The eye-spotted bud moth, Spilonota ocellana (D. & S.), has been and continues to be an orchard pest of considerable economic importance in the temperate zone of North America. During the past seven years, observations have been made on the ecology of this insect in Nova Scotia. Among the biotic agents found attacking it is the hymenopterous parasite Agathis laticinctus (Cress.) [Microdus ocellanae Richardson].

There has been much confusion between the North American species of leafhoppers of the genus Streptanus Ribaut, partly because the species are so closely related and partly because the extent of the variation in markings and wing length was not fully appreciated. Four species have been found in North America, of which three hwe been recorded previously. The four are conspecific with species described from Europe, and the specific names that have been applied to North American species must be reduced to synonymy.

A strain of Bacillus cereus (Pr-1017) was isolated from dead and dying larvae of the larch sawfly. Laboratory and field feeding tests resulted in mortalities as high as 60 per cent and 38 per cent, respectively.

A positive correlation between the incidence of mortality and the mean daily temperatures was obtained in the field experiments.

During the past decade, larvae of the housefly, Musca domestica L., have been reared routinely in a medium containing two parts of wheat bran and one part of alfalfa meal, moistened with a yeast suspension and a solution of malt euuact. The recent appearance of a standard mixture of wheat bran (33.3 per cent), alfaIfa meal (26.7 per cent), and brewers grain (40.0 per cent), called CSMA (formerly NAIDM), has further simplified the rearing of this species of fly. This note reports a modification of the CSMA medium and its use in the sterile culture of housefly larvae.

On page 158, Vol. 86, lines 20-25 should read as follows:—

11. Shape of body tadpole-like; 2 reddish-brown spots on top of head; yellow-green dorsolateral stripe (fat bodies) on abdomen and part of thorax—Nematinus unicolor (Marlatt)

Shape of body not tadpole-like; markings on head as in Fig. 3; yellow-green addorsal line (fat bodies) on body; 3 yellow-green lines (fat bodies) on posterior segments…Pristiphora siskiyouensis Marlatt

This is a report on the influence of temperature on embryonic development of the pale western cutworm, Agrotis orthogonia Morr. Gross observations on embryonic progress were recorded.

As cultures of this species are continuously needed for studies at the Lethbridge laboratory, information on conditions for adequate egg storage was required. The record of embryonic development was used to determine the most satisfactory stage at which eggs could be stored for future use.

The toxicities of a large number of spray chemicals to arthropod pests are well known. In most instances, observations on the effects of such materials on natural enemies have beeen incidental to other studies, and little has been published on experiments designed to determine the direct toxicities of the chemicals to beneficial species. The effects of spray chemicals on the predators and parasites of the major pests of apple trees in Nova Scotia have been investigated as part of a broader project on the factors that influence population densities of orchard arthropods, as outlined by Pickett et al. (31).

Cette espèce a été obtenue au cours d'une exploration entomologique de l'auteur dans la région du lac Mistassini à deux stations distantes de 75 milles environ. Il est donc possible qu'elle soit répandue sous cette latitude partout où se réalisent ses exigences écologiques. Les premiers exemplaires furent capturés, le 12 juillet dernier, dans un pré humide en bordure d'un petit étang, au centre d'une tourbière. Une visite au même endroit, le 19 août, nous a fourni deux autres exemplaires. Le 4 septembre, un autre individu fut aperçu exactement au même point.

The beetle fauna of Labrador, like the literature dealing with it, is very poor. Besides old records of singlc species and incomplete lists, the only papers of importance are those by Sherman (1910), Brown (1930, 1932), and Eidmann (1935), and only Sherman lists all of the Labrador species known at the time. The fauna of northernmost Labrador is touched upon by Blair (1933) and Brown (1937).

Wood (1951) published a list of lepidopterous larvae collected from commercial blueberry fields in Charlotte County. N.B. Among the species consistently collected annually from 1947 to 1952 are the cutworms Spaelotis clandestina (Harr.) and Polia purpurissata (Grt.). Although notes on both species have been given by various authors, including Crumb (1929, 1932), Gibson (1915), and Phipps (19301, no complete account of their life-histories has been published.

In certain years, adult sawflies constitute a conspicuous feature of the insect fauna which rests on foliage or visits flowers on the Canadian prairies and in neighbouring woodlands.

The most intense “outbreak” of these insects observed by the writer occurred in 1929 when they were by far the most conspicuous representatives of the insect fauna near Gull Lake, Alberta. In that year, in less than two weeks during early June, 53 species were taken in an area of about a half-mile square.

During the summer of 1948, the Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology and Palaeontology sent an expedition to the region of Cape Henrietta Maria on the north-west corner of James Bay, Ontario. Among the insects collected were specimens of two new species of Coccinellidae. Descriptions of these are given here.

A recent paper (2) described the light reactions of Sarcophaga aldrichi Parker when the eyes of the fly were treated in different ways. The present paper describes a similar series of observations on adults of the sawfly, Neodiprion lecontei (Fitch), and analyses the functions of their compound eyes, dorsal ocelli, and antennae.

The larval stages of Hilarella hilarella (Zett.) have been previously reported as living on the stores in the nests of fossorial Hymenoptera. This fly is here reported as parasitizing an insect host without the intervention of any hymenopterous insect.

The third paragraph on page 128 of Vol. 85 (No. 4) should begin as follows:

Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.)

While examining the collections of immature stages of Simuliidae made at Jasper, Alta., in 1932, by Mr. J. D. Gregson, Livestock Insect Laboratory, Kamloops, B.C., I recently found a female pupa of the rare and remarkable family commonly called “mountain midges”. The group consists of a single genus, Deuterophlebia Edwards (1922), in which four Asiatic and two North American species are recognized, although there are, also, a few records of unidentified larvae and pupae. Muttkowski (1927) first recorded the family on this continent, and Pennak (1945, 1951) and Wirth (1951) have described the two Nearctic species. Pennak (1945) has also summarized the published information on the distribution, habits, and morphology of the group.

This paper describes a method of rearing the spruce budwom, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.) under laboratory conditions. The development of such a method has been necessary as a preliminary step in a program of investigations into the genetics of the spruce budworm. The method therefore attempts to satisfy primarily the requirements of genetical studies but, since these are as exacting as may be necessary for any biological investigation, a wider applicability may be anticipated.

In the spring, spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem)), emerge as second-instar larvae from hibernacula. This emergence may be sudden and is readily detectable in the field. In northwestern Ontario, the sudden appearance of larvae in large numbers was especially spectacular in 1948; that year, very few insects were observed on May 11, but on the following two days, countless larvae could be seen on strands of silk streaming out from trees. Many of the insects were carried away by air currents. The surface of Big Canon Lake, a body of water close to four square miles in area, was covered with larvae, at an estimated density of 100 larvae per square foot of surface. At other times, however, emergence may be gradual or there may be two distinct periods of abundant emergence. Furthermore, the time of abundant larval emergence through six years has varied by as much as four weeks. Because of such differences, prevailing spring temperatures were examined to determine what relationship might exist between temperature and the time and character of emergence. This paper points out a relationship between emergence and April and May temperatures, and an apparent temperature threshold for emergence.

Until 1951 the Canadian National Collection of Insects lacked specimens of the barberry geometrid, Coryphista meadi (Packard), from Eastern Canada. In that year Mr. W. E. Whitehead, Macdonald College, Que., forwarded for identification two specimens taken in Kings County, N.S., and on learning of the interest of the record he kindly presented them to the National Collection. In 1952 an outbreak of the species in the Ottawa region caused minor damage to ornamental barberry bushes. Several enquiries about the insect were received, and MacKay (in preparation) studied its life-history.