The life history of Cricotopus myriophylli Oliver is described from both field observations and laboratory rearing of field-collected larvae. The species appears to be univoltine with four larval instars and has a sex ratio of ca. 2:1, males to females. Emergence begins in late May in British Columbia and continues until mid-September, with first-instar larvae present in the field from mid-June to mid-August. Water temperature does not appear to influence the rate of emergence. In the laboratory at 21 °C, larvae complete each of the third and fourth instars in 10–14 days. Cricotopus myriophylli overwinters primarily in the third larval instar, although second and fourth instars were also recovered in field-collected samples. First-instar larvae and eggs were not recovered from winter samples. This species does not appear to undergo a true diapause.

The 48-h toxicities of freshly deposited residues of 28 insecticides against Aphytis melinus DeBach and Rhizobius lophanthae (Blaisd.) were evaluated at various rates. Rates as high as 4-fold the recommended field rate of several materials (formulated plant alkaloids, amitraz, formulated Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner endotoxin or exotoxin, and cryolite) revealed little mortality to either species. Concentration–mortality regressions were quantified for the remaining materials, which included five carbamates, a macrocyclic lactone, eight organophosphates, and four pyrethroids. Of these, pyrethroids in general were most toxic, followed by carbamates, and then organophosphates, to both species. Most materials tested were more toxic to A. melinus than to R. lophanthae.

Fifteen compounds used for suppression of lepidopteran pests of citrus were applied in a commercial manner to lemon trees. Amounts of dislodgable residues, together with mortality of Aphytis melinus DeBach confined on treated foliage, were monitored for 36 days following treatment. Most materials caused high mortalities on the 1st day following treatment. Several materials had little effect on A. melinus after 7 days post-treatment. These included a formulation of Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner endotoxin, a formulation of B. thuringiensis exotoxin, cryolite, methomyl, mevinphos, naled, parathion, and trichlorfon. Carbosulfan, chlorpyrifos, esfenvalerate, fluvalinate, methomyl, and two formulations of carbaryl caused mortality for up to 30 days post-application. Mortality in the thiodicarb treatment was above 60% for the 36 days of the study. Mortality was correlated with amounts of dislodgable residue for each material tested.

The weevils Hylobius radicis Buchanan and Hylobius pales (Herbst) survived to adulthood more frequently, developed more rapidly, and weighed more as adults when reared on diet containing ground phloem from Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris L., or red pine, Pinus resinosa Aiton, than from jack pine, Pinus banksiana Lamb., or eastern white pine, Pinus strobus L. In feeding tests, both weevils preferred Scots pine, although jack pine was preferred over red and white pine. When reared on diets containing phloem from red pines which had received various amounts of nitrogenous fertilizer, H. radicis and H. pales performed significantly better at elevated concentrations of nitrogen. Hylobius radicis adults exhibited a feeding preference for twigs from red pines containing elevated nitrogen concentrations.

The distribution of feeding damage by adult Phyllotreta cruciferae (Goeze) was examined on the cotyledons, first true leaves, stems, and petioles of four crop species of Brassicaceae (Brassica juncea L. "Cutlass", B. napus L. "Westar", B. rapa L. "Tobin", and Sinapis alba L. "Ochre"). Previous studies showed that B. napus and B. rapa are susceptible, B. juncea is partially resistant, and S. alba is highly resistant to P. cruciferae. Flea beetles usually fed more on the upper surfaces, bases, and edges of cotyledons and first true leaves, but the feeding patterns were not identical on the four species. Phyllotreta cruciferae had a greater preference for the upper surface of S. alba cotyledons than for the upper surfaces of Brassica species. First true leaves of B. napus had over 90% of the feeding damage along the edge, compared with < 70% for the other species. The size of feeding pits did not differ on the upper and lower surfaces of the cotyledons and first true leaves for the Brassica species, but S. alba had smaller feeding pits on the lower surface. Sinapis alba also had the smallest feeding pits on the upper surface of its cotyledons, and S. alba and B. juncea first true leaves had feeding pits about one-half the size of the feeding pits on the other species. There was no significant difference in the amount of stem damage for the four species, but B. juncea had significantly less petiole damage than S. alba. Although there were differences in the way P. cruciferae exploited the seedling tissues of these Brassicaceae, the differences were not consistent with, or were too small to account for, the different levels of resistance of the four crops.

The amount of wax on leaf surfaces was determined for waxy and low-wax phenotypes of three Brassica crops: oilseed rape, kale, and collards. The effects of these phenotypes were assessed on the fecundity, settling time, and biomass increase of the mustard aphid, Lipaphis erysimi (Kaltenbach), a pest of oilseed rape. Leaves of the waxy phenotype of each Brassica had about twice as much wax as the low-wax phenotype, but the amount of wax had no effect on any of the three measures of aphid performance. Lipaphis erysimi was more fecund and produced a higher biomass on the rape than on the collards, but settled more quickly on the collards than on rape. If the waxiness of oilseed rape is altered to increase crop resistance to other pests, the pest status of L. erysimi is unlikely to be affected.

Lygus species were sampled from alfalfa and canola fields in Manitoba from 1988 to 1990. Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), L. borealis (Knight), and L. elisus (Van Duzee) were found consistently throughout the agricultural area. The relative abundance of these species varied among crops, physiographic regions, years, and date of collection. The most abundant species in alfalfa and canola fields tended to be L. borealis in the north and west, L. elisus in the south, and L. lineolaris in the east. Each of the species was the most abundant in some collections, however L. borealis tended to be more abundant in alfalfa and L. lineolaris and L. elisus in canola. First-generation nymphs of Lygus species were found on alfalfa and those of the second generation on canola.

Supercooling point, biochemical metabolites, and water content of the larvae of Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.) were measured during pre-diapause and diapause development under laboratory conditions. Supercooling point dropped significantly, from a mean value of −22.9 °C to −31.7 °C during the 3-week pre-diapause development. Supercooling point continued to decline down to −34.5 °C after the beginning of diapause. Water content also dropped significantly during pre-diapause development and was maintained at a low level during diapause. Significant amounts of glycerol were detected only when the larvae were 5 weeks into diapause and the glycerol level continued to increase until week 20 when it was almost 10 times its original level. Glycogen was nearly depleted after diapause, but lipid remained at a relatively high level. Little change in glucose and trehalose content was found during diapause in spite of their initial rise before diapause. Larvae could survive low temperatures close to their supercooling point without freezing but none survived freezing, suggesting that this species is freeze-intolerant. First-instar larvae were found to excrete green material out of their body within 5 days after emergence. Removal of this material from the insect body coincided with a significant drop in supercooling point, indicating that a potential nucleating factor might be involved in the green material. The implications of these results for the overwintering strategy of C. fumiferana are discussed.

An aqueous suspension of the nuclear polyhedrosis virus of Lymantria dispar (L.), LdNPV, was fed to third-instar caterpillars of L. dispar and 46 species of nontarget Lepidoptera in four successive. 24- to 48-h doses of 3 × 104 polyhedral inclusion bodies (PIBs) in 2 μL applied to small pellets of artificial diet or isolated surfaces of foliage. Adults of the fly Cyrtophleba coquilletti Aldr., and adult males of the bee Megachile rotundata (Fabr.), were assayed with a single dose of 1.2 × 105 PIBs in 2 μL of 30% sucrose solution. Only those specimens that completely consumed the dose(s) were transferred to appropriate maintenance conditions for 7–10 days whereupon they were frozen. Samples of macerates of experimental specimens were dot-blotted onto nylon membranes on which whole genomic LdNPV DNA-probing and chemiluminescence techniques were used lo show presence of LdNPV DNA. With reference to positive and negative controls, the 48 nontarget species were diagnosed as nonpermissive of LdNPV but the target species was clearly infected. This study demonstrates a high degree of host-specificity of LdNPV.

Traps baited with a 95:5 blend of E:Z-11-tetradecenal, the sex pheromone of the spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.), were deployed throughout several summers in Ontario to determine what other Lepidoptera were captured that might be confused with the male C. fumiferana. Eight other species of Tortricidae were captured with sufficient frequency to suggest that they were attracted to the traps: Choristoneura conflictana Wlk. (the large aspen tortrix), six species of Acleris, and one Gretchena species. Of these, C. conflictana can easily be confused with C. fumiferana. The evidence suggests that male C. conflictana were not attracted by the pheromone, but blundered into the traps. They are very similar morphologically to male C. fumiferana, but can be differentiated with care.

Ninety-nine primary types of mostly North American Crambinae (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) which are, or were supposed to be, in the collections of the Natural History Museum (NHM), London, are listed. For the 87 types that were located in the NHM, the sex and information on each label are given. Thirty-eight lectotypes are designated. Fissicrambus hospition Bleszynski is moved to Loxocrambus.

The taxonomy and phylogeny of two related species groups of Mexican and Central American Onthophagus are considered. The dicranius group is composed of four species, including two new species, O. asperodorsatus and O. petenensis. The mirabilis group contains three species, one of these new, O. solisi. A fourth new species, O. quetzalis, shares characters with both species groups. All species in these groups are described and illustrated. A suggested phylogeny is presented. Our analysis indicates that these groups, including O. quetzalis, may be more closely related to Indo-Malaysian species than to other New World groups of Onthophagus.

Hypselistes kolymensis sp.nov. and Hypselistes basarukini sp.nov. are described from the Yakutia and the Magadan areas of Siberia, and Sakhalin Island, respectively. Distribution extensions for two other species known previously from Siberia, Hypselistes jacksoni (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1902) and Hypselistes semiflavus (L. Koch, 1879), are included. The name Hypselistes reducens Chamberlin and Ivie, 1935, is synonymized with Hypselistes jacksoni (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1902), NEW SYNONYMY.

Grasshoppers are responsible for considerable agricultural losses in different parts of Argentina (C.O.P.R. 1982). Most of the pest species in Argentina belong to the subfamily Melanoplinae. It is generally accepted that South American melanoplines are derived from a nearctic stock that crossed the Panamanian land bridge (Carbonell 1977). The genus Dichroplus Stål is one of the largest genera within the South American Melanoplinae (Ronderos and Cigliano 1990). Dichroplus contains several economically important species and is believed to be closely related to the nearctic genus Melanoplus Stål (Vickery 1989).

Grasshopper entomopoxviruses are considered to have excellent potential as microbial control agents and are currently undergoing evaluation in a Grasshopper Integrated Pest Management program. Our research has focused on an entomopoxvirus isolated from Melanoplus sanguinipes (F.).

Henry (1975) noted that one characteristic of a microbial control agent of grasshoppers is the potential for mass production. Methods of viral inoculation are varied and depend on the biology of the host and efficiency versus efficacy (Shapiro 1982). In this paper methods of inoculation for mass production of the M. sanguinipes virus in M. sanguinipes are investigated.

In field studies of pheromone-mediated mating disruption of lepidopteran pests, there are several ways to determine if mate location has been disrupted. One indirect method is to count the number of males caught in sticky traps baited with synthetic pheromone. A reduced catch in pheromone-treated plots relative to control plots shows that males were unable to find the source of synthetic pheromone and suggests that mating has been disrupted. More direct methods are: (1) to count the number of males attracted to sticky traps baited with virgin females; or (2) to assess the incidence of mating of (a) feral females collected in light-, bait- or other traps, (b) females caged with males in pheromone-treated areas, or (c) virgin females placed in the field and later retrieved. Females may be tethered with thread to non-sticky traps or partially dealated and placed on a “mating table” from which they cannot escape.

The European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis Hübner, continues to be a consistent economic pest of field and sweet corn (Zea mays L.) in the upper midwestem United States. In Minnesota alone, O. nubilalis control costs and losses to sweet corn (ca. 50 630 ha) exceed $5,000,000 annually (Noetzel et al. 1985). Despite recent efforts to implement alternatives (Lewis and Bing 1991; Prokrym et al. 1992; Bartels and Hutchison 1993; Bolin et al. 1993), insecticide control continues to play a central role in O. nubilalis management programs.

Provancher (1872, 1886) described eight species of psyllids from eastern Canada. Their identities have subsequently been confused, ignored, or regarded as doubtful by several authors, primarily because the original descriptions were imprecise and the location of type material unknown [see Hodkinson (1988) for summary]. Van Duzee (1912) excluded these species from his review of the synonymy of the Provancher Hemiptera. I have now examined the Provancher psyllid material deposited in the Department of Biology, University of Laval, Ste-Foy, Quebec, Canada. This paper clarifies the identity of species and designates lectotypes where appropriate. None of the specimens bear locality or host-plant data, although these data are usually given in rudimentary form in the descriptions. Provancher did not state numbers of specimens examined in his descriptions.