The following new pyraustine taxa are described: Parbattia serrata n. sp., Sikkim and northern India; P. arisana n. sp., Taiwan; Epiparbattia gloriosalis whalleyi n. subsp., Assam.

Biological control attempts on pome fruit in North America, 1860–1970, are summarized and successes and failures reviewed. In all cases, save two, claims in support of successes are lacking. It is concluded that a modern research approach to the study of biological control—including a study of the population dynamics of the host species and of the biotic agent used in control—must be taken. Claims of successes of biotic agents—parasites and predators—in control of pome fruit insect pest populations (stage or generation) must be supported by quantitative multifactor studies. Otherwise the scientific requirements and exigencies (e.g. manipulation of biotic agents with predictability) will not be satisfied.

Larval forms of Chironomidae were collected on the U.S. Virgin Islands and Anegada, British Virgin Islands. A total of 16 species were found and seven of these were reared to the adult. The species represented 3 subfamilies, 4 tribes, and 12 genera. Species of the genus Chironomus were the most widespread and abundant. In addition, 4 species of Ceratopogonidae and 1 of Chaoboridae were collected.

Four species of the spider family Amaurobiidae introduced to North America are described and figured. They are Ixeuticus martius (Simon), Metaltella simoni (Keyserling), Amaurobius similis (Blackwall), and Amaurobius ferox (Walckenaer). Callobius hokkaido n. sp. from Japan is described and figured.

Brachymeria intermedia (Nees), an introduced parasite of the gypsy moth, was recovered from gypsy moth pupae collected in Fryeburg, Maine (latitude 44°). The recovery of this parasite in Maine shortly after it was reported established on gypsy moth in Connecticut suggests that B. intermedia is rapidly expanding its range. The wide range of hosts attacked by the parasite, and its occurrence in northern New England, make it a promising potential biotic agent on a variety of northern pest species of lepidopterans, either through natural spread or by artificial introduction.

A striking new species, Agriotypus himalensis, is described from Assam (India) at 7200 ft in the Himalayas. The family Agriotypidae is maintained as distinct because of the structure of the adult abdomen and larval head.

Cretaceogaster pygmaeus n. gen., n. sp. found in Canadian amber of Upper Cretaceous age from Cedar Lake, Man., is described and assigned to the subfamily Pachygastrinae of the Stratiomyidae. This is the first pre-tertiary record of this family.

Four new species of the genus Lygocoris Reuter, subgenus Neolygus Knight, are described: knighti and walleyi from Ontario; piceicola, from New Brunswick and Quebec; and atricallus from Ontario and Quebec. Male genitalia are illustrated, host plants are listed, and relationships to other species are discussed.

Adults of Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins were stored at 1 °C in 2-mil polyethylene bags containing moistened excelsior. Under these conditions, 85% of the beetles survived after 30 days. Stored adults showed no decrease in fecundity but the percentage of females in their broods increased with storage duration. Handling prior to storage and interruptions in the storage period resulted in a decrease in survival. Female adults survived storage better than males.

Feeding studies showed that survival to adult and adult body weight were much reduced when colonies of the migratory grasshopper, Melanoplus sanguinipes (Fabricius), were reared on a diet of fresh lettuce alone. This was largely due to the high moisture content of the fresh lettuce. Dried-lettuce meal, bran, or alfalfa meal as supplements to increase the intake of solids improved survival and body weight very markedly.

The morphology and histology of the internal reproductive system of the female spruce budworm moth, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens), is described and discussed, with notes on the spermatophore and egg development.

Curarized house cricket hearts in semi-isolated preparation are from 10 to 100× more sensitive to the accelerating action of acetylcholine than control hearts. This potentiating effect of curare is similar to that of eserine, and probably acts through inhibition of cholinesterase.

Both sexes of a new species of Psococerastis, a new species of Trichadenotecnum, a new species of Stenopsocus, and single sexes of a second new Trichadenotecnum, a new species of Pseudocaecilius, a new species of Ectopsocus, a new species of Dasypsocus, and two new species of Caecilius are described from material collected in Nepal. Augmented descriptions of Psococerastis nirvanus (Banks) and of P. taprobanes var. bengalensis (Kolbe) are given, and a description of the female of Scytopsocopsis hirtipenna Lee and Thornton. A total of 14 species were identified.

The objects of this study were to determine whether the population density of Hyphantria cunea Drury is dependent on land use, vegetation pattern, and plant species; and to compare the extensive methods designed for this work with more intensive, single-plot designs.In two separate gradations, covering a period of 12 years, density was positively correlated with agricultural land use, open rather than closed patterns of vegetation, and the occurrence of only a few of the principal host species. The analysis showed how these variables affected density both within and between different climatic areas, and suggested how cultural methods might be used in population management.Extensive designs permit the development and testing of holistic models designed to explain both spatial and temporal differences in population density, and provide the replication required for the latter purpose. It is important to model spatial differences in density because such variables as vegetation pattern and composition are sometimes subject to cultural modification. Very intensive designs, based on sampling only a few trees at one point, do not permit the development of complete models and, because of plant host and dispersal phenomena affecting insects and their parasites, produce data that may be unreliable even for sub-models, such as those dealing with host–parasite interactions.

The following species are treated and new synonymies indicated: Cordylura aea, type unknown; C. cupricrus, = Hylemya coenosiaeformis Stein; C. flavipennis, = Acrostilpna replicata Huckett; C. imperator, = Hoplogaster setipes Huckett; C. tenuior, = Hoplogaster mollicula (Fallén); Anthomyia anane, == Botanophila setigera (Johannsen); A. badia, genus Paraprosalpia; Coenosia spinosa, = Hydrophoria ambigua (Fallén).

Opius melleus Gah. and O. lectus Gah. were the only parasites of Rhagoletis pomonella (Walsh) found in southern Ontario during a 4-year survey. The parasites were found only in the Niagara Region on the slope of the Niagara Escarpment and between it and Lake Ontario. The population of parasites was low though they appeared to be well adapted to attack R. pomonella. They were found in, or adjoining, unsprayed sites where there was shrubby growth under the trees infested by R. pomonella.

Rows of hives were arranged in squares with their entrances facing outwards (N, S, E, W) within the temperate zone (at 49°38′ N., 97°09′ W.) and within the tropical zone (at 18°00′, 76°45′ W.). Bees tended to move southward along east and west facing rows in the temperate zone during July and August but not in the tropical zone during the time when the path of the sun passed through the zenith at midday (2 August 1969). Bees, in rows facing north or south, showed a greater tendency to move westward in the tropical than in the temperate zone. It is suggested that sun position may influence this movement of bees.

Six species of predacious Miridae, common to apple trees in Nova Scotia, were used to develop laboratory rearing and feeding techniques for comparing the abilities of predators to consume prey. The test prey species was the European red mite, Panonychus ulmi (Koch), in the winter egg stage. The numbers of eggs consumed per day and per instar in the tests compared favourably with the known predatory values of these mirids under orchard conditions. Both sources of information were used to give the predators a tentative rating. The mirids Hyaliodes harti Knight, Diaphnocoris pellucida (Uhler), Pilophorus perplexus D. and S., and Blepharidopterus angulatus (Fall.) are effective predators, approximately equal to each other in ability to consume the winter eggs of the red mite. The two species Campylomma verbasci (Meyer) and Atractotomus mali (Meyer), which are phytophagous as well as predacious, were less voracious.The results indicate it may be feasible to develop a series of weighting factors, one for each stage of each predacious species, based on ability to consume prey.

The emergence times of most European Clunio populations are correlated with certain conditions of low tide and time of day which occur together only every 15 days. This temporal programming of development is determined by the combination of two different endogenous rhythms: a semilunar rhythm which controls the beginning of pupation and a circadian rhythm which controls the diurnal emergence time. The paper summarizes the known characteristics of these two physiological clocks and their adaptation to different tidal and photoperiodic conditions in the field.

Holdawayella juglandis Loan, a new species, and some aspects of the anatomy of the final-instar larva of the only other known species of this genus, H. tingiphaga Loan, are described. Host records and field data are reported for both species for Ontario. Though the adults of the two species are very similar morphologically, H. juglandis lacks parthenogenesis, is restricted to the tingid Corythucha juglandis Fitch that breeds only on species of Juglans L., and has specific phenological characteristics. In both species, the head sclerites of the final-instar larva are typically euphorine, and the abdomen bears 3 unpaired, medial, teat-like appendages on segments 5, 6, and 7 whose function is unknown and which do not seem to have homologues in other insect larvae. Both species are single-brooded, lay their eggs in late-instar nymphs and possibly also teneral adults of Corythucha, overwinter as first-instar larvae in adults of these tingids, and complete their endoparasitic and cocoon development in about 90 days during the following spring and summer so that adults of H. tingiphaga begin to emerge from the soil about mid-July and those of H. juglandis about 8 days later. New host records for H. tingiphaga are C. coryli O. & D., C. heidmanni Drake, and C. ulmi O. & D.