We report the presence and effects of parasitoid larvae (Hymenoptera) in the carabid beetle Poecilus versicolor (Sturm). Dissection of one female and one male live host found 33 and 25 hymenopteran larvae, respectively. Although eggs were absent in the female host, likely because of consumption by parasitoids, distinct corpora lutea (present in parous females) were observed. In the male host, reproductive organs were undamaged. These observations suggest incomplete “parasitic castration” of the host beetle by the parasitoids. Parasitism rates in specimens from three localities were markedly low (0%–3.2%). At one locality, only one male and three female beetles containing parasitoids were found; those individuals each contained 9–27 larvae (mean 19.3). These results suggest that hymenopterous parasitoids in adult P. versicolor have little effect on the population dynamics of this beetle. The parasitoid larvae included two morphological types belonging to at least two taxa. Mitochondrial DNA analyses suggested that one of the types represented two species of Microctonus Wesmael (Braconidae: Euphorinae). The result of the genus-level identification, however, requires confirmation because the analyzed data set did not cover all braconid genera.

The woodwasp Sirex noctilio F. is invading North American forests, where it will interact with a large guild of pine-inhabiting beetles and their associated fungi. The woodwasp's obligate fungal symbiont, Amylostereum areolatum (Fries) Boidin (Stereaceae), plays an essential role in the wasp's larval development but is expected to be a poor competitor in the presence of fungi vectored by co-occurring insects. We examined the outcomes of competitive interactions between A. areolatum and two fungal species vectored by bark beetles, Leptographium wingfieldii Morelet (Ophiostomataceae) and Ophiostoma minus (Hedgcock) H. and P. Sydow (Ophiostomataceae), and the effect of temperature and substrate on these interactions. Beetle-associated fungi were usually able to capture more uncolonized resource than A. areolatum regardless of substrate or temperature. Amylostereum areolatum was able to colonize relatively more space in some cases but could not gain substrate already colonized by the ophiostomatoid competitor. These findings suggest that competitive interactions between beetle-vectored fungal species and A. areolatum could influence the reproductive fitness and distribution of S. noctilio within individual trees and also across a wide geographic area.

The apple clearwing moth, Synanthedon myopaeformis (Borkhausen) (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae), is a European species discovered in Cawston, British Columbia, Canada, in 2005. Using coupled gas chromatographic – electroantennographic detection analyses we identified candidate sex pheromone components in pheromone gland extracts and effluvia from calling females. Analysis of gland extracts using four gas-chromatography (GC) columns (DB-5, DB-17, DB-23, and DB-210) showed three components (A, B, and C) that consistently elicited strong responses from male antennae. Based on previous work, the most antennally stimulatory component, B, was hypothesized to be (3Z,13Z)-octadecadienyl acetate ((3Z,13Z)-18:OAc). Its retention time on the four GC columns and its mass spectrum in a concentrated extract matched those of an authentic standard, thus confirming structural assignment. Components A and C were below the detection threshold of the mass spectrometer, but their retention times on the four GC columns matched those of authentic standards of (3Z,13Z)-octadecadienol ((3Z,13Z)-18:OH) and (2E,13Z)-octadecadienyl acetate ((2E,13Z)-18:OAc), respectively. Synthetic (3Z,13Z)-18:OAc, (3Z,13Z)-18:OH, and (2E,13Z)-18:OAc all elicited strong responses from male antennae, further supporting structural assignments of these three components. Of these antennally active compounds, only (3Z,13Z)-18:OAc and (3Z,13Z)-18:OH were detected in effluvia from calling female moths. In field trapping tests in Cawston, (3Z,13Z)-18:OAc alone was as attractive as, or more attractive than, binary or ternary blends containing this component. (2E,13Z)-18:OAc was behaviourally inactive alone or in combination with (3Z,13Z)-18:OAc, whereas 5% (3Z,13Z)-18:OH appeared antagonistic. Our analysis confirms that (3Z,13Z)-18:OAc is the major pheromone component in S. myopaeformis, and it alone is sufficiently attractive for use in detection surveys and development of pheromone-based controls for this introduced pest in Canada.

We examined the role of chemical signals in sex attraction of pear psylla, Cacopsylla pyricola (Förster), assessing the response of summerform male and female psyllids to male- and female-produced volatile chemicals. Male psyllids were attracted to odors from live females and pentane extracts of females. Extracts of females were as attractive to males as live females, suggesting that the female-produced volatile chemicals responsible for male attraction might be isolated by extracting females with pentane. Females were not attracted to odorants from live females and tended to avoid odorants from extracts of females. Furthermore, summerform males and females were not attracted or repelled by male-produced odorants from live males or extracts of males. Results of olfactometer assays using male summerform C. pyricola are consistent with results from earlier studies with the winterform morphotype of this species.

Using DNA barcode analysis, nest collections, and pan-trapping we compared molecular differences, nesting behaviour, and phenology of three of the four species of Ceratina Latreille present in the Niagara Region of southern Ontario, Canada: C. dupla Say, C. calcarata Robertson, and C. mikmaqi Rehan and Sheffield. Ceratina dupla and C. mikmaqi were separated by five fixed nucleotide differences and an average sequence divergence of 1.86%. In our population, C. mikmaqi and C. calcarata were common and C. dupla was rare. Ceratina dupla nested earlier than C. mikmaqi and C. calcarata, and sometimes produced a second brood in late July – early August. Each species constructed linear nests in the pith of dead twigs, C. mikmaqi and C. dupla usually in Fuller's teasel (Dipsacus fullonum L.; Dipsacaceae) and C. calcarata usually in raspberry (Rubus L.; Rosaceae). Genetically distinct, each species occupies a slightly different niche in the Niagara bee assemblage.

Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar) is best known throughout southwestern counties of Ontario, Canada, as an urban pest. Little is known, however, of the presence of this termite in nonurban settings in Ontario. In this study, we confirmed the existence of a population of R. flavipes on the shores of Lake Erie within Point Pelee National Park. A systematic trap survey conducted along the park's semi-vegetated west beach revealed several zones of termite activity. An analysis of trap response at one location indicated an association between termite activity and smaller sized, moderately decayed woody debris. Further, microsatellite DNA analysis suggested the presence of at least three genetically distinct colonies, each likely headed by multiple inbred reproductives. Together these data suggest that termite activity is linked to food quality, and that single colonies are potentially long-lived through multiple generations of inbreeding. Assuming it is derived from a population reported from Point Pelee in 1929, the study population is the oldest known eastern subterranean termite population in Ontario.

Egg bands of the forest tent caterpillar, Malacosoma disstria Hübner, were sampled across a wide area of the Canadian prairie provinces during a large-scale outbreak in 1989 and 1990 to examine the incidence and distribution of egg parasitoids (Hymenoptera). Data on the parasitoid species found and the incidence and frequency of parasitism in three habitat types is presented. Three species of egg parasitoids were recovered, Telenomus clisiocampae Riley (Scelionidae), Ooencyrtus clisiocampae (Ashmead) (Encyrtidae), and Baryscapus malacosomae (Girault) (Eulophidae). Differences in the number of species occurring per egg band and the percent of parasitism were found among habitat types. These differences are correlated to the amount of spumaline cover on egg bands, which also varied among habitat types.

The bee fauna (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) of the Niagara Peninsula, at the eastern end of the Carolinian Zone in Ontario, Canada, is poorly known. From April to October 2003, we studied bee abundance and diversity in set-aside grasslands at Brock University and the Glenridge Quarry Naturalization Site in southern St. Catharines, Ontario. Using three sampling methods (pan traps, sweep nets, and aerial nets), we collected and identified 15 733 specimens of 124 species and morphospecies representing all bee families, except Melittidae, found in North America. Abundance-based diversity estimators suggested bee species richness to be as high as 148 species. There were three seasonal peaks in bee abundance (early spring, late spring, and mid-summer) with a lull in activity shortly after the summer solstice. Several indicators suggested substantial impacts of disturbance on the Niagara bee community, including evidence of high dominance by the most abundant species. Comparison of the sampling methods indicated considerable catch variation among taxa; Halictidae and Apidae were dominant in pan trap samples and in sweep–aerial net samples, respectively. However, bee abundances in pan traps and sweep nets were highly correlated, suggesting that both methods fairly sample local bee abundances.

Pheromone trap catches and mating activity of sterile, mass-reared, diapaused and non-diapaused male codling moths, Cydia pomonella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), were compared with those of wild diapaused males using mark–release–recapture field experiments in springtime. Sterile moths were provided by the Okanagan–Kootenay Sterile Insect Release (SIR) Program mass-rearing facility, in Osoyoos, British Columbia, Canada. Nondiapause-reared (SIR-standard) and diapause-reared (SIR-diapaused) sterile males were recaptured in similar frequencies. Both types of sterile males were recaptured significantly less often than similarly released wild diapaused males, and ratios of recaptured sterile to wild males were similar with either sterile male. Ratios of sterile to wild males, using the combined catches of SIR-standard and SIR-diapaused males, were significantly lower when measured with traps baited with wild-females (21:1) than with traps baited with 10 μg pheromone (48:1). Both trapping ratios were markedly lower than the 80:1 ratio at which sterile and wild males were released. In mating studies, SIR-standard and SIR-diapaused males exhibited equivalent mating frequencies and both were recaptured in copula with tethered wild females significantly less often than released wild males. In the same mating studies, sterile mass-reared, diapaused males that had been chilled for 3 h at the Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre (PARC) before release (PARC-diapaused) were significantly more competitive than SIR-standard or SIR-diapaused males that averaged 24 h of chilling as part of normal SIR Program operations. PARC-diapaused males and released wild males mated with tethered females with equal frequency. We hypothesize that the length of time SIR males were chilled before being released may have caused SIR-diapaused males to be less mobile, and therefore less competitive with wild males in field mating assays, than were PARC-diapaused males. Based on these results, introduction of a diapause phase into the mass-rearing system used at the Osoyoos facility cannot currently be recommended as a means of improving trap-measured ratios of sterile to wild males, or increasing sterile × wild matings.