Search

Chemical control is widely used to control the Japanese pine sawyer beetle, Monochamus alternatus, but strong chemical regulations require an environmentally sound management strategy. In this work, we investigated the use of entomopathogenic fungi and their application as a means of practical pest management. Thirty-two diverse species of fungal isolates were assayed against adult pine sawyer beetles using a contact method under laboratory conditions, and four isolates showed over 70% virulence consequently. These isolates, two each of Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae were sprayed on the adult beetles at 1 × 107 conidia/ml in plastic containers, respectively. The M. anisopliae-treated adult beetles showed 67% mortality. M. anisopliae isolates JEF-197 and JEF-279 demonstrated dosage-dependent insecticidal activity. Following the laboratory experiments, semi-field trials were conducted in young pine trees under high (RH 94%) and low (RH 35%) humidity conditions. In the high humidity conditions, most of the adult beetles stayed on the top of the branches. When the two M. anisopliae isolates were sprayed on the beetles, they showed ca. 50–70% insecticidal activity 11 days after application. In contrast, in low humidity conditions, the adult beetles tried to move off the branches and onto the soil. When the beetles reached the JEF-197 and JEF-279-treated soil, we measured >90% insecticidal activity. This work suggests that M. anisopliae was the most virulent entomopathogenic fungus against adult Japanese pine sawyer beetles, and this forest insect could be ecologically controlled by the spray and soil application of the M. anisopliae isolates.

Spatial synchrony and cycles are common features of forest insect pests, but are often studied as separate phenomenon. Using time series of timber damage caused by Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) (southern pine beetle) in 10 states within the southern United States, this study examines synchrony in D. frontalis abundance, the synchronizing effects of temperature extremes, and the evidence for shared cycles among state populations. Cross-correlation and cluster analyses are used to quantify synchrony across a range of geographic distances and to identify groups of states with synchronous dynamics. Similar techniques are used to quantify spatial synchrony in temperature extremes and to examine their relationship to D. frontalis fluctuations. Cross-wavelet analysis is then used to examine pairs of time series for shared cycles. These analyses suggest there is substantial synchrony among states in D. frontalis fluctuations, and there are regional groups of states with similar dynamics. Synchrony in D. frontalis fluctuations also appears related to spatial synchrony in summer and winter temperature extremes. The cross-wavelet results suggest that D. frontalis dynamics may differ among regions and are not stationary. Significant oscillations were present in some states over certain time intervals, suggesting an endogenous feedback mechanism. Management of D. frontalis outbreaks could potentially benefit from a multistate regional approach because populations are synchronous on this level. Extreme summer temperatures are likely to become the most important synchronizing agent due to climate change.

The first records of outbreaks of the Pine Spittle bug Ocoaxo assimilis Walker were recently identified from Puebla, Mexico, which promoted more than 2600 ha of forest foliar fall. Beyond the taxonomic and distribution information of this species, the basic traits of its biology remain unknown. This study aims to describe some biological aspects of O. assimilis, in a natural pine forest at Nicol&aacute, s Bravo, Puebla (NB). Using morphological characteristics and a phylogenetic analysis of a fragment of cytochrome oxidase subunit I mtDNA (COI), immature instars with adults were studied, the instar number was determined by means of a multivariate analysis of 19 morphological characteristics of 121 specimens. The systematic sampling to evaluate the occurrence of nymphal specimens during a year, plus host selection experiments, allowed for determination of the abundance over time, voltism, and host preferences. Phylogenetic analysis of the COI supported that both nymphs and adults collected in NB correspond to O. assimilis. Principal coordinate analysis supported the existence of five nymphal stages. Field sampling and host selection experiments indicated that this species displays a single generation per year, is associated with the rainy season, and that specimens from the three first nymphal stages feed on roots of eight host species (one grass, four herbaceous species, one bush, and two trees). From the fourth instar, the insects feed on pine roots to complete their development, and when they are adults, they migrate to needles of young or mature pine stands of Pinus pseudostrobus to feed and reproduce.

Outbreaks of insect pests periodically cause large losses of volume in Canada’s forests. Compounded with climate change, outbreaks create significant challenges for managing the sustainable delivery of ecosystem services. Current methods to monitor damage by these pests involve both field and aerial surveys. While relatively cost effective and timely, aerial survey consistency and spatial coverage may be insufficient for detailed monitoring across Canada’s vast forest-land base. Remote sensing can augment these methods and extend monitoring capabilities in time and space by incorporating knowledge of pest-host interactions and of how damage translates into a remote sensing signal for detection and mapping. This review provides a brief introduction to major forest insect pests in Canada (two bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and six defoliators) and the damage they cause, a synthesis of the literature involving aerial survey and remote sensing, and a discussion of how these two approaches could be integrated into future pest monitoring from a Canadian perspective. We offer some lessons learned, outline roles that remote sensing could serve in a management context, and discuss what ongoing and upcoming technological advances may offer to future forest health monitoring.

Canada is host to a number of native and introduced forest insects that negatively affect the goods and services provided by forests. Some insects affect forests on a fairly predictable, ongoing basis, while others have impacts that are intermittent, difficult to predict, and sometimes catastrophic. Economic analysis has provided important insights that have informed our understanding of the impact of forest pests and pest management. At the same time, interactions between forests, forest insects, forest management, and economic welfare are complex, and credible assessments may be time consuming and may not always provide results with the certainty sought by policy-makers. This paper reviews the contribution of economics to forest pest management in Canada and suggests future directions for this important field of research.

Insects use semiochemicals to mediate important behaviours such as mating, oviposition, and foraging for resources. Chemical ecology research aims to identify these message-bearing chemicals and develop synthetic copies of semiochemicals for use in integrated pest management (IPM). There has been, and continues to be, an extensive research effort to understand the chemical ecology of various insects considered to be pests of forests in Canada. Canadian chemical ecology research has had an impact on IPM of forest insect pests in Canada and around the world. Canadian researchers have been involved in the identification of semiochemicals used by forest insects and the development and implementation of semiochemical-based management tactics for forest pest management. Semiochemicals have been incorporated into forest pest management for a variety of insect taxa primarily as tools to monitor and control forest insect pests in Canada. The goals of the current review are to: (1) highlight research conducted on semiochemical-based management of forest pests in Canada; (2) discuss the current and potential uses of semiochemicals in IPM of forest pests in Canada; and (3) evaluate potential areas for increased research and implementation of semiochemicals into the management of forest pests in Canada.

Detection of newly established populations of Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire, the most destructive forest insect to invade the United States, remains challenging. Regulatory agencies currently rely on artificial traps, consisting of baited three-sided panels suspended in the canopy of ash (Fraxinus spp.) trees. Detection trees represent another survey option. Ash trees are girdled in spring to attract ovipositing A. planipennis females then debarked in fall to assess larval presence and density. From 2008-2010, systematic grids of detection trees and artificial traps were established across a 390-km(2) area for the SLow Ash Mortality pilot project. We compared probabilities of detection associated with detection trees and artificial traps along varying A. planipennis density proxies estimated as distance-weighted averages of larval counts (detection trees) or adult captures (traps) within 800 m of each detection tree or trap. Detection trees were consistently more likely to be positive, that is, detect A. planipennis, than traps in all three years, even when traps were placed in canopies of detection trees. Probability of detection with a single detection tree was >50% when density proxies for the area were

The sal heartwood borer or sal borer, Hoplocerambyx spinicornis Newman is the most devastating insect pest of Shorea robusta. It is not only due to the incidence and intensity of the pest but also due to the ecological and economic losses it causes due to periodically repeated outbreaks or epidemics of this pest in sal dominating areas. Complex life cycle and related problems further makes its management tough. The chapter discusses various aspects of this pest along with possible management options including researches being undertaken on sal heartwood borer.

Verbenone (4,6,6-trimethylbicyclo[3.1.1]hept-3-en-2-one) is an antiaggregant of the mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), a notable forest insect capable of causing extensive levels of tree mortality in western North America. Several formulations of verbenone are registered for tree protection, but failures in efficacy are not uncommon, particularly when applied during large infestations. A formulation of (-)-verbenone was developed (Specialized PheromoneLure Application Technology [SPLAT] Verb, ISCA Technologies Inc., Riverside, CA) and evaluated for protecting individual lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta Douglas ex Loudon, and small stands of P. contorta from mortality attributed to D. ponderosae. SPLAT Verb applied to individual P. contorta resulted in complete tree protection, while 93.3% mortality occurred in the untreated controls. Significantly fewer P. contorta were killed by D. ponderosae within 0.041-ha circular plots surrounding P. contorta treated with SPLAT Verb compared with the untreated control. In a second study, a smaller percentage of P. contorta were colonized and killed on 0.4-ha square plots treated with SPLAT Verb compared with the untreated control. No significant differences in levels of tree mortality were observed between the untreated control and another formulation of verbenone (7-g pouch) or between the 7-g pouch and SPLAT Verb. In a trapping bioassay, no significant differences were observed among captures in multiple-funnel traps at 1, 2, or 4 m from the point of release of SPLAT Verb. Significantly fewer D. ponderosae were collected at 1 and 2 m compared with 8 m. Significantly more D. ponderosae were captured at the farthest distance evaluated (16 m) than at any other distance. Our data indicate that SPLAT Verb is effective for protecting individual P. contorta and small stands of P. contorta from mortality attributed to D. ponderosae at moderate doses. The high levels of tree protection observed are attributed to the ability of applying release points (dollops) at high densities, and a larger zone of inhibition than reported for other formulations of verbenone. SPLAT Verb was registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for use on pines, Pinus spp., in 2013.

The Douglas-fir tussock moth, Orgyia pseudotsugata (McDunnough) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) (Fig. 1), is a defoliator of significant importance in Douglas-fir and true-fir forests of western North America. Outbreaks of this insect have occurred in many regions, from British Columbia to Arizona and New Mexico, and from the Rocky Mountains to the Cascade and Siskiyou ranges of Washington, Oregon, and California. Since the first reported infestation at Chase, British Columbia, in 1916, several major outbreaks have occurred in stands where conditions changed rapidly in favor of tussock moth survival. Prominent among these outbreaks: in Idaho, 447,000 acres from 1944 to 1947,225,000 acres from 1961 to 1965, and 110,000 acres from 1971 to 1974; in Oregon, 438,000 acres from 1971 to 1974; and in Washington, 251,000 acres from 1971 to 1974.

Events in American forestry at the end of the last century resulted in the establishment of the first forest reserves in the United States. In 1898, a field party in the Black Hills Reserve discovered extensive areas of ponderosa pine trees killed by an unknown bark beetle. This anecdotal account describes the subsequent visit to the Hills in 1901 by Andrew D. Hopkins, a self-trained entomologist from West Virginia, to investigate the cause of these bark beetle “depredations.” Afterward, he described and named the beetle ( Dendroctonus ponderosae ), which is still important in forestry. The outbreak led to the creation in 1902 of the Division of Forest Insect Investigations, USDA, headed by Hopkins, who assigned Jesse Webb, the first American-trained forest entomologist, to study the beetle, thereby ushering in the discipline of forest entomology in this country.

The suitability of entomopathogenic organisms as part of a suite of control measures in integrated pest management schemes in forestry is critically reviewed. The use of fungi, viruses, bacteria, protozoa and nematodes as control agents of forest insect pests is discussed with particular reference to the contrast between these organisms and chemical control methods. In general entomopathogenic organisms are environmentally more suitable than the latter and, although currently more expensive in monetary terms, are in the long run less expensive in terms of deleterious side effects such as human health hazards and destruction of non‐target organisms. The fact that many of these organisms are able to persist in the environment, despite their target organisms being at low levels, also makes them more attractive to use than conventional insecticides. The considerations that need to be given before using such organisms, and future developments, are discussed. The use of entomopathogenic fungi and bacul...

Strategies for the use of entomopathogenic viruses in the management of forest insect pests include the use of viruses by themselves or with other biocontrol or chemical agents applied simultaneously or separately at strategic time intervals. It is concluded that baculoviruses (nuclear polyhedrosis and granulosis viruses) have considerable potential as components of integrated forest insect pest management systems. The prime limiting factors in their large scale use at present are the high cost of virus production and underdevelopment of application technology. Their greatest potential will probably be realized when used as an indirect, or preventative, strategy with a view to preventing the occurrence of pest emergency situations.

A decision-tree approach to decision-making is described as one way to select the best available control-treatment alternative to suppress a forest insect pest. A systems model consisting of a set of differential equations is described as a way to organize available information and notions about the pest-host system into a format that will aid the decision-maker. A decision to control a gypsy moth infestation is presented as an example of one potential use for decision trees and compatible systems models.

The study of populations and population trends of a forest insect embraces a wide field of activity. By implication, it includes a consideration of all mortality and survival factors. Therefore, in developing this portion of the symposium, it will be necessary to refer briefly to other related topics to be covered later. In addition, to obtain a proper understanding of the subject under discussion, the mode of operation of some population influences that will not be introduced by other members of the symposium will have to be described.

Severe defoliation of aspen stands by the forest tent caterpillar, Malacosoma disstria Hbn., became apparent in 1948 in three widely separated regions in Ontario, and by 1949 it was clear that another general outbreak of this defoliator had begun. In 1950 the Forest Insect Survey (cf. McGugan, 1958) initiated an intensive program of observation, collecting, and rearing to record the progress of the outbreak and study the parasite complex of the insect. This paper compares the outbreak in the early ‘fifties’ with earlier ones, and attempts to describe the pattern of build-up and decline of forest tent caterpillar populations within extensive forested areas.

Three questions are asked in this paper.(1) Is the numerical stability of an insect species through time a function of the number of species of food eaten by that species?(2) Is the information content of a genus related to the stability of species in the genus?(3) Is the information content of an insect genus related to the number of species of food eaten by the species in that genus?Data in the Canadian Forest Insect Survey bulletins on Forest Macrolepidoptera are used to answer all three questions; data on parasitic Hymenoptera stored in museums are used to answer the third question. There is some indication that stability decreases with number of host species, and that information content of a genus is less, the less the stability of the species it contains. The evidence from both bodies of data suggests that information content of a genus is less, the greater the average number of species of food eaten by the species in the genus.

The forest entomologist is often called upon to inspect insect defolialion late in the season at a time when the feeding stage of the defoliator is no longer present in the trees.

The majority of specimens on which the following descriptions are based were collected as larvae and reared to maturity in British Columbia in the Forest Insect Survey, Forest Insect Investigations. Though this procedure has certain definite advantages, it presents some difficulties in description, the adults often being darker in colour and smaller in size than those captured in flight. It was also observed that the structures of the genitalia are sometimes more delicate in reared specimens, so that single adults were, at times, difficult to associate with the descriptions and with genitalia mounts in the Canadian National Collection. Five new species, a new subspecies, and the previously unknown female of a sixth species are described in this paper. Brief notes on the biology, the distribution, and host plants of some previously recorded species have also been included.

Among the more important predacious coccinellids in eastern North America is Hyperaspis binotata auct., which has been considered a general feeder on Toumeyella numismaticum (P. & M.), Pulvinaria spp., and other scale insects. A review of the specimens identified as H. binotata in the collections of the Forest Insect Laboratory, Sault Ste. Marie, has revealed, not only H. binotata (Say), but two apparently new species, descriptions of which are given in this paper. In addition to the material at Sault Ste. Marie, specimens were obtained from the Canadian National Collection and the Forest Biology Laboratory, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

The following paper summarizes the facts known about a rather unusual type of forest insect pest, Phyllotoma nemorata Fallen, that threatens to destroy the white birch in New England. The insect is of foreign origin and has spread at an alarming rate, from Nova Scotia westward across New Brunswick and Maine into New Hampshire. Although the mining of the leaves occurs late in the summer, the injury practically stops the growth of the trees the following season.

Among others, Schwerdtfeger, 1931, Gosswald, 1934, and Morris, 1949, have used frass-drop samples as indirect measurements of the density of forest insect populations with some success. The method has also been used to assess the effects of various insecticides on the feeding of treated larvae (Rhumbler, 1929; Schwerdtfeger, 1930) and to study the influence of weather upon the feeding and development of forest insects (Monro, 1935).

L'auteur etudie le role de certains predateurs (Oiseaux et Mammiferes) vis-a-vis des Insectes forestiers. Etant homeothermes, les predateurs de ce type ont besoin de quantites prodigieuses de nourriture; par contre, celle-ci varie beaucoup et les ravages produits sur chaque espece de proie sont en consequence diminues. Le degre d'abondance des proies influe de facon variable sur la predation des differentes especes: si la densite des proies est basse, peu sont attaquees mais a mesure que la densite augmente, le nombre de proies attaquees augmente jusqu'a un certain niveau pour ensuite demeurer constant ou diminuer. En general, l'action des Mammiferes et des Oiseaux s'avere beaucoup plus complexe que celle des predateurs invertebres ou des parasites. Entre autres facteurs particuliers, nous devons faire entrer en ligne de compte l'amassage, et le gaspillage par alimentation excessive. La population des predateurs peut aussi varier selon le degre de densite des proies. Par exemple: a) Les accouplements des predateurs augmentent lorsque la population des proies augmente: les predateurs etant mieux nourris, ils s'accouplent plus. b) Le comportement des predateurs devient different dans un secteur particulier ou la densite des proies est plus forte. Ces deux facteurs importent beaucoup pour determiner les effets des predations mais malgre ceci, le mecanisme du peuplement des proies n'est pas toujours considerablement affecte. Lorsque les predateurs jouent un role mineur, ils agissent comme regulateurs secondaires, c'est-a-dire qu'ils reduisent l'amplitude des fluctuations de la population des proies.

The use of radiography in the study of cryptic insects was investigated for several kinds of forest insect damage. Longwave or “soft” X-rays (5-35 kilovolts) were found most suitable for the detection and study of insects infesting plant material. A portable industrial X-ray unit was used which had an output of up to 35 kilovolts, 10 milliamperes, and variable exposure time. Excellent results were achieved in radiographs of western pine beetle larvae and pupae in ponderosa pine bark; adult gallery construction and larval development of Ips confusus (LeConte) ; red turpentine beetle in situ in sugar pine; buprestids, cerambycids, siricids, and lyctids infesting various thicknesses and kinds of timber; weevils infesting lodgepole pine tips and seed-infesting insects. Less satisfactory was the detection of insects in whole cones, although their galleries could be detected.

These observations, dealing with noctuid larvae, were made while the writer was associated with the Canadian Forest Insect and Disease Survey. Twenty-four species have been examined: 9 in the Hadeninae, 10 in the Cucullinae, 3 in the Amphipyrinae, and 2 in the Catocalinae. The arrangement of the subfamilies follows that of McDunnough (1938). This material is being published because many of these species have not been included in Crumb (1956) and new data are presented on the species considered by him. The descriptions were made from living and preserved larvae. Notes on biologies, unless otherwise indicated, refer to those made by the writer in Manitoba and Alberta during the years 1944-1954. The hosts are those on which larvae have been reared to adults by the Forest Insect and Disease Survey, except in a few cases where the host is cited from the literature. “Free-living larvae”, are those that feed openly. When the number of instars is not known the larvae are described as antepenultimate, penultimate, and ultimate. In measurements, H.W. refers to head width, B.L., to total larval length, and B.W., to greatest larval width.

Study of lonchaeid material reared from cones of various coniferous trees in North America revealed five previously undescribed species of the genus Earomyia Zett. The composite nature of cone-infesting lonchaeidae has not been understood and at least four of the species treated here have been considered as a single species (Keen, 1938, 1952). Much of the material studied, particularly that reared by various Forest Insect Investigations officers of the United States Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine (bearing Hopkins U.S. numbers), has been misidentified as Earomyia viridana (Mg.) (Keen, op. cit.), Lonchaea albitarsis Zett., L. rufitarsis Macq., L. polita Say, and others.

Six species of Proctolaelaps, found associated with insect pests of pine forests in the southeastern United States, are described and illustrated. These are: P. bickleyi (Bram), P. fiseri Samšinák, P. hystrix (Vitzthum), and three new species, P. dendroctoni, P. dioryctriae, and P. hystricoides. Newly recorded for North America are P. fiseri, P. hystrix, and P. ulmi Hirschmann; distributions for the last two species include British Columbia. Garmania striata Westerboer is synonymized under P. bickleyi; the problem of the lewisi species complex, which includes P. bickleyi, P. lewisi (Garman and McGregor), and P. utahensis (Chant), is noted.Although the food habits of these and related mites are mostly unstudied, tentative observations indicate that some species are commensals and others are predators of their insect associates. Investigation of such mites and their relationships with forest pests is urged.

Three new species of ascid mites are described and illustrated: Proctolaelaps subcorticalis, Lasioseius corticeus, and Gamasellodes rectiventris. All are subcortical associates of bark beetles in North America.

The larch sawfly, Pristiphora erichsonii (Htg.), has been under observation in Manitoba and Saskatchewan since early in the present century. Recorded observations were somewhat fragmentary until 1937; since then systematic and detailed annual reports have been provided by the Forest Insect Survey and since 1948 intensive ecological and life table studies have been conducted by staff of the Winnipeg Laboratory at the Whiteshell Forest Reserve, Manitoba.

This list is a record of insects which have been found in or on Douglas fir in the northern Rocky Mountain region by personnel of the Forest Insect Field Laboratory at Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. It comprises insects which feed upon the tree, as well as the parasites and associates of these insects. Of the 153 species listed, 102 were collected by the writer while making a study of the Douglas fir beetle (Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopk.). The remainder are listed in the laboratory records and were collected by J. C. Evenden, R. E. Balch, H. J. Rust, and D. DeLeon.

With the growth of forestry, survey methods have been developed to detect and appraise forest-insect infestations. Detection is made by the discovery of an outbreak through field surveillance or by means of systematic aerial and ground surveys. Following the discovery of an outbreak, an inspection of the infestation is sometimes made by an entomologist to determine the need for an appraisal survey. The appraisal survey is divided into two phases: (1) an entomological measurement of the potential threat of the infestation, referred to as a biological evaluation; and (2) a systematic cruise of the area to obtain information for control planning. The objectives of the program are to allow no outbreaks to escape early discovery, and upon discovery, to obtain information about the insect concerned-where it is, what it is doing, its potentialities, methods for control, and data directly concerned with control.

The geometrid larvae feeding on spruce form a large and varied group. In collections taken from all parts of Canada where spruce is found, the Forest Insect Survey has identified 31 species (Brown, 1). To the best of the author's knowledge, there are descriptions for only 16 of these species. In this and the two following papers, seven more are described and two are redescribed.

n/a

Microorganisms form an important part of the natural forest ecosystem by participating in the recycling of the chemicals and energy of life. Fallen leaves, twigs, branches and trunks do not accumulate but are almost imme­ diately utilized by fungi, bacteria, protozoa, and nematodes and converted into chemicals that may be recycled into the production of new trees. Dead animals, including insects, are recycled in the same manner. Among all these groups of microorganisms certain species are known to be pathogenic, that is, they are able to cause disease in living plants and ani­ mals. For example, many diseases of trees are known to be caused by fungi, and bacterial diseases are common among animals.

The importance of small mammals as natural control factors for forest insect pests has been indicated by several investigators, particularly by Hewitt (8) and Graham (5) with respect to the larch sawfly, Pristiphora erichsoni Htg. and by Sim (9) with respect to the Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica Newm.

The term “biological control” is sometimes used very broadly to cover all methods of encouraging the action of biotic factors. For the purposes of this discussion I will use it to refer solely to the introduction of parasites, predators, or microorganisms. I will also confine my remarks to the control of introduced pests. That is the purpose for which it has most promise and has been chiefly used. In my experience the most pressing forest insect problems of the Maritime Provinces–with the notable exception of the spruce budworm–have been with foreign species of European origin. It is logical to assess the value of biological control against exotic species before turning attention to its possibilities against indigenous pests (see Rawlings, 1958).

A new leaf-mining nepticulid was discovered in Ontario in 1957 during a study of leaf-mining sawflies on birch in the province (Lindquist, 1959). Severe browning of white birch foliage in the Bruce Peninsula in 1958 precipitated an investigation on the identity, biology, and distribution of the species. Adults obtained in the spring of 1959 were tentatively identified as Nepticula sp. by T. N. Freeman, Entomology Research Institute, Ottawa. An introductory note on the life history of the species was published in 1960 (Lindquist, 1960) and distribution data have been recorded since 1958 in the Annual Report of the Forest Insect and Disease Survey of Canada. Freeman (1962) described the adult stage and assigned the name Nepticula lindquisti to this species.

The extent and intensity of the present infestation of the spruce budworm, Archips fumiferana Clem., in eastern Canada has become a problem of immense national concern (I). The necessity for further knowledge in formulating adequate control programmes has emphasized the importance of considering the possible utilization of natural insect parasites. As part of the more conprehensive study of control being carried on by the Federal Division of Entomology, the Dominion Parasite Laboratory in cooperation with the Forest Insect Unit instituted a programme of parasite introduction in 1943.

An undeseribed species of nematode in the genus Neoaplectana was studied to determine its value as a parasite of forest insect pests. Twelve species of insects were tested and ten were susceptible Temperature and moisture requirements of this nematode were determined. The parasitie capabilities of this species were evaluated by listing positive and negative factors. A brief account of the life cycle of the nematode is given.

Pherocon 1C® traps baited with live Dioryctria disclusa Heinrich females caught more than 900 male moths in loblolly pine seed orchards at Greensboro, GA, and Georgetown, SC, from 28 May-18 June 1979. Up to 25 times as many moths were trapped in the upper than in the lower crowns of trees of 9 to 15m tall. Peak catch occurred on 6 June with an average of 25 moths per trap. Females attracted males between 2400 and 0200 h e.d.t. the first night after emergence. Only D. disclusa males were trapped, although other Dioryctria spp. were active in the orchards. Mating periodicity may be a species isolating mechanism for sympatric populations of Dioryctria spp. with overlapping moth emergence. Our field data show that female D. disclusa moths produce a sex pheromone and provide the first evidence of the usefulness of Dioryctria spp. pheromones for capturing male moths in the field. Pheromones offer a convenient, inexpensive, and specific survey technique for these forest insect pests.

The dye-tracer method is a useful technique for measuring spray deposits in some phases of research on aerial spraying for forest insect control. This paper describes series of simple, rapid tests for evaluating the solubility, tinctorial powers, recoverability, light-fastness, and Compatibility of candidate dyes.

Establishment of a reliable sampling method is generally recognized as a first prerequisite to any scientific study of insect populations. The method appropriate to a particular problem will depend not only upon the habit of the insect species, the type of environment, and the nature of the distribution of the insect throughout the environment, but must also meet the requirement of practicability for use under actual field conditions.