In 1997, larvae of the cutworm moth, Ochropleura implecta Lafontaine, caused economic damage to cranberries (Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton; Ericaceae) on several neighbouring farms in Richmond (49° 10′N, 123°07′W), British Columbia, Canada. This is the first report of O. implecta on cranberries. Published host records for O. implecta include willow and a variety of herbaceous plants, such as clover and endive (Crumb 1956; Lafontaine 1998), but there are no reports of pest status on any crop. On the affected cranberry farms, larvae partially consumed unripe and ripe berries in July and August. On one farm, damaged fruit was downgraded from fresh fruit sales to the juice market, resulting in an estimated loss of $40 000 Can.

Significant outbreaks of saddled prominent, Heterocampa guttivitta (Walker), have been recorded in northern hardwood stands throughout the northeastern United States since 1907 and were first noted in Ontario in 1938 (Martinat and Allen 1988). The insect overwinters as a pupa beneath litter, adult emergence begins in late May and peaks in mid-June, and oviposition activity ends in early July. Consequently, the major impact of defoliation usually occurs in late summer feeding. Principal hosts are sugar maple, Acer saccharum Marsh. (Aceraceae), American beech, Fagus grandifolia (Ehrh.) (Fagaceae), and yellow birch, Betula alleghaniensis Britton (Betulaceae) (Rush and Allen 1987). Two successive years of severe (>75%) defoliation of sugar maple result in significant growth loss (Bauce and Allen 1991), and heavy mortality may occur to understory sugar maple (Grimble and Newel1 1973). The quantity and sugar content of sugar maple sap are dramatically reduced the spring following heavy (>50%) defoliation (Magasi 1981; Handy 1968). Heavy to severe defoliation may cause crown dieback and defoliation and, in concert with other stresses, may initiate maple decline (Giese et al. 1964). Currently, monitoring and evaluation of saddled prominent populations must rely on egg sampling (Grimble and Kasile 1974), a time-consuming process that is inconvenient for survey personnel and landowners. A sex pheromone has not been identified for this species (nor for any other North American Notodontidae) and would be a potentially useful tool for detecting incipient outbreaks, predicting population levels, and evaluating population trends.

Our objective was to test the hypothesis that late-instar nymph, male, and (or) female German cockroaches, Blattella germanica (L.), use sonic signals for intraspecific communication. A digital-recording system was assembled that consisted of a computer equipped with data-acquisition hardware and software, microphones sensitive to sonic and ultrasonic frequencies, and speakers capable of emitting sonic and ultrasonic sound. Sound was repeatedly recorded from groups of five nymphs, five virgin males, or five virgin females. Click-type sounds were commonly present in recordings from nymphs, and consisted of sound pulses of about 10-ms duration and peak frequencies of 7, 9, 11, and 14 kHz. Similar "clicks" were found in recordings from females. In replicated binary choice arena bioassays with individual laboratory-reared insects, played-back "clicks" from nymphs or females or computer-generated artificial clicks attracted nymphs but not males or females. These results provide the first evidence that sonic signals are part of the complex B. germanica communication system.

Plant bugs, Lygus Kelton, damage many crops in western Canada (Kelton 1980; Wise and Lamb 1998; Wise et al. 2000), the common species in Manitoba being Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), Lygus borealis (Kelton), and Lygus elisus Van Duzee (Gerber and Wise 1995). Reports of plant bugs on flax, Linum usitatissimum L., are limited to an oviposition study (Painter 1927) and anecdotal descriptions of feeding damage in Canada (Beirne 1972) and Europe (Ferguson and Fitt 1991). In western Canada, flax is grown as an oilseed crop on about 600 000 ha annually (Canada Grains Council 1999). The objectives of this study were to determine (i) the species of plant bugs in oilseed flax, (ii) their ability to complete development in flax, (iii) the number of generations they complete, and (iv) the yield loss they cause.

The effects of lineatin enantiomer ratios, lineatin release rate, and trap length on catches and the flight periods of three sympatric species of Trypodendron Stephens were investigated in field bioassays using multiple-funnel traps. The ambrosia beetle, Trypodendron betulae Swaine, was caught in similar numbers in baited traps and blank control traps, showing that this species does not respond to lineatin. Our results confirmed that Trypodendron lineatum (Olivier) is attracted only to (+)-lineatin. Trypodendron rufitarsus (Kirby) and Trypodendron retusum (LeConte) were shown to utilize lineatin and like T. lineatum were caught only when (+)-lineatin was present. These results indicate that lineatin does not govern reproductive isolation among these three species. There was no effect by (+)-lineatin release rate within the range tested. The flight of T. rufitarsus commenced earlier and ceased before the peak of the T. lineatum flight, suggesting that temporal separation may be an important component of reproductive isolation between these two species. The flight period of T. retusum was similar to that of T. lineatum. Host odours may aid in reproductive isolation of these two species. Enantiomer blend did not significantly affect sex ratio in any species; however, sex ratio differed among species, indicating that different species responded differently to the traps or that natural sex ratios differ. Catches of T. rufitarsus and T. retusum increased with trap length when pheromone release per trap was held constant and when release was held constant relative to trap length. Trap length and release rate did not affect sex ratio.

The apple ermine moth, Yponomeuta malinellus Zeller, is a univoltine pest species that defoliates apple, Malus domestics (Borkh) (Rosaceae), in the temperate region of the Palaearctic. First instars overwinter within a communal hibernaculum beneath the covering of the egg batch (Kock 1998). In spring, larvae emerge to initially mine apple leaves and subsequently feed externally within a communal tent (Menken et al. 1992). During heavy infestations, the communal tents may envelop the entire apple tree, resulting in total defoliation (Parker and Schmidt 1985). There have been several accidental introductions and subsequent eradications of the apple ermine moth in eastern North America (Hewitt 1917; Parker and Schmidt 1985) but, by 1989, the pest was found in the Fraser River Valley in British Columbia, in Whatcom county, Washington, and in northwestern Oregon (Antonelli 1991; Unruh et al. 1993).

Inundative releases of Trichogramma exiguum Pinto and Platner were evaluated for suppression of the Nantucket pine tip moth, Rhyacionia frustrana (Comstock), in first-year loblolly pine, Pinus taeda L., plantations. Three releases, spaced 7 d apart, were made in three 0.4-ha plots during second-generation R. frustrana egg deposition. Each release included three cohorts of T. exiguum developmentally separated by 25 degree-days. Mean ± SD field release rate for each cohort was 328 238 ± 88 379 females/ha. Mean T. exiguum emergence under laboratory conditions for released cohorts was 96 ± 2%, with 74 ± 3% females, of which 1 ± 1% of females displayed brachyptery; female longevity was 18 ± 3 d. Field emergence averaged 96 ± 4%. Parasitism of R. frustrana eggs was significantly increased, ranging from 40 ± 19 to 73 ± 22% in T. exiguum-treated plots and 17 ± 17 to 67 ± 21% in control plots. Data from all treated plots combined showed R. frustrana egg survival (hatching) was significantly reduced by 46%, and larval populations were significantly reduced by 60%. There was no significant difference in the percentage of terminals damaged between T. exiguum-treated (31 ± 16%) and control plots (45 ± 10%); however, length of terminal damage was significantly lower in treated plots. The percentage of damage to top whorl shoots was significantly lower in T. exiguum-treated plots compared with control plots, but there was no significant difference in length of tunneling damage. Damage to remaining shoots was not significantly different between T. exiguum-treated and control plots. Microhabitat significantly influenced both mean maximum and minimum temperature and the number of consecutive hours per day that were at or above 35 °C (critical temperature for T. exiguum survival). Soil surface with no cover had the greatest number of hours at or above 35 °C, followed by soil surface with herbaceous cover, and canopies of small trees (0.4 m tall). Canopy habitats in larger trees (0.9–1.8 m tall) had the most moderate temperature conditions. Parasitoid emergence was significantly reduced in response to increasing number of consecutive hours at or above 35 °C. Predation of parasitoids prior to emergence was significantly affected by microhabitat and by the length of time capsules were in the field before T. exiguum emergence (i.e., cohort number).

Analyses of pentane extracts of frass, whole beetles, and volatiles trapped on Porapak-Q from Pityophthorus Eichhoff spp. fed on Pinus radiata D. Don demonstrated that (E)-pityol [2-(1-hydroxy-1-methylethyl)-5-methyltetrahydrofuran] was produced by male Pityophthorus carmeli Swaine, female Pityophthorus nitidulus (Mannerheim), and female Pityophthorus setosus Blackman. (E)-(−)-Conophthorin) [(5S,7S)-(−)-7-methyl-1,6-dioxaspiro[4.5]decane] was produced by male P. carmeli and male P. nitidulus. Only the (2R,5S)-(+) stereoisomer of (E)-pityol was produced by male P. carmeli and female P. setosus. In field bioassays in central coastal California, P. setosus was attracted to (E)-(+)-pityol, whereas P. carmeli responded only to a combination of (E)-(−)-conophthorin and (E)-(+)-pityol. Male P. setosus and female P. carmeli responded to these treatments with larger numbers than opposite-sex conspecifics. (E)-(−)-Conophthorin alone did not attract species of Pityophthorus but significantly reduced catches of P. setosus to (E)-(+)-pityol. Lasconotus pertenuis Casey (Coleoptera: Colydiidae) and Ips mexicanus (Hopkins) (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) were attracted to a combination of (E)-(−)-conophthorin and (E)-(+)-pityol, and showed a trend for attraction to all (E)-(−)-conophthorin-containing treatments. (E)-(−)-Pityol was neither attractive nor interruptive for any taxon. (E)-(+)-Pityol is shown to be an aggregation pheromone component for P. carmeli and P. setosus. (E)-(−)-Conophthorin functions as a pheromone component for P. carmeli and may also function as a synomone that decreases competition of P. carmeli and P. nitidulus with P. setosus and as a kairomone for L. pertenuis. These semiochemicals have been useful in studying relationships among twig insects and the pathogen Fusarium circinatum (Nirenberg and O’Donnell), causal agent of pitch canker disease in P. radiata.

The recent paper by Poinar et al. (1999), entitled “New amber deposit provides evidence of early paleogene extinctions, paleoclimates, and past distributions,” reports a new deposit of fossiliferous amber from the Eocene of British Columbia. This report of a significant discovery by one of the co-authors (Bruce Archibald) is compromised by unexplained statements that ants in this amber are the “earliest unequivocal ants.” They cited unpublished cladograms by Cesare Baroni Urbani as the source of information that showed that previous reports of ants in Cretaceous amber were not really ants.

Pitfall traps are used extensively to sample ground-dwelling arthropods for systematic and ecological studies. They are inexpensive and easy to use and can be operated for relatively long periods of time without maintenance. These traps can collect arthropods in numbers that are suitable for rigorous statistical analysis, although their efficiency is influenced by many biotic and abiotic variables (Greenslade 1964; Spence and Niemelä 1994). Typically, pitfall traps are most productive when they are buried in the substrate, with the upper edge flush with the soil surface; traps with their upper edge above the substrate are much less effective (Greenslade 1964). Because of this, studies of ground-dwelling arthropods in habitats where soil is thin or lacking, or where digging is difficult, are left with no satisfactory alternatives to pitfall traps. A ramp pitfall trap developed by Bostanian et al. (1983) is useful in these habitats because it can be placed on the ground surface without digging. However, the original metal design was strongly biased toward the collection of large (>10 mm) ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) (Bostanian et al. 1983); it was also large, bulky, and relatively expensive. In this paper, we describe a ramp pitfall trap that is inexpensive, easily constructed, and durable. The trap is light, portable, easily installed, and effective in collecting all sizes of arthropods and can be used in many habitat types.

Our study of the Hat Creek amber (Poinar et al. 1999) was undertaken to determine the range of the biota in the resin, to identify the plant that produced the resin, and to assess the future implications of these significant deposits. The study was in no way “compromised” by providing an alternative interpretation of the systematic position of the genus Sphecomyrma Wilson and Brown.

Among the three species of potential hosts for Phoracantha semipunctata (F.) (Eucalyptus propinqua Deane and Maiden, Eucalyptus maculata Hook., and Angophora costata (Gaertner) Britten (all Myrtaceae)) tested in southeast Queensland, there were no differences in number of beetle galleries initiated by neonate larvae, larval mortality, larval survivorship, or parasitism rates. The larvae that survived to pupation in E. maculata produced significantly larger galleries, indicating larger larval size, than did larvae in either of the other two host species tested. There were no differences in the size of parasitized larvae among the three species of potential hosts. The results suggest that there were differences among species in host suitability for larval development but that females were either not able to distinguish those differences during oviposition or the selection for discrimination was not strong relative to the associated potential ecological costs.

Females of Alydus eurinus (Say) release an attractant pheromone from their metathoracic scent gland. Conspecific males and, to a lesser extent, females and nymphs were attracted to blends containing the female-specific essential pheromone components 2-methylbutyl butyrate and (E)-2-methyl-2-butenyl butyrate, whereas individuals of Alydus pilosulus Herrick-Schaeffer were not attracted. When attacked, however, alydid adults emit chemicals for defense—butyric and hexanoic acids in A. eurinus—from the metathoracic scent glands. Mimicry is actually the first line of defense for most broad-headed bugs, including the common North American species studied here, whose nymphs are remarkable ant mimics and whose adults strongly resemble spider wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae). The possibility that disparate heteropterans (Hemiptera) produce sexual pheromones in their metathoracic scent glands must be considered in future pheromone research on heteropterans, especially for species with the specialized lines of defense indicated by aposematism or mimicry.

We tested six behavioral chemicals, pityol, conophthorin, 4-allylanisole, verbenone, 2-hexenol, and α-pinene, in a series of field trials directed at six combinations of Conophthorus Hopkins – Pinus L. spp. (Pinaceae) in sites distributed across North America. Beetle – host tree combinations included Conophthorus ponderosae Hopkins on Pinus ponderosa Laws., C. ponderosae on Pinus monticola Dougl., Conophthorus conicolens Wood on Pinus pseudostrobus Lindl., Conophthorus teocotum Wood on Pinus teocote Schl. & Cham., Conophthorus coniperda (Schwarz) on Pinus strobus L., and Conophthorus resinosae Hopkins on Pinus resinosa Ait. trans-Verbenol was tested only on C. resinosae on P. resinosa. Traps baited with pityol caught more beetles than unbaited traps in nearly all of the assays, and conophthorin consistently inhibited male beetle response to pityol for all species tested. Behavioral responses of species of Conophthorus to α-pinene appeared to parallel host phylogeny, inasmuch as beetles using Haploxylon pines as hosts utilized α-pinene as a synergist for the beetle-produced pityol, whereas beetles using Diploxylon pines as hosts did not. α-Pinene was a synergist for pityol in C. ponderosae on P. monticola and C. coniperda on P. strobus, but not for species of Conophthorus on any other pines tested. Conophthorus ponderosae on P. ponderosa was the only beetle–host combination tested where verbenone was a synergist for pityol, but this effect was not consistent in all years of testing. It was also the only beetle–host combination in which 4-allylanisole was a repellent. For all other beetle–host combinations, verbenone was neutral to slightly repellent and 4-allylanisole was either synergistic or neutral in pityol-baited traps. Promising synergists and interruptants/repellents were identified for implementation in pest-management regimes, including conophthorin as an interruptant for all species of Conophthorus tested, 4-allylanisole as an interruptant for C. ponderosae on P. ponderosa, α-pinene as a synergist for pityol in all species tested on Haploxylon pines, and 4-allylanisole as a synergist for pityol in C. conicolens and C. coniperda.

Brood production and shoot feeding by the pine shoot beetle, Tomicus piniperda (L.), were studied over 3 years in naturally infested plantations of Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris L. (Pinaceae), near Guelph and Waterloo, Ontario, using trap-logs. Adult beetles produced a single brood in 1996 and 1997 and two broods in 1999. Galleries for the first brood were all initiated under the bark over a 2- to 3-week period from mid-April to early May. The lone second brood occurred in early June. In all years, eggs were present by late April, larvae by mid-May, pupae by late June, and new adults by mid-July. Complete development (egg–pupa) required 12–13 weeks for the first brood and 8 weeks for the second brood. First-brood adults emerged over a 2- to 3-week period from early to mid-July in all years, with second-brood adults emerging in late July. The effective heat sums (degree-days (°d) > developmental-threshold temperature) were 77–79 °d for eggs, 267–293 °d for the larval stage, 139–152 °d for the pupal stage, and 43.2 °d for the pre-emergence stage, depending on the developmental-threshold temperature used. The total heat sums for the first brood (1249.8 ± 73.3 °d > 0 °C) were larger that those required for the second brood (856.4 ± 124 °d > 0 °C). Overall, values for first-brood development were similar to those calculated for European and Asian populations. Pine shoots in the upper tree crowns were used by adult beetles for maturation feeding between late July and late September in both 1995 and 1996. The re-emerging parental adults fed upon 1-year-old shoots, whereas newly emerging adults fed primarily upon current-year shoots. The beetles appeared to move to overwintering sites in late October to November, and no adults were found overwintering in shoots on the trees or the ground. Our results parallel those obtained by others under similar climatic conditions in Europe, and can be used to improve the management and regulation of this species as it becomes established in our native pine forests.

The aggregation pheromone of Pityogenes hopkinsi Swaine was identified; it is a three-component mixture, comprising chalcogran, cis-verbenol, and ethyl dodecanoate. Ethyl dodecanoate is new as a bark beetle pheromone component. Chemical analyses (GC–MS) were made on hindgut extracts from unmated and mated males and mated females collected in the field during colonization of Pinus strobus L. (Pinaceae). Aerations from the naturally colonized logs were also analyzed to quantify the released amounts of the pheromone components, a necessary preliminary step to making up biologically relevant doses for field bioassay. Beetles reared from infested host material in the laboratory were introduced into logs of P. strobus, and the production and release of pheromone components in relation to attack phase and "mating status" were described. In general, unmated males increased their production of chalcogran and ethyl dodecanoate until females were admitted, after which production ceased. A field subtractive bioassay showed that chalcogran was the key pheromone component, synergized by different compounds for the two sexes. Females exhibited their strongest response to a mixture of chalcogran and ethyl dodecanoate, whereas cis-verbenol was the synergist for male response. Male-produced 1-hexanol had an inhibitory effect on male attraction to the aggregation-pheromone blend.

Leaf and bark volatiles from non-host birches, Betula pendula Roth. and Betula pubescens Ehrh. (Betulaceae), and aspen, Populus tremula L. (Salicaceae), were tested on spring-dispersing Tomicus piniperda (L.) and Tomicus minor (Hart.) by gas chromatographic – electroantennographic detection (GC–EAD) and by attractant-baited traps in southern Sweden. GC–EAD analysis of the head-space volatiles from fresh bark chips of B. pendula revealed two green leaf alcohols, 1-hexanol and (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol, that consistently elicited antennal responses by T. piniperda and T. minor. Further analyses with synthetic mixtures showed that the antennae of these two Tomicus species also responded to other green leaf alcohols, such as (E)-2-hexen-1-ol found from the non-host leaves, and C8-alcohols, 3-octanol and 1-octen-3-ol, from bark of non-host birches and aspen. No antennal responses of the Tomicus species were observed to green leaf C6-aldehydes and C6-acetate or to non-host bark volatiles like trans-conophthorin, benzaldehyde, salicylaldehyde, and benzyl alcohol. In field trapping experiments, blends of electrophysiologically active green leaf alcohols or C8-alcohols resulted in reductions (> 60%) in the number of T. piniperda captured compared with that for the kairomone-baited trap. When these two blends were combined, trap catch was further reduced (90%), which was not significantly different from that for the blank control. Neither the blend of two green leaf aldehydes plus the acetate nor the bark compounds trans-conophthorin or benzyl alcohol reduced trap catches. Tomicus minor had a response pattern similar to that of T. piniperda. Hylurgops palliatus (Gyll.) (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) was attracted to the combination of kairomone and verbenone but not to kairomone and was not affected by the blends of green leaf volatiles. Our results suggest that selected leaf–bark C6-alcohols and the bark C8-alcohols may have potential in developing semiochemical-based management programs against both pine shoot beetles by repelling them from suitable breeding and feeding sites.

The southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann, is native to pine forests of the southern United States. We describe here techniques for enhancing parasitoid efficacy by direct feeding of parasitoid adults. Our recent research suggests that feeding by female adult D. frontalis parasitoids is important for increased longevity (Mathews and Stephen 1997, 1999; Stephen et al. 1997), and we documented that, with parasitoid feeding, egg resorption decreases and development of new immature eggs increases (Hanano 1996). We suspect that food for D. frontalis parasitoids, in the form of nectar, pollen, or honeydew, is not always available in the forest. We are developing a commercial D. frontalis control strategy based on this assumption.