The balsam twig aphid, Mindarus abietinus Koch, is a major pest of balsam fir, Abies balsamea (L.) Mill. (Pinaceae), grown as Christmas trees in eastern Canada and the United States (Nettleton and Hain 1982; Kleintjes 1997). This aphid has three or four generations from April to July, and overwinters as eggs on fir shoots. Mature fundatrices deposit progeny on new shoots in late May. Infested shoots develop into pseudogalls characterised by stunting and needle distortion, thus reducing the aesthetic value of trees.

The cabbage seedpod weevil, Ceutorhynchus obstrictus (Marsham) [= C. assimilis (Paykull)] (Colonnelli 1993), is a univoltine species native to Europe that feeds on canola and other oilseed cruciferous plants. The adult overwinters in debris and soil outside fields and colonizes canola at the blooming stage (Dosdall et al. 2001). Eggs are laid singly into the immature pods and each larva consumes five to seven seeds before cutting a hole in the pod to wriggle out and pupate in the soil (Dmoch 1965). Yield losses are difficult to assess because the plant compensates for bud and pod injuries caused by insects or pathogens (Lamb 1989). Nevertheless, pod feeding by larvae causes much damage, as canola yields can be reduced from 15 to 35% (Homan and McCaffrey 1993). Feeding by adults can also be significant, as it can reduce oil content, seed weight, and seed germination (Buntin et al. 1995).

Activity of bumble bees, Bombus impatiens Cresson, was examined in commercial tomato, Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. (Solanaceae), greenhouses in relation to greenhouse covering type, solar radiation, greenhouse temperature and humidity. Bumble bee activity was measured by photodiode monitors inserted into the entrance of the colonies. Colony sizes were monitored as an indicator of bee loss through gutter ventilation systems in relation to covering. Activity monitors were found to be a good predictor of actual bumble bee entrances and exits (r2 = 0.85). Bumble bee activity was 94.0% greater under the ultravioltet (UV)-transmitting covering than under ones that transmitted less UV light. No relationship was found between bee activity and the amount of solar radiation or internal greenhouse humidity. Bee activity was weakly positively correlated with internal greenhouse temperature (r2 = 0.18). Bee activity was not different during three periods of the day: morning, midday, and evening. The mean ± SE colony size under the UV-transmitting covering was 86.0 ± 2 bees per colony after 10 days within the greenhouses, compared with 36.4 ± 5.8 bees per colony under the other three types of covering. Our results suggest that bee activity is greatest and bee loss through gutter ventilation systems lowest in greenhouses made with coverings that transmit high levels of UV light.

In Ontario apple [Malus × domestica Mill. (Rosaceae)] orchards, the application of certain pesticides kills phytoseiid predatory mites and causes outbreaks of phytophagous mites. We released a strain of the predatory mite Typhlodromus pyri Scheuten (Acari: Phytoseiidae), obtained from Nova Scotia and with organophosphate- and pyrethroid-resistant traits, into adjacent ’McIntosh’ and ’Red Delicious’ apple orchards and followed its progress over four seasons. The T. pyri strain established in the orchards, became the dominant predator, and was associated with low densities of the phytophagous mites Panonychus ulmi Koch and Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae) and Aculus schlechtendali (Nalepa) (Acari: Eriophyidae). It moved slowly through the orchards and took 4 years to reach the 28th tree (84 m) from the release point in both orchards. The predominant wind direction did not appear to influence T. pyri movement. It was present in high numbers on release trees, or trees near these release trees, each summer after release, unlike other predatory species including Typhlodromus caudiglans (Schuster) (Acari: Phytoseiidae), Amblyseius fallacis (Garman) (Acari: Phytoseiidae), and Zetzellia mali (Ewing) (Acari: Stigmaeidae). This species appears particularly useful for biological control of phytophagous mites in Ontario and is worthy of further testing for conservation and augmentative release.

Laboratory and field feeding tests with Leptoglossus occidentalis Heidemann demonstrated that both immature and mature seed bugs can use cones and foliage of whitebark pine, Pinus albicaulis Engelmann, as a food source for 1- to 2-week periods. Damage to unprotected whitebark pine cones by seed bugs ranged from 0.3 to 2.1% of seeds per cone. Total insect damage ranged from 0.4 to 7.1% of seeds per cone. A seed chalcid, Megastigmus Dalman. sp. (Hymenoptera: Torymidae), was documented for the first time on whitebark pine and was found in 4.7% of examined seeds at one site. The larch cone fly, Strobilomyia macalpinei Michelsen, was reared from cones of alpine larch, Larix lyallii Parl., from the Bitterroot Range of Montana. This is the first record of this species in the United States and the first since its description in 1988. Ninety-four percent of a sample of alpine larch cones were damaged by cone fly larvae and 64% contained larvae or puparia.

The bluebeny maggot, Rhagoletis mendax Curran, is a primary insect pest of low bush blueberries, Vaccinium angustifolium Ait. (Ericaceae), in eastern Canada. Eggs are laid in ripening berries and mature larvae emerge from the berries to pupate in the soil. Adult flies can be controlled with insecticides (Wood et al. 1983) and (or) cultural control by bum or flail-mow pruning of bushes. Pruned plants do not bear fruit the season after pruning, and this rotation of fruit and nonfruit years is believed to reduce fly populations by limiting food availability (Lathrop 1952). Adult flies can be monitored by capture on yellow-panel sticky traps or red-sphere traps (Prokopy and Coli 1978; Wood et al. 1983; Neilson et al. 1984). In this study, we focused on the sex ratio of R. mendax flies captured on baited and unbaited yellow-panel sticky traps (Pheroco® AM traps) and on the orientation behavior of flies toward wind-vane traps.

In volume 133, issue 5, the first line on p 722, the duration was from “egg to adult” and not “egg hatch to adult”. In context, it shoud read: Duration from egg to adult was 217.1 ± 0.1°d above 11.6°C.

In 1996, damage symptoms typical of the swede midge, Contarinia nasturtii (Keiffer), were observed on broccoli, Brassica oleracea L. var. italica (Brassicaceae), crops east of Toronto, Ontario. Early attempts to identify an associated insect larva were unsuccessful, and damage symptoms became mistakenly attributed to nutrient deficiencies (T Clarke, personal communication). Between 1996 and 1999, damaged plants were seen by growers regularly, and resulted in up to 85% loss of marketable yield (T Clarke, personal communication). In June 2000, we initiated investigations at two sites 12 km apart to determine the causal organism of this damage. Both sites were located at farms where cole crops are primarily -gown and from where the first damage reports originated.

Male size is an important parameter in mate choice for many species and has been associated with such female life-history parameters as increased fecundity or fertility and larger progeny (Phelan and Baker 1986; Savalli and Fox 1998, 1999; Brown 1999). In the alfalfa blotch leafminer, Agromyza frontella (Rondani), intraspecific larval competition may significantly influence the size of both males and females (Quiring and McNeil 1984a). The influence of female size on female reproductive success has been studied (Quiring and McNeil 1984b, 1984c), but to date, no attention has been given to the possible effects of male size. The objectives of this study were to determine if differences in male size, the result of intraspecific larval competition, affected male longevity and reproductive success, as well as various parameters of female reproduction.

Erannis tiliaria Harr. and Erannis defoliaria Cl. are closely related species (Rindge 1975) that have similar external appearance and flight period. Erannis tiliaria occurs in North America, whereas E. defoliaria is confined to Europe. Erannis defoliaria occasionally damages oak, Quercus spp. L. (Fagaceae), and cheny, Prunus spp. L. (Rosaceae) (Reichart 1993). During its 1975 outbreak, E. tiliaria severely defoliated 200 000 ha of white and yellow birch, Betula alleghaniensis Britt. and Betula papyrifera Marsh. (Betulaceae), respectively (Howse et al. 1995).

The pine engraver, Ips pini (Say), breeds in the phloem tissue of dead, dying, or downed pines, occasionally attacking standing live trees when populations build up to significant levels following logging activities or infestations by the mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins (Furniss and Carolin 1980). In British Columbia, I. pini uses ipsdienol as an aggregation pheromone to facilitate large aggregations of mated beetles and breeding galleries (Miller et al. 1996). The aggregation pheromones, exo-brevicomin and cis- and trans-verbenol, used by D. ponderosae (Borden et al. 1987; Miller and Lafontaine 1991) interrupt attraction of I. pini to ipsdienol (Miller 1991). Another semiochemical, frontalin, is used by D. ponderosae as a multifunctional pheromone (Borden et al. 1987), enhancing attraction of beetles at low release rates and interrupting attraction at high release rates. I tested the effect of frontalin, over a broad range of release rates, on the attraction of I. pini to ipsdienol-baited traps.

Stethorus punctillum Weise (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) is a Palearctic species first found in North America in the 1940s (Putman 1955). Commercial mass-rearing methods were developed in the late 1990s (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, London, Ontario, and Applied Bio-nomics Ltd, Saanich, British Columbia). The beetle is now released in North America to control two-spotted spider mites, Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae). Knowledge of the life-history traits of S. punctillum is necessary for effective use of the predator in greenhouses. Putman (1955) provides useful information, but his results cannot be readily interpreted with respect to larval voracity, lower developmental temperature threshold, and developmental time in degreedays (°d), traits that affect efficacy. In this note I report new results relating to these life-history traits and to beetle releases in greenhouse vegetable crops.

The coffee white stem borer, Xylotrechus quadripes (Chevrolat) is a major pest of coffee, Coffea arabica (L.) (Rubiaceae), in South Africa, India, Thailand, and China (Duffy 1968; Schoeman 1990; Visitpanich 1994; Montavon 1997). Females lay eggs singly or in batches, generally under bark crevices of the stem. Neonatal larvae feed beneath the bark and, during development, bore deeply inside the stem. Stems are colonized by up to 60 larvae. Extensive damage by larvae causes mortality of coffee plants or reduction of fruit production (Duffy 1968; GK veeresh). Because larvae inside the stems of coffee plants are difficult to control, management tactics are aimed at preventing infestation, either by interfering with oviposition of females or by killing neonates before they bore into the stem. Our study tested insect and host plant derived stimuli that may affect the selection of oviposition sites by female X. quadripes.

The impact of multiple applications of the kaolin-based particle film M96-018 on the population density of selected pests of apple, Malus domestica (Borkh) (Rosaceae), and their natural enemy populations were measured in several Washington State orchards from 1997 to 1999. Densities of western tentiform leafminer, Phyllonorycter elmaella (Doganlar and Mutuura) (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae), were significantly higher and percent parasitism was generally lower in treated plots than in untreated plots. The effect of M96-018 on green aphids (Aphis spp.) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) was variable between orchards; however, populations of rosy apple aphid, Dysaphis plantaginea Passerini (Hemiptera: Aphididae), were higher in treated plots than in untreated plots. M96-018 reduced the mean density of the white apple leafhopper, Typhlocyba pomaria (McAtee) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), and the density of spiders (Araneae) compared with untreated plots. Fruit injury by codling moth, Cydia pomonella (L.), and fruittree leafroller, Archips argyrospilus (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), was significantly reduced in the treated plots compared with the untreated plots. The effect of M96-018 on the mullein bug, Campylomma verbasci (Meyer) (Hemiptera: Miridae), was variable between orchards and years. Stink bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) density and related fruit injury were unaffected by M96-018. Fruit infestation by San Jose scale, Quadraspidiotus perniciosus (Comstock) (Hemiptera: Diaspididae), was significantly higher in treated plots than in untreated plots. Discontinuing applications of M96-018 at mid-season reduced the number of aphid-infested leaves and increased fruit injury by leafroller compared with a full-season program. No differences in pest densities occurred in plots treated for one versus two consecutive years; however, the density of phytophagous mites (Acari: Tetranychidae) was significantly higher the subsequent year after plots were treated with M96-018. Further studies are needed to elucidate how these disruptive impacts of particle films can be minimized.

There are no definitive behavioural studies on the webbing clothes moth, Tineola bisselliella (Hum.) (Lepidoptera: Tineidae), that demonstrate the sex emitting or responding to communication signals. Roth and Willis (1952) reported male courtship (wing-fanning) behaviour ≤1 cm from an excised female pheromone gland, suggesting the presence of a female-produced sex pheromone that is effective at close range; however, isolated or groups of males also wing-fanned in the absence of females (Titschack 1922; Roth and Willis 1952; S Takács, personal observation). Titschack (1922) suggested that this behaviour may serve to either “disperse odorous substances” produced by males or indicate sexual excitement, while Roth and Willis (1952) considered wingfanning in the absence of females as “vacuum activity”. Male T. bisselliella responded more strongly to larval habitat and sought it earlier at night than females (Takács et al. 2001a, 2001b). Habitat selection by males could enhance their mating success by placing them near resources essential to females (Emlen and Oring 1977; Thornhill and Alcock 1983). If males were to produce communication signals, they may enhance the attractiveness of larval habitat to foraging females. Our objective was to determine whether male and (or) female T. bisselliella produce mate-attracting signals.

A systemic tree injection tube was designed to introduce the required volumes of neem-based bioinsecticides into conifer trees. The device consists of plastic tubing attached with hose clamps to a maple sap spile at one end and a tubeless automobile tire valve at the other end. A hole is drilled in the tree, the spile is hammered into the hole, the device is filled with the systemic insecticide, and the system is pressurized by attaching a bicycle pump to the tire valve. The parts are readily available, the device is simple to construct and easy and quick to install on a tree, application volumes are adjustable, and the device is reusable. This device has been used successfully to inject 188 trees representing four conifer species in either spring or fall, primarily with neem formulations but also with dimethoate, imidacloprid, and acephate. In most cases, all of the material was injected into the trees without leakage, although neem formulations were characteristically slow to enter the trees and certain neem formulations were not injected completely at volumes above 15 mL per injection tube. Dosages of 0.2 g azadirachtin/cm of diameter at breast height (dbh) or less provided control of pine false webworm, spruce budworm, cedar leafminers, gypsy moth, and introduced pine sawfly on red pine, white spruce, eastern white cedar, white pine, and white pine, respectively. Dosages as low as 0.005 g active ingredient/cm of dbh applied with injection tubes in either one or two holes per tree resulted in a 95% reduction in defoliation of mature (mean dbh ± SD = 23.4 ± 3.3 cm) red pine caused by pine false webworm.

Fitness, defined as the per capita rate of increase of a genotype with reference to the population carrying the associated genes, is a concept used by biologists to describe how well an individual performs in a population. Fitness is rarely measured directly and biologists resort to proxies more easily measured but with varying connection to fitness. Size, progeny survival, and developmental rate are the most common proxies used in the literature to describe parasitoid fitness. The importance of the proxies varies between papers looking at evolutionary theories and those assessing ecological applications. The most direct measures of fitness for parasitoids are realised fecundity for females and mating ability for males, although these proxies are more difficult to measure under natural conditions. For practical purposes, measure of size, through body size or mass, is the proxy easiest to use while providing good comparative values; however, care must be taken when using a single proxy, as proxies can be affected differently by rearing conditions of the parasitoid.