In the Northern Insect Survey, sponsored jointly by the Canada Department of Agriculture and the Department of National Defence, the insect fauna of northern Canada was investigated extensively during the summers of 1947-52. The research work has centred on the biting flies and has consisted in large part of taxonomic studies, as a preliminary to biologica1 investigations. In mosquitoes of the genus Aedes, the difficulty of identifying the adult females, particularly those of the black-legged groups, has made biological studies extremely difficult.

In Europe, extensive work on wireworms has revealed taxonomic problems in the genus Agriotes. Since the investigations of Roberts (1922) after the First World War it has been possible for both field men and taxonomists to identify the larvae of A. sputator (L.), but the problem of separating A. obscurus (L.) and A. lineatus (L.) has persisted through all subsequent work. The European literature on Agriotes larvae deals extensively with the latter problem (Beling, 1883-84; Ford, 1916; Guéniat, 1934; Henriksen, 1911-12; Horst, 1922; Korschefsky, 1941; Mesnil, 1930; Rambousek, 1928; Schaerfienberg, 1943; Subklew, 1934; and Znamenskij, 1927), but none of the authors expresses satisfaction with the characters found.

Until recently only one species of this genus was recognized in North America–Menopsimus caducus Dyar. In a paper of 1919, Synonymical Notes Relating to Menopsimus caducus Dyar (Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash., Vol. 51, No. 2, p. 74), Mr. J. G. Franclemont estabiished that caducus and fractilinea Sm. represent two distinct species, congeneric with the European one known as Tholomyges turfosalis Wocke, and showed that both Tholomyges Lederer and Menopsimus Dyar fall to Hypenodes Doubleday. Since that time, three more unnamed species have been found, bringing the total for North America to five. All of these, as far as is known, are restricted to the north-eastern region.

The winter moth, Operophtera brumata (Linn.), was not known to occur in North America until 1949, when it was first reported from the south shore of Nova Scotia by Hawholdt and Cuming (2) and Smith (4). By that time this introduced species was well established. It is suspected that the winter moth in association with the fall cankerworm, Alsophila pometaria (Harr.), has been causing considerable defoliation of deciduous tree species in the region since the early 1930's (2). The habits and stages of the winter moth have been described briefly by Smith (S), who also has indicated the important differences between the winter moth and the fall cankerworm (4).

Records indicate that the present outbreak of the larch sawfly in Manitoba and Saskatchewan began about 1938 in the Spruce Woods-Riding Mountain area of Manitoba. Since then, it has spread in all directions where the principal host tree, larch, Larix laricina (Du Roi) K. Koch, occurs. It now includes nearly all of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, northwestern Ontario, part of northeastern Alberta, and northern Minnesota. In 1944, an annual survey of parasites that attack larvae of the larch sawfly was begun by the Forest Biology Laboratory, Winnipeg. The purposes of the survey were to determine (a) the principal species of parasites, (b) their abundance and effectiveness, and (c) .host-parasite population trends.

When in 1948 I first made the acquaintance of the mite about to be described I was intrigued with the idea that a form morphologically so similar to those described by Oudemans, 1915 and Hirst 1928 should come from such a different habitat. Whilst recognizing the totally different geographical areas, sphagnum bogs of boreal Canada as opposed to humid forests of tropical Ceylon and Malaya, the question arises as to whether the micro-habitat in which these three species live is so totally different. From the published material available (vide Thienemann 1928-29), which I admit is not very extensive, there does not seem to be much chemical difference between the waters of Nepenthes and those of Sarracenia. The similarity of these two micro-habitats is further substantiated by the fact that copepods of the genus Parastenocaris have been found in the pitchers of Sarracenia which closely resemble those described by Menzel 1921, Chappius 1931 and Thienemann 1928-29 (quoting from Ghosh, no reference given) from the water of Nepenthes. The question of distribution over such great distances and over what must be long ages poses certain difficulties which can only be answered when we know more about the past history and distribution of pitcher plants and mites. The possession of an hypopial stage by all three species does offer some help in the problem but the further question of how the Canadian mites have adapted themselves to the rigours of a northern winter is difficult to understand.

Observations on the biology of Trybliographa rapae (Westw.) were made as part of a general study, in Canada and Europe, of the biotic factors acting against the maggots of Hylemya brassicae (Bouché), H. floralis (Fall.) [H. crucifera Huck.], and H. cilicrura (Rond.) that attack cruciferous crops. During the study many thousands of host insects from both Canada and Europe were examined and large numbers of both hosts and parasites were reared in the laboratory.

The pine needle miner (Exoteleia pinifoliella (Chamb.)) is one of at least seven pine needle miners occurring in North America. A native to the East, it is widely distributed from Southern Ontario (6) through the Atlantic States to Georgia (1).

The insect is a persistent and annoying pest that infests forest trees of all ages from nursery transplant beds to mature stands. The moths oviposit year after year on the same trees causing localized infestations; one part of a stand may be heavily populated, while an adjacent area may remain untouched for years.

Recently, the light reactions of three species of tent caterpillars were described (3). The present paper contains a similar description of the responses of larvae of the spotless fall webworm, Hyphantria textor Harr. This species was chosen for comparative study because, like tent caterpillars, it is colonial through most of its larval stage, during which it forms extensive webs.

Larvae of all six instars were studied. Some of the behaviour described here was first observed during the summers of 1949-50 at Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. During July and August of 1953, several of the laboratory tests were repeated at Sault Ste. Marie, and, in addition, some new reactions were observed for the first time.

Cone-infesting insects have been recognized for many years but have not attracted as much attention as some of the defoliating species. The apparent lack , of interest is quite understandable since seed destroying insects are seldom, if ever, a problem in natural reproduction. White spruce successfully reproduces, despite the numerous insects which are known to feed on the seeds. However, the increased interest in reforestation necessitates the collection of cones and extraction of the seed to supply the demands of forest nurseries. During heavy cone-crop years, enough seed must be extracted and stored to provide a supply for the years when cones are scarce. As all conifers generally produce anabundance of cones the same year, the number of bushels which may be processed for any one species is limited. As a consequence, cone-infesting insects have become a factor of considerable importance.

In Canada surveys of mosquito populations have been conducted on a scale varying from country-wide programmes to local sunreys about centres of population. The work of the Defence Research Roard and Department of Agriculture in conducting surveys and biological snidies of mosquitoes across northern Canada has been reviewed by Twinn (1950, 1952) and Freeman (1952). During 1944 a country-wide survey, particularly of anopheline species, was conducted as part of a study of possible transmission of malaria (Twinn, 1944). In the Fraser River Valley Hearle (1026) studied the distribution and biology of the mosquitoes of that region. Surveys of a local nature around centres of population have been conducted by McLintock (1944) at Winnipeg, by Urquhart (1948) at Toronto and by Judd (1950) at Hamilton as a basis for control programmes at these centres. During 1952 such a survay, the subject of this paper, was carried out at London, Ontario and its vicinity to determine what species were present in the region, the times of occurrence of larvae and pupae in pools and the seasonal abundance of adults of each species.

General. The life history of the lodgepole needle miner in Yosemite National Park, California, has been described (24). The Canadian outbreak was discovered in 1942 but intensive investigations were not commenced until 1948. Many differences have been noted between the Canadian and Californian life histories since the discovery of the outbreak.

It is the purpose of this paper to bring together all information collected by the author and staff of the Laboratory of Forest Zoology at Calgary, Alberta, concerning the life history of the lodgepole needle miner in the Canadian Rocky mountains.

The cadelle, Tenebroides mauritanicus (L.) is a common insect in ships, warehouses, mills and elevators. Back and Cotton (1926) state that it was well known as a pest of wheat in Europe before the end of the eighteenth century. According to Hatch (1942) in Europe the cadelle lives outdoors under bark and in rotten wood where it is predatory on xylophagous insects, and of the 152 species of the genus Tenebroides known by 1910 this was the only one reported as being injurious.

Many of the early papers on the spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.), included accounts of the general habits and seasonal history of the insect (9, 13, 18, 10, 22). Later papers have heen concerned principally with ecological or pathological relations, current infestations and damage, or chemical control. There has not been, however, any detailed account of the salient features of the development of the spruce budworm.

In a communication previously published (Judd, 1952) the writer reported upon studies of insects reared from Pine Cone Willow galls collected near London, Ontario in 1951. At the time this collection was made numerous galls of another type were noted on the twigs of a growth of willow shrubs adjacent to those from which the Pine Cone galls were taken. These galls were spindle-shaped swellings of the twigs and branches and were from three-quarters to one and one-half inches long and, at their greatest width, two or three times as wide as the twigs (Fig. 1). They were confined to a growth of willow which formed a straggling band along the edge of a field, the individual bushes being shrub-like in stature, three or four feet tall. This willow was identified as the sandbar-willow (Salix interior Rowlee) by use of a key to foliage of Salix in Fernald (1950). Most of the galls were separate from one another, forming individual swellings along the twigs. Some twigs and branches bore only a few galls but some bore several, there being as many as eight separate galls along one foot of branch. In a few cases two galls were so closely adjacent that they formed a single bilobed swelling of the twig. In the key to insect galls of willow in Felt (1940) they were identified as spindle-galls caused by the sawfly Euura nodus Walsh.

In the Canadian Rocky Mountain National Parks, the lodgepole needle miner has a two-year life cycle, so that larvae of each generation are exposed to two successive winters. Although there is no doubt that mortality of these over-wintering larvae is directly attributable to a period of low temperature, there has been some doubt as to whether the bulk of the mortality occurs during the coldest part of the winter, or whether it occurs during periods of low temperature during the late autumn or early spring. Although spring and autumn mortality undoubtedly take place, estimation of the relative importance of mortality during the various seasons must await successive sampling throughout the three seasons. Nevertheless, in the absence of such data, we wish to present evidence that points to the major importance of the weather of the coldest month of the winter to not only the amount but also the vertical distribution of larval mortality.

The number of new records noted in the Canadian Insect Pest Survey in 1952 was somewhat larger than usual and these and others are brought totether for convenient reference in this paper. Canadian sources of information include Survey reports submitted by officers of the Entomology and Forest Biology divisions, provincial entomologists, and other co-operators; The Canadian Insect Pest Review; Annual Report of the Entomological Sociery of Ontario; The Canadian Entomologist; Annales de l'Acfas; and Proceedings of the Entomological Society of British Columbia. A reference to the collection of the leafhopper Erythroneura flammigera (Geoffr.) on cherry in British Columbia was noted in Science News Letter, a United States publication, and details of the occurrence were obtained from H. H. Ross of the Illinois Natural History Survey.

Twelve species of sawflies are common on white birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.) in the forested areas of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. They also occur in Fastern Canada and the United States. A key is presented at the end of the paper by which the late instars of these twelve species can be identified. The immature forms of these species were described by Dyar (1893, 1895a, 1895b, 1895c), Middleton (1915, 1922) and Riley (1890). Unfortunately these descriptions are scattered in several publications, and in most cases the names of the genera or species in the original descriptions have been changed (Ross 1951). This paper brings together the current nomenclature and some biological information on these species.

In the Ottawa region about the middle of June, frequently certain leaves of the common alder, Alnus rugosa var. americana (Regel) Fern., are drawn together by strands of silk, concealing an elongate silken tube or case. The latter is occupied by an active brownish-grey larva that, when unmolested, extends itself from the broadly open end of the rube to feed on the foliage. This insect is the phycitid Acrobasis rubrifasciella Pack., a species that occors in northeastern United States and adjacent parts of Canada.

In this paper records are given for three species of leafhoppers described from Europe and not recorded previously for North America, and six names that have been applied to North American species are reduced to synonymy with the names of species described from Europe.