The community of Fort Erie, Ontario, and the waterfront zone of Buffalo, New York, form one of the many areas in the St. Lawrence River drainage system that are annually infested by large numbers of adult Trichoptera and, to a lesser degree, Ephemerida. Betten (1934) reported on a field study, conducted in 1906, of the Trichoptera found at Buffalo, N.Y. He noted the prevalent species and the extent of the problem chat the insects create for the local inhabitants. The medical aspect was investigated by Parlato (1929, 1930, 1932) and Osgood (1934). In August, 1950, an investigation of the scale, composition, and source of the trichopteran infestation and possible control measures was initiated at Fort Erie, Ontario.

The status of the mosquito Aedes pionips Dyar, 1919, has so far remained in doubt. The original description says in part, “Similar to lazarensis F. & Y. [=communis (Deg.)] but larger and more heavily marked.” Of the larva Dyar wrote, “…head hairs in fives; other characters essentially as in lazarensis.”

In 1928 Dyar wrote, “Where the two occur together, as is frequently the case, the communis are all out of the pools weeks before the pionips have matured.” Also, “This [pionips] is a derivative species of communis, but quite distinct.” In his keys he separated the females by colour and the larvae by numbers of head hairs; the males were not separated.

The following notes and descriptions concern the feeding habits, distribution, and other characters of several species and presumed subspecies of Cerambycidae, Chrysomelidae, and Bruchidae.

Xylotrechus annosus emotus n. subsp.

Occurring in British Columbia, Washington, and California; differing from annosus annosus (Say) in having the pale areas of the elytra larger and more numerous; the pattern of the elytra therefore much more conspicuous than in annosus annosus, which is restricted regions east of the Rocky Mountains.

Several writers (Baker, 1917; Patch, 1917, 1918, 1923) have published descriptions and keys for the aphids of the eastern United States. Many of these aphids are found in the Maritime Provinces of Canada. The only published list of the aphids of the latter area is that of Burnham (1938).

The following is a preliminary list for the Maritime Provinces of the aphids of the genus Aphis; collections have been made in various years since 1934. Notes on the dates of collections, hosts, and localities are given for most of the species.

The new forms described below constitute an interesting addition to the sarcophagine fauna of several western states and one eastern. I am indebted to the collectors indicated below for the privilege of studying the material accredited to them. Types of the new species based upon Kansas University material are returned for deposit in the Snow Entomological Collections as mentioned under the descriptions; all others are retained by permission in my collection.

In February, 1951, specimens of chrysanthemum stools received from a nurseryman near Sardis, British Columbia, were found to be injured by maggots. Examination showed dipterous larvae feeding in channels bored in the centres of the roots, crowns, and new shoots.

As available literature contained no reference to an insect having this habit in chrysanthemums, material was caged for rearing. Adults began emerging on March 17, and were determined by Mr. J. F. McAlpine, Systematic Entomology, Division of Entomology, Ottawa, as Psila nigricornis Meig. This was a new record for North America.

The adults of Phytophaga piceae Felt were described (1) from shoots of white spruce, Picea glauca (Moench) Voss., collected in Manitoba by Swaine in 1926. Felt stated that the shoots suggested the galls of Chermes similis Gill., but he did not describe them. The life-history was unknown. Twigs of white spruce showing damage of a similar nature were collected by Swaine at Fort Coulonge, P.Q., in 1919, but no adults were obtained from this sample.

The successful transfer of adult insects from jars or cages to killing bottles or other cages is at best tedious and often difficult. The device illustrated in the accompanying plate was designed to facilitate this work. It has been tested in the insectary at Indian Head throughout one season with very satisfactory results. The model described and illustrated (Fig. 1) is a convenient size for use in transferring insects from small jars.

The correct identifications of North American species of leafhoppers of the genus Macrosteles (sensu lato) are important because of the economic significance of one of them as a carrier of a virus disease of many species of plants. In the past, such identifications have been difficult to make because the extent of the variation in colour, markings, and structure that occurs has not been appreciated fully, because some species were misidentified in previous revisions, and because there were a number of unrecognized species in the fauna.

Several species of parasites have played an important part in the biological control of the European spruce sawfly, Gilpina hercyniae (Htg.), in the Maritime Provinces. Most of the parasites were collected in Europe by the Imperial Institute of Entomology (9), and some material was collected in Japan through the cooperation of the United States Bureau of Entomology. The parasites were reared or propagated by the Dominion Parasite Laboratory, Belleville, Ontario (12), and liberated by officers of the Dominion Entomological Laboratory, Fredericton, assisted by other government and company services.

One very extraordinary phase in the development of certain polyembryonic encyrtids is the production of a precocious larval form. This anomaly appears while its normal sibs are still in an early embryonic stage of development, and although it leads an active parasitic life within the host it never succeeds in developing beyond the larval stage.

Interest in the Canadian north has increased greatly during recent years because of its importance in national defence, and the actual and potential value of its natural resources. A serious hindrance to northern development is the presence during the short summer season of great numbers of blood-sucking flies that make liie difficult for man and beast. The major pem in the forested subarctic are mosquitoes, black flies, and tabanids (the so-called deer flies and moose flies); beyond the tree-line on the arctic tundra black flies are much less troublesome and tabanids do not occur, but in many regions mosquitoes are a terrible scourge.

I believe that in the main insect surveys have been initiated each because of some definite need. In the case of surveys of pest species, such as the chinch bug, corn borer, or budworms, the need has been the necessity of obtaining accurate knowledge of population densities and areas of infestation, this to serve as a basis for predicting economic losses or extent of needed control operations.

In most instances general faunistic surveys have had a more roundabout motivation. This kind of a surrey usually starts out as an identification service, its aim to tell whether or not suspected insects are injurious or beneficial, and if injurious, how much so, and what is known regarding the control of the species. Here again the desire to predict is uppermost in our mind, as with the case of pest surveys. Difficulties always arise in distinguishing injurious from closely related non-injurious forms, or in being sure how many kinds of insects are involved in one groop or another. In attempting to solve these problems we gradually arrive at the point where we want to know how many kinds of all insects there are in a region, and how to tell them apart.

The diamond beetle, Entimus nobilis Oliv., is a weevil whose larva causes irregular tubercles on the woody tissues of the twining vine Stigmaphyllum littorale Juss., cultivated in the American tropics. Bruch (1932) reports that the adult weevil may be from 10 to 28 mm. in length. The specimens in which the proventriculus was examined were adults 28 mm. long from a series of pinned insects collected in Brazil.

In 1936, 1937, and 1938 several colonies of Bigonicheta setipennis (Fall.), a dipterous parasite, were liberated in Vancouver, British Columbia, to aid in the control of the European earwig, Forficula auricularia L. During September and October, 1950, an investigation was initiated to determine the abundance and distribution of this parasite and, if possible, to obtain colonies for release in Newfoundland. Approximately 6,000 of B. setipennis were reared from 50,000 trapped earwigs.

The following is a description of a new species of leafhopper from Eastern Canada of the subgenus Cloanthanus of the genus Scaphytopius. A key to the known Canadian species of Cloanthanus is included. Two of these species, angustatus (Osb.) and argutus DeL., do not appear to have been recorded previously for Canada. The key is based primarily on structures of the male genitalia, as these show the most reliable specific characters. External characters of colour, markings, and structure are often unreliable, because of the variation that occurs. There is occasionally some variation in the genitalic characters, notably in the degrees of curvature of the paraphyses, but the general shape of each structure is sufficiently constant to provide reliable specific characters. This subgenus, which was revised by Hepner (1947), is poorly represented in Canada, as the majority of the species have southerly distributions in North America. The common Canadian species is acutus (Say), followed by latus (Baker); the remaining species are more restricted in their ranges and distributions in Canada.

The following are descriptions of two new species of leafhoppers of the genus Dikraneura from Western Canada. Notes on other species found in that region are appended. Two of the latter, rubrala DeL. & C. and rufula Gill., have apparently not been recorded previously for Canada. Figures of the aedoeagi are provided, as this structure normally provides the only reliable specific characters and must be examined if specific identifications are required. The name Dikraneura is used here in the restricted sense, following Oman (1949), rather than in the broad sense of DeLong and Caldwell (1937), Beamer (1943), and others.

Three species of caterpillars commonly attack cabbage at Ottawa, namely, the imported cabbageworm, Pieris rapae (L.), the larva of the diamondback moth, Plutella maculipennis (Curt.) and the cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni (Hbn.). All three species are readily controlled with DDT sprays or dusts but the timing of the applications is imporrant. Growers sometimes begin dusting or spraying too early, wasting one or more applications, or they delay the first application until mid-August, when severe damage has already occurred. This paper is a report on four seasons' experiments at Ottawa, 1947 to 1950, to determine the number and timing of applications of DDT required for control of caterpillars on late cabbage.

Leconte's sawfly or the red-headed pine sawfly (Neodiprion lecontei Fitch) is a common insect attacking pines in Ontario. Plantations red pine are almost invariably attacked from the time the trees have reached two to four feet in height. Periodically epidemic populations cause significant damage. The life history and habits of the species have heen described by Middleton (2) who states that this insect attacks practically all species of pine as bell as larch. Schaffner (3) also indicates that the larvae feed on a wide variety of pine and occasionally on other conifers. Red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) is undoubtedly the usual host, although in Ontario jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) is sometimes attacked. In 1946 evidence was secured to show that jack pine needles may be selected for oviposition even in an area where red pine foliage is plentiful. (Figure 1).