gall densities were highest on mid-crown branches of open-grown trees 1–4 m tall and were not influenced by cardinal direction. After crown closure, most galls were found in the upper crown, above the point of branch overlap. In all circumstances, gall distributions were strongly clumped within trees. Inter-tree distribution of A. abietis galls differed significantly from a Poisson but not a negative binomial distribution, indicating a high degree of aggregation among trees. Therefore, a stratified random sampling plan using 20 lateral shoots of a mid-crown branch as a sampling unit would be adequate for monitoring A. abietis populations. If the mid-crown branches are undergoing crown closure, we suggest sampling in the lowest open-grown branch above the point of crown overlap.

The anthomyiid fly Pegomya curticornis (Stein), introduced into Alberta from Europe for the biocontrol of leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.), normally induces simple galls on subterranean stems. Here we describe the anatomy of galls collected in Europe that had been induced by P. curticornis on horizontal roots of spurges. Four mature galls were found on the roots of E. virgata Waldst. and Kit. and 10 on the roots of E. esula. Tissues of the root galls were composed of gall parenchyma that had proliferated from feeding sites near the outside edge of secondary xylem. It is assumed that some larvae inadvertently tunnel beyond the base of stems into the roots and that similar galls will form on Alberta spurges.

Significant differences in age structure of grasshopper populations [Melanoplus sanguinipes (Fabricius), M. bivittatus (Say), and M. packardii Scudder] occurred in winter wheat and adjacent rangeland. In 1988, age structure differences were associated with density shifts in winter wheat between sample periods suggesting that older instars dispersed into the crop but younger instars remained in rangeland. In 1989 there was some partitioning of age classes between the two habitats, but no pattern emerged as in 1988. In 1990, significantly more older instars were collected in winter wheat than in rangeland. There were shifts in percentage density of the three grasshopper species in winter wheat but again no patterns emerged.

The geographic range of the Douglas-fir twig beetle, Pityophthorus orarius Bright, was extended beyond the original provenance of southern British Columbia to northern California. A survey of 457 Douglas-fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco] trees in 1985 revealed that those with heavy cone crops were more likely to be infested by twig beetles than were those with a light crop. Furthermore, attack rates differed among clones. A second survey done in 1987 confirmed the importance of clone and cone crop in attack rate. In this survey, stressed trees were attacked at a higher rate than unstressed trees. Beetle distributions appeared clumped in both surveys, possibly because of semio-chemicals or oviposition behavior.

A phylogenetic hypothesis of relationships among the species of the broad-nosed weevil genus Panscopus Schönherr indicates sister-taxon relationships between pairs of species, and pairs of ancestral lineages, which today exhibit disjunctions between their geographical distributions. The range disjunctions in these sister lineages appear to correlate with known geological or palaeoecological events. These correlates suggest dates of later Eocene to Miocene for some branching points in the phylogeny. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that one or more ancestral form(s) of Panscopus were extant by the Eocene or earlier, and that most of the cladogenesis in the history of this genus occurred likely in middle to late Tertiary times. These hypotheses, in turn, suggest that adelognathan weevils must be a much older group than the oldest known representative fossils would suggest (Eocene), and that they likely arose during the Mesozoic.

In 1989 and 1990, the contamination rate of the European pine weevil Hylobius abietis (L.) by several pathogenic fungi for the Scots pine was measured [Leptographium procerum (Kendrick) Wingf. — 45% of the specimens; Pachnodium canum (Upadh. and Kendr.) — 14%; or Ophiostoma piliferum (Fries) H. and P. Syd — 3% (Piou 1993)]. To understand the processes of transportation, a detailed study was conducted by scanning electron microscopy. Several types of spores vectored are found mainly in the thoracic cuticular rounded wells located near the sensorial setae. These wells are connected with an epidermal glandular apparatus whose ultrastructural description is given. We question the origin and composition of these secretions which are believed to protect the spores and contribute to the infection process.

Mated female Olesicampe geniculatae Quednau and Lim were released in St. John’s, Newfoundland, to establish a biological control against the mountain ash sawfly, Pristiphora geniculata (Hartig). Two hundred and fifty-nine females were released during 1981–1984 in a field cage constructed over a mountain ash tree and provided with thousands of host larvae; 171 females were released outside the cage in 1984. A second open release of 368 P. geniculata cocoons, obtained as larvae from the field cage and presumably parasitized by O. geniculatae, was made in 1986 at Pasadena in western Newfoundland. Olesicampe geniculatae rapidly established in the St. John’s area where host populations dropped to insignificant levels by 1990. Island-wide monitoring during 1989 and 1990 indicated that O. geniculatae had spread to the west and south coasts, at rates as high as 50 km per year. Effective and persistent suppression of P. geniculata by O. geniculatae is anticipated.

Disruption of mating for control of Oriental fruit moth [Grapholita molesta (Busck) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)] using Isomate M pheromone dispensers was tested from 1987 to 1990 in the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario. The effectiveness of pheromone was evaluated using virgin female-baited traps, synthetic pheromone-baited traps, and by inspecting samples of twigs and fruit for evidence of G. molesta damage. No males were caught in virgin female-baited traps placed in pheromone-treated plots. Synthetic pheromone-baited trap catches of male moths were reduced by 85–100%. Pheromone provided commercially acceptable control over two consecutive growing seasons at a commercial farm with a relatively low density G. molesta population. Pheromone did not provide commercially acceptable control at an experimental farm with a relatively high density G. molesta population. The incidence of capture of males in virgin female-baited traps, in synthetic pheromone-baited traps, and the incidence of damage to peach twigs by first- and second-generation G. molesta larvae could not be used to predict the incidence of damage to fruit at harvest. The results suggest that pheromone-mediated mating disruption may have potential as a method for controlling the Oriental fruit moth in orchards with relatively low density populations.

The larvae, pupae, and adult males and females of Micropsectra dives (Johannsen), Micropsectra nigripila (Johannsen), Micropsectra polita (Malloch), and a new species Micropsectra geminata are described.

The issue of biodiversity is examined from the viewpoint of human values and three questions are posed: What kinds of human values affect biological diversity? Why do humans think about the loss and conservation of biological diversity? Does it really matter? The conclusion is that human values are contributing to the loss of biological diversity and could lead to massive extinctions in the future just as major natural events did in the past. However, as it did in the past, evolution will continue, so will speciation, and so will biological diversity.

The leaf trichome densities of upper and lower surfaces of wild, Mediterranean Brassica spp. were determined using light and electron microscopic techniques. Two groups of plant species, one with a density of 2171–5312 trichomes per cm2 and the other with 0–30 trichomes per cm2, were tested in the laboratory for resistance against flea beetle feeding. The extent of feeding was determined in choice tests using leaf discs or detached whole leaves and in no-choice tests using clip-on cages on intact plants. Of the seven species tested, only two, B. villosa Biv. and B. villosa Biv. subsp. drepanensis which had a trichome density of > 2172 per cm2, were found to be highly resistant to flea beetle feeding. All other species had a trichome density of < 30 per cm2 and all suffered significant damage from flea beetle feeding. Behavioural observations indicated that a high density of trichomes on undamaged B. villosa leaves acted as a physical barrier to flea beetle feeding by preventing the flea beetles from firmly settling on the leaf surface to initiate feeding. Flea beetles readily initiated feeding on areas of B. villosa leaves where trichomes were inadvertently damaged suggesting that this plant did not contain significant concentrations of feeding deterrents. Electroantennogram (EAG) studies also indicated that B. villosa leaves are as stimulating to flea beetles as other Brassica species tested. Behavioural observations, feeding tests, and EAG studies indicated that trichomes, not other factors such as chemical repellents or feeding deterrents, are responsible for the resistance in B. villosa plants to flea beetle feeding.

Twenty-eight pieces of amber from the Dominican Republic were studied. These pieces, 22–40 million years old, contain 29 cricket specimens as inclusions. Six new species in the Trigonidiidae: Trigonidiinae are described, one in the extant genus Anaxipha (A. dominica) and in three related new genera: Proanaxipha (P. latoca and P. bicolorata), Abanaxipha (A. longispina and A. incongrua), and Grossoxipha (G. yaque). One specimen is described in the Mogoplistidae: Mogoplistinae in the extant genus Ornebius (O. ambericus). The presence of these specimens in amber proves that utilization of the boreal habitat is of long standing. Disparity in the size of the hind legs of one specimen indicates that crickets may once have had the ability to regenerate lost limbs.

The effects of timing of applications on the persistence of chemical and biologically active residues of clofentezine were tested on apple foliage during two seasons. Residues from prebloom and petal fall applications were less persistent than those in mid-season. Early season applications were toxic to European red mite for 7–21 days but mid-season applications were toxic for as long as 50–62 days. Chemical residue losses were also faster in the early season. Persistence of chemical residues was related to the rate of leaf growth and expansion. In 1991, foliage area expanded 244% per week during the prebloom period, 23% per week at petal fall, and 10% per week in July (mid-season).In a field test, applications of clofentezine at petal fall reduced European red mite populations within 7 days and mite numbers remained below economic thresholds for 6 weeks.

Individuals of Perilissus nudus sp.nov. of the Perilissus anatinus species group are described. This species, which occurs in the mountain ranges of southern Mexico and Costa Rica, is compared with the closely related species P. anatinus Barron. Locality data on additional specimens of P. anatinus, found in mountain ranges in Mexico, are included. Study of characteristics of P. nudus in relation to P. anatinus clarifies further the relationship of this species group with the other species groups of Perilissus.

Morphology, distribution, and habitat data are presented for the known species of the oribatid mite genus Mycobates of America, north of Mexico. A revised generic diagnosis is given, and 11 new species are proposed and described on the basis of adults: M. altus, M. azaleos, M. beringianus, M. brevilamellatus, M. dryas, M. exigualis, M. hammerae, M. hylaeus, M. occidentalis, M. perates, and M. yukonensis. Three species proposed by Marie Hammer are redescribed, M. conitus, M. incurvatus, and M. punctatus, and a lectotype is designated for M. punctatus. Mycobates consimilis Hammer is considered a junior subjective synonym of M. sarekensis Trägårdh. Distribution maps are presented for these species and a diagnostic key is given to adults of species of Mycobates recorded from America, north of Mexico. Mycobates is species rich in dry arctic, subarctic, and alpine microhabitats of the Nearctic, Palearctic, and Neotropical regions. At temperate latitudes species often are arboreal, associated with moss and lichens on tree trunks.

Four species of Tychius have been introduced into North America from Europe: Tychius picirostris (Fabricius) (host plants: Trifolium spp.), widespread in North America; T. cuprifer (Panzer) (host plants: Trifolium spp., Teline monspessulana L.), known only from Maryland, USA; T. meliloti Stephens, new North American record (host plants: Melilotus spp.), known from scattered localities in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec, Canada; and T. stephensi Schoenherr (host plants: Trifolium spp.), widespread in North America. Keys to separate the species are presented.

A standardized, oil-free neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) seed extract (NSE) was tested for repellency to honey bees using a feeding-dish choice bioassay, and to honey bees and other pollinators in field applications on blooming canola. Foraging honey bee workers were able to discriminate between untainted sugar syrup and syrup containing formulated NSE at concentrations as low as 0.1 ppm azadirachtin, the principal active ingredient of NSE. However there were no significant differences in the numbers of foraging bees collected in neem-treated, solvent-treated, or untreated canola plots. Other pollinator. species present were similarly unaffected. Our results suggest that honey bees may be successfully utilized in blooming crops that have been treated with doses of NSE sufficient to control phytophagous insect pests. The results of this study also suggest that using feeding-dish bioassays to screen potential repellent compounds, although demonstrating the ability of honey bees to detect compounds, may not yield similar results in the field.