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£ t PROCEEDINGS

iNT

of the

ENTOMOLOGICAL
SOCIETY 0f
BRITISH COLUMBIA

Vof. 57. Issued December 1st, 1960

Page

Chapman — The distribution of overwintering Trypodendron (Coleoptera,
Scolytidae) around a single tree in relation to forest litter

variability 3

Abnott — Additions to the check list of Macrolepidoptera of British Col-
umbia 6

Marshall and Williams — An experiment in .controlling DDT-resistant

codling moth, Carpocapsa pomonella L. 9

Spenceb — On the nests and populations of some Vespid wasps 13

Molnar and Cottrell — A whole-bark method of rearing Dryocoetes con -

fusus Sw 16

Arband and Corner — Observations in the interior of British Columbia dur-
ing 1959 of the effect on honeybees of orchard spraying with

Sevin .... 21

Sctjdder — Dictyonota fuliginosa Costa (Hemiptera: Tingidae) in the

Nearctic 22

Raine and Tonks — Control of three species of leaf hoppers, on Rubus in

British Columbia 23

Hardy— Notes on the life histories of two butterflies and one moth from

Vancouver Island 27

Chapman and Dyer — Seasonal flight activity of the ambrosia beetle, Trypo*

dendron lineatum (Oliv.), for 1959, near Parksville, B.C 30

Lansbitby — The Corixidae (Hemlptera-Heteroptera) of British Columbia 114
McMechan et al — Effect of speed of travel on the performance of concen-

trate orchard sprayers 44

Fulton and Banham — A brief history of the tuber flea beetle, Epitrix

tuberis Gent., in British Columbia 47

Kinghobn — Scolytid notes .... 60

Pielou and Downing — Dimethoate, a systemic of low mammalian toxicity,

as an orchard insecticide in British Columbia 52

Silver — Chemical control of loopers in Stanley Park, Vancouver 58

Abrand — Liocoris spp. collected on alfalfa in central and northern British

Columbia 60

Andison — In memoriam William Downes, 1874-1959 60

Editorial Committee — Instructions to contributors 62

Science Notes 8, 12, 33, 43, 46, 49, 57, 64

•if# ns.
iMbiuL. m

PROCEEDINGS

of the

ENTOMOLOGICAL
SOCIETY o f
BRITISH COLUMBIA

Vol. 57. Issued December 1st, 1960

Page

Chapman — The distribution of overwintering Trypodendron (Coleoptera,
Scolytidae) around a single tree in relation to forest litter

variability 3

Arnott — Additions to the check list of Macrolepidoptera of British Col-
umbia 6

Marshall and Williams — An experiment in controlling DDT-resistant

codling moth, Carpocapsa pomonella L 9

Spencer — On the nests and populations of some Vespid wasps 13

Molnar and Cottrell — -A whole-bark method of rearing Dryocoetes con-

fusus Sw ....’.• 16

Arrand and Corner — Observations in the interior of British Columbia dur-
ing 1959 of the effect on honeybees of orchard spraying with

Sevin 21

Sc udder — -Dictyonota fuliginosa Costa (Hemiptera: Tingidae) in the

Nearctic 22

Raine and Tonics — Control of three species of leafhoppers, on Rubus in

British Columbia 23

Hardy — Notes on the life histories of two butterflies and one moth from

Vancouver Island 27

Chapman and Dyer— Seasonal flight activity of the ambrosia beetle, Trypo-
dendron lineatum (Oliv.), for 1959, near Parksville, B.C. ..... 30
Lansbury — The Corixidae (Hemlptera-Heteroptera) of British Columbia 34
McMeciian et al — Effect of speed of travel on the performance of concen-

trate orchard sprayers ...................................... 44

Fulton and Banham — A brief history of the tuber flea beetle, Epitrnx

tuberis Gent., in British Columbia ........................... 47

Kinghorn — Scolytid notes 50

Pieloij and Downing — Dimethoate, a systemic of low mammalian toxicity,

as an orchard insecticide in British Columbia 52

Silver — Chemical control of loopers in Stanley Park, Vancouver ......... 58

Arrand — Liocoris spp. collected on alfalfa in central and northern British

Columbia . 60

Andison — In memoriam William Downes, 1874-1959 60

Editorial Committee — Instructions to contributors 62

Science Notes 8, 12, 33, 43, 46, 49, 57, 64

SiViVfHSQNIAN * A 101$
INSTITUTION FEB * M

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

DIRECTORS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY
OF BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR 1960-61

President

H. R. MacCarthy, Vancouver

President-Elect
C. L. Neilson, Vernon

Vice-President
D. P. Pielou, Summerland

Secretary -Treasurer

G. G. E. Scudder, University of B.C., Vancouver

Honorary Auditor
P. Zuk, Vancouver

Editorial Committee

H. R. MacCarthy, Chairman R. R. Lejeune

J. A. Marshall G. B. Rich D. A. Ross

Advisory Board

G. J. Spencer, Vancouver H. G. Fulton, Chilliwack

C. V. G. Morgan, Summerland L. C. Curtis, Kamloops

M. G. Thompson, Vancouver

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

THE DISTRIBUTION OF OVERWINTERING TRYPODENDRON
(COLEOPTERA, SCOLYTIDAE) AROUND A SINGLE TREE IN
RELATION TO FOREST LITTER VARIABILITY'

J. A. Chapman2

Introduction

The occurrence of overwintering
Trypodendron lineatum (Oliv.) in
forest litter was first reported and
studied by Hadorn (1933). Later in-
vestigations on the hibernating sites
of this ambrosia beetle were made by
Kinghorn and Chapman (1959).
One of their findings was that the
beetles tended to concentrate around
the bases of trees.

Examinations of litter in British
Columbia have shown that there is
often considerable difference in num-
bers of beetles from similar or adja-
cent samples. An example of this is
given by Chapman (1959). There are
many factors which may contribute
to forest litter variability; for exam-
ple, amount of rotten wood or moss,
relative contribution from various
tree species, moisture, and nature of
ground cover. The purpose of the
present study was to secure informa-
tion, within a small sample area, on
obvious differences in ground cover
and nature of litter in relation to
numbers of overwintering beetles.

Method

It was believed that the informa-
tion desired could best be secured by
sampling in such small units that the
approximate location of individuals
could be determined, in relation to
litter variability. Accordingly, in 1959,
near Parksville, B.C., some time was
spent sampling the litter surrounding
a single tree within a stand of timber.
The seasonal activity of Trypoden-
dron had been studied earlier in ad-
jacent logging settings (Chapman and

1 Contribution No. 680, Forest Biology Division,
Research Branch, Department of Agriculture, Ot-
tawa, Canada.

2 Forest Biology Laboratory, Victoria.

Dyer, 1960) and the location of a
fairly large population of overwinter-
ing beetles was known from studies
by E. D. A. Dyer and J. M. Kinghorn
of this Laboratory. The work was
done in November and December,
after the beetles were all in their over-
wintering quarters. The area to be
sampled was marked out in 6 by 6
inch squares and, including some
smaller units next to the tree, 287
samples were taken. In each square
the litter and organic material which
could easily be removed by hand from
above the mineral soil was taken.
Previous work (Kinghorn and Chap-
man, l.c.) had shown that most if not
all of the overwintering population is
located above the mineral soil. The
portion of the surface covered by
leaves of salal ( Gaultheria Shallon
Pursh), the common under-growth
plant of the coast forest, was noted,
and the amount of moss estimated for
each sample. Other obvious features
of the litter, as presence of bark flakes
in large amounts, or surface roots or
fallen branches were also noted and
the volume of each sample was mea-
sured after examining it for beetles.

Immediately upon collection the
samples were placed in individual
plastic bags and kept at outdoor tem-
peratures in a shaded location until
they were examined, within two
months. This was done by spreading
the litter thinly on a warm surface
under a light (Hadorn’s method) and
watching it for a period of time judg-
ed entirely sufficient to activate all
beetles. With this method they are
seen easily when they begin to crawl
about and at this stage of their life
they seldom fly from the warmed

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

litter. The litter was redistributed on
the warm surface at intervals during
the examination period, to increase
search effectiveness. Twelve of the
samples which had been stored long-
est and from which a total of 37
beetles had been taken using the
above procedure, were next examined
by a wet method which reveals dead
insects also (Kinghorn and Dyer,
1960). Only three more beetles were
found, giving a recovery of 92 per
cent for the warm pan method. This
agrees well with previous tests of
beetle recovery (Kinghorn and Chap-
man, l.c.) and is good evidence that
few had died in the interval between
collection and examination of litter,
or were missed by the warm pan
method.

Results

The data from this study are best
given as a beetle distribution map of
the area sampled (Figure 1). In (A)
each beetle is represented by a dot.
Within any given sample unit the
dots have been arranged uniformly.
The two squares adjacent to the tree
represent 12 x 12 inch samples taken
previous to this study. It is obvious
that the positions of the beetles are
only approximately shown. While
most of them are closer, the maxi-
mum distance they could be recorded
from their true position is 8 y2 inches
(the length of a diagonal of a 6 by 6
inch square). The portion of ground
surface covered by salal leaves is
shown by the diagonal lines. No dis-
tinction was made between low, dense
cover and higher, more diffuse cover.
The position of a small dead tree
which lay across the sample area is
also shown, the interrupted lines in-
dicating contact with earth or litter,
the solid-lined portion being 2 to 4
inches above the surface.

In (B) the relative abundance of
surface moss is indicated by from 2 to
49 dots per sample unit, correspond-

ing to a range of trace amount to 2/3
of the litter sample volume, in 8 steps.
The relative volume of litter per sam-
ple is also indicated; the range 25-35
cubic inches, to 100-150 cubic inches
per sample being shown by use of 0 to
8 horizontal lines per sample square,
with five categories. No obvious rela-
tionships between numbers of beetles
and presence of dead salal leaves,
small twigs, shallow roots or other
miscellaneous features of the litter
were noted.

Discussion

Certain inferences or tentative con-
clusions may be based on this study.
First, there appears to be no direct
relationship between moss or litter
volume and numbers of beetles. Sec-
ondly, although the beetles concen-
trate next to trees, as earlier reported
by Kinghorn and Chapman, a consid-
erable proportion occur over a foot
away. Thirdly, two features of the
data suggest that surface cover is a
significant factor in determining the
final position of overwintering
beetles: 1) the apparent effect of that
part of the small fallen tree lying
above the surface in concentrating
beetles beneath and close to it (note
Fig. 1-A) , and 2) the quite marked
association between high density of
beetles and salal cover on the south-
east side of the tree. It is possible that
a concentration of large trees 15-20
feet to the southeast resulted in a
shading effect which contributed
somewhat to the heavier population
on that side of the tree. It appears,
however, that the primary factor was
the salal cover, which in this section
of the sample area formed a dense
well defined zone, contrasting with an
adjacent open space. It should be said
that the area of felled logs from
which, presumably, most of the
beetles came, lies to the north through
about 200 feet of timber. Finally, it
can be noted that the distribution of

Proc. Bntomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

Fig. 1. — (A) Distribution of beetles (dots) around a tree in relation to salal (Gaultheria)
undergrowth. (B) Relative amounts of moss (dots) and litter in the same area (see text),

Proc. Entgmol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

beetles, while not random, is cer-
tainly variable enough so that a single
sample anywhere around the tree
would give only a rough idea of the
actual population there.

Kinghorn and Dyer (1960) report-
ed considerable numbers of T. line-
atum overwintering in tree bark.
Beetles were found not only in thick,
heavily fissured bark, but also in
niches bored into the relatively thin,
smooth bark of smaller trees. This,
together with earlier findings con-
cerning location of overwintering
beetles, suggests that it is the physical
nature of a location in offering small,
protected crevices within a certain

general setting which influences a
beetle to select its specific hibernating
quarters. If this is so, then one would
not expect differences in litter com-
position or appearance, even at the
surface, to have much influence apart
from the fact that most litter offers,
at almost any point, relatively dark,
moist, easily entered hiding places in
abundance. The results of the present
study are in agreement with this view
and also indicate that it is factors
other than those associated with
obvious variations in litter itself
which are of primary importance in
determining location of overwinter-
ing beetles.

References

1. Chapman, J. A. 1959. Autumn-winter mortality in the ambrosia beetle. Canada Dept.

Agric., For. Biol. Div., Bi-Monthly Progress Report 15(3).

2. Chapman, J. A. and E. D. A. Dyer. 1960. Seasonal flight activity of the ambrosia

beetle Trypodendron lineatum (Oliv.), for 1959 near Parksville, B.C. Proc. Ent.
Soc. B.C. 57: 30-33.

3. Hadorn, C. 1933. Recherches sur la morphologic, les stades evolutifs et l’hivernage

du bostryche lisere (Xyloterus lineatus Oliv.). Suppl. aux org. de la Soc. forest.
Suisse No. 11. Buchler and Co., Bern.

4. Kinghorn, J. M. and J. A. Chapman. 1959. The overwintering of the ambrosia

beetle Trypodendron lineatum (Oliv.). Forest Science 5: 81-92.

5. Kinghorn, J. M. and E. D. A. Dyer. 1960. Overwintering of ambrosia beetles.

Canada Dept. Agric., For. Biol. Div., Bi-Monthly Progress Report 16(1).

ADDITIONS TO THE CHECK LIST OF MACROLEPIDOPTERA
OF BRITISH COLUMBIA'

David A. Arnott

While investigating the cutworm
species present in southern British
Columbia the author used light traps
at two localities to supplement data
from field surveys. A trap was operat-
ed at Kamloops for 5 esasons from
1955 to 1959 and at Summerland for
one season, 1956. Among the macro-
lepidoptera captured were thirty-two
species not recorded for the Province
by Llewellyn- Jones (1951), including

j Contribution No. , Entomology Laboratory,
Research Branch, Canada Department of Agricul-
ture, Kamloops, British Columbia.

Laphygma exigua Hbn., the beet
armyworm, not previously known to
occur in Canada. A single new record
was obtained from Summerland, that
of a geometrid, Cheteoscelis bistriaria
Pack. Thirty species were recorded
only at Kamloops. Adults of L. exigua
were recorded at Kamlops in 1956
and 1958 and an adult recorded from
southern Vancouver Island in 1958.
The larvae of this species were also
found during 1958 infesting crops of
table beets and tomato at Ladner and
tomato at Pavilion.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

The arrangement and numbering
of species, locality and flight period,
conforms with Llewellyn-Jones’ list,
which mainly follows that of McDun-
nough (1938) in his “Check List of
Lepidoptera of Canada and the United
States, Part I”.

Family ARCTIIDAE

Subfamily ARCTIINAE

Apantesis Wlk.

1033 virgo L.

1. Kamloops.

2. July, August.

Family NOCTUIDAE

Subfamily NOCTUINAE

Euxoa Hbn.

1236 dargo Stkr. rumatana Sm.

1. Kamloops.

2. July, August, September.

1247 olivalis Grt. mcdunnoughi Cook.

1. Kamloops.

2. June, July, August, September,
near 1250 maimes Sm.

1. Kamloops.

2. August.

near 1371 servita Sm.

1. Kamloops.

2 July.

Agrotis Ochs.

1425 venerabilis Wlk. Dusky cutworm.

1. Kamloops.

2. August, September.

Amathes Hbn.

1518 substrigata Sm.

1. Kamloops.

2. August.

Anomogyna Staud.

1558 imperita Hbn.

a discitincta Wlk. arufa Sm.

1. Kamloops.

2. August.

Subfamily HADENINAE
Trichoclea Grt.

1652 fuscolutea Sm.

1. Kamloops.

2. May.

Ceramica Gn.

1951 picta Harr, exusta Gn. contraria Wlk.
Zebra caterpillar.

1. Kamloops.

2. July.

Subfamily CUCULLIINAE

Lathosea Grt.

2021 pulla Grt. pullata Grt.

1. Kamloops.

2. April.

Cucullia Schrank.

2038 intermedia Speyer,
a Cinderella Sm.

1. Kamloops.

2. May, July, August, September.

Oncocnemis Led.

2090 augustus Harv.

1. Kamloops.

2. September.

2127 riparia Morr.

a aqualis Grt.

1. Kamloops.

2. July.

Homohaderta Grt.

2150 stabilis Sm.

1. Kamloops.

2. July, August.

Brachylomia Hamp.

2209 diseinigra Wlk.

1. Kamloops.

2. April, September.

Hillia Grt.

2211 iris Zett. crasis H.-S. semisigna Wlk.
erdmanni Moesch. senescens Grt.

1. Kamloops.

2 September.

Fishia Grt.

2279 discors Grt. vinela Sm.

1. Kamloops.

2. October.

Anathix Franc.

2319 aggressa Sm.

1. Kamloops.

2. August.

Subfamily AMPHIPYRINAE
Archanara Wlk.

2440 subflava Grt.

1. Kamloops.

2. July, August.

Hypocoena Hamp.

2451 basistriga McD.

1. Kamloops.

2. August.

Amphipoea

2459 americana Speyer,
a pacifica Sm.

1. Kamloops.

2. July, August.

Achytonix McD.
near 2558 praeacuta Sm.

1. Kamloops.

2. August.

Platyperigea Sm.

2654 camina Sm.

1. Kamloops.

2. August.

Caradrina

near 2660 morpheus Hufn.

1. Kamloops.

2. June, July.

Laphygma Gn.

2683 exigua Hbn. flavimaculata Harv. Beet
armyworm.

1. Vancouver Is., Ladner, Pavilion,
Kamloops.

2. July, August, September, October. A
migrant from the south.

Subfamily HELIOTHIINAE
Schinia Hbn.

2982 walsinghami Hy. Edw.

1. Kamloops.

2. August.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

Subfamily PLUSIINAE
Chrysaspidia

3273 putnami Grt.

1. Kamloops.

2. August.

Subfamily CATOCALINAE
3346 unijuga Wlk. lucilla Worth.

1. Kamloops.

2. September.

3352 faustina Stkr.

1. Kamloops.

2. September, October.

Family GEOMETRIDAE
Subfamily GEOMETRINAE
Cheteoscelis Prout.

4079 bistriaria Pack, udinaria Stkr.

1. Summerland.

2. June.

Subfamily ENNOMINAE

Pero H.-S.

5072 honestarius Wlk. stygiarius Wlk. dyari
C. & S.

1 Kamloops.

2. May.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The author is indebted to Dr. D. F. Hard-
wick, Entomology Research Institute, Can-
ada Department of Agriculture, Ottawa, for
identification of specimens and encourage-
ment in publishing the appended list.

References

Llewellyn-Jones, J. R. J. 1951. An annotated check list of the macrolepidoptera of
British Columbia. Ent. Soc. B.C. Occas. Paper No. 1.

McDunnough, J. 1938. Check List of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States.
Part I., Macrolepidoptera. Memoirs of the Southern California Academy of Sciences,
Vol. I.

AN INCIDENT OF DESTRUCTION OF HONEYBEE COLONIES IN THE
INTERIOR OF B.C. BY AN ANT, PROBABLY FORMICA INTEGRA

NYLANDER

In a letter received on June 3, 1959,
from Mr. J. C. Keswick of Osoyoos,
B.C., he advises that a few of his
honeybee colonies were moved from
Osoyoos up into the Anarchist Moun-
tain area as a safeguard against des-
truction by Sevin. Four days after
moving, Mr. Keswick checked his
colonies at which time a great deal of
ant activity was noticed. Upon check-
ing the first colony in line it was
found to be empty; the only trace of
bees being a little capped brood and
about a quarter of an inch of wings
on the bottom board of the hive. The
second hive examined was found to
be in the same condition and the third
one was just being invaded.

According to Mr. Keswick it was an
amazing thing to observe the ants
attacking honeybees. Generally at
least three ants would attack a bee,
snip her in two at the join of the
abdomen and thorax, snip off the
wings and head, and carry the dis-

sected bee to their nest.

It would appear that as soon as the
honeybee colony had been destroyed
the ants then polished off any stores
of honey, pollen or brood. The hive
next in line had not been touched,
neither were the remainder of the
colonies.

Mr. Keswick carefully checked the
area and at about forty feet from the
colony a large nest of ants was dis-
covered. This was destroyed after
dark and specimens of the ants were
sent to the author who in turn had
them mailed to G. L. Ayre of Research
Branch, Summerland, where they
were identified as probably being
Formica Integra N y 1 a n d e r. This
species is common in the Okanagan
and because of its predacious habits
is generally considered to be bene -
ficial. It is very indiscriminate in its
choice of food and will take anything
handy.

— J. Corner, Provincial Apiarist, Vernon,
B.C.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

AN EXPERIMENT IN CONTROLLING DDT-RESISTANT CODLING
MOTH, CARPOCAPSA POMONELLA L.1 2

J. Marshall and K. Williams3

The presence in British Columbia
of a race of the codling moth, Carpo-
capsa pomonella L., resistant to DDT
was demonstrated in a laboratory ex-
periment in 1958 by Marshall (1) . The
same year, in an attempt to save the
crop in the orchard that was most
heavily attacked by the DDT-resistant
insect, second brood spraying was
carried out with a new insecticide that
had given good results in 1957 against
what had been considered a normal
codling moth population. The new
insecticide was the carbamate Sevin
(N-methyl-1 -naphthyl carbamate) .3

The results of this late spraying
were encouraging enough to justify a
careful orchard assessment of Sevin
in 1959. To broaden the experiment a
second new insecticide, having a mol-
ecule structurally quite different from
either DDT or Sevin, was also exam-
ined. It was the organo-phosphate
Ethion (O, O, O', O'-tetraethyl, S, S'-
methylene bisphosphorodithioate) 4.

Experimental

An orchard in the Glenmore district
near Kelowna was used for both the

1958 and 1959 experiments. In 1958
one acre was sprayed twice, and in

1959 seven acres were sprayed five
times.

The trees were mature McIntosh
and Delicious with a diameter of 20
to 30 feet, and an average height of
about 18 feet. One series of seven

1 Contribution No. 46 from the Regional Re-
search Station, Canada Department of Agriculture,
Summerland, British Columbia.

2 Entomologist and Chemist respectively.

3 Union Carbide Corp., White Plains, New York.
U.S.A.

4 Niagara Chemical Div. Food Machinery Corp.,
Middleport, New York, U.S.A.

s Okanagan Turbo Sprayers Ltd., Penticton, Brit-
ish Columbia.

6 Swanson Sprayers, Okanagan Centre, British
Columbia.

plots was in a block of McIntosh trees,
and a second series of seven plots,
sprayed with the same materials and
the same equipment, in a block partly
of McIntosh and partly of Delicious
trees.

The two experimental chemicals
were applied to separate half-acre
plots, each containing 20 to 30 trees,
with three different orchard concen-
trate sprayers. Of these a 1955 model
Turbo-Mist5 6 and a 1959 model Swan-
son3 were independently poweredr
with gasoline engines. The third ma-
chine was a compact, experimental
power-take-off unit designed and
built at the Summerland Research
Station. Designated Okanagan Ex-
perimental Sprayer Mark II, it is the
subject of a separate article by Mc-
Mechan and Williams (2). DDT was
applied to only one plot (duplicated)
with the Turbo-Mist machine.

In the course of the season three
cover sprays were applied against the
first brood codling moth, and two
against the second brood. The first
application was made a week after
petal-fall.

DDT and Sevin were used as 50 per
cent wettable powders, and Ethion as
a 25 per cent wettable powder. The
dosage in all plots was 50 imperial
gallons of spray concentrate per acre.

Fruits were analyzed for spray de-
posits immediately following the last
cover spray, and again, at harvest 34
days later. Ten apples were sampled
from each of six trees per plot.

At harvest the numbers of worm-
infested and ‘‘stung” fruits were noted
in 500 fruits sampled from each of
five 25-bushel bins from the centre
trees of each plot.

Froc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

Results

Bearing in mind the percentage of
active ingredient in each of the three
insecticides, and the quantities ap-
plied per acre, the chemical determin-
ations listed in Table 1 show that the
three different sprayers applied

roughly similar amounts of insectic-
ides to the tops, and to the bottoms,
of the trees. In each case about one-
fourth as much insecticide was de-
posited on the fruits in the tops of
the trees 12 to 15 feet above ground as
on the fruits in the bottoms of the
trees.

TABLE I— Average Spray Deposits from Duplicate Plots Following Last Cover Spray

Plot

Machine

Material

Amount
per acre,
lb.

Parts per million
Top of tree Bottom of tree

Turbo-mist

DDT 50%

1.9

9.2

Turbo-mist

Sevin 50%

1.0

4.1

Expt. Mark II

Sevin 50%

0.8

3.5

Swanson

Sevin 50%

1.3

4.0

Turbo-mist

Ethion 25%

1.4

5.1

Expt. Mark II

Ethion 25%

0.8

4.4

Swanson

Ethion 25%

1.3

4.3

Table 2 giving the spray deposits
immediately following the last spray
application, and the residue that was
present 34 days later, suggests that
Sevin is less persistent, and Ethion

more persistent, than DDT. (In a
short article there is only room to
tabulate averages; but the averages
do sum up what was suggested by the
unabridged results.)

TABLE II — Average Spray Deposits, Bottoms of Trees, Immediately Following Last
Spray Application and at Harvest. 34 Days Later

Plot

Machine

Turbo-mist

Material
DDT 50%

Amount
per acre,
lb.

Parts per million
Last spray Harvest
9.2 3.3

Swanson

Sevin 50%

4.0

0.8

Swanson

Ethion 25%

4.3

2.2

The next table shows that many
more fruits were injured by the codl-
ing moth in the plots sprayed with
DDT than in the plots sprayed with
the two experimental compounds.
But the difference was, in fact, far
greater than the figures suggest. That
was because, first, the amount of ac-
tive ingredient applied per acre was
twice as great in the DDT plots as in
the Sevin or Ethion plots. Second, as
the outcome of codling moth infesta-
tion, at least half of the fruits had

fallen from the DDT-treated trees be-
fore harvest; these were not assessed
for codling moth injury. Virtually
none of the dropped fruits in the
other plots showed codling moth
injury.

This experiment demonstrated in
the field what had been suggested in
the laboratory, and what had been
the experience of the owner of the
property; in this orchard the codling
moth can no longer be controlled with
DDT.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

TABLE III — Codling Moth Infestation in Harvested Fruit (5,000 Fruits
Each Plot Including Duplicates)

Amount
per acre.

Plot

Machine

Material

lb.

Turbo-mist

DDT 50%

Turbo-mist

Sevin 50%

Expt. Mark II

Sevin 50%

Swanson

Sevin 50%

Turbo-Mist

Ethion 25%

Expt. Mark II

Ethion 25%

Swanson

Ethion 25%

What then of the experimental
chemicals? Of the two, Sevin, as
applied with the Turbo-mist sprayer
in plot 2, undoubtedly was subjected
to heavier codling moth attack than
Ethion because, in both of the experi-
mental blocks, plot 2 immediately ad-
joined the DDT plot. So plot 2, doubt-
less, was heavily invaded by second
generation moths that had developed
due to the failure of DDT. That is
probably the explanation for the
slightly heavier infestation in plot 2
than in the other plots, (3 and 4),
that were sprayed with Sevin. The
over-all performance of Sevin, in this
orchard experiment, shows that this
material was evidently about as ef-
fective against DDT-resistant codling
moths as was DDT against non-re-
sistant codling moths when the later
insecticide was introduced into British
Columbia 15 years ago.

To judge from the records of in-
jfestation alone, Ethion, although ap-
parently less effective against DDT-
resistant codling moth than Sevin, is
nevertheless a promising material.
There is, however, another consider-
ation; about a month before harvest

Apple

Fruits

variety

% stung %

wormy

McIntosh

3.2

14.1

McIntosh

4.8

39.0

Delicious

7.2

41.2

McIntosh

1.8

0.6

McIntosh

3.4

2.0

Delicious

1.6

2.3

McIntosh

2.1

0.4

McIntosh

2.5

0.4

Delicious

1.2

0.5

McIntosh

1.8

0.9

McIntosh

1.0

0.1

Delicious

1.3

0.5

McIntosh

3.3

2.2

McIntosh

0.6

0.1

Delicious

1.7

0.9

McIntosh

7.4

4.3

McIntosh

2.0

0.6

Delicious

1.7

1.1

McIntosh

6.6

3.8

McIntosh

1.7

0.3

Delicious

2.0

1.3

some defoliation occurred on Delicious
trees that had been sprayed with
Ethion. On the other hand, Sevin
gave no evidence of phytotoxicity in
this orchard, but experience elsewhere
indicates that Sevin may have a thin-
ning effect if applied to fruitlets
shortly after petal fall.

The experimental effects of Sevin
and Ethion on orchard pests other
than the codling moth may be sum-
marized in a few words. Five applica-
tions of Sevin gave adequate control
of the green aphid, Aphis pomi DeG.,
but resulted in a heavy infestation of
the mite, Tetranychus mcdanieli McG.
Ethion, on the other hand, gave good
control of the mite, but not of the
aphid.

Summary

1. Against a codling moth popula-
tion highly resistant to DDT, the car-
bamate Sevin and the organo-phos-
phate Ethion gave good control.

2. Sevin gave adequate control of
the green aphid, Aphis pomi DeG., but
resulted in a heavy infestation of the
mite, Tetranychus mcdanieli McG,
Ethion had the opposite effect.

Ffcoc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

3. On apples, Sevin left a less per-
sistent deposit than DDT, and Ethion
a more persistent deposit.

4. Ethion caused some defoliation of

Delicious apple trees a month before
harvest. Sevin caused no phytotoxic
effects either on McIntosh or on De-
licious.

References

1. Marshall, J. Resistance to DDT in the codling moth in British Columbia. Proc. Ent.

Soc. Brit. Columbia 56: 59-63. 1959.

2. McMechan, A. D., and K. Williams. A new and compact orchard concentrate sprayer.

In preparation.

A BREEDING PLACE OF XESTOBIUM ABIETIS FISHER
(Coleoptera: Anobiidae)

In his check-list of the Coleoptera
of North America, Charles Leng re-
cords only 2 species of the anobiid
genus Xestobium, X. rufovillosum
(DeG.) the notorious death watch
beetle of Europe which Leng records
from New England, Illinois and In-
diana, and X. affine Lee. from Van-
couver and California.

In mid-February, 1960, Professor K.
Graham gave me 2 chunks of very
punky wood taken from a rotten top
branch of a broad-leafed maple Acer
macrophyllum Pursh. at Langley
Prairie in the lower Fraser Valley and
a couple of beetle grubs which he had
dug out of the wood. I dug out another
grub and put the wood into a plastic
bag. In a few days time 2 beetles
emerged which keyed out to genus
Xestobium but were definitely not
rufovillosum of which I have several
specimens sent to me for reference
from the government laboratory at
Princes Risborough, England. My
specimens have exactly the same type
of markings consisting of scattered
patches of pale golden-yellow recum-
bent hairs on a black background, but
are only 4/5 the length and 1/3 the
breadth, of rufovillosum.

I sent the specimens to Mr. Gordon
Stace Smith of Creston who replied:
“I have spent a lot of time with your
Xestobium; it was your host record
that puzzled me. I collected a type
series of 4 specimens, extracting them
from pupal cells in a dry tree of Abies
grandis Lindl, the white fir. No other

specimen is known until yours so it ,
must be regarded as very rare. Fisher
who described the species retained 2
and I have 2 paratypes”.

The wood from which my beetles
emerged and (August, 1960) are still
emerging is so rotten that one can
easily stick a finger into it; it is white
with the dry rot fungus Poria which
Dr. R. J. Bandoni of the Department
of Botany at the University tells me is
either Poria ferrea or P. ferruginosa,
both of which cause white rot. Em-
ergence records of the 10 specimens
that I retained are Feb. 26, 2; March
1, 2; March 5, 2; March 26, 3; August
4, 1.

I kept some of the beetles alive in
a glass jar for 2 weeks where they did
not seem to feed on anything, not
even on the brown mycelium of the
Poria but they periodically drank
water sprayed into the jar. Some
mated and went through the motions
of laying eggs in bits of fungus-
covered wood so I hope to raise an-
other generation. On bright days they
were very active but on dull overcast
days they were quiescent, hiding
under trash.

Note

On 26 August I received this note
from Mr. W. J. Brown, coleopterist oi
the Science Service <(Xestobium
abietis Fisher. The habitat seems
wrong but I can make it nothing else
Our specimens are from long-dead

standing fir.”

— G. J. Spencer, University of British Colum
bia, Vancouver.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit, Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

ON THE NESTS AND POPULATIONS OF SOME VESPID WASPS

G. J. Spencer1

The year 1957 was a year of wasp
abundance in the lower Fraser Valley
as was 1943 in the interior of the
Province.

I had occasion to remove a number
of nests of Vespula ( Dolichovespula )
arenaria (Fabricius) and one each of
V. vulgaris (L) and V. pensylvanica
(Saus.) in West Point Grey district of
Vancouver and kept counts of the
populations in each nest. The pro-
i cedure in taking the nests was to wait
until at least 10:30 at night when all
activity had ceased around the nests
and to set up a powerful spotlight at
i a distance on a stand so as to illumin-
ate the area, then to squirt the jet of
a 5% D.D.T. aerosol bomb into the
entrance of the nest while holding
underneath a sack stretched open on
a round frame of heavy wire. The

)

wasps poured out into the sack; when
no more came out the nest was cut
from its supports, dropped into the
sack and examined next morning
when practically all wasps were dead.
Later, I used a small compression
sprayer filled, at the suggestion of
Professor K. Graham, with carbon
tetrachloride which was much faster
than the D.D.T. aerosol bomb since it
immobilized the wasps instantly;
however those that had not received
a good shot of it tended to recover
and had to be re-treated. Since all
the nests contained combs with cap-
ped pupal cells, they were caged until
emergence had ceased, then counts
were made of each caste and the
nests were set aside for the emergence
of parasites and scavenger moths,
which may occur as much as 10
months later.

TABLE of Populations of Wasps Nests

Nest No.

Drones

Queens

Workers

Total

Parasites Caterpillars

D. arenaria

470

695

1242

150

132

160

612

904

241

284

159

146

311

V. vulgaris

2230

2305

V. pensylvanica

7 126

224

383

Notes on These Nests

The parasites mentioned in the
table are Sphecophaga burr a (Cres-
son), Ichneumonidae (3) and the
caterpillars are those of the moth
Vitula serratilineela Ragenot, Pyra-
lidae, as determined by comparing
their adults with those in the Black-

i University of British Columbia, Vancouver,
B.C.

more-Wynne collection at the Univer-
sity; this identity has not been check-
ed by an authority.

Nest 1 taken 28 June 1957 from
under the eaves on the south east
corner of a garage, consisted of 6
combs inside 4 outer paper walls. The
number of drones in this nest is sur-
prising, being nearly 38% of the total
population and 6 times the number
of queens.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Yol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

Nest 2 taken 5 July from under the
steps on the south east corner of a
back verandah, consisted of 7 combs
and 4 outer paper walls. Samples of
these wasps were weighed directly
after being killed to give the relative
weights of each caste; 99 drones
weighed 17 grams = 0.1717 grams
each; 135 queens weighed 40.4 grams
= 0.2886 grams each and 612 workers
weighed 70.8 grams = 0.1157 grams
each.

Nest 3 taken 24 July was scraped off
a window pane facing south in a cot-
tage on the first slope of Mount Sey-
mour; it consisted of 4 combs and a
new and completely empty one the
size of a silver dollar, under no fewer
than 11 outer walls reducing to 6 at
the entrance and was obviously a new
nest. Of the 42 queens, 13 were race
fernaldi and of the 241 workers, 3
were fernaldi. The race fernaldi
(Lewis) according to Bequaert (1), is
only a xanthic form of arenaria char-
acterized by 2 large round yellow spots
on the propodeum which are not
found in normal arenaria.

Nest 4 was brought in by a sanitary
inspector on July 29 and consisted of
7 large combs; he had removed it from
a laurel hedge after drenching it with
gallons of insecticide, thus reducing it
to a soggy mess. From the size of the
combs, this must have been a very
large nest with a large population of
wasps of which only a few (311)
reached me. Since drones usually
hang around a nest, their number,
159, was probably normal but most
of the workers were missing. Of the
drones, 42 were race fernaldi; of the
6 queens, 4 were fernaldi and of the
146 workers, 46 were fernaldi. Accord-
ing to Buckell and Spencer (3) drones
are not usually of the race fernaldi
so this number 42, is of note. No nests
have yet been taken where all wasps
were of race fernaldi.

Nest 5, given me by Dr. K. Graham,
was taken by him on 6 August at
Langley Prairie and consisted of only
2 combs of which the larger was
2% x 2i/2 ins. across. The nest had
obviously been recently started be-
cause the queen only was of normal
size, the 53 workers were very small.

Nest 6, Vespula vulgaris (Linn.)
was taken 23 August from under the
roots of a clump of iris in a rock
garden facing north. The entrance
was about one inch across and the
combs when excavated from between
the plant roots and stones were found
to be of very irregular shapes and
sizes and to occupy a hole roughly 12
ins. x 10 ins. There were no outer
walls. The labour involved in excavat-
ing such a large hole must have been
colossal. One queen out of the 43
taken was immense and was probably
the founder of the nest; the others
were apparently the season’s brood.
Amongst the normal - sized workers,
were over 80 only one third the size of
the others, being about 1 centimetre
long; Mr. C. D. F. Miller, hymenopter-
ist of the Research Branch, Ottawa,
informs me that such dwarfs some-
times occur in wasps’ nests and are
apparently only xanthic forms of nor-
mal specimens; the reason for their
occurrence is unknown.

Nest 7. On 19 October 1958 I was
asked to remove a wasps nest from a
compost heap in a friend’s garden.
The heap consisted of regularly-cut
slabs of turf built up like bricks in a
wall with spaces between the sods.
Taking this apart sod by sod, I found
a number of little combs lying be-
tween the slabs with a dozen or so
wasps around each comb, none of
which contained brood or even eggs:
each group had to be poisoned separ-
ately and the wasps collected. Well
down inside the pile was the main
comb with a large number of Vespula

Pftoc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

pensylvanica (H. de Saussure) wasps
around it. As with Nest 6 of V. vul-
garis in the ground, there were no
parasitized cells or scavenger cater-
pillars in the combs: apparently sub-
terranean nests escape these in-
truders. It seems strange that workers
should make isolated groups of cells
away from the main colony; appar-
ently the urge of the workers to build
cells was stronger than that of the
queens to lay eggs in them.

On 17 January 1958 a citizen in the
Dunbar district of Vancouver tele-
phoned to say that he had a wasp’s
nest in the corner of a back verandah
roof, that measured 3 feet across: in
spite of my doubting it, he stuck to
his story. So I went over and after an
arduous journey through my lady’s
dresses in a clothes closet, up a ladder
and through a small trap-door in the
roof, across the whole house length of
rafters travelled the last part of the
way on my stomach, I reached the
corner where the sloping roof of the
house met that of the verandah.
Across the right angle of the corner
was a nest 3 feet across and 18 ins.
high, even as the owner had stated.
From what I could reach of the nest
I scooped out a few handsful of comb
and later recovered from it 2 dead
workers and one male of Vespula
pensylvanica (H. de Saussure), one
Ptinus fur Linn, the white-marked
spider beetle, one Ptinus ocellus
Brown ( tectus Boield) the Australian
spider beetle, several exuviae of
Anthrenus verbasci (Linn.) the var-
ied carpet beetle and one scavenger
moth caterpillar. The owner said that
the nest had been inhabited for 2
years in succession and feared that it
would be re-occupied the coming sea-
son. I urged its total removal and the

blocking-up of the entrance holes
since the dermestid beetles that it
haboured could very well invade the
house.

Further note on the scavenger moth
Vitula serratilineela Rag .

In August, 1959, I was given two
nests of D. arenaria and one of the
white faced hornet Vespula maculata
(Linn.) with a few dead wasps in
each and evidences of caterpillar silk
between the tiers of comb of arenaria
but not of maculata . They were main-
tained in a carton with a loose cover
and from the end of February, 1960,
to the end of June, moths flew out of
the carton and around the room
where the better specimens were col-
lected and pinned. By August every
comb was plastered with silk webbing
and the frass of caterpillars, and the
frass of wasp larvae which is com-
pacted at the base of every cell, was
completely consumed; dried bodies
of wasp larvae and pupae, were not
eaten. This would indicate that the
larvae of this moth are true scaveng-
ers and not predators of early stages
of wasps. Further proof of the scav-
enging behaviour of these larvae was
obtained when fifteen moths picked
up dead from the window sill were
placed in a covered Syracuse watch
glass for relaxing later on. Some
weeks afterwards when I examined
the dish, I found that the bodies of all
the moths had been eaten and a full-
grown caterpillar was moving
amongst the loose wings; this pupated
and a moth eventually emerged.
Apparently a moth had laid an egg
on the body of one of those lying
dead on the window sill and the re-
sulting caterpillar found enough food
in 15 moth bodies, to complete its
development.

References

1. Bequaert, J. 1931. A tentative synopsis of the hornets and yellow-jackets (Vespinae:

Hymenoptera) of America. Entomologica Americana 12(2):71-138.

2. Bequaert, J. 1935. Additions and corrections to the revision of North American Ves-

pinae (Entomologica Americana 1931). Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc.: 119-124.

3. Buckell, E. R. and G. J. Spencer. 1950. The Social Wasps (Vespidae) of British Colum-

bia. Proc. Ent. Soc. Brit. Columbia 46: 33-40.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Bliit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

A WHOLE-BARK METHOD OF REARING DRYOCOETES CONFUSUS SW.

A. C. Molnar1 2 3 and C. B. Cottrells

Introduction

During studies on the relation of a
fungus, Ceratocystis sp., to the west-
ern balsam bark beetle, Dryocoetes
confusus Sw., it was found necessary
to rear the insect in the laboratory.
Lacking proven methods, a search
was made among those used for other
cambium-feeding insects, to find one
which would be suitable for Dryocoe-
tes or which would at least serve as a
starting point for developing a satis-
factory method. With a few modifica-
tions, a whole-bark rearing method
used by Finnegan (1) to rear the pine
weevil, Pissodes approximatus Hopk.,
was found very satisfactory. All stages
of Dryocoetes confusus, from egg to
adult developed well in alpine fir,
Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt., whole
bark and were readily observed dur-
ing their development.

Method

Finnegan placed newly hatched
larvae in small grooves in the cambial
surface of freshly cut Scots pine, Pin-
us sylvestris L. bark discs. The discs
were then pressed tightly, cambial
surface down, in the bottom of petri
dishes by filling them with moist
sand and applying pressure on the
cover with rubber bands. He indicated
the importance of using sterilized
glassware and sand and keeping to a
minimum the exposure of the cambial
surface of the inner bark to the air
during preparation.

Finnegan’s method as used for Pis-
sodes approximatus was moderately
satisfactory for Dryocoetes confusus
but a number of changes effected a
marked improvement, particularly
where the insects were reared

1 Contribution No. 662, Forest Biology Division,
Research Branch, Department of Agriculture, Ot-
tawa, Canada.

2 Forest Biology Laboratory, Victoria, B.C.

3 Forest Biology Laboratory, Vernon, B.C.

throughout their life stages in a
single rearing chamber. The changes
made were largely in connection with
improving the maintenance of suit-
able moisture conditions and with
getting rid of the objectionable fea-
ture of sand sifting out of the cham-
bers during handling. The sand was
replaced by vermiculite, for vermicu-
lite dried less quickly and more even-
ly. It also had a slight tendency to
sift out but this was overcome by
placing two slightly oversized pieces
of filter paper in the chamber, one
next to the bark and one next to the
lid, to enclose the vermiculite. The
filter paper provided the additional
advantage of assuring an even distri-
bution of water, which was added
after about five weeks in long term
observation chambers.

The procedures used for the pre-
paration of materials and setting up
rearing chambers for D. confusus
were as follows:

1. Preparation of bark discs
Discs were generally cut from fresh
alpine fir logs with non-corky bark,
but equally satisfactory results were
obtained using logs several weeks old
when the ends were sealed with wax
at the time of cutting and the logs
were kept in a cool place. Immediate-
ly before cutting the discs the logs
were scrubbed with 70 per cent methyl
alcohol and the thin outer bark was
sliced off with a clasp knife or draw
knife. Discs of the right size to fit the
100 mm. dishes used were readily ob-
tained by cutting around a template
with a sharp-pointed, sturdy knife
and slicing through between the in-
ner bark and cambium. To maintain
the bark as aseptic as possible until
being used in the rearing chambers,
the discs were stacked in sterilized,
metal petri dish holders alternately

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia. Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

with fresh filter paper. It was found
desirable to use the bark within a few
hours after cutting, although over-
night storage in a refrigerator did
not appear to be detrimental. Com-
plete asepsis is not possible, of course,
for even if the bark were rendered
aseptic, beetles or larve gathered in
the field would introduce their na-
turally associated flora and fauna.
These were in fact found to develop
in the rearing chambers but very
rarely inhibited the development of
the insects.

2. The moistening medium

The moistening medium was pre-
pared in advance by dry-sterilizing
fine-grained vermiculite at 95° C for
48 hours. To this was added sterile
water at the rate of one volume of
water to four volumes of vermiculite.
Two gms. of sodium benzoate were
added to 1,000 mis. of the sterile water
to inhibit bacterial activity.

3. Setting up rearing chambers

The procedure for setting up the

rearing chambers was essentially that
used by Finnegan except that some of
the materials were different as indi-
cated. A number of features were
particularly critical to the success of
the rearings and should be empha-
sized:

a) The nature and size of the bark
niches in which the insects were
started was important for eggs
and larvae. A size just large
enough to hold the larvae, pre-
ferable triangular in shape, ap-
peared to be the best. A small
triangular niche cut with a scal-
pel provided the necessary pur-
chase for the larva to start feed-
ing. Adults were less critical in
this regard and a round hole to
simulate a nuptial chamber, cut
with a cork borer, served well.

b) After placing the insects in the
niches care was necessary to
make sure the inner bark was
tightly pressed against the bot-
tom of the dish by inverting the

dish over it and holding it firmly
until the first filter paper, ver-
miculite, second filter paper, lid,
and rubber band were added.
Space between the bottom of the
dish and bark permitted insects
to escape into these spaces where
they were often unable to start
feeding again.

c) It was necessary to avoid adding
water to the extent that free
moisture formed in the bottom of
the dish, which tended to hold
the insect immobile and often
drowned it.

d) The rearing chambers were kept
in a dark cupboard at room tem-
perature.

iffr'cscy of Method
The primary purpose of the rear-
ings of Dryocoetes confusus was to
produce adults free from contamina-
tion by the apparently pathogenic
fungus under study. Since the egg-
stage was the only one amenable to
sterilization, it was necessary to rear
the insect throughout its life stages.
The results of rearings, however, sug-
gested the suitability of the method
for rearing studies beyond the scope
of the present investigation. It ap-
pears suitable to life history studies
and other laboratory investigations
involving detailed observations on ac-
tive living insects of this and prob-
ably other bark and cambial feeding
species. Some of the results of rear-
ings, especially survival figures, are
summarized below to permit the
reader to evaluate the method in
terms of his own requirements.

Survival

Field collections of Dryocoetes for
rearing purposes were confined to
larvae and adults but transfers to
fresh rearing chambers were carried
out at the egg and pupal stages as
well. The survival figures for rearings
and transfers are summarized in
Table 1. The relatively poor survival
obtained with field-collected larvae

Pboc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

TABLE 1 — Survivors from Rearing Studies of Dryocoetes confusus Sw. in Whole Bark-

Petrie-Dish Rearing Chambers.

Time

from

Field larva

Field adults

start

(Oct. 1958

Transferred larvae Transferred pupae

(May 1959

(weeks)

collection)

off-spring of “A” off-spring of “A”
Number living

collection)

289

129

—

119

102

—

Final

Transferred

All survivors

Rearing study;

disposition

for rearing

adults;

eggs transferred

studies

discarded

as needed,
rest discarded

was not considered a reflection on the
rearing method, for the larvae were
sent by mail from Vernon to Victoria
and nearly a week elapsed before they
were placed in rearing chambers. In
addition, they were first started with
sand as the moistening medium, then
changed to vermiculite when it was
found that the sand would prove
troublesome. It can be seen that 55
per cent of the mortality occurred in
the first two weeks of rearings. In the
other columns of this table it can be
seen that relatively little difficulty
was experienced in transferring lab-
oratory-reared larvae and pupae and
field-collected adults.

All eggs used in the egg-transfer
studies came from breeding experi-
ments using the wholebark rearing
chambers described. Transfers to

fresh rearing chambers were carried
out using two methods of egg steril-
ization.

In the first method of egg steriliza-
tion, eggs were freed from boring dust
and washed for 30 seconds with a
1:1000 solution of Hg Cl, followed by
a sterile water wash for 60 seconds.
The eggs were then placed in the des-
cribed niches in fresh bark. In the
second method eggs were washed
with 95 per cent ethonal with a brush
on sterile agar plates and moved to a
clean part of the agar. A day later the
eggs were transferred to bark niches
with a sterilized needle.

There did not appear to be a sign-
ificant difference in survival between
the various methods and control used
except for the poor results obtained
in the second Hg Cl treatment (Table
2), but the writers favoured the

TABLE 2 — Survivors of Dryocoetes confusus Egg Transfers

Time Eggs from adults reared Eggs from field adults

from from larvae (Table 1“A”) mated in whole bark

transfer chambers

(weeks)

sterilized not sterilized sterilized not sterilized
Hg Cl Hg Cl

Number living

Eggs from field adults
mated in whole bark
chambers

sterilized
ethanol, inocu-
sterilized lated with
ethanol Ceratocystis

0 6* 15*

14 13

2 3 13

3 3 13

4 — —

5 — -

Final Broken up for isolation

disposition experiments. Larva only.

15*

Broken up for isolation
experiments. Larva only.

15*

25*

Broken up for isolation
experiments; 3 adults
remainder larvae

Healthy appearing eggs but some may not have been viable.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

ethonal method because it involved
less handling of the eggs and afford-
ed less opportunity for over-exposure
of the eggs to the sterilizing agent. It
should be pointed out that the cham-
bers with sterilized eggs did not re-
main entirely free from micro-organ-
isms but they were free from the
pathogenic Ceratocystis under study.
To obtain aseptic chambers a suit-
able method of sterilizing bark will
have to be developed which does not
change its essential properties. Steam
sterilization, a method recommended
by Holst (2), rendered alpine fir bark
somewhat plastic and unacceptable
to both larvae and adults of Dry-
ocoetes.

Development of Dryocoetes confusus
in rearing chambers
Detailed observations and mea-
surements on the insect’s develop-
ment were not included in the scope
of these experiments and, since rela-
tively little is known of its develop-
ment in nature, little can be said con-
cerning the effects of artificial rear-
ing on development. A number of ob-
servations, however may be worth re-
cording here.

1) The life cycle of D. confusus was
carried to completion and viable
eggs were produced by females
reared in the chambers.

2) It was evident that the life
cycle can be greatly accelerated
through artificial rearings by re-
ducing the normal periods of in-
activity induced by unfavourable
weather conditions. The progeny
of the first set of larvae collected
in the fall of 1958 attained ma-
turity by the following May, a
full year before this would have
occurred under field conditions.

3) Survivors of larvae collected in
the field in October attained
adulthood at nearly a 1:1 male-
female ratio, while 250 adults col-
lected the following spring in
the same area at Bolean Lake

were in the ratio of 1:12 males
to females.

4) Adults reared from larvae in the
chambers started oviposition 6-7
days after mating on fresh bark,
while field-collected adults start-
ed oviposition within 3 days of
being placed on fresh bark in the
chambers. The field collections
were made as much as 2 months
before normal oviposition when
the insects were still frozen in
the host trees. Thus, a much
wider time scope is available for
laboratory work with eggs than
would be possible with those col-
lected in the field; in addition
field-collected eggs pose difficult
handling problems and require
time-consuming observations to
collect the right stage.

5) Apparently mating in the spring
is not required for females col-
lected in the field. Females col-
lected from frozen trees in the
spring and placed unmated in
rearing chambers produced vi-
able eggs in abundance.

Conclusion

Finnegan’s method for rearing wee-
vils in whole-bark rearing chambers,
with minor modifications, met the
requirements for the laboratory rear-
ing of Dryocoetes confusus. The re-
sults of experiments indicate the suit-
ability of the method for detailed ob-
servations on all phases of the insect’s
development from egg to adult. The
adaptability of the method to other
bark and cambial feeding insects is
suggested by its success with two
widely separated species.

The advantages of the method are
the simplicity of the set-up and pro-
cedures, readily available materials,
the lack of a troublesome moisture
problem, and the ease of observing
development at any time (Figs. 1, 2,
and 3). While 100 mm. petri dishes
were used in these studies, larger sizes
are available if desired.

Pboc. ESntomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

The possibilities of adapting this
rearing method to standard insectary
procedure for rearing larvae of un-
known bark and cambial feeding in-
sects sent in through the Forest
Biology Survey are worth investigat-
ing. Materials and procedures could
be readily set up. The main problem
would stem from the unavailability
of bark of the right species; but this
difficulty could be overcome by one
or both of two ways. Logs with waxed

ends could be kept in cool storage for
considerable periods without the bark
losing its desirable qualities, or the
collector could air-mail a section of
wood and bark with his collection of
unknown larvae.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to take this opportunity
to thank Dr. D. A. Ross, Officer-in-Charge,
Forest Biology Sub-laboratory, Vernon, Brit-
ish Columbia, for helpful suggestions and
assistance during the course of these
studies.

References

Finnegan, R. J. 1958. The pine weevil, Pissodes approximate Hopk., in southern
Ontario. Can. Ent. 90: 348-354.

Holst, E. C. 1937. Aseptic rearing of bark beetles. J. Econ. Ent. 30: 676-677.

Fig. 1. — Underside of whole-bark rearing chambers showing Dryocoetes confusus
feeding galleries on the left and egg galleries on the right. 0.6 X.

Fig. 2. — Egg gallery in whole-bark rearing chamber showing deposited eggs and female
Dryocoetes in process of extending gallery. Approximately 8 X.

Fig. 3. — 'Newly hatched larvae of D. confusus in whole-bark rearing chamber.
Approximately 8 X.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Yol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

OBSERVATIONS BN THE INTERIOR OF BRITISH COLUMBIA DURING
1959 OF THE EFFECT ON HONEYBEES OF ORCHARD SPRAYING

WITH SEVIN

J. C. Arrand’ and J. Corners

In 1959 in the Interior of British
Columbia a new insecticide, Sevin,
1 -naphthyl iV-methylcarbamate, was
recommended for the control of sev-
eral orchard pests. During the early
part of the season reports were re-
ceived from throughout the Okan-
agan and Kootenay Valley that where
Sevin was used honeybees were being
killed. Observations by the authors,
particularly in the Oyama and Sal-
mon Arm districts, substantiated
these reports and confirmed the work
of Anderson and Atkins (1959) that
Sevin is highly toxic to honeybees.
Sevin applied as a pink spray killed
a considerable number of foraging
honeybees from colonies located with-
in about one mile of the treated
orchards. The mortality of bees, as
observed at the hive entrances, was
extremely heavy for about three days
after spraying. Dead bees continued
to appear, although in greatly re-
duced numbers, for a further three

1 A/Provincial Entomologist, Vernon, B.C.

2 Provincial Apiarist, Vernon, B.C.

to four days. There was no evidence
of brood poisoning although, due to
a depletion in the numbers of work-
ers, there was some larval mortality
from chilling.

In many cases the wet weather
during the spring of 1959 caused a
delay in applying the “pink spray”
until the late pink or early bloom
stage. Lime sulphur which has been
reported (Eckert, 1949) to have some
repellent action and is usually applied
in the pink spray was not applied
with Sevin because the two materials
are not compatible. These factors
may have contributed to the high
honeybee mortality. It is interesting
to note that according to Carl Johan-
sen (1960) a new bee repellent, R 874
(hydroxyethyl octyl sulfide), shows
promise and may be effective in safe-
guarding bees against hazardous
insecticides.

There appeared to be little ill effect
on honeybees where Sevin was used
as a cover spray for codling moth
control.

References

Anderson, L. D. and E. L. Atkins, Jr. 1959- — The toxic effects of pesticides on bees,
Agric. Chem. 14 (7) 59.

Eckert, J. E. 1949. — Injury to bees by poisoning in The Hive and the Honey Bee. Dadant
& Sons, Hamilton, Illinois.

Johansen, Carl 1960. — Bee poisoning, a hazard of applying agricultural chemicals.
Washington State University, Sta. Circ. 356, Revised Jan.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

DICTYONOTA FULIGINOSA COSTA (HEMIPTERA: TINGIDAE)

IN THE NEARCTIC

G. G. E. Scudder5

During 1959 samples of populations
of Mirid Heteroptera on broom ( Saro -
thamnus scoparius ) were taken on
the campus at the University of
British Columbia. In July and August
specimens of a Tingid, Dictyonota
fuliginosa Costa, were also beaten
from this plant; determination of the
Tingid has been verified by Prof. C. J.
Drake of the United States National
Museum. This capture appears to be
the first record of this insect in the
Americas, although the related D.
tricornis (Schrank) occurs in eastern
Canada and the eastern United
States. D. fuliginosus is a common in-
sect on broom in Europe and since
this plant has been introduced into
British Columbia, it seems probable
that this insect has also been intro-
duced. Broom was abundant at Bea-
con Hill, Victoria in 1911 (J. Davidson
via G. J. Spencer, pers. comm.), and
was probably introduced by the early
English settlers between 1890 and
1900. Broom is now widely scattered
in the lower Fraser Valley and on
Vancouver Island; it also occurs in
the lower Interior of the Province,
but in the latter seems to bear little
insect life.

The broom Mirid collected in this
study was the introduced Melanotri-
chus virescens (D. & S.) and this was
found to be very abundant, yet it has
not previously been taken on the
mainland. Downes (1957) records

1 Department of Zoology, University of British
Columbia.

2 M. virescens (D. & S.) = M. concolor of Downes.

taking M. virescens 2 on Vancouver Is-
land and I have seen specimens from
Victoria, Nanaimo and Cowichan.
Thus, although D. fuliginosa has not
previously been recorded from the
area in question, it is probably not a
recent introduction.

In the Heteroptera in Canada and
the United States, at least 90 species
appear to be Holarctic, or at least,
are recorded from the Palaearctic
and the Nearctic regions. A number
of these appear to have been intro-
duced into one of the areas. Species
almost certainly introduced into the
Nearctic and occuring in British Col-
umbia include: Megalonotus chiragra
(F.), Nahis major Costa, Heterotoma
meriopterum Scop., Campyloneura
virgula Fieb., Dicyphus pallidicornis
(Fieb.) , and Blepharidopterus angula-
tus (Fall.). These introduced insects
may have come in on plants, for ex-
ample Dicyphus pallidicornis on fox-
glove ( Digitalis ) (Downes, 1957) or
they may have come in by other
means as in ballast, suggested for
Megalonotus chiragra by Slater &
Sweet (1958). However, these are the
few exceptions and most of the other
‘Holarctic’ species need critical ex-
amination, since most if not all of the
non-arctic species, with a wide dis-
tribution would appear to be endemic
rather than introduced. A critical ex-
amination of a few of these has
shown that the Old and New World
representatives are not conspecific.

References

Downes, W., 1957, Notes on some Hemiptera which have been introduced into British
Columbia, Proc. B.C. Ent. Soc. 54: 11-13.

Slater, J. A. & M. Sweet, 1958, The occurrance of Megalonotus chiragra (F.) in the
Eastern United States with notes on its biology and ecology (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae),
Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc. 53: 102-107.

Pkoc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

CONTROL OF THREE SPECIES OF LEAFHOPPERS, ON RUBUS
IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
J. Raine2 and N. V. Tonks1 2 3

Ribautiana tenerrima (H.-S.) and
Edwardsiana rosae (L.) , both of Typh-
locybinae, and Macropsis fuscula
(Zett,), of Macropsinae, frequently
damage various species of Rubus on
Vancouver Island and in the lower
Fraser Valley.

Ribautiana tenerrima, and E. rosae,
have similar life cycles and habits
(Raine, 1960; Childs, 1918). There are
two generations each year; nymphs
emerge during May and again in
August, and adults appear during
June and September. Both species
overwinter as eggs. Feeding by
nymphs and adults on the under-
sides of the leaves causes a character-
istic whitish stippling, impairs leaf
function, and reduces plant vigour.

Macropsis fuscula, a European
species, has only one generation each
year. Nymphs emerge from overwin-
tered eggs in late May, and adults
appear during July (Tonks, 1960). In
the Netherlands this species is re-
ported as a vector of the virus disease
known as rubus stunt (de Fluiter,
1953) . The nymphs feed mostly on the
undersides of the calyces of flower
buds and fruit. Damage to the berries
is not readily visible, but studies dur-
ing 1959 showed a 20 per cent reduc-
tion in yield from heavily infested
plots compared with clean plots. Fruit
quality may be reduced by the growth
of a sooty-mould fungus in honeydew
excreted by the leafhoppers, and
nymphs included with the fruit dur-
ing picking become a contamination
problem.

This paper presents results obtain-
ed with several materials for control
of the three species of leafhoppers.
The work was conducted on Vancou-

1 Contribution No. 178 from Entomology Labora-
tory, Research Branch, Canada Agriculture, Vic-
toria, British Columbia.

2 Now at Research Station, Research Branch,
Canada Agriculture, 6660 N.W. Marine Drive, Van-
couver 8, B.C.

3 Now at Experimental Farm, Canada Agricul-
ture, Saanichton, B.C.

ver Island, and in the lower Fraser
Valley, from 1955 to 1959.

Materials and Methods

The following chemicals were used
in the experiments:

DDT, 25 per cent liquid; Chipman Chemi-
cal Company, Toronto, Ont.

Derris, 2.5 per cent liquid and 1 per cent
dust of rotenone; Chipman Chemical Com-
pany, Toronto, Ont.

Diazinon, 25 per cent liquid and 5 per cent
dust of O, O-diethyl 0-(2-isopropyl-6-methyl-
4-pyrimidinyl) phosphorothioate; Geigy
Agricultural Chemicals, Yonkers, N.Y.

Dimethoate, 46 per cent liquid of /8-methyl-
carbamoylmethyl O, O-dimethyl phosphoro-
dithioate; American Cyanamid Company,
Stamford, Conn.

Di-Syston, 5 per cent granules of O, O-
Diethyl &-2-(ethylthio) ethyl phosphoro-
dithioate; Chemagro Corporation, Kansas
City, Mo.

Endrin, 18 per cent liquid of endrin;
Velsicol Corporation, Chicago, 111.

Ethion EC 4, liquid containing four
pounds of O, O, O'. O'-tetraethyl S S'-methyl-
ene bisphosphorodithioate per U.S. gallon;
Niagara Chemical Division, Food Machinery
and Chemical Corporation, Middleport, N.Y.

Guthion, 18.4 per cent liquid of O, O-
dimethyl £-4-oxo-l, 2, 3-benzotriazin-3 (4 H)-
ylmethyl phosphorodithioate ; Chemagro Cor-
poration, Kansas City, Mo.

Heptachlor, 25 per cent liquid of hepta-
chlor; Velsicol Corporation, Chicago, 111.

Malathion, 57 per cent liquid and 4 per
cent dust of malathion, American Cyanamid
Company, Stamford, Conn.

Methoxychlor, 25 per cent liquid of 1, 1,
1 - trichloro - 2, 2 - bis (p - methoxyphenyl )

ethane; Geigy Agricultural Chemicals,
Yonkers, N.Y.

Phorate, 48.5 per cent liquid of O, O-diethyl
0 (and £)-2-(ethylthio) ethyl phosphoro-
thioates; Chemagro Corporation, Kansas
City, Mo.

Phosdrin, 48.5 per cent water-soluble
liquid of 2-methoxycarbonyl-l-methyl vinyl
dimethyl phosphate; Shell Oil Company of
Canada, Toronto, Ont.

Rogor, 40 per cent liquid of S-methylcar-
bamoylmethyl O, O-dimethyl phosphorodith-
ioate; Fisons Pest Control Limited, Cam-
bridge, Eng.

Sevin, 50 per cent wettable powder and
13 per cent emulsion of 1-naphtyl V-methyl-
carbamate; Union Carbide Chemicals Com-
pany, New York, N.Y.

Systox, 26 per cent liquid of a mixture of
O, O-diethyl 8-( and O) (2-ethylthio) ethyl
phosphorothioates ; Chemagro Corporation,
Kansas City. Mo.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

Thiodan, 24 per cent liquid of 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,
10-hexachloro-l, 5, 5a, 6, 9, 9a-hexahydro-6,
9-methano-2, 4, 3-benzodioxathiepin 3-oxide;
Niagara Chemical Division, Food Machinery
and Chemical Corporation, Middleport, N.Y.

Trithion, 43.7 per cent liquid of 0. 0-
diethyl $-p-chlorophenylthiomethyl phos-
phorodithioate; Stauffer Chemical Company,
Mountain View, Calif.

The experiments were conducted on
loganberry because this crop was most
heavily infested with the three species
of leafhoppers.

Plots varied in size from year to
year, but consisted of not less than
four plants per plot, with three repli-
cates. Buffer rows, or portable bar-
riers, were used between plots to
prevent spray drift.

Sprays and dusts were applied to
the foliage in mid-May to control
emerging nymphs. Sprays were ap-
plied to the canes in March to kill
overwintering eggs. Systemics were
applied as drenches to the crowns in
April or painted on the canes in May
to control emerging nymphs. Di-Sys-
ton granules were sprinkled on the soil
around the base of the plants in April
to control emerging nymphs.

The sprays were applied with a
portable “Bean” sprayer operated at
100 lb. pressure. About 200 gal. per
acre were required for foliage sprays,
and 100 gal. when canes only were
sprayed. The dusts were applied with
a backpack puff duster at about 50 lb.
per acre. The drenches were applied
with the same “Bean” portable spray-
er fitted with a 3-foot spray wand
having a quick shut-off valve and a
solid-cone nozzle. (Tee Jet TG3, John
Brooks and Co., Ltd., Montreal, Que.) .
With the machine operating at 100 lb.
pressure, one pint of drench was
applied to each plant when the nozzle
was held for 10 seconds about 15 in.
above the crown. The DiSyston gran-
ules were used at one pound toxicant
per acre.

Counts of Typhlocybinae nymphs
were made in May, and late July, on
the leaves of 10 to 25 fruiting spurs

per plot, collected at random on one
side of the row along the top wire.
Populations of M. fuscula were as-
sessed in late June or early July by
counting the nymphs on 200 to 500
berries per plot from both sides of the
row. Samples of loganberries treated
with Rogor either as a drench, or as a
foliage spray were frozen and shipped
by air to Fisons Pest Control Ltd.,
England, for analysis of residues.

Results and Discussion

A summary of the materials used
as foliar sprays and the results ob-
tained appears in Table I. Survival is
expressed as the mean number of M.
fuscula nymphs per 100 berries, and
the mean number of Typhlocybinae
nymphs per 10 fruiting spurs. Where
possible, data on the control of both
generations of Typhlocybinae were
evaluated, since reinfestation may
occur from adjacent infested plant-
ings.

Control of Typhlocybinae — One fol-
iage spray of DDT, Thiodan, Trithion
or Systox in mid-May controlled first-
generation nymphs, and reduced re-
infestation by the second generation
in August. Diazinon, methoxychlor,
Sevin, Guthion, Phosdrin, endrin,
phorate, derris, Dimethoate, and Ro-
gor controlled the first generation but
did not prevent extensive reinfesta-
tion by the second generation. Hepta-
chlor was ineffective.

The mean number of first genera-
tion Typhlocybinae nymphs per 10
fruiting spurs, following treatment
with foliage dusts in mid-May were

as follows:

Malathion 0

Diazinon 2

DDT 5

Derris 28

Check 180

DDT or Trithion spray applied to
the canes in mid-March effectively
controlled nymphs emerging in May.
The action was probably residual
rather than ovicidal.

Bkoc. Eniomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

TABLE 1 — Mean number of nymphs of Macropsis fuscula per 100 berries, and of Typh-
locybinae per 10 fruiting spurs, following treatment with foliage sprays in mid-May,

1955-59.

Insecticide

Pints per
100 gal.

Toxicant lb.
per 100 gal.

DDT

0.94

Derris (Cube)

—

Diazinon

0.63

Dimethoate

0.62

Endrin

0.25

Ethion

0.46

Guthion

0.23

Heptachlor

0.62

Malathion

0.63

Methoxychlor

1.25

Phorate

0.16

Phosdrin

0.13

Rogor

0.50

Sevin WP

2V2

1.25

Sevin

1.25

Systox

0.23

Thiodan

0.31

Trithion

0.31

Check

—

Results obtained with systemics
showed that Dimethoate at one pint
per 100 gal. applied as a drench to the
crowns in early April controlled first
generation nymphs, but did not pre-
vent reinfestation by the second gen-
eration. Similar applications of Rogor
at one-half pint, and Systox at one
pint, per 100 gal., were not effective.
Dimethoate at a dilution of 1:10
painted in a one-inch band on the
canes of potted plants gave excellent
control of nymphs within five days,
and at dilutions of 1:100 and 1:800
significantly reduced infestations
within 12 days. Granular Di-Syston
was ineffective as a soil treatment.

Control of Macropsis fuscula — In
the Netherlands, good control of M.
fuscula is obtained with dormant
sprays of tar oil or DNC to kill the
eggs in the canes, or by spring appli-
cations of Parathion, malathion, Di-
azinon, or Systox to kill the nymphs
(de Fluiter, 1958).

In British Columbia, a dormant
spray of tar oil applied to loganberry
in mid-March reduced M. fuscula in-
festations in June by 95 per cent;
lime sulphur plus dormant oil was
about 75 per cent effective. Control
with water-soluble dinitrocresol was

Typhlocybinae

1st

2nd

Macropsis

generation

—

183

—

203

192

122

126

—

160

102

unsatisfactory. Probably because of
better coverage, dormant sprays were
more effective when applied after the
canes were up on wires than when the
canes were trailing on the ground.
Dormant sprays have not been gen-
erally recommended for leafhopper
control in British Columbia, because
most growers leave the loganberry
canes on the ground throughout the
dormant period, and because it is dif-
ficult to operate heavy equipment on
the land during the winter.

Foliage sprays of malathion, Gu-
thion, Ethion, or Sevin applied once,
in mid-May, gave excellent control.
Thiodan and derris reduced infesta-
tions considerably but were less effec-
tive than the other materials. Fall
sprays of methoxychlor, malathion,
Diazinon, or Trithion applied to assess
their potential ovicidal action caused
no reduction during the following
spring.

Dimethoate at one pint per 100 gal.
applied as a drench to the crowns in
early April significantly reduced the
number of nymphs emerging in late
May. Rogor at one-half pint, and Sys-
tox at one pint, per 100 gal., were not
effective. Granular Di-Syston was in-

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (I960), Dec. 1, 1960

effective as a soil treatment.

Phytotoxicity — Ferbam, at three lb.
per 100 gal. added to emulsible con-
centrate sprays of malathion, Diaz-
inon, Trithion, methoxychlor, Gu-
thion, and wettable powder sprays of
Sevin, caused no deleterious effects on
loganberry, nor did Captan, at three
lb., added to malathion and Diazinon.
Endrin 18 per cent emulsible concen-
trate at one pint per 100 gal. caused
some injury to loganberry foliage. In
previous experiments on phytotoxicity
of spray materials, DDT and methoxy-
chlor emulsible concentrates at four
pints per 100 gal. caused some yellow
spotting on raspberry; malathion 50
per cent emulsible concentrate, at two
pints, occasionally caused a slight
leaf burn on raspberry, particularly
on young growth.

Residues — Residues of Rogor in
loganberries at harvest were below
0.1 ppm, which is the limit if sensi-
tivity of the clorimetric method for
determining phosphorus. Samples for
analysis were taken from Rogor
treatments applied either as foliage
sprays in mid-May at one pint per
100 gal., or as soil drenches in April,
at one pint per crown, at a dilution
of one-half pint per 100 gal. Dietary
toxicity studies conducted by Fisons,
including daily oral ingestion trials
with humans, have shown that up to

2 ppm of Rogor may be regarded as
innocuous in most human foods.

Summary

The bramble leafhopper, Ribauti-
ana tenerrima (H.-S.), the rose leaf-
hopper, Edwardsiana rosae (L.), (both
Typhlocybinae) , and Macropsis fus-
cula (Zett.), frequently damage Ru-
bus species in British Columbia. One
application of Trithion in mid-May
controlled all three species, including
second-generation nymphs of Typhlo-
cybinae. Malathion, Diazinon, Sevin,
methoxychlor, and Guthion applied
in mid-May controlled M . fuscula,
and first - generation nymphs of
Typhlocybinae, but did not reduce
infestations of the second generation.
DDT controlled both generations of
Typhlocybinae, but was ineffective on
M. fuscula . Phorate, endrin, Phosdrin,
and Systox, in trials conducted on
Typhlocybinae, controlled the first
generation; Systox reduced infesta-
tions by the first and second genera-
tion. Dimethoate applied as a drench
to the crowns in April controlled
nymphs of both Typhlocybinae and
M. fuscula and also gave control of
Typhlocybinae nymphs when applied
as a foliage spray in mid-May. Resi-
dues of Rogor at harvest were at a
safe level below 0.1 ppm. No deleter-
ious effects were observed from the
addition of Ferbam or Captan to
|foliage sprays on loganberry.

References

Childs, L., 1918. The life-history and control of the rose leafhopper. Oregon Agr. Expt.
Sta. Bull. 148.

de Fluiter, H. J., and F. A. van der Meer, 1953. Rubus stunt, a leaf-hopper borne virus
disease. Tijdschr. o. Plantenz. 59:195-197.

de Fluiter, H. J., and F. A. van der Meer. 1958. The biology and control of Macropsis
fuscula Zett., the vector of the rubus stunt virus. Proc. 10th Intern. Congr. Ent.
Vol. 3:341-345.

Raine, J., 1960. Life history and behaviour of the bramble leafhopper, Ribautiana tener-
rima (H.-S.) (Homoptera: Cicadellidae). Canad. Ent. 92:10-20.

Tonks, N. V., 1960. Life history and behaviour of the leafhopper Macropsis fuscula
(Zett.) (Homoptera: Cicadellidae) in British Columbia. Canad. Ent. 92:707-713.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

NOTES ON THE LIFE HISTORIES OF TWO BUTTERFLIES
AND ONE MOTH FROM VANCOUVER ISLAND

George A. Hardy i

Colics occidentalis Scud.

A specimen taken at Royal Oak on
June 4, 1958, laid about 50 ova by
June 12. They were placed on the
upper side of the leaves of Lathyrus
nuttallii Wats, over which the butter-
fly was confined.

Ovum

Size 1.5 mm. by 0.5 mm., fusiform,
truncate at the base at the point of
attachment, shiny, with about 14 ribs,
whitish at first, becoming rosy-red
with an ivory-white tip. Hatched
June 11.

Larva — 1st Instar

Length 2 mm. Head black, dull with
short, sparse, white-knobbed hairs.
Body fuscous green, covered with
glandular-tipped hairs, A.8 and A.9
bearing a few long, backwardly di-
rected, white hairs. The chorion was
partly, or entirely, consumed by the
larva.

2nd Instar

June 17. Length 5 mm. Head grey-
green, body green matching the
leaves. Both head, and body, with a
hoary look due to a covering of close-
set, glandular-tipped hairs, each
arising from a small, black tubercle.
3rd Instar

June 23. Length 7 mm. Appearance
similar to second instar larva. From
this date until April, 1959, the cater-
pillars remained quiescent in the fold
of a shrivelled leaf.

4th Instar

April 18, 1959. Length 10 mm. The
larva showed signs of life on April 3.
Head pale green, thickly dotted with
short, black, non-glandular hairs
arising from black bases. Body dark,
velvety green, closely dotted with
white, black-centred spots, each bear-
ing a short, white, non-glandular
seta. Segments with six transverse
wrinkles.

i Provincial Museum, Victoria, B.C. (Rtd.)

5th Instar

April 25. Length 18 mm. Appearance
as before, but with white hairs thick-
ly distributed on the sides of the body
but not on the dorsum. Spiracular line
thin but conspicuously white, the
white ring round the black dots re-
placed with green.

April 29. Length 25 mm. Appearance
as before, with a faint pink suffusion
along the spiracular line, underside
glaucous - green minutely black-
dotted.

When disturbed the larvae raised
the thoracic segments in a sphinx-
like attitude. Just before pupation
they were 30 mm. long. Pupated May
4. Thirty-six hours elapsed between
the first attachment by the last seg-
ment to a silken mat, and pupation
with the head up and a girdle round
the thorax.

Pupa

Size 23 mm. by 6 mm. The head was
produced into a projecting beak, and
there was a decided hump on the
dorsum of thorax. Smooth, emerald
green at first, becoming darker and
assuming a yellowish colour towards
maturity. The beak was dark green
above and yellow below. The wing-
cases showed faint dark lines of the
venation beneath. The three abdom-
inal segments beyond the tip of the
wing-cases each had two small black
dots. Spiracular line distinctly yel-
lowish.

Imago

Emerged May 21, 1959, after 17
days’ pupation.

The continuation of aestivation
without a break into hibernation,
both covering nearly ten months, is
noteworthy. It would be of interest to
know if this is the rule throughout
the insect’s wide range.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

Coenonympha inornata insulana
McD.

This butterfly has a long period of
flight on Vancouver Island, from May
to October, with a marked gap in July,
suggesting the occurrence of two
broods per season. With the idea of
clearing up this point, the life history
was investigated during 2 years. Ova
were obtained from specimens taken
at Royal Oak on May 26, 1958.

Ovum

Size 1 mm. by 0.9 mm. Barrel-
shaped, having a slight hollow in the
upper end, with a distinct boss or
umbo in the centre of the depression.
Smooth, shiny, faintly ribbed and
cross-ribbed, white, lightly flecked
and streaked with brown to form an
irregular band round the middle of
the egg.

Larva — Ist Instar

June 7. Length 2 mm. Head pale
dull flesh coloured. Body tapering
from head and of the same colour,
with darker dorsal and subdorsals,
and two fleshy anal processes directed
backwards in line with the body.

2nd Instar

June 18. Length 4 mm. Appearance
as before, with the addition of num-
erous small, white, mushroom-like
protruberances covering both head
and body, and seven dark green lines
on dorsum, one dorsal and three on
each side of it.

3rd Instar

June 25. Length 8 mm. Appearance
as before.

4th Instar

July 3. Length 15 mm. Appearance
as before.

5th Instar

July 12. Length 20 mm. Head grass-
green, thickly covered with white
mushroom-like protruberances. Body
grass-green, with the mushroom-like
bodies giving a glaucous bloom. The
dorsal line and the three lines on each
side of it dark green, spiracular line
yellow, highlighting the lateral fold,

spiracles evident as very small black
dots, anal processes tinged with pink.

The larva was well camouflaged.
As it rested along the edge of a blade
of grass the tapering body merged
into the blade and the large head
simulated a tear or break in the edge.
Various grasses are the food of this
species. The succulence of the grass
evidently affects the rate of meta-
morphosis.

July 16. Length 22 mm. at maturity.
The larva suspended itself by the cre-
master from a grass stem, and pup-
ated on July 21.

Pupa

Size 10 mm. by 3 mm. Rather short
and broad, smooth, grass-green, with
a fuscous line on the costal and hind
margins of the wing-cases, and two
short fuscous lines on the underside
of the last abdominal segment, con-
verging to form a V at the base of the
cremaster.

By August 1 the wing-cases had
turned a light brownish colour, while
the green of the rest of the body as-
sumed a dull, muddy look, an indica-
tion that the imago was about to
emerge. It died before doing so. Some
larvae of the same age group grew
very slowly. One of these was only
10 mm. long on October 9 and showed
signs of hibernating for the winter.

In 1959 three imagos of a second
brood were obtained; two were from
ova laid on June 13. They emerged
on August 24. One was from an ovum
laid on July 2. It emerged on Septem-
ber 15. In 1953 an ovum laid on Sep-
tember 4 hatched on September 20;
another laid on September 14 hatched
on October 15. One of these larvae
hibernated, and resumed feeding in
April 1954.

From the foregoing it would appear
that insulana is at least partially two-
brooded. There is disparity in growth
of the same age group, and the winter
is passed by larvae of various ages and
sizes. The largest of these give rise to
the spring adults, the smaller ones to

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

the late summer contingent. The
latter are augmented by individuals
of the second brood. C. inornata in-
sulana would seem to be midway be-
tween the single-brooded C. kodiak of
northern regions and C. californica
in the south where two broods is the
rule.

Orthosia transparens Grt.

A specimen taken at Royal Oak, on
April 22, 1959, laid about 215 ova,
singly, or in irregular groups, on the
sides of the container.

OvMBTi

Size .75mm. by .5 mm. A depressed
sphere with about 40 vertical ribs
whose sides have a bright sheen, vary-
ing in intensity with the incidence of
the light, a small light brown dot in
the micropylar area, and a fine broken
ring of the same colour on the shoul-
der of the egg. Hatched on May 1.
Larva— 1st Bnstar

Length 2.5 mm. Head light brown,
sparsely but strongly dotted with
black. Body whitish, transparent, with
prominent, black, seta-bearing tuber-
cles. The larva consumed part of the
chorion, then fed on Arbutus men-
ziesii Pursh penetrating into the leaf-
bases of the expanding buds.

2nd

May 8. Length 8 mm. Head semi-
translucent suffused with white, and
dotted with black. Body olive or
bluish-green, thin, milky-white dor-
sal and subdorsal lines, tubercles
prominent, black-ringed with white
bases, each bearing a stiff hair, spir-
acular line a vague whitish band,
underside concolorous with the upper.
3rd Instar

May 12. Length 15 mm. Appearance
as before.

4th In star

May 16. Length 20 mm. Head near
white, blending into a pinkish purple
on the vertex, finely reticulated and
spotted with brown. Body pinkish
brown, thin white dorsal and sub-
dorsal lines, spiracular line light grey
centred with an irregular, pale, rust-

coloured suffusion, underside a sor-
did flesh colour, the whole body finely
spotted with black.

5th Instar

May 20. Length 28 mm. Appearance
similar to 4th instar larva. Body a
general sienna brown matching the
twigs of the arbutus, tubercles black,
edged with white. The larvae fed at
night, hiding by day among the debris
at the bottom of the container.

6th In star

May 27. Length 40 mm. Head pale
sienna brown, dorsal and subdorsal
lines indicated by very thin whitish
lines, spiracular line inconspicuous,
body finely speckled with white and
fuscous dots.

May 31. Length 45 mm. The larva
by now full grown, general colour a
drab flesh, faintly tinged with red-
dish-purple, without noticeable mark-
ings except suffused dark dorsal and
subdorsal lines.

During the period between May 31
and June 14 the larvae became rest-
less and moved continually feeding
lightly now and then, but obviously
having an urge to travel before pupa-
tion. Some larvae had made pupal
cells by June 6, in which they lay
quiescent without pupating until a
week later.

Pupa

Size 15 mm. by 5 mm. Smooth,
shiny, the wing cases finely etched
with minute, close-set lines. Abdom-
inal segments finely punctate on the
anterior margins, light mahogany
brown. Cremaster consisting of two
very thin, nearly straight spines with
four short hairs with knobbed tips at
the base, all set upon a shiny boss
party sunk into the tip of the last
segment.

In 1958 the preferred food plant was
unknown until too late; one or two
larvae were reared to the 5th instar
on Garry oak, which was evidently
not relished. By the time arbutus was
provided the survivors were too weak
to complete their metamorphoses.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Yol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

SEASONAL FLIGHT ACTIVITY OF THE AMBROSIA BEETLE,
TRYPODENDRON LINEATUM (OLIV.), FOR 1959,
NEAR PARKSVILLE, B.C.'

J. A. Chapman1 2 and E. D. A. Dyer2

Introduction

Hadorn (1933) reviewed earlier
work on the flight periods of Trypo-
dendron lineatum (Oliv.) and con-
tributed further information on this
subject. Prebble and Graham (1957)
outlined the biology of this and other
ambrosia beetles found on the west
coast of Canada. More recently, the
seasonal flight activity of T. lineatum
in the Lake Cowichan, B.C. area has
been the subject of special investiga-
tion (Chapman and Kinghorn, 1958;
see also Kinghorn and Chapman,
1959). In 1959 some further data were
secured on this phase of the beetles’
activity, to assist in carrying out and
interpreting chemical control and
various biological studies. It seems
worth while to place this information
on record.

Methods and Results

Through the co-operation of the
Pest Control Committee of the B.C.
Loggers’ Association, two areas (log-
ging settings) of approximately 20
acres each, on which all trees had
been felled and cut into logs, were
made available for an experiment on
protection of logs from ambrosia
beetle attack by helicopter - applied
spray. One area was sprayed and the
other, near-by, left untreated to serve
as the control. The latter was also
used for studies on seasonal develop-
ment and biology of T. lineatum.

The experimental settings were sit-
uated on land owned by the Mac-
Millan, Bloedel and Powell River
Company, some seven miles south of
Parksville, B.C., at an altitude of
about 1,200 feet. The trees on both
settings had been cut in December

1 Contribution No. 679, Forest Biology Division,
Research Branch, Department of Agriculture, Ot-
tawa, Canada.

2 Forest Biology Laboratory, Victoria.

1958 and were, presumably, suitable
for Trypodendron attack in the spring
of 1959. Much of the land surround-
ing these two settings and the inter-
vening block of timber was clear,
having been logged in previous years.
In this area the land slopes rather
gently to the north and there are no
marked topographical features.

The several methods used to secure
information on relative numbers of
beetles in flight during the season
will be described briefly. The infor-
mation secured by each method is
presented in Figure 1, together with
weather data taken from the Depart-
ment of Transport weather station at
Cassidy (Nanaimo Airport), about 20
miles from the test area and near
sea level.

Glass barrier flight traps, used in
earlier studies (Chapman and King-
horn, l.c.), were placed over felled
logs at widely spaced positions, eight
in the sprayed and eight in the con-
trol area. Collections were made from
them throughout the season at inter-
vals of one to seven days (C). The
numbers of beetles in all records are
averages, representing the number
collected divided by the days since the
previous collection. About the time
beetles began to emerge from some of
the logs after brood-rearing activity
or development, two other sets of
traps were placed in the control set-
ting; four next to logs known to be
attacked by the earliest beetle flights
(F) , and eight intended to reveal any
movement of beetles into a block of
timber between the spray and con-
trol settings (five outside and three
within the timber) — (E).

Thirty- two collecting pans (Chap-
man and Kinghorn, l.c.) were placed

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

Fig. 1. — Numbers of Trypodendron taken in relation to weather and time of season.
(A) and (B) from collecting pans under logs; (C), (E) and (F) from glass barrier traps;
(D) from retaining cages on established galleries; (G) sunlight over 50 per cent of that
possible; (H) precipitation in inches; (I) minimum relative humidity when below 50
per cent; (J) maximum and minimum temperatures (see text; all weather data based
on daily values). In (C) the lesser catches of Pseudohylesinus relative to Trypodendron
on some days are indicated by arrows.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Yol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

under selected logs in the two set-
tings, 16 in each, to cover the attack,
flight period (A) ; then, when beetles
began to leave logs, they were re-
moved and 16 placed under control
setting logs known to be well attacked
(B). The latter pans were located
close to (F) traps. Between May 6 and
June 10, 138 galleries in various parts
of the control setting were fitted with
cloth-covered aluminum rings, to
retain beetles after they emerged, and
the numbers leaving the galleries
counted at intervals (D). Finally, it
should be noted that opportunities
for visual observations of beetle flight
activity throughout the season were
numerous.

Discussion

Although the data in Figure 1 are
largely self-explanatory in indicating
beetle flight activity in relation to
weather and season, a few comments
will be made to provide a background
for better intepretation or to empha-
size certain features. When compari-
sons are made or implied they refer
to the previous Cowichan Lake area
work and the conclusions based upon
it.

The sunlight record (G) shows only
the duration of sunlight over 50 per
cent of that theoretically possible for
each day at that latitude. It is felt
that this shows more clearly than
would the total hours of sunlight per
day, the occurrence of sunny inter-
vals during the season. This record,
together with those of the daily maxi-
mum and minimum temperatures
(J), precipitation (H), and minimum
relative humidity on days when this
fell below 50 per cent (I) , shows fairly
well the nature of the weather at var-
ious times during the season.

The numbers of beetles active about
these logging settings and the result-
ing attack densities were relatively
low compared with those encountered
in previous studies. Moreover, the first
beetles did not appear in the area

during the first warm period with
maximum daily temperatures sub-
stantially exceeding 60° F., as ex-
pected. Maximum air temperatures at
the work area during the April 7-11
period did not differ by more than
three degrees F. from those at the
weather station. The slow appearance
of the first beetles, therefore, cannot
be attributed to a considerably lower
temperature at the work area than
at Cassidy. Also, beetle attacks con-
tinued over a relatively long time. It
was obvious, from field observations,
that many logs not attacked by
beetles of the first flight were selected
for attack during later flights. Peaks
of attack and emergence activity,
therefore, were not the same through-
out the settings. It seems quite pos-
sible that the initial delay of attack,
its long duration relative to earlier
findings, and the small numbers of
beetles involved, can all be explained
by assuming that there was no large
near source of beetles and that those
reaching the area had come from
distant and scattered sources. The
logging history within a radius of
about five miles of the area supports
the suggestion that near-by forests
harboured relatively few beetles.

It is of interest that Pseudohyles-
inus spp. again served as an indi-
cator for Trypodendron by appearing
shortly before, as well as during, its
early flights. Also, the glass barrier
traps and the pans under logs gave,
in spite of the small numbers of
beetles, substantially the same pic-
ture of times of attack (A and C).

There is general agreement between
the various measures of beetle flight
from logs after brood - rearing or
development. The main feature of
this movement to be noted is its long
duration. One factor which probably
contributed to differences in the pat-
tern of emergence shown in Figure 1
is the previously mentioned variabil-
ity in the times at which logs were

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Yol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

attacked in different parts of the
setting. Without doubt the duration
of gallery construction and egg-laying
activity differed in the various logs,
also. The data represented at (B) and
(F) were based largely on logs at-
tacked by the earliest flights. Many
of these logs had unusually long
galleries and young beetles were still
being produced relatively late in the
season. The data in (C) represent
pooled catches throughout both spray
and control settings, but none of these
traps were near logs which were at-
tacked and they cannot be considered
to represent the emergence period
well. Item (E) represents beetles
emerging near those traps of this
group which were in the open and, in
addition, movement of beetles from a

large part of the control setting to-
wards and into the block of timber
between the settings. The data in (D)
represent a composite picture based
on galleries from several locations
and logs attacked at different times.

The difference between (F) trap
data and (B) pan data, which were
taken in the same location, may per-
haps be explained as follows. The
traps were set up just above or to
one side of the logs and, undoubtedly,
took, for the most part, beetles leav-
ing the upper surface of the logs. The
pans, on the other hand, were placed
beneath the logs and were much more
likely to take beetles emerging from
the more shaded, cooler under-por-
tions where development would be
slower.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank M. Jackson and G. Richardson for help in carrying
out this study, and the Pest Control Committee of the B.C. Loggers’ Association and
the MacMillan, Bloedel and Powell River Company for their co-operation in making
the settings available for these investigations.

References

1. Chapman, J. A. and J. M. Kinghorn. 1958. Studies of flight and attack activity of

the ambrosia beetle, Trypodendron lineatum (Oliv.), and other scolytids. Can.
Ent. 90: 362-372.

2. Hadorn, C. 1933. Recherches sur la morphologie, les stades evolutifs et l’hivernage

du bostryche lisere (Xyloterus lineatus Oliv.). No. 11 Suppl. org. Soc. forest,
suisse, Bern.

3. Kinghorn, J. M. and J. A. Chapman. 1959. The overwintering of the ambrosia beetle

Trypodendron lineatum (Oliv.). Forest Science 5: 81-92.

4. Prebble, M. L. and K. Graham. 1957. Studies of attack by ambrosia beetles in

softwood logs on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Forest Science 3: 90-112.

A Note on Eulonchus tristis Lw. (Diptera: Cyrtidae)

Eulonchus tristis Lw. is fairly common in
the southern Kootenay region of British
Columbia; Mr. H. R. Foxlee has collected
many specimens in the vicinity of Robson
and I have taken a few at Remac, Ainsworth,
and Champion lakes. The adults frequent
flowers, particularly those of queenscup,
Clintonia uniflora Kunth.

Eulonchus tristis is a strong flier, and is
capable of some unusual aerobatics. On
June 13, 1959, near Remac, four of these
flies, clinging together in a tight ball and

producing a loud discordant buzz, flew past
me and were gaining altitude and avoiding
various obstacles before being netted. There
were three males and one female.

The ability of insects in several orders to
fly while copulating is so well developed
that it scarcely merits attention; but this
instance of four individuals combining to
form a single airborne unit is, I think,
remarkable.

— J. Grant, Forest Biology Laboratory,
Vernon, B.C.

P!roc. Entomol. Soe. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

THE CORSXIDAE (HEMIPTERA-HETEROPTERA) OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

I. Lansbury'

Introduction

Prior to this list nineteen species
were recorded from British Columbia;
twenty five are recorded here and
three new species are described. Some
of the records are from Hungerford
(1948) and Lansbury (1955). The re-
mainder are from material in the
collections of the Department of
Zoology at the University of British
Columbia, Vancouver. Full descrip-
tions of the species listed, excluding
the new ones, can be found in Hunger-
ford (1. c.).

List of Captors

A. B.A. A. B. Acton

L.D.A. L. D. Anderson

K.F.A K. F. Auden

W.B W. Bennedict

J.C.B J. C. Bradley

O. B. Owen Bryant

E.R.B. E. R. Buckell

D.C.B. D. C. Buckland

B. C. Bueno Coll

G. C.C G. C. Carl

N.C. N. Carter

W.D. W. Downes

J.F. J. Fraser

A.N.G. A. N. Gartrell

J. H. J. Hart

J.K.J. J. K. Jacob

H. B.L. H. B. Leech

C. C.L. C. C. Loan

V. Z.L. V. Z. Lucas

J.A.M. J. A. Munro

P. Parshley

J.H.P. J. H. Pepper

W. H.P W. H. Preece

G.G.E.S G. G. E. Scudder

G.S.S G. Stace Smith

G.J.S. G. J. Spencer

A.T A. Thrupp

U.C Uhler Coll

P.N.V. P. N. Vroom

J.B.W. J. B. Wallis

J.W ... J. Waterfield

N.S.W. N. S. Wright

Species Recorded

Cymatia americana (Hussey)
Kamloops (G.J.S.) ; Brent Lake,
Summerland (A.N.G.) ; Fort St. John
(A.B.A.) ; Nulki Lake near Vanderhoof
(J.A.M.) . This species has also been
collected in the North West Territory,

i Hope Department of Entomology, University
Museum, Oxford.

Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan and
Alaska. Apparently not very common
although widespread.

Dasycorixa hybrida (Hungerford)
Vernon (P.) (Hungerford, l.c.).
Corisella decolor (Uhler)

Osoyoos (H.B.L.) ; Hope (L.D.A.) .
British Columbia forms the extreme
northern limit of this species; it
occurs abundantly in California, Utah,
Nevada and Oregon.

Callicorixa audeni (Hungerford)
Kamloops (G.J.S.) ; Fraser Lake
(G. J. S.) ; Chilcotin (G.J.S.) ; Nicola
(G.J.S.) ; Australian (N.S.W.) ; Midday
Valley, Merritt (K.F.A.) ; Oliver
(W. D.) ; Williams Lake District
(G.G.E.S.) ; Alkali Lake South of Clin-
ton (G.G.E.S.) ; Soda Creek, to light
(G.J.S.) ; Nulki Lake near Vanderhoof
(J. A. M.) ; Downie Creek, Selkirk
Mountains (J.C.B.) ; Prairie Hills
(J.C.B.) ; Paxton Valley (A.T.) ; Kere-
meos (C.C.L.); Westbank (A.N.G.);
Jesmond (J. K. J.) ; Nr. Clinton
(A.B.A.) ; Fort St. John (A.B.A.) ; 45
miles N. of Atlin (A.B.A.) ; Revelstoke.
Callicorixa alaskensis (Hungerford)
Seymour Mountain 4,000 feet, Van-
couver (H. B. L.) ; Masset, Q.C.I.
(A.B.A.) ; 20 miles south of Port Cle-
ments, Q.C.I. (A.B.A.); Tlell, Q.C.I.
(A.B.A.) ; Fort St. John (A.B.A.) ; At-
lin (A.B.A.). Hungerford (l.c.) also
lists B.C. but no locality is given. This
species is most common in Alaska.
Callicorixa vulnerata (Uhler)

Saanich (W.D.) ; Milner (G.J.S.) ;
Pond, Univ. B.C. (G.J.S.) ; Mission
(W.D.) ; Point Grey (J.H.) ; Malahat
(W.D.) ; Metchosin (W.D.) ; Bear Foot
Mts. (B.C.) ; Peachland (A.N.G.) ;
Penticton (A.N.G.) ; Port Clements,
Q.C.I. (A.B.A.) ; Tlell, Q.C.I. (A.B.A.) ;
Masset, Q.C.I. (A.B.A.) ; 20 miles south
of Port Clements, Q.C.I. (A.B.A.). Re-
corded from scattered localities in the
Western United States.

P!roc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960.

Cenocorixa bifida (Hungerford)
Kamloops (G.J.S.) ; C h i 1 c o t i n
(G.J.S.) ; Nicola (G.J.S.) ; Malahat
(W.D.) ; Vernon (E.R.B., W.D.) ; 6

miles South of Clinton (G.G.E.S.) ;
149 mile lake, Cariboo (G.G.E.S.) ;
Soda Creek, to light (G.J.S.) ; Milner
(G.J.S.); Westwick Lake, Cariboo
(G.G.E.S.) ; Riske Creek, North Range
(G.G.E.S.) ; Boitano Lake, Cariboo
(G.G.E.S.) ; Peachland (J.B.W.) ; Nul-
ki Lake (J.A.M.) ; Westbank (A.N.G.) ;
Summerland, Fish Lake (A.N.G.) ;
Oliver (A.N.G.) ; Hope Mt., 4,500 feet
(A.N.G.) ; Jesmond (J.K.J.) ; Minnie
Lake (N.C.) ; Nicola (P.N.V.). This is
an extremely common species over the
Plateau region, most common in Mon-
tana in the United States.

Cenocorixa utahensis (Hungerford)
Vernon (W. D.) ; Windermere
(O.B.); Copper Ht. (G.J.S.); Brent
Lake, Summerland (A.N.G.) ; Pentic-
ton (A.N.G.). British Columbia seems
to be the northern limit of this
Corixid.

Cenocorixa andersoni Hungerford
Victoria (K.F.A.); Goldstream
(K.F.A.). Not hitherto recorded from
Canada; known only from Oregon
and Washington where it is not very
common.

Cenocorixa expleta (Uhler)

Kamloops (G.J.S.) ; 6 miles South
of Clinton (G.G.E.S.) ; Riske Creek,
North Range (G.G.E.S.). Not pre-
viously recorded from British Colum-
bia; found most commonly in North
Dakota and also known from Mani-
toba and Saskatchewan.

Hesperocorixa laevigata (Uhler)
Kamloops (G.J.S.) ; Vernon (W.D.) ;
Pond, Univ. B.C. (V.Z.L.) ; Osoyoos
(H.B.L.); Vancouver (H.B.L., G.J.S.);
Nicola (G.J.S.) ; Metchosin (W.D.) ;
Midday Valley, Merritt (K.F.A.) ;
Mission (W.D.) ; Oliver (W.D.) ; Point
Grey (J.H.) ; Alkali Lake South of
Clinton (G. G. E. S.) ; Riske Creek,
North Range (G. G. E. S.) ; Cariboo
(G.G.E.S.) ; Peachland (J.B.W., A.N.G.,

H.B.L.) ; Chilliwack; Cranbrook
(J.H.P.); Sahacks Lake (U.C.) ; Vic-
toria, Swan Lake (A.B.A.) . Apparent-
ly an abundant species in the lower
part of the province. Found over most
of the United States, but not very
common along the Eastern seaboard;
it has been recorded from Mexico.
Hesperocorixa vulgaris (Hungerford)
Oliver (W.D.) ; Williams Lake dis-
trict (G.G.E.S.); Cranbrook (O.B.) ;
Sooke (K.F.A.) ; Clinton district, Bea-
verdam Lake (H.B.L.) . Seemingly on
the edge of its distribution, this Cor-
ixid is found principally in Michigan
and Minnesota and there are records
for most of the United States.
Hesperocorixa michiganensis
(Hungerford)

Saanich (W.D.) ; Chilcotin, Riske
Creek (G.G.E.S.). Found in scattered
localities across Canada, but not
along the Eastern seaboard.
Hesperocorixa atopodonta
(Hungerford)

Saanich (W.D.) ; Riske Creek, North
Range (G.G.E.S.). A new record for
British Columbia, this species is found
most commonly in Michigan, Min-
nesota and Wisconsin.

Arctocorisa convexa (Fieber)

Revelstoke (Walley, 1936). Known
in B.C. only from this locality. Found
principally so far in Labrador.
Arctocorisa sutilis (Uhler)

Kamloops (G.J.S.) ; 45 miles N. of
Atlin (A.B.A.) . Not previously record-
ed from British Columbia. This Arcto-
corisa has a wide distribution extend-
ing from Alaska to Colorado.

Sigara (Arctosigara) decor atella
(Hungerford)

Kamloops (G.J.S.) ; Lac la Jeune
(A. C. T.) ; Smithers; Chilcotin
(G.J.S.) ; Oliver (P.N.V.) ; Shafer Lake
(J.A.M.) ; Nicola Lake (E.R.B.). Not a
common species; the main centre of
distribution is Michigan and Min-
nesota.

Sigara ( Arctosigara ) penniensis
(Hungerford)

Prince Rupert (N.C.).

Pkoc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

Sigara (V ermicorixa) bicolor ip ennis
(Walley)

Chilcotin (G.J.S.) ; Cariboo, West-
wick Lake (G.G.E.S.) ; Brent Lake,
Summerland (A.N.G.). Found mainly
in Manitoba, Michigan and Minnesota.

Sigara {V ermicorixa) washington-
ensis Hungerford

Windermere (O.B.) ; Adams Lake
(K.F.A.); Vernon (L.D.A., W.D.) ; Oli-
ver (L.D.A.) ; Quesnel Lake (W.B.) ;
Needles (H.B.L.) ; Mill Creek, Kel-
owna (A.N.G.). A fairly common
species in British Columbia, although
this province appears to be the north-
ern limit.

Sigara {V ermicorixa) grosslineata
Hungerford

Quesnel (G. J. S.) ; Burns Lake
(G.J.S.) . Not previously recorded from
British Columbia. Recorded princip-
ally from Manitoba in Canada and
over the greater part of the United
States, but with few records for the
seaboard areas.

Sigara (V ermicorixa) solensis
(Hungerford)

Quesnel (G.J.S.) ; Shuswap (G.J.S.) ;
Nulki Lake (J.A.M.) ; 16 Mile Lake
( J.A.M.) ; Seymour Lake (J.A.M.) . Not
very common; has a discontinuous
distribution over Canada and the
United States.

Sigara {V ermicorixa) omani
(Hungerford)

Metchosin (W.D.) ; Malahat (W.D.) ;
Stanley Park (G.J.S.) ; Prince Rupert
(N.C.) ; Saanich (W.D.) ; Chilliwack;
Port Clements, Q.C.I. (A.B.A.). A com-
mon species. Distribution in the Unit-
ed States is confined to the western
seaboard of Washington, California
and Oregon.

Sigara ( Phaeosigara ) dolabra
Hungerford & Sailer
Lagoon (G.C.C.). A new record for
British Columbia. This is an exceed-
ingly rare species. The distribution
elsewhere is Minnesota, Michigan,
Rhode Island and Newfoundland.

Sigara (V ermicorixa) mulletensis
(Hungerford)

Chief Lake (J.A.M.). Found prin-
cipally in Michigan and Minnesota.

Cenocorixa hungerfordi n. sp. Fig. 1

Size: length 7.7 mm. to 8 mm.;
width of head across eyes 2 mm. to
2.1 mm.

Colour: general facies light; pro-
notum crossed by 8 to 10 dark lines
narrower than the pale interlinea-
tions, the median dark lines being
broken in the centre of pronotum;
claval pattern broken, vermiculate
dark splotches with colour etched
away from inner angle; corial pattern
vermiculated dark splotches arranged
in three indistinct longitudinal series;
membrane and corium distinctly sep-
arated by pale smoky line; embolium,
head and limbs pale, venter pale to
black.

Structural characteristics: Head

half as long as pronotal disk, inter-
ocular distance greater than the width
of an eye (about 25%); vertex of
male as seen from above produced
slightly medianly beyond margins of
eyes; facial hairs few, male fovea
broad attaining margins of eyes;
fovea well defined but not deep, over-
hung medianly by projection of ver-
tex; pronotal disk with median carina
visible on anterior fifth, moderately
rastrate; hemelytra rugulose with few
pale hairs; pruinose area of embolar
groove posterior of nodal furrow sub-
equal in length to that of claval su-
ture; lateral lobe of prothorax elon-
gate, slightly pointed distally; meso-
epimeron narrow, osteole near tip;
metaxyphus slightly longer than
broad, pointed apically.

Front leg of female of typical shape,
with about 19 hairs on lower palmar
row.

Front leg of male: Pala slightly

longer than broad at widest point;
peg row broken, 12 pegs in basal
portion, 3 large pegs separated from
each other and those of the basal and

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Colombia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

Fig. 1. — Cenocorixa hungerfordi. A Dorsal view of male abdomen.
B Front leg of male. C Right clasper of male.

Proc. Fntomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

distal portion by 1 V2 to 2 times their
own width; 12 pegs in distal portion.
There are also 4 long hairs on upper
part of median area of pala reaching
lower palmar fringe of hairs. Pala
without basal carina; tibia half as
long as pala, with pronounced dorsal
carina and no pad; femur fairly
slender, widest just beyond median
line distally, inner margin slightly
curved with about 15 rows of stridu-
latory pegs on inner surface near
base; middle and hind legs slender;
middle femur spinose; hind femur
with four teeth distally on inner mar-
gin of femur. Comparative measure-
ments of segments, middle leg —
femur, tibia, tarsus, claw: 100, 56, 37.5,
46.6; hind leg — femur, tibia, tarsus I,
tarsus II: 100, 105, 126.1,63.

Male asymmetry dextral, strigil
large of about 13 irregular combs.
Right clasper of male genital capsule
bifurcate at tip, curved, distal tip with
small pointed notch.

This species is very similar to C.
bifida, from which it differs by the
right genital clasper and strigil.

Described from four males and
eight females; holotype, allotype and
paratypes in the collection of the Uni-
versity of British Columbia. Dedicated
to Prof. H. B. Hungerford the eminent
Hemipterist.

Type series as follow: 4 8 S 8 $ 9
Kamloops, 29 July 1945, G. J. Spencer.

Cenocorixa columbiensis n. sp. Fig. 2

Size: length 6.9 mm. to 7.1 mm.;
width of head across eyes 2 mm.

Colour: general facies dark; pro-
notum crossed by 9 to 11 dark bands,
rarely 8, about the same width as the
pale interlineations, dark bands brok-
en medianly; claval pattern, apical
portion more or less regularly trans-
verse, basal portion more irregular;
corial pattern vermiculate dark fig-
ures with somewhat vague longitu-
dinal series; membrane and corium
clearly separated by a pale line; em-
bolium pale to smoky; rear and fore

legs suffused with reddish brown,
limbs a little paler; venter pale at
margins, dark to smoky over re-
mainder.

Structural characteristics: Head

about half as long as pronotum; in-
terocular space slightly wider than
width of an eye; vertex of male pro-
duced a little beyond margins of eye
as seen from above; facial hairs few;
male fovea shallow almost attaining
eyes laterally; pronotal disk with
median carina visible on anterior
third; pronotum and hemelytra ras-
trate, the latter with numerous pale
hairs; pruinose area of the embolar
groove posterior of the nodal furrow
plainly longer than the claval suture;
lateral lobes of prothorax about as
long as basal width; mesoepimeron
narrow with osteole near tip; metaxy-
phus longer than broad with apex
pointed.

Front leg of female: long and slen-
der with 20 hairs on lower palmar
row of pala.

Front leg of male: moderately

broad, very similar to C. andersoni
with about 29/30 pegs in a single
curved row; pala without basal car-
ina; tibia with pronounced dorsal
carina and about half as long as pala;
femur with a patch of 12 rows of
stridulatory pegs on the inner sur-
face; middle and hind legs slender.
Comparative measurements of seg-
ments: middle leg — femur, tibia, tar-
sus, claw: 100, 58.3, 38.9, 46.3; hind
leg — femur, tibia, tarsus I, tarsus II:
100, 116.6, 118.1, 60.6.

Male asymmetry dextral, strigil large
of 12 regular combs; rear margin of
the seventh abdominal segment of
the male with three lobes; right clas-
per of male not bifurcate at tip;
seventh ventral abdominal segment
of female broadly incised at tip.

This species can be separated from
the remainder of the genus by the
male genitalia, the number of dark
lines on the pronotum and the fact
that the hind tibia and tarsus I are

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

Fig. 2. — Cenocorixa columbiensis. A Dorsal view of male abdomen.
B Front leg of male. C Right clasper of male.

Froc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

almost the same length whereas in C.
andersoni tarsus I is considerably
longer than the tibia.

Described from eight males and
twelve females. Holotype, allotype,
and paratypes in the collection of the
University of British Columbia.

Type series as follows: 6 $ 2 6 2 2,
Pond, Univ. Brit. Col., 12 October
1928 (G. J. Spencer); 3 2 2, id., 11
October 1928 (V. Z. Lucas); H 1 2,
id., 12 October 1928 (J. Waterfield) ;
1 2, Metchosin, 30 August 1919 (W.
Downes) ; 1 $ , Vancouver, 27 March
1929, 1 2, id., 10 October 1925 (P. N.
Vroom) .

Cenocorixa dovmesi n. sp. Fig. 3

Size: length 7.5 mm.; width of head
across eyes 2.5 mm.

Colour: general facies light brown;
pronotum crossed by 7 dark lines
about half as wide as pale interline-
ations, median ones forked in the
centre; claval pattern irregularly
transverse, the dark pigment being
etched away at the apical end; corial
pattern with a longitudinal stripe
along the outer margin and two in-
cipient stripes along the median and
inner margins; membrane separated
from the corium by a distinct smoky
line; membrane with an indistinct
vermiculate pattern; embolium pale,
venter dark except at margins, limbs
pale.

Structural characteristics: head

half as long as pronotum, interocular
space slightly wider than the width
of an eye; vertex of male slightly pro-
duced beyond margins of eye as seen
from above; facial hairs very few,
male fovea shallow almost attaining
lateral margins of eye; pronotal Car-
ina visible only on anterior fifth;
pronotum and hemelytra moderately
rastrate, hemelytra with numerous
pale long hairs; pruinose area of the
embolar groove posterior of the nodal

furrow 25 per cent longer than that
of the claval suture; lateral lobe of
the prothorax one third longer than
broad at widest point, tip truncated;
mesoepimeron narrow with osteole
near tip; metaxyphus longer than
broad, apex pointed.

Front leg of male: pala twice as
broad as long, widest at median line;
32 pegs in a curved continuous line;
tibia two thirds as long as pala, with
a pronounced dorsal carina; femora
nearly twice as long as tibia, with a
patch of about 12 rows of stridulatory
pegs on the inner surface and an
irregular row of small spines from
the stridular patch to the apex of the
femora; middle and hind legs more
robust than other species in the
genus. Comparative measurements of
segments, middle leg: femora, tibia,
tarsus, claw: 100, 60.9, 38.7, 36; hind
leg: femora, tibia, tarsus I, tarsus II:
100, 100, 127.6, 54.6.

Male asymmetry dextral, strigil large
of 15 regular combs; rear margin of
the seventh abdominal segment
rather similar to that of C. andersoni ,
differing in that just sinistral of the
median lobe there is a small projec-
tion basally. On the dextral side is a
dense patch of hairs produced in-
wardly. Right clasper of the male not
bifurcate at the tip.

This species can be separated from
the others of the genus by the shape
of the right genital clasper and the
configuration of the seventh abdom-
inal segment, and also by the fact
that the hind tibia and femora are
the same length.

Known only by the male type from
Stanley Park collected by T.T.W.M., 8
October 1925. Type in the collection
of the University of British Columbia.
Dedicated in honour of W. Downes
who in his life time did so much to
advance our knowledge of the Hemip-
tera of British Columbia.

Froc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960 41

Fig. 3. — Cenocorixa downesi. A Dorsal view of male abdomen.
B Front leg of male. C Right clasper of male.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

TABLE I — Distribution of Corixid species in the Pacific northwest and

Trichocorixa naias (Kirk.)

Corisella decolor

C. inscripta (Uhler)

C. vulnerata

C. producta norvikensis Hung.

Cenocorixa bifida -

C. dakotensis (Hung.)

C. utahensis

C. andersoni

C. wileyae Hung.

C. expleta

Hesperocorixa laevigata

H. vulgaris

H. michiganensis

H. atopodonta

Arctocorisa convexa

Dasycorixa hybrids

Sigara conocephala (Hung.)

S. decorate! la

S. penniensis

S. bicoloripennis

S. alternata (Say)

S. washingtonensis

S. solensis

S. mathesoni Hung.

S. omani

S. mulletensis

S. grosslineata

S. dolabra

Alaska

B.C.

Alta.

Wash.

... X

.... X

....

Distribution

The distributions of 35 species in
the Pacific northwest and Alberta are
summarised in Table I.

Of the species recorded only Cor-
isella audeni and Callicorixa alask-
ensis are common to all four areas.
The large number of species recorded
from British Columbia must in part
be due to the fact that there is a wide
variety of habitats and climates en-
abling such genera as Corisella , Arc-
tocorisa and Dasycorixa to occur al-
though none of these genera are very
abundant. It must, however, be borne
in mind that great areas of this prov-
ince have never been collected.

The known Corixids of British Co-
lumbia can be divided into four cate-
gories according to their distribution
in America north of Mexico.

I. Species principally confined to

the western seaboard. At this stage it
is not possible to state definitely that
British Columbia forms the northern
limit of distribution for group A; how-
ever, the range of group B is known
to extend into Alaska:

Group A
C. decolor
C. utahensls
C. bifida
C. andersoni
S. washingtonensis
S. omani

Group B
A. sutilis
C. audeni
C. vulnerata

II. Species with a predominantly
trans-Canadian distribution:

A. convexa C. americana

III. Species distributed across Can-
ada, and north central plains of the
United States:

C. alaskensis
H. vulgaris
H. michiganensis
H. atopodonta

S. decoratella
S. penniensis
S. bicoloripennis
S. solensis
S. mulletensis

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

IV. Species recorded from most of
Canada and found in most of the
United States:

H. laevigata S. grosslineata

The remaining three species, D.
hybrida, S. dolabra and C. expleta,
are difficult to comment upon regard-
ing their distribution because of the
lack of data.

Acknowledgements

I wish to acknowledge the assistance of
Prof. H. B. Hungerford of the University of
Kansas for help in the determination of
certain species of Cenocorixa and Sigara
dolabra. I also wish to thank Dr. G. G. E.
Scudder, of the Department of Zoology at
the University of British Columbia, for
allowing me to examine the University
collections and for reading and criticising
these notes.

References

Hungerford, H. B., 1948. The Corixidae of the Western Hemisphere, (Hemiptera). Univ.
Kansas Sci. Bull. Vol. 32: 1-827.

Lansbury, I., 1955. Distributional Records of North American Corixidae (Hemiptera-
Heteroptera). Can. Ent. LXXXVII: 474-481.

Walley, G., 1936. New North American Corixidae with notes. Can. Ent. LXVII: 62.

THE BLACK WIDOW SPIDER, LATRODECTES MACTANS FABR.,

IN VANCOUVER

Spiders of many shapes and sizes
are sent in to the Department of
Zoology throughout the year by fear-
ful citizens with enquiries as to their
propensity for killing human beings: I
have always told them that no deadly
poisonous spider occurs in Vancouver
or in the wet coastal region.

In the mid 1950s a dead specimen
in very poor condition was sent in
which resembled a Black Widow ex-
cept that the abdomen was conspicu-
ously marked with pale bands, very
much like those of a typical male L.
mactans, in contrast to all those fe-
males I have seen in the dry belt,
those from Davis, California and
those from Victoria, whose abdomens
were totally black.

In December, 1959 when checking
the low crawl space under a small
house in east Vancouver for termite
damage, I found 2 sprawling webs of
coarse silk and 2 mature female
spiders which were undoubtedly mac-
tans, with pale linear markings on
the dorsum of the abdomen: they
ran into holes from which I failed to
retrieve them.

In January, 1960 I was assessing
termite damage in the basement of a

large house on Granville Street south
and found a female mactans with
pale markings in a typical coarse
web, between the edge of a carpet and
the wall, just under the edge of a
Hollywood bed on which 3 small chil-
dren and a dog were accustomed to
play; nearby was a male in its much
smaller web; both were in a position
where they could easily have been
squashed by a child. Both were cap-
tured and brought to the laboratory;
the female soon ate the male and in
time became coal black except for
one small pale spot on the dorsum of
the abdomen.

Hitherto I have always given the
distribution of the Black Widow in
British Columbia as the dry belt of
the Interior and the drier sections of
Vancouver Island from Victoria to
Nanaimo, and on the dry Gulf
Islands; this distribution will have to
be revised to include at least Vancou-
ver in the lower mainland. If it
increases in Vancouver it will con-
stitute a definite hazard and the
public will have to be alerted to watch
out for it.

— G. J. Spencer, University of British Colum-
bia, Vancouver.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Yol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

EFFECT OF SPEED OF TRAVEL ON THE PERFORMANCE OF
CONCENTRATE ORCHARD SPRAYERS1 2

A. D. McMechan,2 j. m. McArthur3 and K. Williams3

Introduction

For several years the official recom-
mendation for British Columbia fruit
growers has been to operate concen-
trate sprayers at a speed of one mile
per hour in mature plantings with
rows 30 feet apart (3). This recom-
mendation was necessary because,
when travelling at a faster speed,
many of the sprayers did not give
good spray coverage in the tree tops.
During the last few years most of the
concentrate orchard sprayers manu-
factured in British Columbia have
been improved to the point where it
should be feasible to operate them at
higher speeds. In experiments car-
ried out by Messrs. D. B. Waddell and
J. M. McArthur at the Summerland
Research Station (unpublished work)
it was determined that an efficient
concentrate sprayer gave as good de-
posits at two miles per hour as at one
mile per hour, in pre-bloom sprays
in large apple trees. In the work re-
ported here, two makes of sprayers
were operated at one, and two, miles
per hour, for applying summer sprays,
and a comparison was made of the
spray deposits in the trees at the two
speeds.

Methods

Two concenctrate sprayers in com-
mon use in British Columbia orchards
were used for the experiment. Sprayer
A was a single-side sprayer that de-
livered 7000 cubic feet of air per
minute at an average velocity of 115
miles per hour; Sprayer B was a
double-side sprayer that delivered
10,300 cubic feet of air per minute per
side at an average velocity of 87 miles
per hour.

1 Contribution No. 45 from the Research Station,
Research Branch, Canada Department of Agricul-
ture, Summerland, British Columbia.

2 Agricultural Engineer.

3 Chemist.

The experiment was carried out in
three parts. In May, and August, of
1956 Sprayer A was used to apply DDT
to replicated plots of mature Mc-
Intosh apple trees in three orchards,
at speeds of one, and two miles per
hour. The plots that were sprayed at
one mile per hour received 72 gallons
of spray mixture per acre, and those
sprayed at two miles per hour, 36
gallons per acre. The per-acre dosage
of DDT was the same for all plots. The
sprays were applied at a pump pres-
sure of 300 pounds per square inch.

The second part of the experiment
was carried out in July 1957, when
Sprayer A was used to apply DDT in
two orchards of mature McIntosh
apple trees at speeds of one, and two,
miles per hour. Fifty gallons of spray
mixture per acre were applied on all
plots at a pump pressure of 75 pounds
per square inch.

The third part of the experiment
was carried out in the fall of 1957
when both sprayers were used to apply
a post-harvest spray of methoxychlor
to replicated plots of mature Mc-
Intosh apple trees. The sprayers were
operated at one, and two, miles per
hour with pump pressures of 75, and
300, pounds per square inch. All plots
received 50 gallons of spray mixture
per acre.

In all the orchards used in the ex-
periments, the trees ranged in height
from 18 to 22 feet, and in diameter
from 25 to 30 feet. The trees were 30
feet apart in the rows, and the rows
were 30 feet apart.

Leaf samples were taken for insec-
ticide deposit analysis after each
spray. Fifty leaves were taken from
the top, and 50 leaves from the bot-
tom, of each of five trees per plot.
Tree-top samples were taken 15 feet
above ground level, and tree-bottom

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia. Vol. 57 (I960), Dec. 1, 1960

samples 6 feet above ground level.
Sampling technique and sample treat-
ment were the same as reported by
Waddell and McArthur (5). DDT was
determined by a modified Schechter-
Haller procedure (2) ; methoxychlor
was determined by a modified Fair-
ing-Warrington method (1).

Results and Discussion

The results in Tables 1 and 2 show
that, in a majority of the plots, the
tree-top deposits on leaves were
slightly higher at two miles per hour.
It is likely, therefore, that, with the
sprayers used, pests in the tree tops
can be controlled as well at two miles
per hour as at one mile per hour.

TABLE 1 — DDT Deposits on Leaves (mmg./sq. cm.) with Sprayer A Operated at Two
Speeds. Spray Applied at 300 p.s.i. (Average of 10 Determinations.)

Tree

tops

Tree

bottoms

Date

Orchard

1 m.p.h.*

2 m.p.h.**

1 m.p.h.

2 m.p.h.

May,

2.5

3.4

8.1

12.0

1956

4.6

4.7

9.1

14.2

5.1

3.3

9.4

6.8

Average

4.1

3.8

8.9

11.0

August,

4.1

6.0

6.9

9.4

1956

5.6

6.1

9.4

12.1

4.7

4.0

7.3

8.5

Average

4.8

5.4

7.9

10.0

* Spray applied at

72 gallons per

acre.

** Spray applied at 36 gallons per acre.

In general, the tree-bottom deposits
were higher at two miles per hour. In
concentrate spraying, more spray
chemical is usually deposited in the
lower parts of the trees than is re-
quired for pest control. Evidently this
tendency is accentuated when the
sprayer speed is increased.

In this experiment the amount of
pesticide applied per acre was the
same at both speeds. In the sprays
applied in May and August, 1956, this
was accomplished by using the same
nozzle orifices at both speeds, and
doubling the concentration of pesti-
cide in the spray liquid applied at two
miles per hour. Theoretically, at the
two-mile-per-hour rate, there would
be only half as many spray drops per
unit area of sprayed surface, and each
drop would contain twice as much
pesticide. This type of distribution of
spray chemical is probably satisfac-

tory for the control of mobile pests
but may be inadequate for the control
of diseases such as apple scab (4). In
the remainder of the experiment suit-
able nozzles were used to apply the
same amount of spray liquid per acre
at both speeds. It is interesting to
note that the relationship between
amounts of insecticide deposited at
the two speeds was independent of
the volume of spray liquid applied per
acre and of the pump pressure.

Growers having sprayers with air-
stream characteristics similar to those
of the sprayers used in the experiment
can save considerable time, without
sacrificing effectiveness of the spray,
by spraying throughout the season at
a speed of two miles per hour; grow-
ers having less efficient equipment
should continue to spray at the pre-
viously recommended rate of one
mile per hour.

TABLE 2 — Insecticide Deposits on Leaves (mmg./sq. cm.) with Two Sprayers Operated
at Two Speeds. Spray Applied at 50 Gallons per Acre. (Average of 10 Determinations.)

Pump Tree tops Tree bottoms

pressure

Sprayer

Date

Orchard

p.s.i.

1 m.p.h.

2 m.p.h.

1 m.p.h.

2 m.p.h

July,

2.8

2.9

6.3

6.8

1957

4.0

3.2

5.5

7.2

Average

3.4

3.1

5.9

7.0

September,

300

2.8

3.6

2.9

4.5

1957

3.3

3.8

3.9

4.4

September,

300

2.9

2.2

4.3

6.7

1957

2.2

2.6

4.0

9.3

Proc. Entomol. Soc Brit. Columbia. Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1. 1960

References

1. Anonymous. Methoxychlor — a summary of analytical methods. E. I. Dupont de

Nemours and Co. (Inc.) Bull. pp. 34-36. 1951.

2. Downing, G., and L. B. Norton. Modification of Schechter method of estimating DDT

residue. Anal. Chem. 23: 1870-1871. 1951.

3. Marshall, J. Concentrate spraying in deciduous orchards. Can. DeDt. Agr. Pub. 1020,

p. 25. 1958.

4. Swales, J. E., and K. Williams. Further note on surfactants in concentrate mixture

for control of apple scab. Can. J. Plant Sci. 37: 82-83. 1957.

5. Waddell, D. B., and J. M. McArthur. Effects of pruning on spray deposits from con-

centrate orchard sprayers. Can. J. Agr. Sci. 34: 448. 1954.

TWO RECORDS OF IXODES SIGNATUS BIRULA AND ONE OF
IXODES URIAE WHITE, MARINE BIRD TICKS

The first Canadian record of Ixodes
signatus Birula was by Eric Hearle1 2
in 1938 from 2 females and 22
nymphs which I had taken from a
cormorant at Tofino, Vancouver
Island, in 1926. Other records from
Cormorant as given by Gregsom are 4
nymphs and I larva from Gull Island,
1 female larva from Cowichan Bay
and 3 females from Langara Island.
Gregson gives also one unusual record
of 3 females and 1 nymph from a rosy
finch from the Pribilof Islands.

To these records I can now add 2
others, of collections given me by
students at the University who have
given me ectoparasites from birds and
mammals at odd times.

The first collection was made by
Rudolf Drent and G. F. van Tets from
Phalacrocorax pelagicus Pallas, the
pelagic cormorant, found dead on 6
May 1959 on Mandarte Island, B.C.
and consists of 1 adult engorged fe-
male, 3 adult males, 17 male nymphs
and 54 female nymphs and 317 seeds
or larvae of both sexes, giving the
remarkable total of 392 ticks off one
bird. The second collection was made
by Rudolf Drent from another pelagic
cormorant found dead on 2 June 1959

on Mandarte Island and consists of 2
engorged females, 2 partly engorged
females, 1 flat female, 1 small and 1
very small female nymphs and 1
female seed or larva, a total of 8
females and no males.

The third record is of Ixodes uriae
White, the hairy tick, collected by F.
H. Fay from the head of Uria lonvia
s.s. arra the Thick-billed Murre, in
June 1954 at Gambell, St. Lawrence,
Alaska, and consists of 1 engorged
female adult and 11 engorged female
nymphs of several sizes. The propor-
tion of females to males in these
collections, is interesting; in 2 col-
lections there were no males at all;
in the large collection the proportion
was roughly 3 females to 1 male; in
all collections, 1 or at most 2 engorged
females seemed to be responsible for
the entire infestations. The 3 collec-
tions totalled 412 specimens of what
are normally, relatively rare ticks. All
the material is in the entomological
museum at the University.

1 Gregson, John D., 1956. The Ixodoidea of Can-
ada. Pub. 930 Science Service, Ent. Div. Canada
Dept, of Agr., Ottawa.

2 Hearle, Eric., 1938. The Ticks of British Colum-
bia. Sci. Agr. 18: 341-354.

— 6r. J. Spencer, University of British Colum-
bia, Vancouver.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE TUBER FLEA BEETLE, EPITRIX TUBERIS
GENT., IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

H. G. Fulton1 2 and F. L. Banham3

The tuber flea beetle was first noted
in British Columbia in 1940. Damaged
potato tubers from Rosedale and Lulu
Island on the lower mainland were
received by the Entomology Labora-
tory at Agassiz for diagnosis. These
tubers were found to have pimpling
injuries in the skin leading to brown
worm-tracks immediately below. Sim-
ilar damage was reported by Cowan

(1) fn 1927 and described by Webster
and Baker (5) in 1929 in Washington.
They attributed the injury to feeding
by larvae of the eastern potato flea
beetle, Epitrix cucumeris Harris.

In 1941, flea beetles were collected
from areas where the damaged tubers
had been grown. Two species were
present; one, the western potato flea
beetle, Epitrix subcrinita (Lee.), was
a minor pest of potatoes that had
been present for more than 20 years.
This species damaged foliage by feed-
ing but was not known to damage
tubers. Later observations (4) indi-
cated that larval damage could occur
to tubers when large numbers were
present. The second species was read-
ily distinguished from E. subcrinita,
and was assumed to be E. cucumeris
until specimens sent to the System-
atics Unit in Ottawa, were shown to
be undescribed. Finally, in 1944, the
insect was described by L. G. Gentner

(2) .

The first published record of this
insect was made in Colorado in 1904
(2) where it caused heavy loss. The
insect was first recorded in Oregon,

1 Contribution No. 24, Research Station, Re-
search Branch, Canada Department of Agricul-
ture, Vancouver, B.C.

2 Entomology Sub-Station, Chilliwack, B.C.

3 Entomology Laboratory, Kamloops, B.C.

Washington, and Nebraska before
1928.

From 1941 to 1943, E. tuberis spread
throughout the lower Fraser Valley.
Heavy damage occurred at Agassiz,
Chilliwack, Langley, and Sumas but
the damage diminished towards the
coast. The Delta region remained
virtually free until 1948.

In the southern interior heavy in-
festations were general in 1951 and
1952. At several places in the Lillooet
district in the upper Fraser Valley
and at Kamloops, heavy adult popu-
lations severely damaged the foliage
of tomato, bean, beet, rhubarb and
potato plantings.

In 1953, E. tuberis was taken at
Gilpin 7 miles east of Grand Forks.
New locality records were also made
at Fauquier and Burton on the Arrow
Lakes about 70 miles north of Grand
Forks. Both localities were completely
isolated from previously known in-
festations.

By 1958, E. tuberis had appeared 90
miles east of Grand Forks at Wynndel
on Kootenay Lake.

Except where references are given
the data in this paper were taken
from the records of the Chilliwack
Sub-station (formerly the Agassiz
Entomology Laboratory), the Kam-
loops Entomology Laboratory, and the
Provincial Entomologist, Mr. C. L.
Neilson, to whom grateful acknowl-
edgement is made. We also wish to
thank Dr. H. R. MacCarthy, Head,
Entomology Section, Research
Branch, Vancouver, who suggested
this topic and for his assistance in the
preparation of this paper.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Bbit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

-Distribution of Epitrix tuberis Gent, in British Columbia.

Proc. Kntomol. Soc. Beit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

References

1. Cowan, Robert. Flea beetle injury in southwest Washington. Proc. 22nd Ann.

Meeting Wash. State Hort. Assn. Dec. 1926, pp. 155-160. 1927.

2. Gentner, L. G. The black flea beetles of the genus Epitrix commonly identified as

cucumeris (Harris) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash. 46:
137-149. 1944.

3. Glendenning, R. Population counts of potato flea beetles at Agassiz and Chilliwack,

B.C. Proc. Ent. Soc. Brit. Col. 42:2. 1945.

4. MacCarthy, H. R. A comparison of potato tuber damage by two flea beetles, Epitrix

tuberis Gent, and Epitrix subcrinita (Lee.) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Proc.
Ent. Soc. Brit. Col. 47: 42. 1951.

5. Webster, R. L., and W. W. Baker. Potato flea beetles in Washington. J. Econ. Ent.

22: 897-900. 1929.

A FURTHER RECORD OF GRYLLOBLATTA CAMPODEIFORMIS
CAMPODEIFORMIS WALKER, IN THE INTERIOR OF B.C.

A further record for the distribu-
tion of Grylloblatta campodeiformis
campodeiformis Walker, is establish-
ed with the discovery of this insect in
the Monashee Mountains east of
Lumby, B.C. Two specimens, one male
and one female nymph, were found
on September 13, 1956, at a road cross-
ing over Tepee Creek approximately
two miles north-west of Lightning
Peak in the Monashee Mountains.
The identification of these specimens
was verified by Professor Emeritus G.
F. Spencer of the University of British
Columbia.

It is interesting to note that along
with both of these insects was cap-
tured a large Carabidae — Pemvhus
angusticolHs verified bv Gordon
Stace Smith of Creston, B.C.

The specimens were taken from a
deep crack in a soft granite boulder
on the bank of the creek. The outer
slab of the rock was removed and the
insects were found among the moss
which was growing inside of the rock
fissure. It was a bright day and tem-
perature was estimated to be 65°F.
although evening temperatures were

below freezing. Altitude was estimat-
ed at 6,300 feet.

These specimens and the one cap-
tured by J. D. Gregson (1938) at Kam-
loops, B.C. have coal black eyes which
is in contrast to the non-pigmented
eyes of two adult specimens taken at
Jasper (1930) and which are held by
Professor G. J. Spencer.

Seven specimens, one adult and six
nymphs, were taken by D. K. Camp-
bell and J. Grant and are assumed to
be of the same variety, although
identification was not confirmed.
These specimens were found beneath
the rocks, at the foot of a stable
talus slope, located on the north-east
side of the Monashee highway ap-
proximately 32 miles east of Lumby
at an elevation of about 3,800 feet.
The date of capture was November
11, 1952. At the time of capture the
insects were active although air tem-
perature hovered about the freezing
point with intermittent snow flurries.
The temperature within the rock
slide was below freezing. The pig-
mentation in the eyes of these speci-
mens was not observed.

— J. Corner , Provincial Apiarist, Vernon,
B.C .

References

Gregson J. D. Grylloblatta campodeiformis Walker — A new record. Can. Ent. 70: 63-64.
1938.

Pboc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia. Yol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

SCOLYTID NOTES

J. M. Kinghorn1 2

A. Hosts of Aniscmdrus pyri (Peck)
— This ambrosia beetle is a common
pest of many species of deciduous
trees including most of the common
fruit trees. In addition, Essig (1926)
lists hemlock, cedar, and pine as
hosts. Chamberlin (1939, 1958) states
that these coniferous hosts were un-
doubtedly listed in error.

In a Douglas fir log at Cowichan
Lake, B. C., two ambrosia beetle gal-
leries were found which were of the
diameter of A. pyri. The remains of
an insect in one of the galleries was
positively identified as a female of
the species. In addition, the tunnels
were occluded with a fungus. Upon
minute examination, the spores of
the fungus closely resembled those
of the fungal symbiont of Xyleborus
dispar described by Schneider-Orelli
(1913). X. dispar is a European spec-
ies closely related to, and probably
synonymous with A. pyri.

Although evidence of brood devel-
opment was not found, the fact that
attack did occur in Douglas fir in-
dicates that Essig’s coniferous host
records should be considered valid.

B. Pupation of Orthotomicus vici-
nus (Lee) . — This species is doubtfully
distinct from O. caelatus (Eichh.)
according to Swaine (1918). Near Na-
noose Bay, B. C., a white pine log was
infested by the insect. The larvae
typically destroy most of the inner
bark. Pupae and young adults were
found during August in the outer
bark and in the sapwood. The sap-
wood pupal cells were of particular
interest because this habit is infre-
quent among bark beetles. The larvae
bored radially into the sapwood to a
depth equivalent to about their body
length, then turned and cut a pupal
niche lying parallel with the grain of

1 Contribution No. 654, Forest Biology Division,
Research Branch, Department of Agriculture, Ot-
tawa, Canada.

2 Forest Biology Laboratory, Victoria, B.C.

wood. White frass plugged the en-
trance. Upon emerging, the teneral
adults bored through the frass plugs
and directly through the outer bark.
The L-shaped pupal cells are like
minature replicas of those mined by
the cerambycid, Tetropium velutinum
Lee.

C. Excessive Brood Mortality of
Dendroctonus monticolae Hopk. —
High natural brood mortality of the
mountain pine beetle is not uncom-
mon. However, during the course of
chemical control studies at Winder-
mere, B. C., from 1951 to 1953, excep-
tionally high brood mortality during
the late larval and pupal stages was
often encountered. In June and July,
large, apparently healthy larvae were
found, but emergence in August was
negligible. It was noted that in such
trees much fungus mycelium was
growing around the galleries in the
inner bark. Dead larvae and pupae
were often surrounded or completely
covered with white mycelium.

An example can be cited from
among ten lodgepole pine trees used
for checks in a chemical control ex-
periment. The trees were examined
for attack and survival in August,
1953. All were infested to about the
same degree, and whereas survival in
nine of the trees averaged 17.8 + 8.7
(X-\-t°*SX) insects per square foot,
only an average of 1.4 beetles per
square foot survived in the tenth tree.
Heavy mycelium was present around
the insect galleries in all parts of the
infested bole. Blue stain invariably
associated with the species was in the
sapwood along with an incipient de-
cay. Field culturing facilities neces-
sary for determining the identity of
the mycelial mass were not available
at the time. Cultures inoculated from
the wood in the laboratory later re-

Prog. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

vealed that the decay fungus was
Peniophora gigantea (Fr.) Massee.
That wood decaying fungus might be
implicated in the death of bark beetle
broods is worth noting. Heretofore,
certain mould fungi (Erottum, Pent -
cillium and Aspergillus ) are reported
to have destroyed broods of Ips spp.
(Trimble, 1924), but the possibility
that decay fungi might have a smoth-
ering effect on broods has apparently
received no attention in North Amer-
ica.

Fungi, other than the commensal
bluestains, are so frequently observed
proliferating in and around bark
beetle brood galleries, that one is led
to suspect that they are responsible
for much undetermined bark beetle
mortality. There is a need for care-
fully isolating and identifying fungi
where they appear to be deleterious
to broods, and to determine the con-
ditions necessary for them to become
operative.

D. Trypodendron lineatum (Oliv.)
Attacks in Living Trees. — This am-
brosia beetle usually confines its at-
tacks to recently dead trees, windfalls
or logs. During the last five years, at
least two cases of the beetles attack-
ing living trees have been observed.

The first instance was where one
end of a log highly attractive to
beetles had been tied to a healthy
hemlock. Attacks on the log were very
heavy. In autumn, when the bark of
the living tree was wet with rain,

small pitch exudations could be seen
on the outer bark. When the bark was
removed, it was found that beetles
had attempted to gain entry to the
sapwood, but had only succeeded in
penetrating to the cambium.

The other case occurred in a mature
forest next to a logging setting where
susceptible logs had been left during
the spring attack period. In August,
a standing, but suppressed hemlock
was noted at the edge of the forest
with many small pitch exudations on
the lower five feet of its bole. Trypo-
dendron had succeeded in penetrat-
ing into the wood to a depth of at
least one-half inch, but no brood
developed. The tree added its annual
ring of xylem and succeeded in cover-
ing over all the entrance holes. Only
dimples on the surface of the sapwood
revealed where the beetles had en-
tered.

In both of these cases, it appears
that the beetles had been confused
by the presence of highly attractive
wood nearby. The resinosis is evi-
dence that the species is not capable
of coping with living trees. Even in
recently cut logs and in windthrown
trees, it has occasionally been ob-
served that resin flow has thwarted
successful attack. Although tropical
ambrosia beetles attack, and some-
times kill healthy trees, there is little
likelihood of our conifers succumbing
to attacks by indigenous ambrosia
beetles.

Literature Cited

Chamberlin, W. J. 1939. The bark and timber beetles of North America north of Mexico.
OSC Coop. Assoc. Corvallis, Oregon. 513 pp.

. 1958. The Scolytoidea of the Northwest. Oregon, Washington, Idaho

and British Columbia. Oregon State Monographs. Studies in Entomology. Number
2, 1958. OSC, Corvallis, Ore. 205 pp.

Essig, E. 0. 1926. Insects of western North America. MacMillan and Co., New York.
1035 pp.

Schneider-Orelli, Von O. 1913. Untersuehungen iiber den pilzziichtenden Obstbaum-
borkenkafer Xyleborus (Anisandrus) dispar und seinen Nahrpilz. Centralbl.
Bakter., Parasitenkunde und Infektionskrankheiten. II, 38: 25-110.

Swaine, J. M. 1918. Canadian bark-beetles. Part II. Canada Dept. Agri. Ent. Br. Bui. 14.
143 pp.

Trimble, F. M. 1924. Life history and habits of two Pacific coast bark beetles. Ann. Ent.
Soc. Amer. 17: 382-391.

Proc. Entomoi.. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

DIMETHOATE, A SYSTEMIC OF LOW MAMMALIAN TOXICITY,
AS AN ORCHARD INSECTICIDE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA'

D. P. Pielou and R. S. Downing1 2

I rtf- reduction

Until quite recently systemic insec-
ticides have been of high, or moder-
ately high, mammalian toxicity. Now
systemics of low mammalian toxicity
have been developed. Among these
is dimethoate3 4 (marketed in Europe
as Rogor*), formerly known by the
code numbers E. I. 12880 and NC 262
in Canada. The active ingredient is
described chemically as 0,0-Dimethyl
S- (N-methylcarbamoylmethyl) phos-
phorodithioate, according to the no-
menclature adopted by Martin (8).
Discovery of the properties of the
chemical appears to have been sim-
ultaneous and independent in the U.
S. A. and in Europe. The available
commercial products appear to be
very similar (1, 5) in characteristics;
however, formulation, and the actual
industrial procedure of synthesis,
may be different for the different
products, and may lead to small dif-
ferences in performance. Cyanamid
dimethoate has been available as a
50 per cent wettable powder, and as
an emulsifiable concentrate (46 per
cent “solubilized liquid concentrate”
containing four pounds active in-
gredient per U. S. gallon) ; Rogor as
an emulsifiable concentrate contain-
ing 320 grams active ingredient per
litre.

The acute oral toxicity (LD 50) of
this compound to male rats is in the
range 200 to 300 milligrams per kilo-
gram of body weight. The corres-
ponding range for dermal toxicity is
750 to 1,150 milligrams per kilogram

1 Contribution No. 48 from the Research Station,
Canada Department of Agriculture, Summerland,
British Columbia.

2 Entomologists.

3 Common name; originally coined by American
Cyanamid Company, Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A.

4 Trademark of Montecatini, Rome, Italy. Dis-
tributed in Canada by Fisons (Canada) Limited,
Toronto, Ont.

5 Gallons are Imperial gallons except where
otherwise indicated.

(1, 5). The toxicity of the older sys-
temic, demeton (0,0-Diethyl 0-2
(ethylthio) ethyl phosphorodithioate)
is approximately 60 times greater
orally, and 10 times greater dermally,
than that of dimethoate (6) . The new
material is comparable with DDT in
so far as hazards to the operator are
concerned. It is, for an insecticide, of
unusually low toxicity to fish (5). In
Canada, dimethoate has been regis-
tered for use on a number of non-
bearing crops; and on bearing apples
and pears, where a torenance of 2.0
parts per million has been establish-
ed.

In our work at Summerland di-
methoate has been tried aganst apple
aphid, pear psylla and tetranychid
mites; pests that have been difficult
to control in recent years.

Control of Pear Psylla

The pear psylla, Psylla pyricola
Foerst., after a quiescent period of
many years (10) has once again come
into prominence as a serious fruit
pest in the Okanagan Valley. Resis-
tance to malathion [S-(1,2-Dicar-
bethoxyethyl) -0,0-dimethyl phos-
phorodithioate] the recommended
control material until 1958 (2), ap-
pears widespread (4). Difficulties, or
failures in control, have been report-
ed with other organo-phosphorus in-
secticides, and even with rotenone,
once a widely recommended material.

In 1958 D. J. Marshall conducted
some experiments in which he used
dimethoate in two orchards. Dr. Mar-
shall has allowed mention of his un-
published findings. In the orchards
concerned, malathion, applied at 12
pounds of 25 per cent wettable pow-
der per 100 gallons5, did not give sat-
isfactory control. However, the two
dimethoate liquid formulations (NC

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

262 and 12880), applied at the rate of
32 ounces per 100 gallons, gave such
promising results that it was decided,
in 1959, to continue the work using
lower rates of application.

The first trial in 1959 was carried
out in an orchard of Bartlett pears
on June 17. The trees were sprayed
with a high-pressure (425 pounds per
square inch), high-volume, gun
sprayer. There were seven to ten
trees per plot and two plots per treat-
ment. Approximately seven gallons of

dimethoate 46 per cent emulsion, di-
luted one pint per 100 gallon, were
applied per tree. As a comparison,
malathion was applied in similar
amounts at a dilution of 1.5 pounds
of 25 per cent wettable powder per
100 gallons. After the application, ex-
aminations of the leaves were made
at intervals. Fifty leaves (10 from
each of five central trees) were pick-
ed per plot and examined in the lab-
oratory by stereomicroscope. Results
are shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 — Effectiveness of dimethoate emulsion against pear psylla*

Treatment Number of nymphs per 50 leaves

Insecticide per 100 gal. June 24 July 7 July 21 July 30 Aug. 10

Dimethoate, 1 pt. 33 10 22 32 110

Malathion, IV2 lb. 44 118 resprayed

Check — no treatment 108 836** 9 5 61

* Treatment date, June 17.

** Sprayed with dimethoate, July 8.

Table 1 shows that dimethoate gave
commercial control (an average of
less than one nymph per leaf) for 43
days. Malathion gave commercial
control for only seven days. The mal-
athion plots were resprayed, with an-
other experimental insecticide, when
the average number of nymphs rose
above two per leaf; the results of this
spraying are not relevant to this in-
vestigation. On the check plots, after
20 days, the average number of
nymphs per leaf was over 80 times
that of the dimethoate plots and ap-
proximately 8 times that of the mala-
thion plots. The latter fact indicates
that although control with malathion
was poor, total malathion-resistance
had not been reached in this orchard.

The check plots were subsequently
sprayed with dimethoate and the re-
sults from this application confirmed
the effectiveness of the material.

A second trial was carried out in an
orchard of Bartlett, Bose and Flemish
pears on August 5. These applications
were made with a concentrate air-
blast sprayer of the turbine axial-
flow type. One gallon of 46 per cent
emulsifiable dimethoate in 50 gallons
of water was applied per acre; nozzle
pressure was 300 pounds per square
inch and the rate of travel 1.5 miles
per hour, a recommended speed for
the 20 x 20-foot planting. Evaluation
of effectiveness was made as in the
previous experiment; the results are
shown in Table 2.

TABLE 2 — Effectiveness of concentrate spraying against pear psylla*
Treatment Number of nymphs per 50 leaves

Insecticide per acre Aug. 12 Aug. 21 Aug. 31

Dimethoate, 46%, 1 gal. in 50 gal. water 0 0 6

Check — no treatment 92 132 172

* Treatment date, Aug. 5.

Pboc. Entomol. Soc. Bbit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

It cannot be assumed, though it is
probable, that the superior results
obtained, compared with the previous
experiment, were the result of con-
centrate spraying because of the dif-
ferences in plant and insect develop-
ment at the two dates; and because
the temperature, at the time of ap-
plication, was 10 °F. higher in the lat-
ter case. In this experiment some
foliage injury was observed on the
Bartlett variety but not on the other
two varieties; about one-fifth of the
foliage area was affected.

Since experience in British Colum-
bia (9) is that wettable powders, in
concentrate spraying, are less phyto-
toxic than emulsions, a third experi-
ment was carried out in a Bartlett
orchard. This trial was conducted
later in the season, on October 2,
when infestation was very high. Ap-
plication was made with the air-blast
concentrate sprayer as in the second
trial; and conditions were approxi-
mately the same. Dimethoate 50 per
cent wettable powder was applied at
rates of 8 and 12 pounds per acre, the
checks received no treatment. There
were seven to ten trees per plot and
two treatments per plot. Because in-
sect numbers were high, evaluation
was made using the “mite-brushing”
technique (7), which proved to be ap-
plicable to psyllids. In view of the

stage of the season, a single evalua-
tion of results on Octaber 9 was jud-
ged sufficient. At that date nymph
counts averaged zero per 50 leaves at
the 12 pound rate of application and
two per 50 leaves at the 8 pound rate.
On the check plots the average was
532 per 50 leaves. No foliar damage
was observed. In other work (4) on
pear psylla, dimethoate proved at
least the equal of any other new
material being tested.

Control of the European Red Mite

Resistance to various organo-phos-
phorus materials is common through-
out the Okanagan Valley (3) in the
European red mite, Panonychus ulmi
(Koch). Though dimethoate is such
a compound it was nevertheless deem-
ed advisable to check its efficiency
against this pest. Experiments were
carried out in an orchard of semi-
dwarf Red Delicious apples. Mites
were sampled by the brush method
(7) and, before spray application,
averaged 12.3 mites per leaf in the
orchard. Applications of insecticide
were made on June 26 by high-pres-
sure (420 p.s.i.) gun sprayer; approxi-
mately four gallons of spray fluid
were used on each tree. There were
three trees per plot and three replica-
tions per treatment. Results are
shown in Table 3.

TABLE 3 — Dimethoate and malathion against resistant European red mite*
Treatment Average number mites per leaf

Dilute application July 3 July 9

Dimethoate, 0.05% active 5.7 27.0

Malathion, 0.05% active 11.0 30.3

Check — no treatment 24.3 41.6

* Treatment date, June 26.

Control of Reinfestation by
Apple Aphid

Although both dimethoate, and
malathion, treatments showed a
significant reduction of mites after
seven days, as compared with the
check, the reduction was quite in-
sufficient to constitute commercial

control. Moreover, after 13 days,
populations were not significantly
lower than on the check plots. It was
concluded that resistance to organo-
phosphorus materials will preclude
recommendation of dimethoate as a
miticide in the Okanagan Valley. Ex-
periments with mites were, therefore,
terminated at this point.

Pboc. Entqmol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

By Spray Application

The current problem in the control
of apple aphid, Aphis pomi DeG., is
not so much that of the immediate
effectiveness of freshly deposited in-
secticides on the insects, but of the
effectiveness of residual deposits in
the prevention of reinfestation from
outside sources (13). It is a common
occurrence, when sprays are applied
against this sphid, for an efficient
aphicide to give complete kill (11, 12)
but for reinfestation to occur as the
result of recolonization, by winged
forms, from neighboring trees or or-
chards. A true persistent effect of an
aphicide can be demonstrated only
if invaders are given the opportunity
of recolonizing aphid-free, but spray-
ed, trees; there is then no question
that newly observed aphids origin-
ated from outside sources and are not
the survivors, or offspring of survi-
vors of indifferent spraying.

The experiments were carried out
in 1958 in an orchard of dwarf (Mail-
ing IX rootstack) apple trees, ap-
proximately seven feet high, planted
five feet apart, and in rows ten feet
from each other. Two rows, of vari-
eties Golden Delicious and McIntosh,
were kept free of aphids, up to the
time of the experiment, by repeated
spraying with nicotine. Alternate
rows were left untreated, as a source
of infestation; and a high population

of aphids developed on these. Plots of
trees in the aphid- free rows (three
trees per plot, two plot replications
for each variety) were sprayed on
July 7 with dimethoate emulsifiable
concentrate, one pint per 100 gallons.
Subsequently observations were made
on the five subterminal leaves (omit-
ting the terminal “bud”) of tagged
twigs. Five twigs were tagged per tree.
Aphids were counted on both dorsal
and ventral leaf surfaces, and the
leaves left undisturbed till the next
count. Tests showed that there was
no error in counting up to 40 aphids
per leaf, an error of + 3 up to 70 per
leaf and an error of + 6 up to 100 per
leaf. In numbers above 100 per leaf,
aphids were estimated by counting
the numbers in one part of the leaf
and then judging what fraction this
was of the whole population on the
leaf. Counts on all trees, on all plots,
were made 3, 7, 14, 17, 22, 25 and 31
days after application. Though there
were generally more aphids on the
more distal leaves of the group of
five, figures were pooled to give a
mean value per leaf. Comparison is
made with the results for Sevin ( N -
Methyl-l-naphthyl carbamate), an
efficient residual aphicide of the non-
systemic type (13), applied at the
rate of one pound 50 per cent wet-
table powder per 100 gallons. The re-
sults obtained are shown in Table 4.

TABLE 4 — Recolonization of aphid-free apple leaves; means aphids per leaf

Treatment Days after application

and variety 0 3 7 14 17 22 25 31

Dimethoate Golden D. 0.00 0.10 0.10 0.50 0.40 0.56 0.46 1.90

McIntosh ___ 0.00 0.08 0.30 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.14 0.71

Sevin Golden D. 0.00 0.10 0.34 1.10 0.91 4.41 16.40 15.20

McIntosh 0.00 0.06 1.44 0.71 1.20 2.66 13.80 18.90

No treatment Golden D. 0.00 16.40 39.30 115.00 106.00 118.00 350.00 220.00

McIntosh _ 0.00 13.90 31.00 28.00 49.10 38.10 160.00 80.80

This table shows that Sevin gave
a highly significant reduction over
the check after 31 days. However,
good commercial control (indicated
on the basis of field experience as a
mean of one aphid per leaf) was evi-
dent for only 17 days. Dimethoate was

significantly better than Sevin from
the seventh day onward, and good
commercial control was evident up
to 31 days. In these experiments
dimethoate therefore performed al-
most twice as well as Sevin. The
method of evaluation ignored the

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

cluster of aphids in the terminal
“bud” of the twig as these are not
easy to count in the field. In a further
evaluation, six such buds per tree
were removed, from each tree in each
plot, 33 days after application. They
were placed in alcohol and the aphids
counted later. The results of these
counts, in aphids per bud, were as fol-
lows: checks, 151; Sevin, 29.9; di-
methoate, 5.7. These figures confirm
the superiority of dimethoate.

By Trunk Applications

Some years ago a limited experi-
ment suggested that demeton might
give effective aphid control when
painted on the trunks of young trees
early in the season (4). The possibil-
ity of such effective systemic action
with dimethoate was therefore in-
vestigated. In the dwarf orchard des-
cribed above, a row of 30 Red Delic-
ious apple trees was selected. These
trees had a trunk diameter of ap-
proximately IV2 inches. Individual
trees were treated in randomized
plots in three ways as described be-
low.

(a) An average of 1.3 millitres of
the emulsifiable concentrate was
painted on the basal part of the stem
of each tree with an artists’ No. 10
brush. The trunks were painted all

round, over a length of about six
inches, approximately nine inches
above the ground.

(b) First-aid medical “bandaids”
were taken, and 0.3 millitres of con-
centrate applied to the pad of the
bandaid. Four such bandaids were
then arranged around the trunk of
the tree approximately nine inches
above the ground but below the first
branch. Each tree therefore received
1.2 millitres of concentrate. The
bandaids were completely covered
with polythene film and the film se-
cured to the trunk. The hypothesis
behind the use of the bandaids was
that a small, but continuous, supply
of systemic would be available to the
tree for a long period; and that, un-
like the brush applications, the chem-
ical would not tend to evaporate, or
be washed away, by sprinkler irriga-
tion water.

The trunk applications were made
on May 1. Aphid counts, on the five
subterminal leaves of tagged twigs,
were made directly in the field, as in
the previous experiments, on June 3,
July 4 and August 6. Results are
shown in Table 5.

TABLE 5 — Effectiveness of trunk application of dimethoate, applied May 1

Mean number aphids per leaf

Treatment June 3 July 4 Aug. 6

In bandaids, 1.2 ml. per tree

By paint brush, 1.3 ml. per tree
Check — no treatment

0.31 0.92 1.91

0.69 1.21 154.00

10.33 45.70 170.50

It will be seen that bandaid appli-
cations gave commercial control for
between two and three months; ap-
plication by paint brush for between
one and two months. However, if this
procedure is adopted by growers for
use on small trees or nursery stock,
two applications by paint brush
rather than one by bandaid, may be
more economical of time and labour.

Some bark damage was evident in
trees that received either form of

trunk application. However, these
trees did not seem to suffer any last-
ing effects, and two years later were
not obviously different in any way
from the check trees.

Summary

Dimethoate is a systemic insecticide
of low mammalian toxicity and of
great promise against fruit pests in
the Okanagan Valley. Effective rates
of spray application have been: one
pint of emulsifiable concentrate per

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

100 gallons in dilute application; eight
pounds of 50 per cent wettable powder
per acre in air-blast application.
Against the pear psylla, Psylla pyri-
cola Foerst, dimethoate gave better,
and more lasting, control than mala-
thion. Against a strain of the Europ-
ean red mite, resistant to organo-
phosphates, it did not provide
commercial control, although it per-
formed significantly better than
malathion. In the persistence of its
residual effects dimethoate was out-
standing in preventing reinfestation
of apple by apple aphid, Aphis pomi
DeG. Here, under circumstances of

severe reinfestation, commercial con-
trol by spray application was evident
for four weeks; control was about
twice as good as with Sevin, a rela-
tively persistent non-systemic insec-
ticide. Excellent control of aphids on
young trees was obtained by painting
small amounts of undiluted liquid
concentrate, or by applying the con-
centrate in bandaids, to the lower
parts of the trunks in May. In the
former case effective control was ap-
parent for one to two months; in the
latter for two to three months. Trunk
applications gave rise to a limited
amount of bark injury that, however,
did not prove to be permanent.

References

1. American Cyanamid Company. 1959. Dimethoate (E.I. 12880). Jamphlet. Stamford

Research Laboratories, Stamford, Conn. U.S.A.

2. Anonymous. 1958. Control of tree-fruit pests and diseases. British Columbia Dept.

Agr. poster.

3. Downing, R. S. 1954. Strains of the European red mite, Metatetranychus ulmi (Koch)

resistant to parathion and malathion in British Columbia. Proc. Ent. Soc.
British Columbia 51: 10-11.

4. Downing, R. S. Unpublished observations.

5. Fisons Pest Control Limited. 1959. Rogor 40 Technical Information. Pamphlet.

Cambridge, England.

6. Fisons Pest Control Limited. 1960. Safety in the use of insecticides. Pamphlet.

Cambridge, England.

7. Henderson, C. F., and H. Y. McBurnie. 1943. Sampling technique for determining

populations of citrus red mite and its predators. U.S. Dept. Agr. Circ. 671.

8. Martin, H. 1958. Guide to the chemicals used in crop protection. Suppl. to 3rd ed.

Canada Dept. Agr., Ottawa.

9. Marshall, J. 1958. Concentrate spraying in deciduous orchards. Canada Dept. Agr.

Pub. 1020.

10. Marshall, J., and H. F. Olds. 1947. The pear psylla in British Columbia. Proc. Ent.

Soc. British Columbia 43 (1946): 1-3.

11. Pielou, D. P., and R. S. Downing. 1958. Trithion as an orchard insecticide. Proc.

Ent. Soc. British Columbia. 55: 17-23.

12. Pielou, D. P., and M. D. Proverbs. 1958. Diazinon: a summary of recent work on a

new orchard insecticide. Proc. Ent. Soc. British Columbia 55: 3-6.

13. Pielou, D. P., and K. Williams. The effectiveness of residues of insecticide in

preventing reinfestation of apple leaves by apple aphid, Aphis pomi DeG. I.
Diazinon, Trithion and Sevin. In preparation.

NOTE ON PREDATION BY CALOSOMA FRIGIDUM KBY. ON
OPEROPHTERA BRUCEATA HLST.

On June 2, 1959, eight miles west of
Chetwynd (Little Prairie), B.C., a
carabid, Calosoma frigidum Kby., was
found preying upon the larvae of
Bruce spanworm, Operophtera bru-
ceata Hist. Eighteen beetles were
counted on the trunk and branches of
ten trembling aspen trees. To gain its
prey a carabid would start at the axis
on the upper surface of a curled leaf,

and using its mandibles, puncture the
curled leaf tissue, driving the larva
before it. When both beetle and larva
reached the open end of the habitacu-
lum the beetle would drop to the
under side and seize the larva as it
wriggled out. Neither rain nor wind
seemed to deter the beetles’ activity.
— T. A. D. Woods, Forest Biology Labora-
tory, Vernon , B.C.

Pteoc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Yol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

CHEMICAL CONTROL OF LOOPERS IN STANLEY PARK, VANCOUVER'

G. T. Silvers

Introduction

Stanley Park has long been recog-
nized by the Forest Insect Survey as
a good collecting area for loopers,
primarily the western hemlock looper,
L amt) din a fiscellaria lugubrosa
(Hist.). A heavy outbreak of this
species occurred between 1911 and
1913, but by 1914 the population was
greatly reduced by the action of a
tachinid fly (Whitford and Craig,
1918). Many western hemlock, Tsuga
heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg., were killed
outright. Another outbreak caused
moderate defoliation in 1929, and the
Park was dusted in 1930 to prevent
further damage (Hopping, 1934).

No further outbreaks of the hem-
lock looper were recorded until 1958.
In July, 1958, large numbers of hem-
lock loopers were present, but in as-
sociation with a much larger number
of green-striped forest looper, Mel-
anoloyhia imitata Wlk. By July 15 the
combined population has caused light
to heavy defoliation on coniferous
understory trees and light defoliation
to many mature overstory hemlock.
Six hundred acres were sprayed by
aircraft on July 26 with 10 per cent
DDT to protect the trees from further
damage. No appraisal was made of
insect mortality but about 30 minutes
after spraying the roads and paths
were littered with dead and dying
larvae. Samples taken on the under-
story trees two days after spraying
indicated a relatively large number
of larvae had survived the treatment,
apparently protected by the thick
mid-story of vine maple which exists
in some sections of the heavily wooded
areas.

By mid-July, 1959, the numbers of
western hemlock looper and the

1 Contribution No. 598, Forest Biology Division,
Research Branch, Department of Agriculture, Ot-
tawa, Canada.

2 Forest Biology Laboratory, Victoria, B.C.

^green-striped forest looper were large
^enough on some trees that if allowed
to complete their feeding it was fear-
ed that top-kill could occur on some
of the mature and over-mature west-
ern hemlock. In contrast to 1958 the
hemlock looper was the mt/e numer-
ous species. About 550 acres were
sprayed between 7:17 a.m. and 7:43
a.m., July 25, by a Grumman Avenger
aircraft from Skyway Air Services
Ltd. at Langley. The insecticide was
DDT in fuel oil, without emulsifier,
and applied at the rate of one gallon
per acre.

Methods

Because of Park restrictions it was
impossible to cut branch samples so
larval mortality was calculated by a
series of prepared tests. Larvae of
both species were obtained by beating
trees. Small hemlock branches were
tied to a lath cross-piece suspended
about a foot above a 40-inch square
of factory cotton stretched on a
frame. Tanglefoot was placed around
the edge of the frame and the ends
of the cross-piece to prevent larvae
from escaping. The trays for the two
species were set up in pairs in a large
clearing with three replications about
200 feet apart at right angles to the
line of flight. Larvae were placed on
the foliage on the evening of July 24,
and checked again early the next
morning. The trays were checked
four times after spraying on July 25,
and once again early on July 26. All
living larvae were then taken to the
laboratory and reared for 11 days on
foliage collected adjacent to each
tray.

Spray deposit cards were set out on
each tray prior to spraying, and sam-
ples of the insecticide were obtained.

Results

The insecticide samples were an-
alysed by the Chemical Control Sec-

Pkoc. Entomol. Soc. B«it. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

tion, Forest Biology Division, and con-
tained 7.54 per cent DDT by weight.
The amount of DDT recovered from
the spray deposit cards was small,
ranging from 0.06 to 0.10 pounds per
acre.

Considering the low DDT deposits
hemlock looper larval mortality was

remarkably heavy. In the three repli-
cations 0.06, 0.09, and 0.10 pounds of
DDT per acre were recovered, and the
corresponding larval mortality three
days after spraying was 97.4, 90.4, and
96.8 per cent respectively. The com-
bined mortality from the three repli-
cations is shown in Table 1. Mortality

TABLE 1 — Hemlock looper larval mortality resulting from an average deposit of 0.083
lb./acre DDT, Stanley Park, 1959. Figures are uncorrected for natural mortality.

Days after No. larvae Per cent

Date spray Dead Living mortality

July 26 1

July 27 2

July 28 3

July 30 5

July 31 6

August 3 9

August 6 12

was 91.2 per cent after 24 hours, and
increased slowly to 96.8 per cent on
the ninth day. Of the seven survivors
after 12 days four were pupae.

Larval mortality of the green-
striped forest looper was less than the
hemlock looper. DDT recoverey in the
three tests was 0.06, 0.09, and 0.10
pounds per acre, and larval mortality
after three days was 75.8, 90.4, and

197

91.2

199

92.1

204

94.4

206

95.4

207

95.8

209

96.8

209

96.8

86.5 per cent respectively. Mortality
in the first replication increased slow-
ly, but reached 86.7 per cent on the
twelfth day compared with 86.5 per
cent for the test which received 0.09
pounds of DDT per acre. The data for
the three replications were grouped
(Table 2). Total mortality barely
reached 90 per cent, considerably less
than for hemlock looper. Twelve of

TABLE 2 — Green-striped forest looper larval mortality resulting from an average de-
posit of 0.083 lb./acre DDT. Stanley Park, 1959. Figures are uncorrected for natural

mortality.

Days after

No.

Jarvae

Per cent

Date

spray

Dead

Living

mortality

July 26

225

83.0

July 27

232

85.6

July 28

233

86.0

July 30

235

34 1

87.4

August 3

237

88.1

August 4

238

88.5

August 6

240

272

89.9

1 2 larvae missing.

2 2 larvae died of parasites.

the 27 survivors were pupae.

As material was not available to
allow for check experiments the mor-
tality percentages are not corrected
for natural mortality.

On July 25, about 20 per cent of the
hemlock loopers were in the fourth
instar and about 80 per cent in the
fifth or ultimate instar. Most of the
fourth-instar larvae died within 24
hours. The first green-striped forest
looper larvae to drop and die were the
smallest. Dead larvae the first day

were 23.5 per cent fourth, 52.5 per cent
fifth, and 24.0 per cent sixth or ulti-
mate instar. By the second day all
fourth-instar larvae were dead, and
after the fifth day only last-instar
larvae were alive. Based on these rec-
ords it appears that the best time to
spray for both species is no later than
when the majority of the larvae reach
the fourth instar. In this particular
instance treatment one week or 10
days earlier would have resulted in
heavier mortality in a shorter time.

Froc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

The hemlock looper appears to be
the more susceptible of the two species
of DDT. This difference may be asso-
ciated with behaviour. When the
hemlock looper larvae were set out
for the tests in the evening they were
extremly active, dropping from the
foliage and trying to escape over the
tanglefoot. This activity continued
after spraying, thus exposing the
larvae to more DDT as they moved

over the foliage and across the trays.
The green-striped forest looper larvae
were more docile, tending to settle
down on the foliage and remain sta-
tionary. Some larvae moved under the
foliage and remained there, thus not
being directly exposed to the in-
secticide.

As no further defoliation was ob-
served after July 25, and no top-kill
occurred, the control operation was
considered a success.

References

Hopping, G. R. 1934. An account of the western hemlock looper, EBBopia somniaria Hulst,
on conifers in British Columbia. Sci. Agr. 15: 12-19.

Whitford, H. N., and R. D. Craig. Forests of British Columbia. Commission of Con-
servation, Ottawa.

LIOCORIS SPP. COLLECTED ON ALFALFA IN CENTRAL AND
NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA

J. C. Arrand'

During the summers of 1957-58
collections were made in alfalfa fields
from Grand Forks through the Inter-
ior to as far north as Fort St. John, in
the Peace River district. Identifica-
tions were made according to Kelton
(1955):

Fort St. John, Taylor, Two Rivers —
Liocoris lineolaris, L. rufidorsus, L.
borealis, L. unctuosis, L. elisus, L.
nigrosignatus, L. solidaginis.

Vanderhoof — L. unctuosis, L. bor-
ealis, L. columbiensis.

Smithers — L. unctuosis.

Vernon, Otter Lake, The Coldstream
Valley — L. lineolaris, L. rufidorsus, L.
borealis, L. unctuosis, L. elisus, L.
nigrosignatus.

Grand Forks — L. lineolaris, L. rufi-
dorsus, L. borealis, L. unctuosis, L.
nigrosignatus.

Liocoris unctuosis, L. borealis, and
L. lineolaris appear to be the most im-
portant species economically. One or
more of these species generally made
up the bulk of the “Lygus bug” popu-
lation, although the relative abund-
ance varied considerably.

It is interesting to note that in Kel-
ton’s (1955) distribution maps of
Liocoris spp. in the prairies provinces,
L. nigrosignatus is limited to the
southern part of Alberta. Kelton does
not record L. elisus from the northern
areas of the prairies provinces, al-
though he had examined specimens
from the Yukon. L. nigrosignatus and
L. elisus were commonly collected on
alfalfa in the Peace River district.

Kelton, L. A., 1955. Species of Lygus, Liocoris,
and their allies in the Prairie Provinces of Can-
ada (Hemiptera: Miridae). Canadian Ent. 87: 531-
558.

3n JHemonam

WILLIAM DOWNES - 1874-1959

William Downes was born in Combe
Raleigh, South Devon, England on
October 13, 1874. His father, the Rev-
erend W. Downes was an ardent bot-
anist and an authority on the geology

of the West of England. From him,
and two elder brothers, Mr. Downes
learned the elements of botany,
geology, and entomology. All three
men were keen entomologists with
good collections.

Pkoc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

He started school at Newton Col-
lege in South Devon but on the death
of his father, the family moved to
Bristol where William went to Bristol
Grammar School. Here there was
ample opportunity for the study of
natural science. Since there were no
organized athletics nor even a proper
playing field, he spent his free after-
noons in the country searching for
specimens. Besides entomology he
studied the fresh water molluscs and
acquired a considerable collection of
them.

On leaving school Mr. Downes ac-
cepted an offer from his eldest brother
to join him in New Zealand where he
was established in sheep farming.
After a year on his brother’s place he
worked for the Kiaora Sheep Farming
Co. for two years, and subsequently
purchased a property of his own. This
was all bush land that had to be
cleared and sown to grass, work that
he let by contract. After six more
years, he had cleared two-thirds of
the land and established a flock of
1200 sheep. In 1901 he sold this farm
and returned to England for nine
months. Then he decided to visit Can-
ada and spent one winter in Alberta.
After having experienced the balmy
New Zealand climate the Alberta win-
ter gave him a poor opinion of the
prairies and he left for British Co-
lumbia.

In May 1902 Mr. Downes purchased
the J. Johns ranch near Armstrong,
B.C., and for 14 years engaged in
mixed farming. Because of ill-health,
in the winter of 1915, he rented the
ranch and moved to the coast. By the
beginning of 1917 his health was
greatly improved and he was employ-
ed to study the biology of the pear
thrips by Dr. A. E. Cameron and Mr.
R. C. Treherne, entomologists of the
Canada Department of Agriculture,
after they left the field station at
Royal Oak near Victoria. The work
was accomplished to the satisfaction

of Dr. G. Hewitt, Dominion Entomolo-
gist and Mr. Downes was placed in
charge of a new laboratory at Victoria
in 1919 which position he held until
his retirement in 1946. During this
period he studied many insect pests
of farm, garden, greenhouse, orchard,
and dwelling. Some of his outstanding
contributions were in the developing
of control measures for root weevils,
narcissus bulb fly, European earwig,
cherry fruit-worm, pea leaf weevil,
and apple sawfly.

His entomological zeal did not dim-
inish after he retired for he contin-
ued to work on his insect collection,
attend entomology meetings and pub-
lish papers. He received world recog-
nition as a specialist in Hemiptera
and had one of the finest collections
of this order in North America. He
donated the collection to the Univer-
sity of British Columbia two years
before he died. In 1956 he enjoyed
attending the Tenth International
Congress of Entomology at Montreal
where he saw many friends and co-
workers in his field.

He was the author of many scien-
tific papers and articles in systematic
and applied entomology, 25 of them
in our Proceedings. He was a rare,
valuable combination of systematist
and very practical economic ento-
mologist. During his last 25 years he
altered little in appearance or in keen
mental alertness. His eyesight was
failing somewhat but he still passed
the annual driving test, and drove
his car. He took good care of his
health, believed in keeping busy at an
unhurried pace and found time for
his favorite diversions — snoozing after
lunch, playing the stock market, sal-
mon fishing, and gardening.

He was a member of the Entomo-
logical Societies of America, and
Canada, and of the Professional In-
stitute of the Public Service of Can-
ada. His keen interest in our Society
was reflected by his election to every
office, and service on the executive

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

continuously from 1918 until his re-
tirement. On retirement he was
elected Honorary Life Member of the
Society.

He is survived by his wife, the for-
mer Miriam Palmer at Victoria, and
one daughter, Dorothy Halley at
Texada Island, B.C.

— Harry Andison.

INSTRUCTIONS TO CONTRIBUTORS

Editorial Committee

Every journal should occasionally
review its editorial policy and direc-
tions to contributors. The last time
this was done for the Proceedings was
about 1946, under the editorship of
Hugh B. Leech. A clear understanding
by authors of the requirements and a
measure of uniformity help to shorten
the time lag between the annual
meeting and the publication date.
Uniformity of presentation need not
make for dullness, but it does make
for efficiency, in that readers and
abstractors can quickly find salient
points. The presentation need not be
without humor or individuality of
expression, but it must be as simple
and brief as possible and above all,
clear.

Papers published in the Proceedings
have not necessarily been delivered at
the annual meeting, and papers de-
livered are not always published in
the Proceedings. It is preferable, but
not mandatory, that authors be mem-
bers of the Society and contributions
from amateurs are as welcome as
those from professionals. Papers on
almost any aspect of entomology are
acceptable at the discretion of the
Editorial Board, so long as they have
some bearing on insects or pests of
this Province.

Authors should understand that
manuscripts will be scrutinized by the
Editorial Board, and in certain cases
may be submitted to outside reviewers
at the Board’s discretion; in these
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tunity to revise his paper in accord-
ance with the reviewers’ comments.

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Adherence to the following sugges-
tions for preparing manuscripts will
help to keep down costs by simplify-
ing typesetting, and will minimize
editorial revision.

Typing. — Use a fresh ribbon on one
side of 8 y2xl 1-inch white bond. Sub-
mit the original and one clear carbon;
retain a copy against possible loss.
Double - space everything including
quotations. Keep all margins at least
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Title. — The shorter and more spe-
cific the better. Type in capitals.
Identify organisms properly with
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Author(s). — Give the initials and
names only. Omit By. Centre and type
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Abstract or Summary. — Place at the
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cussion and summary, and avoid
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izations.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

Footnotes. — Avoid them in the text
wherever possible. Place a footnote
between ruled lines immediately be-
low the line of type in which the ref-
erence occurs. Use superscript num-
bers which run consecutively.

References. — Always put these at
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them alphabetically and number
them. In the text make references
consistently by number or by name
and year. The preferred system of
presentation is, in order: author's
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in Arabic numerals, and pages. Junior
author’s initials precede the surname.
The Chemical Abstracts system of
abbreviations is to be used for journal
names. A convenient list of several
hundred Chem. Abstr. abbreviations,
including Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit.
Columbia, is to be found in Can. J.
Agr. Sci. 36: 513-519, 1956. Keep
capitals to a minimum in titles of
papers, but titles of books should be
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Tables. — These should be kept to a
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Number them in arabic numerals. The
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Small text tables, to fit in a single
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more critical in taxonomic illustra-
tion than it is in graphs. In a graph,
the line of a curve must be heavier
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Photographs must be glossy prints
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Underlining.— Only words to appear
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Chemicals. — Describe clearly and
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sion and identify them chemically.
Give the source of supply in such a
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Put this information in a footnote so
as not to break the continuity, unless
there is a long list when it may form
part of the text. In reporting dosages
the concentration of active ingred-
ient should be given. Common insec-
ticides should be identified and then
referred to in accordance with the
published lists of the Committee on
Insecticide Terminology of the Ento-
mological Society of America.

Species names. — Proper names of
insects and plants, with authors, are
to be used at least once in the text of
every manuscript, preferably at the
first mention of the organism. For
common and pest species use the
names in the list published by the
Entomological Society of America.
These rules are made because the
Proceedings finds its way to many
foreign countries so that correct
scientific usage becomes important.

Place names. — These must appear
in, and the spelling agree with, the
B.C. Gazetteer. If there is the slight-
est doubt look them up. The editors
have had to do this for authors re-
peatedly, especially in distribution

Froc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

lists where the information has come
from badly made labels.

Proofs. — Galley proofs will nor-
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proofreaders marks in correcting, but
do not hesitate to supplement them

Number of pages

First hundred copies

Additional hundreds

Abbreviations. — There are no hard
and fast rules, but most situations
will be covered by the following: Use
periods for abbreviations. Do not add
s for plurals. Per cent should be writ-
ten in the text, and the sign, %, used

by writing clearly in the margins
using a ball point pen. The aim is not
uniformity of marks but absolute
clarity for the typesetter.

Reprints. — Reprint policy is the
same as that of the Canadian Ento-
mological Society, whose schedule is
reproduced:

1-4

5-8

9-12

13-16

17-20

21-24

$22

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$42

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$87

in tables. Numbers should preferably
appear as numerals, including 1 to
10. A good list of acceptable abbrevi-
ations is found on the 2nd page of
any of Vol. 50 (1960), of Phytopath-
ology.

THE BROWN DOG-TICK, RHIP1CEPHALUS SANGUINEUS (LATR.)

IN VANCOUVER

In summer, 1958 a veterinary sur-
geon in Vancouver sent me 3 ticks
which he had removed from a Boxer
dog whose past history he did not
know. I sent the ticks to Mr. J. D.
Gregson at Kamloops, the Canadian
authority on ticks, who identified
them as Rhipicephalus sanguineus
Latr., the brown dog tick and warned
me about its capacity for carrying
disease. This was apparently the first
western Canadian record of this
species.

The last week in October 1959, an-
other veterinary surgeon brought me
some nymphal ticks and one engorged
female which he had removed from
a miniature poodle; I identified them
as the brown dog tick and promptly
got in touch with the owner of the
poodle, to get its history. She told me
that she had obtained a first poodle
from California in early spring 1959
but the animal was not healthy and
died in 3 or 4 months. She therefore
imported another dog from the same
stock in June and when this one also
showed signs of sickness by October,

she took it to the veterinarian since,
as she said, she was tired of picking
ticks off a sick dog. She told me that
from the animal itself, from its pad-
ded sleeping basket, from the walls
of the closet where the animal slept
and from the wall-to-wall carpet in
the bedroom, she had picked up and
washed down the toilet at least one
hundred ticks, many of them engorg-
ed females: even halving this num-
ber, gives a heavy infestation. I
searched the penthouse where the
people lived and obtained 1 engorged
female, 16 male and 33 female nymphs
averaging 3 to 3.3 mm. in length, a
total of 50 ticks.

Of this tick, Gregson’ says, “. . . this
cosmopolitan species . . is potentially
dangerous. Although normally a para-
site of dogs, it may bite man and
because of his close association with
dogs there are frequent opportunities
for the transmission of disease to him.
In the Old World it is the vector of
boutonneuse fever amongst dogs and
man. It also transmits canine piro-
plasmosis which is not only present

Broc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Yol. 57 (1960), Dec. 1, 1960

in Europe, Asia and Africa but has
also been found in the southern
United States, Panama and Brazil
(Cooley, 1946a). This tick is more-
over, suspected of being able to
transmit Rocky Mountain spotted
fever and is considered to be an im-
portant vector of this disease in
Mexico (Varela and Ortiz, 1949).
Miller (1947) cites it as being capable
of transmitting at least 11 diseases of
man and animals.”

I felt certain that the poodle that
died and the one I investigated, suf-
fered from canine piroplasmosis, so
the owner’s husband who is a medical
doctor, treated the poodle himself
accorded to standard methods recom-
mended for this disease, and the ani-

mal recovered completely. They then
telephoned my findings to the ken-
nels in California where these poodles
were bred and the breeders reported
later that they had searched the
premises and had found ticks swarm-
ing over the entire house and kennels
and their dogs to be very sick. They
therefore had the place fumigated
and all the dogs inoculated for piro-
plasmosis and latest reports showed
all animals to have recovered.

Warning notices about this tick are
being sent to all veterinary surgeons
in the Vancouver area.

i Gregson, John D., 1956. The Ixodoidea of Can-
ada. Pub. 930, Science Service, Entomology
Division, Canada Dept, of Agr., Ottawa.

— Cr. T. Spencer, University of British Colum-
bia, Vancouver.

References

1. Gregson, John D. 1956. The Ixodoidea of Canada. Pub. 930, Science Service,
Entomology Division, Canada Dept, of Agr., Ottawa.

PRINTED BY THE VERNON NEWS LTD.

PROCEEDINGS

of the

ENTOMOLOGICAL
SOCIETY of
BRITISH COLUMBIA

Vol. 58. Issued December 1st, 1961

ECONOMIC Page

McAbthtjb and Waddell — A method for testing low-volume orchard

sprayers .... ...... 8

Silver — Notes on the chemical control of Ectropis crepuscularia Schiff.

at Kitimat, B.C. 13

Zuk —Myzocallis walshii Monell (Homoptera: Aphididae) on red oak and

a method of control 16

Williams and McMechan — Comparison of spray deposits from concen-
trate and semi-concentrate orchard spraying ... ......... 20

Downing — Experiments in British Columbia with Acricid, a new dinitro

miticide .................................................. 22

TAXONOMIC

Scudder— Some Heteroptera new to British Columbia .................. 26

Ross and Evans — Annotated list of forest insects of British Columbia

Part X, Notodontidae ..................... ............. 30

Scudder— Additions to the list of Cicadellidae (Homoptera) of British

Columbia with one genus and four species new to Canada ... 33
Spenceb — The identity of the black widow spider in British Columbia ... 36

GENERAL

Banham— Distribution of Trlrhabda pilosa Blake (Coleoptera: Ohrysom-
elidae) attacking big sagebrush in the interior of British
Columbia ................................................. 38

Neilson and Curtis— Mosquito control in British Columbia 41

Hardy — Notes on the life histories of four moths from southern Vancou-
ver Island (Lepidoptera: Phalaenidae and Geometridae) .... 43

Spenceb — A record of slugs in Vancouver gardens ...................... 47

Arrand and Cobneb — The growing problem of pollination in British

Columbia from the point of view of extension entomology ... 49
Marshall — Musings of a Research Officer, Agriculture (Entomology) ... 62
Science Notes ............................................. 12, 19, 21, 32

Editor's Note 37

Book Review ....................................................... 64

PROCEEDINGS

of the

ENTOMOLOGICAL
SOCIETY of
BRITISH COLUMBIA

Vol. 58.

Issued December 1st, 1961

ECONOMIC Page

McArthur and Waddell — A method for testing low-volume orchard

sprayers 3

Silver — Notes on the chemical control of Ectropis c-repuscularia Schiff.

at Kitimat, B.C 13

Zuk — Myzocallis walshii Monell (Homoptera.: Aphididae) on red oak and

a method of control 16

Williams and McMechan — Comparison of spray deposits from concen-
trate and semi-concentrate orchard spraying 20

Downing — Experiments in British Columbia with Acricid, a new dinitro

miticide 22

TAXONOMIC

Scudder — 'Some Heteroptera new to British Columbia 26

Ross and Evans — Annotated list of forest insects of British Columbia

Part X, Notodontidae 30

Scudder — Additions to the list of Cicadellidae (Homoptera) of British

Columbia with one genus and four species new to Canada ... 33
Spencer — The identity of the black widow spider in British Columbia ... 36

GENERAL

Banham — Distribution of Trirhabda pilosa Blake (Coleoptera: Chrysom-
elidae) attacking big sagebrush in the interior of British

Columbia 38

Neilson and Curtis — Mosquito control in British Columbia 41

Hardy — Notes on the life histories of four moths from southern Vancou-
ver Island (Lepidoptera: Phalaenidae and Geometridae) .... 43

Spencer — A record of slugs in Vancouver gardens 47

Arrand and Corner — The growing problem of pollination in British

Columbia from the point of view of extension entomology ... 49
Marshall — Musings of a Research Officer, Agriculture (Entomology) ... 52

Science Notes
Editor’s Note
Book Review

12, 19, 21, 32

Prog. Entomoi. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

DIRECTORS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY
OF BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR 1961-62

Honorary President

Honorable Frank Richter,

Minister of Agriculture, Victoria

President

C. L. Neilson, Vernon

President-Elect
D. P. Pielou, Summerland

Vice-President
R. R. Lejeune, Victoria

Secretary- Treasurer
Peter Zuk

Honorary Auditor
D. G. Finlayson

Editorial Committee

H. R. MacCarthy, Chairman R. R. Lejeune

J. A. Marshall G. B. Rich D. A. Ross

■ -

Advisory Board

G. J. Spencer, Vancouver H. G. Fulton, Chilliwack

C. V. G. Morgan, Summerland L. C. Curtis, Kamloops

M. G. Thompson, Vancouver

pBoe. Entomol. Sdc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

A METHOD FOR TESTING LOW-VOLUME ORCHARD SPRAYERS1

J. M. McArthur2 and D. B. Waddells

Introduction

A low-volume sprayer using a 110-
125 mile per hour airstream to carry
the pesticide was developed at this
laboratory for the control of orchard
pests (2). This sprayer greatly re-
duced spraying time and labour. After
the practicability of the sprayer had
been demonstrated, a number of com-
mercial versions appeared. Some of
these were very good but others were
inadequate. This resulted in a de-
mand for sprayer assessments to en-
sure that the orchardist could get
satisfactory equipment. The object
was then to develop a sprayer testing
procedure for two purposes: deter-
mining the effect of sprayer modifi-
cations designed to improve spray
distribution and assessing commer-
cial sprayers.

To test sprayers in the field, many
acres of orchard and large amounts
of time, manpower, and materials are
required. It was obvious that the
demand could not be met with field
tests. On the other hand, although
much development work had been
done in the laboratory, the amount
of information that would be obtain-
ed this way was limited and far short
of that required. The solution appear-
ed to be a method intermediate be-
tween those of the field and the
laboratory.

Frame for Sampling Spray Deposits

It was decided that the most prac-
tical approach was full scale tests,
i.e., to measure deposits at distances
normally encountered in orchards.
Therefore, it was desirable to have
a convenient method of obtaining
spray deposits at heights up to 25 feet

1 Contribution No. 16, Research Station. Research
Branch, Canada Department of Agriculture, Sum-
merland, British Columbia.

2 Chemist.

3 Entomologist; now with Canada Department of
Agriculture, Research Branch, Ottawa.

and horizontal distances up to 15
feet. To achieve this, a wooden frame
was built upon which could be placed
various sampling devices (Figure 1).
The frame was 30 feet in height and
width. On the back of the frame were
3 plank walks, 6, 14, and 22 feet above
the ground. A ramp led from the
ground to the three walks.

At heights of 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25
feet, lengths of angle iron were bolted
to each end of the frame and extend-
ed 18 inches out from the front. A
7-inch length of strap iron was bolted
to the end of each angle iron so that
it would be at 90° to a line from the
midpoint of the sprayer vent (Figure
2) . Two galvanized wires, 1/16 inch in
diameter, were fastened to the strap
iron by heavy springs. The wires were
3 inches apart and sheet aluminum
spacers were fastened to them mid-
way between the sampling points to
maintain the 3-inch spacing along
the 30-foot length. Each sampling
position was marked by a short length
of string tied to the lower wire (Fig-
ure 3). There were 6 sampling posi-
tions, 5 feet apart, the end positions
being 2.5 feet from the angle-iron
brackets.

Sampling Surfaces

Microscope slides, 1 by 3 inches,
were used to collect spray deposit
samples. To increase the spray hold-
ing capacity of the slides, they were
put in a silicone preparation4 for
about 3 minutes and then placed on a
rack to drain and dry.

The slides were held on the wires on
the spray frame by clips made as
follows. A piece of 3- by 3.5-inch tin-
plate was turned over on two edges to
form a clip 3 by 3 inches. The sili-

4 Xpandoseal with Silicone, Xpandoseal Corpora-
tion, 43-15-36th Street, Long Island City 1, N.Y.

Pkoc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

cone-treated slide was fastened to
the clip with rubber cement. Two
spots of cement were placed on the
clip and on the back of the slide and
allowed to stand a few minutes until
tacky; and then the slide was placed
on the clip so that the spots on the
clip and slide were in contact (Figure
3).

Waxed cards were also used to
collect samples. These were made
from 5- by 3-inch plain index cards
that had been immersed for a few
minutes in a solution of 15 gm. of
paraffin wax in a litre of petroleum
ether. When dry, the cards were cut
into 2 pieces, 2.5 by 3 inches. These
fit between the folded edges of the
metal clips (Figure 3). A small
amount of rubber cement was placed
on the centre of the clip to hold the
waxed card securely. When the ce-
ment was tacky the card was slipped
into the clip and pressed firmly
against the cement.

For convenience in handling, the
cards and slides were carried in 2-
compartment boxes (Figures 4 and
5). The unsprayed cards and slides
were placed in the lower compart-
ment, the sprayed in the upper. The
turned edges of the clips allowed the
sprayed cards and slides to be stacked
without smearing the deposits. For
each sampling height, one box with
6 cards and 6 slides was required, i.e.,
5 boxes, 30 cards and 30 slides for each
test.

At each sampling position, the card
was placed on the wires before the
slide; otherwise the slide would drop
off. Those at 5 feet from the ground
were put into position from the
ground; those at 10 feet from the 6-

foot walk; those at 15 and 20 feet
from the 14-foot walk; and those at
25 feet from the 22-foot walk. The
slide was removed before the card.

Test Solution

A solution of rhodamine Bs dye in
water was used as the spray liquid.
For most sprayer tests, 30 gallons of
spray was sufficient. The dye solution
was prepared by dissolving 90 gm. of
rhodamine B in approximately 250
ml. of methanol. This was then added
to 30 gallons of water in the sprayer
tank and mixed.

Wind Velocity and Direction

The sprayer testing was done out-
doors when the wind velocity was less
than 2 miles per hour. Wind direction
and velocity were measured during a
test because variations affected spray
deposits. These measurements were
made 12.5 feet above the ground on
a small platform 30 feet in front of
the spray frame.

Wind direction was determined by
means of a simple aluminum wind
vane mounted on a wooden dial
marked in 10-degree divisions. The
dial was set up so that the 0-180 line
was parallel to the spray frame. Thus
wind direction was recorded in rela-
tion to the frame.

Wind velocity was measured by
means of an anemometer^ and a velo-
meter?. These were mounted so that
they could be pointed in the direction
from which the wind was blowing.
The anemometer was started at the
beginning of the test run and stopped

5 Rhodamine B-500, Canadian Industries (1954)
Limited, 355 Burrard Street, Vancouver 1, B.C..
Canada.

6 Taylor Instrument Companies, Rochester, N.Y.

7 Illinois Testing Laboratories, Inc., Chicago, 111.

Fig. 1. — Frame for collecting spray samples. On the back are the ramp and walks with
white guard rails. Brackets carrying wires for holding sampling surfaces
(arrows) are arranged at 5-foot intervals above the ground.

Fig. 2. — Bracket with spring-loaded galvanized wires on which spray targets are placed.
One of the spacers to keep the wires 3 inches apart is shown at top centre.

Fig. 3. — Sprayed waxed card and microscope slide in place. The two darker areas on
the slide are cement. The string on the lower wire marks the sampling position.

Figs. 4 and 5. — Two-compartment box containing stacked cards and slides for one
sampling height, before and after a test, respectively.

Proc. Entomoi. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

at the end. The air movement was
recorded in feet but, as the run was
timed, the velocity could be calculat-
ed. The operator noted the variation
in air movement shown by the
velometer. If a wind gust occurred
during the spraying period, it was
noted and also the position of the
sprayer in relation to the frame. As
the spraying time in a test run was
approximately 30 seconds, gusts
occurred in few runs.

Spraying Procedure

The course the tractor was to follow
when pulling the sprayer past the
frame was marked on the ground
with heavy white cord. The course
varied depending upon the informa-
tion wanted. For example, if the
effect of a sprayer modification on
deposit at one distance was wanted,
the course was parallel to the frame.
However, if information was wanted
on deposits at various distances, as
for sprayer assessment, the course
was at an angle to the frame. In this
case the course was marked so that
in the test the mid-point of the
sprayer vent passed 15 feet horizon-
tally from the first sampling positions
and 5 feet from the last. The tractor
and sprayer were driven over the
course and the throttle setting for
the desired speed was determined.
The speed was usually 1 mile per hour
but speeds up to 4 miles per hour have
been used.

The cards and slides were placed on
the frame. When the sprayer was in
position, the wind observer ready and
air conditions satisfactory, the spray-
er was drawn along the marked
course. When the sprayer vent passed
a point 10 feet before coming into the
path of the spray frame, the person
in charge gave a signal and started
a stopwatch. At the signal, the spray-
er operator turned on the spray and
the wind observer started the ane-
mometer. Similarly, the spray and
instruments were stopped when the
sprayer was 10 feet past the frame.

The duration of the test, pump pres-
sure, and velocity and direction of air
movement and other pertinent items
were recorded.

Slide and Card Treatment

As soon as spraying was complete,
the targets were removed and stored
in the carriers (Figure 4) until dry.
Then the slides and cards were re-
moved from their metal clips with a
thin-bladed spatula. The cement was
removed from the backs of the slides
by rubbing with the fingers or a cloth.
The slides were stored in microscope
slide boxes. A 1- by 2-inch piece of
each card was glued on a 12- by 15-
inch sheet of black photograph-
album paper in the same relative
position as on the spray frame
(Figure 6) and filed.

To determine the spray deposit, the
dye was washed off the slides with
water. This was done by placing the
slide in a 8-ounce bottle, 2 by 2 by
514 inches, and adding 15 ml. of
water. The tightly capped bottle was
then placed on its side in an oscillat-
ing shaker and gently shaken for 5
minutes. The solution was decanted
and the absorption measured in a
spectrophotometer at 555 millimicrons
or in a colorimeter with a green filter
transmitting in the 500 to 570 milli-
micron range. A sample of spray
solution taken from the sprayer tank
was diluted to 100 times its volume
and the absorption measured. The
deposit on the slide was calculated as
microlitres of spray per square centi-
meter.

Discussion

Frame for Sampling Spray Deposits

Originally it was planned to erect a
structure that would have a resist-
ance to a spray stream somewhat
similar to that of a mature apple
tree. For this purpose the frame was
covered with lath snowfencing. How-
ever, the resistance was very high;
there were practically no deposits on
surfaces behind the fencing. Other

Proc. Extomol. Sor. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

materials such as netting with var-
ious materials fastened to it were
considered. Finally, it was decided to
use the simple frame instead of a
more elaborate structure.

Placement of Sampling Surfaces

The next step was to determine
where the spray sampling surfaces
should be placed on the frame. By
means of an anemometer and small
wind vanes the behaviour of air-
streams around the frame was ex-
amined. In the areas between the
structural members of the frame
there was considerable air disturb-
ance, but none 12 inches or more in
front of the frame. Therefore the
sampling surfaces were placed 18
inches in front of the frame. The
thin wires used for carrying the sur-
faces created a negligible amount of
disturbance in the airstream and the
amount of sag was slight.

When the sampling surfaces were
placed vertically, a considerable
quantity of spray deposit was blown
off by the airstream. Also, because the
angle of the sampling surface to the
spray stream varied with the position
on the frame, it was necessary to
calculate the deposits on the basis
of a common angle. The deposits on
cards could not be corrected and were
of little or no value under these con-
ditions, but by tilting the sampling
surfaces so that each was at right
angles to the spray stream this prob-
lem was overcome.

Test Solution and Sampling Surfaces

The information wanted for each
sampling point on the frame was the
quantity and type of spray deposit.
As it was desirable to determine a
large number of deposits quickly, a
water-soluble dye was used and the
amount determined colorimetrically.
Rhodamine B was used because its
high absorption at. a wavelength of
555 millimicrons permits small de-
posits to be determined. Most mater-
ials absorb the dye and are unsuitable

for sampling surfaces. However, the
recovery of measured amounts of dye
from glass was excellent, and micro-
scope slides were used. The slides were
treated with a silicone preparation to
make the surface hydrophobic. This
increased the water-holding capacity.
Silicone preparations for treating
laboratory glassware are not suitable
because they give a very smooth sur-
face from which much of the spray
deposit is blown off by the sprayer
airstream. Paraffin wax and petrol-
eum oil were also tried but were less
convenient and the surface was easily
damaged. The silicone preparation
finally used produced a satisfactory
surface and the slides could be used
several times before requiring re-
treatment.

Cleared photographic film was also
tried and is satisfactory for deter-
mining small spray deposits. The
gelatin layer absorbs the dye as a
solution and in this form the amount
present can be determined directly by
measuring the light absorption in a
photoelectric colorimeter. Because the
dye solution is not continuous in the
gelatin, a colorimeter should be used
that measures absorption over an ap-
preciable area of the film. The Klett-
Summerson photoelectric colori-
meter8 was found satisfactory. Two
sizes of film have been used, 1 by 3
inches and 1% by 3 inches. With the
smaller size 2 absorption measure-
ments were made, 1 on each end;
with the larger, 4 measurements were
made, 1 in each quarter. The mean
value was used for calculating the
spray deposit. The absorption could
be measured almost immediately after
spraying without processing. How-
ever, there is a disadvantage in using
film. Because the hydrophilic gelatin
surface has a low spray-holding cap-
acity its use is limited to small spray
deposits. Dye deposits on other trans-
parent materials, such as glass and

8Klett Manufacturing Co., New York, N.Y..
U.S.A.

Pftoa Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

plastics, cannot be measured in this
way because the spray solution dries
and the dye separates as a solid. For
this method the dye must be in solu-
tion in a transparent medium.

The amount of material per unit
area is not the only factor in assess-
ing spray deposits. The fraction of
the sprayed surface covered is of
equal, if not greater, importance. Of
a number of materials tried for sur-
faces to assess coverage, plain index
cards impregnated with paraffin wax
were the most satisfactory. The treat-
ment described gave the cards a
smooth, hydrophobic surface upon
which droplets of rhodamine B solu-
tion left sharp, circular stains. An
attempt to measure the spray cover-
age on the cards by reflectance was
not successful. Visual estimation of
coverage has been found satisfactory
for practical purposes. The majority
of sprayers tested by this method de-
livered spray at approximately 2 gal-
lons per minute and travelled between
1 and 2 miles per hour. Under these
conditions there is considerable coal-
escence of droplets on the waxed
cards and they could not be used for
determining droplet sizes. However,
when the spray deposit was light,
drop spectra could be determined
from the ratio of stain to droplet
diameter. Coalescence of drops on the
cards could be detected visually with
some experience. Very large spray
drops could be detected also as they
tended to fall out of the airstream and
struck the targets at an acute angle
making a distinctive elliptical stain.

Both the waxed cards and the mic-
roscopic slides had to be cemented to
the metal clips. Although the folded
edges of the metal clips held the dry
cards snugly, sprayed cards bulged
and fell out unless cemented to the
clips. As the cards and slides are re-
moved from the clips after the spray-
ing, the cement must hold the targets
firmly during the test but give a bond
that can be readily broken. Rubber

cement for paper is suitable if the
surfaces are placed together when the
cement is tacky but not dry. This
cement has a further advantage in
that, when dry it can be readily re-
moved from the surfaces by gentle
rubbing. The sampling surfaces may
be damaged if touched by the fingers
and drop stains are obscured. When
the waxed card was pressed onto the
cement, it was protected with a piece
of card. When a slide was cemented
to a clip, the cement had to be ap-
plied to both surfaces to obtain a sat-
isfactory bond. Also, the slide had to
be bonded at 2 points (Figure 3) or
the blast of the airstream occasional-
ly spun the slide or blew it off. Before
the deposit on the slide was deter-
mined the cement had to be removed
because it absorbed the dye.

Assessing Deposits

The number of microscope slides
used for measuring deposits depend-
ed upon the volume of spray. For
sprayers applying 50 to 100 gallons
per acre, 1 slide was used at each
sampling position at heights of 5, 10,
15 and 20 feet and 2 slides at 25 feet.
Where smaller quantities of spray
were applied more slides were used.

Preliminary experiments were
made concerning the course of the
spraying run. In each experiment 4
runs were made. In 2 runs the course
was 15 feet horizontally from the first
sampling positions and 5 feet from
the last. In the other 2, the course
was 5 feet from the first sampling
positions and 15 feet from the last.
The means of the 4 runs for 3 experi-
ments were given by Cox (1, pp. 26-
33). The data indicated that greater
precision would be obtained with 3
runs along the course starting at 15
feet from the sampling positions and
ending at 5 feet than with the 4 runs
used in the experiments.

Equal amounts of deposit at all
sampling positions might be consid-
ered ideal. However, this is not the

Proc. Eatomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

case. The spray frame is 2-dimen-
sional whereas a tree is 3-dimension-
al. Horticultural practices affect
distribution of the deposits in the
tree. In British Columbia, apple trees
are usually planted 30 feet apart.
They are heavily pruned, and open in
the centres. Mature trees almost
touch their neighbors and are approx-
imately 20 feet high. Under these con-
ditions the^sprayer vent passes under
the outer edge of the tree. Since the
work was directed toward obtaining
efficient pest control in British Co-
lumbia orchards some of the con-
clusions may not apply in other areas.

The deposits on the sampling sur-
faces give information on the distri-
bution of the spray in the airstream.
An even distribution of spray in the
airstream is not ideal. The airstream
expands as it travels out from the
sprayer vent so that the shape in
vertical section is approximately that
of a right-angled fan. The shape of
the tree above the trunk is roughly
cylindrical and a plane vertical sec-
tion through the tree is approximate-
ly a rectangle. The vertical columns
of targets then correspond to vertical
lines through the rectangles. These
points should be kept in mind when
one scrutinizes data obtained on the
spray sampling frame.

If the deposits on the sampling
surfaces at the 25-foot height were
small the top deposits in trees were
small. These deposits could be in-
creased by increasing the amount of
spray in the upper half of the air-
stream. However, the amount of
spray in the top portion of the air-
stream should not be high because
this portion travels almost vertically
and has a comparatively small part
of the tree to spray. If the surfaces at
the 5-foot level 5 feet from the spray-
er were sprayed to the point of run-
off then the spray deposit on the
parts of the tree nearest the sprayer
were high. If the surfaces near this
position were also flooded, then a

larger portion of the tree was heavily
sprayed. In a well-adjusted sprayer
the greatest deposit for any level fell
approximately on a diagonal line
from the nearest position on the
5-foot level to the farthest position
on the 25-foot level. The portion of
the spray stream sampled on this
diagonal was the portion that sprayed
from the lower outside of the tree
to the top centre. This part of the
stream had to carry the greater por-
tion of the spray because it sprayed
a greater portion of the tree. Orchard
tests showed that the sprayers that
gave good spray distribution in trees
also gave nearly uniform spray de-
posits on the frame at distances of
11 to 13 feet.

In Figure 6 are shown waxed-cards
sprayed by a sprayer as received
from the manufacturer and after
modifications had been made to give
a better deposit distribution. The
spray output in the 2 tests was the
same, 2.24 imperial gallons per
minute. The larger stains on the more
heavily sprayed cards are formed by
coalescence of drops on the cards. In
the right-hand group, there has been
little or no coalescence of drops on
the left-hand 25-foot level card. On
the next 2 cards to the right some
coalescence has taken place. The
larger stains surrounded by compara-
tively clear areas, on these 2 cards,
are distinctive of coalesced drops.
There has been coalescence of drops
on all cards in this set with the ex-
ception of the 1 on the upper left.
The spray did not contain any coarse
drops. These would be detected as
large oval stains present in greater
concentration on the lower cards
than on the upper.

Figure 7 shows the deposits obtain-
ed on the spray sampling frame and
on the foliage of mature apple trees.
The sprayer used applies 70 imperial
gallons per acre and has given good
control of insect pests in British Co-
lumbia. It is evident that there are

DISTANCE FROM MACHINE IN FEET DISTANCE FROM MACHINE IN FEET

Pkoo. Entomol. Sot. Brit. Columbia. Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

HEIGHT ABOVE GROUND IN FEET

Fig. 6. — Mounted sprayed wax-eard targets mounted for reference. Upper a poor spray
distribution; lower, good.

Pboc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

10-

Fig. 7. — Spray deposits, 5 upper curves on spray sampling frame at 5-, 10-, 15-, 20-,
and 25-foot heights; 3 lower curves on mature apple trees at 6-, 12-, and
17-foot heights.

large differences between the frame a sprayer in the orchard can be pre-

and tree deposits. Nevertheless, when dieted from the frame data with

the correlation between frame and considerable accuracy,
tree deposits is known, the efficacy of

Pkoc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, You. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

Abstract

A method is described for full-scale
testing of orchard sprayers with
outputs up to 100 gallons per acre.
Performance is assessed from deposits
obtained on waxed cards and treated
microscope slides.

Acknowledgment

The authors thank the staffs of the
Chemistry and Entomology sections, Sum-
merland, B.C., for suggestions and assist-
ance in carrying out tests, G. F. Lewis and
G. D. Halverson for constructing the spray
frame and S. R. Cannings for taking the
photographs.

References

1. Cox, C. E. 1954. Handbook of statistical methods. Canada Dept. Agr., Sta. Res. and

Serv. Unit. Processed Pub. No. 3: 26-33.

2. Marshall, J. 1952. More about concentrate spraying. Proc. Wash. State Hort. Assoc.

48: 72-79.

A Note on Catching

In 1960 I was very successful in collect-
ing insects when I sat over a small pool on
several occasions during the very hot
summer. I had caught several good species
at the same place in previous years. It was
much the same as sitting over a water hole
in Africa, but with an insect net instead of
a rifle, and in the heat of the afternoon
instead of just before sundown. I found
that insects of certain families seem to need
a drink in the hottest part of the afternoon
on the really hot days. The hotter it is the
more anxious for a drink and the less alert
they are.

I had lunch about noon and rested until
1:30, then started out for the pool, which
is a little less than two miles from home, a
good half of the walk up a side-hill that
faces south. It was generally between 90°
and 95° F. on the north wall of my house
when I left home so it must have been well
over 100° F. going up the hill. I told some
friends about it and one remarked I should
have my head examined, for I was over
76 at the time.

I wanted to catch species of the Stratio-
myid genus Euparyphus, but I found that
several species of Therevidae came for a
drink just as readily as the Stratiomyids,
although Therevidae are reported to be dry
area flies. I also caught some Tabanids. The
flies took little notice of me. Apparently all
they worried about was to get to the water
for a drink. The bottom of the creek was
covered with rocks of different sizes and
when I put my net over a fly it would just
walk or fly through one of the openings
caused by the net being held up by rocks.

Insects at a Small Pool

I was very discouraged at catching so few
in proportion to the number I had the net
over and should have bagged had the sur-
face been more nearly level.

On the way home I remembered making
a very small net years ago to catch flies
around the house. That evening I made one
with a rim 5 inches in diameter. The frame
wras of baling wire; the handle was the two
strands of wire twisted tightly together.
The handle was only 10 inches long so you
can tell how “tame” the flies were. The
small net did not get so wet as the large
one. The Stratiomyids in particular liked
to go directly to the edge of the pool, or to
climb down the perpendicular face of a
small rock standing a little out in the
water. It was funny to see them walk down
this perpendicular rock; they waddled, or
perhaps backpeddled, down it. I missed
quite a few with the small net, but it was
much better than a large one. I could just
clap it over some of the rocks and the
trapped fly had to climb into the net. I
caught several horse flies but had to use the
large net for these as they were very alert.
I caught two Tabanus rhombicus O.S. males
and one Tabanus agrotus O.S. male, besides
Euparyphus crotch! O.S., E. crueigerus Coq.,
E. major Hine, and E. latelimbatus Cn. and
several Scoliopeita luteipes Will., all more
or less flying together. There were ten or a
dozen species of Therevidae, four of which
were not in the C.N.C. I did not catch a
great number but most were very good
finds. I shall be watching that place next
year.

—H. R. Foxlee, Robson, B.C.

Proc. Entomol. Sioc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

NOTES ON THE CHEMICAL CONTROL OF ECTROPIS CREPUSCULARIA

SCHIFF, AT KITIMAT, B.CJ

G. T. Silver2

The saddle-backed looper, Ectropis
crepuscularia Schiff., has not been
regarded as a serious defoliator of
hemlock stands in coastal British
Columbia, and there is only one rec-
ord of damage in the Interior. Popu-
lations started building up in 1951 in
the hemlock-cedar stands of the
North Thompson River Valley, and in
1953 nearly all the ground cover
plants in the Thunder River area
were completely defoliated. The pop-
ulation declined in 1954 with no ap-
parent damage to overstory trees.

The saddle - backed looper then
remained at a low level in British
Columbia until 1958 when larvae be-
came common in Forest Insect Survey
collections. The population build-up
continued in 1959, but there was no
indication of an impending outbreak.
A heavy moth flight was reported at
Kitimat in May, 1960, and by the end
of July hemlock stands at Kitimat
were severely defoliated.

Only the general life history of this
species is known. The moths emerge
in early or mid-May, mate, and lay
eggs. The larvae apparently feed on
the understory and ground - cover
plants before moving to the larger
trees. In August the larvae drop to
the ground and pupate in the duff
beneath the trees, where they over-
winter.

The full-grown larvae are about iy4
inches long. The head is brownish,
often mottled. The body is dark grey
to brown, sometimes reddish in
colour. The first three instars have a
distinct inverted V marking on the
dorsal side of the 2nd abdominal seg-
ment, but this marking becomes in-

i Contribution No. 782, Forest Entomology and
Pathology Branch, Department of Forestry, Ot-
tawa, Canada.

2 Forest Entomology and Pathology Laboratory,
Victoria, B.C.

distinct and is often missing in the
last instar. The light grey moth has a
wingspan of about 1% inches. The
general mottled and indistinct mark-
ings of this species makes identifica-
tion difficult. The wings appear to
have scalloped edges and many fine
transverse lines, often poorly defined.

The number of larval instars has
not been definitely established. About
1,400 larval head capsules collected in
the fall of 1960 were measured and
plotted. When these data were com-
bined with rearings conducted during
the winter there appeared to be five
instars. However, three of 16 larvae
reared individually through to ma-
turity had six instars. More work will
be required to resolve the number of
instars; the discrepancy could be a
sex difference or a result of forced
rearing.

Extent and Intensity

Heavy defoliation extended from
about two miles south of the Smelter
site to about three miles north of
Kitimat Station, and from the Kiti-
mat River westward up the mountain
slopes to about 1,500 feet. All mer-
chantable timber in the Anderson
and Moore Creek valleys was also
heavily defoliated. The total area was
10,500 acres, and was remarkably well
defined. There was no gradual de-
crease in defoliation or number of
larvae towards the edge of the infes-
tation but rather an abrupt line, in
places only y4 mile wide, separating
infested and non-infested stands. The
area of heavy population coincided
remarkably well with the extent of
the “fume” cloud from the smelter.
The reason for this is not understood
yet.

With few exceptions the under-
growth, including devil’s club, elder-

Prqc. Extomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

berry, and other deciduous bushes
was defoliated. Most of the coniferous
reproduction, regardless of species,
was completely stripped. Defoliation
was heaviest on the southern slope
of Sand Hill, and the northern slopes
of Anderson and Moore Creek valleys,
all southern exposures. This species
feeds from the forest floor up, and
feeding was stratified to the extent

that when defoliation was heavy in
the upper third of the crown of inter-
mediate trees feeding was also heavy
on the lower and mid-crowns of co-
dominant and dominant trees. This
pattern is illustrated in Table 1 which
summarizes data from one of six
plots examined in the infestation
area.

TABLE 1 — Ocular estimate of defoliation caused by saddle-backed looper in Fume Plot
2. Anderson Creek, Kitimat, B.C. September, 1960.

Average defoliation No. trees No. Trees

Tree

Crown

No.

by crown

l levels (%)

100%

70-99%

species

class

trees

Top mid lower

Vs Vs Vs

Total

defoliated

Hemlock

— Dorn

CoD.

Int.

Sup.

100

Balsam ...

Dom.

100

CoD.

Int.

Sup.

100

Cedar _____

Dom.

CoD.

Int.

Sup.

Chemical Control

In an effort to prevent further de-
foliation to the stands bordering the
highway and facing the townsite it
was decided on July 29 to spray. Ap-
proximately 1,800 acres were sprayed
on August 1 by a Grumman Avenger
aircraft from Skyway Air Services,
Langley. Dosage was y2 lb. of DDT per
U.S. gallon of fuel oil, applied at the
rate of one gallon per acre. Lack of
time did not permit the organization
of a proper appraisal, but 32 one-tree
sample stations were established in
the spray area, and 10 check trees
were established outside the spray
area. All samples were from repro-
duction trees or the lower crown level
of larger trees which could be reached
with clippers from, the ground. Two
18-inch branch samples were taken
from each tree at each sample date,
measured, and the larvae counted.
Population was expressed as number
of larvae per 10 square feet of foliage

surface. Spray deposit cards were set
out at each station, and were analys-
ed by the Chemical Control Section,
Forest Entomology and Pathology
Branch, Ottawa.

The amount of DDT recovered was
considered adequate at only two sta-
tions where the deposit was 0.28 and
0.29 gpa (Table 2.) . The average sur-
vival at these stations after 24 hours
was 21.4 per cent, but increased to
65.5 per cent 48 hours after spraying.
No larvae were found after seven
days, but overwintering pupae aver-
aged three per square foot of duff,
indicating that some larvae survived.
The percentages of larval survival for
the other stations are shown in Table
2. In many cases more larvae were
found 48 hours after spraying than
before spraying. It was impossible to
obtain larvae at some stations after
seven days because the trees were
completely defoliated, and the larvae
had left the trees.

Proo. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

TABLE 2 — Percentage survival of saddle-backed looper larvae and estimated
DDT spray deposit. Kitimat, B.C. 1960.

No. pupae

Number of Deposit Percentage survival per sq. ft.

stations

gpa

24 hrs.

48 hrs.

7-10 days

of duff

0.28

21.4

65.5

3.0

0.03-0.09

84.5

47.0

74.2

15.2

less 0.01

83.6

93.7

—

6.7

check

95.2

95.0

38.5

12.1

From the standpoint of larval mor-
tality the operation does not appear
to have been very successful. How-
ever, during a survey by helicopter in
October it was observed that the trees
within the spray area appeared to be
in better condition than the unspray-
ed stands, so that the operation is
believed to have saved a considerable
amount of foliage.

Several possible explanations for
the high larval survival are: the ad-
vanced stage of the larvae at the time
of spraying, insufficient dosage of
DDT, and the insects’ habit of feed-
ing from the ground cover up.

On July 31, 76.4 per cent of the
larvae were in the ultimate instar,
and 22.7 per cent in the penultimate
instar. There was some indication
that the younger instars were more
susceptible to DDT as the percentage
of larvae in the last instar increased
at the spray stations whereas the dis-
tribution of larval instars did not
alter greatly in the check stations.

The recovery of DDT at the 32 sta-
tions indicated that coverage was
neither heavy nor uniform. Only two
stations recorded a deposit heavy
enough to be effective, 0.28 and 0.29
gpa. Eight stations received from 0.03
to 0.09 gpa, and the remaining 22
stations received less than 0.01 gpa.
Some of the reason for the low DDT
recovery could be that as Ectropis
feeds from the ground cover up most
of the upper crown levels were not
defoliated, and a large portion of the
spray would be caught and held in
the tree crowns. Nevertheless the
amount of spray deposited after al-
lowing for foliage screening was still
very small. It could be significant

that the two stations receiving the
heaviest dosage were on the edge of
stands. The feeding habits of the
larvae thus offer them a certain
amount of protection, and this pre-
sents a difficult problem of obtaining
spray penetration through a dense,
undefoliated forest canopy to where
the larvae are feeding. This problem
is even greater if spraying is con-
ducted during the early instars when
larvae are still on the understory
plants and not on the overstory trees
as was the case during 1960 at
Kitimat.

An hour after spraying was com-
pleted thousands of larvae were ob-
served dropping by silk threads from
the trees. By afternoon the larvae
were crawling up the trees again and
few dead larvae were observed. Lar-
vae continued to drop the day after
spraying; two days after spraying-
larval drop was still quite heavy but
many of the larvae were free-falling,
i.e., not on silk threads. Larvae on
the ground were sluggish and many
appeared unable to crawl back up the
trees.

The assumption is that as larvae
continued feeding after the initial
knockdown and returned up the trees
they were exposed to more DDT in
the upper crown levels and gradually
accumulated a lethal or sub-lethal
dose of insecticide causing them to
drop again to the ground and under-
story. This would also explain the
large numbers of larvae counted on
the lower crown levels on the second
day after spraying.

The high survival of the looper is
clearly shown by the large number

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Yol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

of pupae per square foot of duff
found in October, 1960 (Table 2).
Pupal samples within the infestation
area averaged 7.8 per square foot of
duff. There was no significant differ-
ence in the number of pupae inside
and outside the area sprayed in 1960.

Barring any unforeseen mortality a
heavy population is expected in 1961.

The author wishes to acknowledge
the assistance given by the District
of Kitimat and the Aluminum Co. of
Canada during this work.

MYZOCALUS WALSHII MON ELL (HOMOPTERA: APHIDIDAE)
ON RED OAK AND A METHOD OF CONTROL1

Peter Zuk

introduction

The aphid Myzocallis walshii Mon-
ell is a major nuisance on the red oak,
Quercus borealis Michx. f. (Q. rubra
auth.), a boulevard tree in Vancouver.

The aphids excrete large amounts
of honeydew which falls as droplets
over the leaves and eventually on
sidewalks, lawns, and cars parked be-
neath the trees. Another objection-
able feature is the sooty mould that
grows on the honeydew. Repeated
sprayings are necessary to alleviate
the nuisance.

During the 1930’s the red oak was
commonly planted as a boulevard tree
in Vancouver. In recent years, the
Parks Board, who are responsible for
planting and maintaining these trees,
have planted smaller flowering
species in preference to the larger
oaks, maples, horse-chestnuts, catal-
pas and birches. Another reason for
this change was that the red oak in
particular supported a dense popula-
tion of the aphids.

This paper deals with investiga-
tions on the life-history and control
of this aphid in Vancouver.

Biology

M. walshii has been recorded on the
leaves of various oaks (Quercus alba ,
0. bicolor , Q. imbricaria , Q. palustris,
Q. rubra, Q. velutina ) (2), and hick-
ories ( Carya spp.) (1). It has no
alternate host.

i Contribution No. 28, Research Station. Research
Branch, Canada Department of Agriculture, 6660
N.W. Marine Drive, Vancouver, B.C.

During the two years of this study,
apterous viviparae appeared in the
first week in June, when honeydew
was found on the leaves on the high
branches. A few alate viviparae were
found on the lower leaves about the
middle of June. The numbers of
aphids increased slowly until the sec-
ond or third week in July after which
there was a rapid increase. In 1960,
the peak was reached in the first
week of September. The previous
year there were two peaks: in the
middle of July and at the end of
August. At the peak of the infesta-
tion average counts in untreated trees
ran as high as 54 alatae, 107 apterae,
and 343 nymphs per leaf. At this
time, the honeydew could actually be
seen as it fell.

In late September and early Octo-
ber eggs were laid upon the bark of
the larger limbs, and on the trunk in
the vicinity of the first crotch, in
which area the bark was rough, but
not so rough as on the trunk below.
Dis tally the limb bark was smooth.
After the apterous oviparae had mat-
ed with alate males they moved from
the undersides of the leaves to the
crotch area where they deposited
eggs in the cracks of the bark. In
1961, the eggs hatched in the middle
of May.

CONTROL EXPERIMENTS

Materials and Methods

The experiment was. conducted on
mature red oak trees in plantings of

'Prop. Entomol. Sop. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

16 trees per city block. Di-Syston2
was applied in the third week of May
by two methods: the granules were
(a) poured into 24 holes in the soil
each 4 inches deep, spaced around
the periphery of the tree, and the
holes plugged with soil; (b) the gran-
ules were buried at a depth of 4
inches in a trench next to and sur-
rounding the trunk of the tree. The
material was used at three dosages:
5 oz., 10 oz., or 15 oz. per tree. The
treatments were set out in random
arrangement and replicated four
times. The trees in Block I were
treated in 1959 and again in 1960 by
method (a). Trees in Block II were
treated in 1960 at the three dosages.
Of these four trees receiving each
dosage, two were treated by method
(a) and the other two by method (b) .

Counts of adult aphids on ten
leaves per tree were made at weekly
intervals, commencing in the first
week in June. In the experiment on
Block I, aphid counts from two trees

There were no significant differ-
ences between the two methods of
applying the insecticide. Since
method (a) involves a considerably
higher labor cost than method (b),

were very low, perhaps because these
two trees had been treated with Di-
Syston in 1958. Missing data therefore
were calculated for these two trees
according to the method of Yates (in
Snedecor (3)) for inclusion in an
analysis of variance.

The circumference of the trees was
measured three feet above soil level.

Results and Discussion

Since spray drift and spray resi-
dues might be hazardous to children
and pets, to birds and their nestlings,
and to predatory and parasitic in-
sects, a systemic insecticide that can
be applied to the soil and absorbed
by the tree has obvious advantages.
Such a preparation, Di-Syston, was
obtained in granular form and was
applied through the soil with a min-
imum of labor.

The average number of adult
aphids on 10 leaves per tree per sea-
son for the two methods of applica-
tion was:

Oz. of 5% Di-Syston
per tree

5 10 15

2262 1976 1389

1927 1895 910

the latter is preferred.

The average number of adult
aphids on 10 leaves per tree per sea-
son was:

Method of application

(a) in soil in holes spaced around periphery of tree

(b) in soil buried in a trench surrounding the trunk

Oz. of 5% Di-Syston % control determined
per tree by Abbott’s formula

Area treated Year treated Untreated 5 10 15 at 15 oz.

Block I 1959 1220 843 989 719 41

1960 3552 2335 2067 1502^ 58

Block II 1960 4634 2095 1936 1150 75

Any two means not underscored by
the same line are significantly differ-
ent at the 5 per cent level.

2Chemagro Corp., Kansas City, Missouri.

0,0-Diethyl S-2-(ethylthio) ethyl phosphorodithi-
cate.

Although the lower rates of appli-
cation did not reduce the numbers of
aphids significantly in the experi-
ment on Block I in either 1959 or
1960, the highest rate of 15 oz. per

ADULT APHIDS ON 80 LEAVES

18 Pkoc. E n to mol. Soc. Bkij. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Deg. 1, 1961

Fig. 1. — Number of adult aphids on ten leaves per tree in Blocks I and II at
Vancouver, B.C., 1960.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

tree did reduce the numbers signif-
icantly below that of the checks. In
Block II there was no significant
difference between the three levels of
application but all significantly re-
duced the numbers below that on the
untreated trees.

Adult aphids on ten leaves per
tree in Blocks I and II in 1960, are
shown graphically in figure 1. In late
July, two months after the insecticide
was applied, the populations rose
sharply, but the increase in the un-
treated trees was much more rapid
than in the treated trees.

Although the tree trunks ranged
from 25 to 41 inches in circumfer-
ence, the degree of aphid control was
not influenced by tree size. However,
trees over 40 inches in circumference
should probably receive not less than
24 oz. of 5 per cent Di-Syston.

Two trees in Block I, the aphid
counts from which were excluded
from the experiment, had been treat-
ed for three consecutive years with
24 ounces of Di-Syston. They were
virtually free from aphids. Indeed

they were the only trees under which
cars could be parked with impunity.

Summary

Myzocallis walshii Monell is a major
nuisance on the red oak, Quercus
borealis Michx. f. (Q. rubra auth.), a
boulevard tree of many streets in
Vancouver, British Columbia.

The aphid has no alternate host.
The males are winged. Mating takes
place on the leaves, after which the
apterous oviparae move to the vicin-
ity of the main crotch to lay their
eggs in crevices of the rough bark.
In 1961, the eggs hatched in the mid-
dle of May.

A five per cent granular formula-
tion of Di-Syston appreciably reduced
the numbers of aphids when applied
in the soil around the trees at the
rate of 15 oz. per tree.

Acknowledgements

I am indebted to Dr. W. R. Richards,
Entomology Research Institute, Research
Branch, Canada Department of Agriculture,
Ottawa, for identification of the aphid, and
to my colleagues Dr. H. R. MacCarthy, Mr.
A. R. Forbes, and Mr. M. D. Noble for
assistance during the course of this work.

References

1. Hottes, F. C., and T. H. Frison. 1931. The plant lice, or Aphiidae, of Illinois. Bull.

Nat. Hist, Survey Illinois. 19: 259-260,

2. Patch, E. M. 1938. Food-plant catalogue of the aphids of the world. Maine Agr. Expt.

Sta., Bull. 393: p. 97.

3. Snedecor, G. W. 1946. Statistical Methods. Iowa State College Press. Ames, Iowa. 4th

Ed. p. 268.

Heliothis phloxlphaga G. & R. (Lepidoptera: Phalaenidae) on Vancouver Island

In the past twelve years I have met with
this species only once, in 1957, when it was
frequently to be seen on the open grassy
slopes of the hillsides near Victoria and
Goldstream,

It was observed in two periods, May 4 to
7, and again from July 5 to August 4. In
the first period it was fairly common, feed-
ing on the flowers either of sea blush,
Vaierianelia congesta, or of several species
of Trifolium. More commonly, it was arous-
ed to flight on my close approach, and
remaining just out of reach of the net,
would fly swiftly and erratically for a short
distance and then dive suddenly into the
herbage, repeating the process if again
disturbed.

In the second period it was not so often
seen but several were taken at light. Most
of the individuals were obviously second
brood, judging from the fresh condition of
their wings.

Jones records the species from Victoria,
Mill Bay, and Duncan on Vancouver Island
so there is evidently a resident nucleus
which gives rise to noticeable numbers in
an exceptionally favourable season.

H. pbfoxipbaga is closely related to H.
cbsoleta, a pest associated with the cotton
crop of the southern states. I have no infor-
mation concerning its economic status in
British Columbia.

— George A. Hardy, Provincial Museum
( Rtd .), Victoria, B.C.

Pkoc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

COMPARISON OF SPRAY DEPOSITS FROM CONCENTRATE AND
SEMI-CONCENTRATE ORCHARD SPRAYING1

K. Williams and

Introduction

Although concentrate spray ma-
chines are widely used in the Okan-
agan Valley of British Columbia, some
growers use semi-concentrate spray
machines. Marshall (2) has defined a
concentrate sprayer as one that
causes no drip from mature trees
sprayed with up to 75 Imperial gal-
lons of spray liquid per acre, and a
semi-concentrate sprayer as one that
applies 150 to 300 gallons per acre.
The experiment reported here was
undertaken to compare spray deposits
on foliage when sprays were applied
at rates of 50, 100 and 250 gallons per
acre, with the same amount of spray
chemical per acre in each case.

Methods

Two orchard sprayers in common
use in the Okanagan Valley were used
for the experiment. Sprayer A was a
double side sprayer that delivered to
each side an airstream with an aver-
age velocity, at the vent, of 87 miles
per hour, and a volume of 10,300
cubic feet per minute. Sprayer B was
a double side sprayer that delivered
to each side an airstream with an
average velocity, at the vent, of 105
miles per hour and a volume of 7,700
cubic feet per minute. The speed of
travel for all spray applications was
one mile per hour.

The experiment was conducted in
an orchard of mature McIntosh apple
trees in which the rows were 30 feet
apart and the trees 30 feet apart in
the rows. Trees ranged in height from
18 to 22 feet, and in diameter from
25 to 30 feet. In 1959, each sprayer
was used to apply Sevin, 50 per cent
wettable powder, at the rate of 4

i Contribution No. 72 from the Regional Re-
search Station, Canada Department of Agricul-
ture, Summerland, British Columbia.

2 Chemist and Agricultural Engineer respec-
tively.

. D. MCMECHAN2

pounds per acre in all treatments.
Each treatment consisted of two rep-
licates and there were three treat-
ments per sprayer: 50, 100 and 250
gallons of spray liquid applied per
acre. The experiment was repeated in
1960.

Sampling technique and sample
treatment were as reported by Mc-
Mechan et al. (1). Sevin was deter-
mined by a colorimetric method (3).

Results and Discussion

The results (Table 1) show that
when the same amount of spray
chemical was applied per acre the
spray deposits on the leaves were not
increased by increasing the volume of
spray liquid. With both sprayers the
50-gallon-per-acre rate gave equal or
slightly higher deposits than the 100-
and 250-gallon-per-acre rates.

During the last several years
sprays applied at the rate of 50
gallons of spray liquid per acre have
given excellent pest control both in
experimental plots and grower-
sprayed orchards. In limited experi-
ments Fisher and McMechan (unpub-
lished results) have found that
chemical thinning of apples was as
good with 50 as with 100 or 250 gal-
lons of spray liquid per acre. From
the results obtained it appears that
there is no advantage in using more
than 50 gallons of spray liquid per
acre because time is wasted in filling
the sprayer when higher volumes are
used.

The amount of spray chemical ap-
plied per acre should be the same for
sprayers applying from 50 to 250 gal-
lons of spray liquid per acre. When
applying more than 250 gallons of
spray liquid per acre the amount of
spray chemical applied per acre may
have to be increased because of in-

Proc, Extomol. Sue. Bkit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

TABLE 1 — Mean Spray Deposits of Sevin (mmg./cm.z) on Apple Foliage from Two
Sprayers Applying Three Volumes of Spray Liquid per Acre (Sevin, 50 per
cent Wettable Powder, Applied at Rate of 4 Pounds per Acre in All Plots).

Tree-top deposit Tree-bottom deposit

Gallons of Spray liquid per acre Gallons of Spray liquid per acre

Sprayer Year Replicate

100

250

100

250

1959 1

1.2

0.9

0.6

3.2

2.7

1.9

1.5

1.1

1.0

3.3

3.2

2.1

1960 1

1.0

1.3

1.1

3.3

3.5

2.4

1.2

0.9

1.1

3.5

2.8

2.5

Average

1.2

1.1

1.0

3.3

3.1

2.2

1959 1

1.5

1.6

1.2

2.5

3.3

2.4

1.6

1.0

1.4

3.0

2.7

1960 1

1.4

0.8

1.0

2.8

2.9

1.2

1.3 •

1.2

3.7

3.3

3.0

Average

1.4

1.2

3.0

3.1

2.8

creased “run-off” of spray liquid from
the fruit and foliage.

Summary

When the same amount of pesticide
was applied per acre, spray deposits

on foliage were equal for two sprayers
applying concentrate sprays of 50
gallons of spray liquid per acre and
semi-concentrate sprays of 250 gal-
lons per acre.

References

1. McMechan, A. D., J. M. McArthur, and K. Williams. 1960. Effect of speed of travel

on the performance of concentrate orchard sprayers. Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit.
Columbia 57: 44-47.

2. Marshall, J. 1958. Concentrate spraying in deciduous orchards. Can. Dep. Agr. Publ.

1020: pp. 34 and 42.

3. Miskus, R., and D. A. George. 1959. Colorimetric determination of 1-naphthyl-N-

methyl-carbamate in agricultural crops. J. Agr. Food Chem. 7: 613-614.

Dock sawfly larvae boring holes in cedar siding.

On October 27, 1959, at the request of a
pest control operator, I visited a house in
Burnaby to investigate a complaint of
insects boring into cedar siding. The house
was six months old, in a new subdivision on
a northern slope with bush only a block
away. No landscaping had been done.

Thirteen sawfly larvae were collected on
the outside north wall and on a cement
walk next to the house. The larvae had
moved from the soil, across the walk and
up the cement house foundation to the
painted cedar siding in order to pupate
within holes on the wood. The lower edge
of the siding was 18 inches above the con-
crete walk. By the time the owner enlisted
the services of the pest control operator,
they had already made many holes in the
lowest 18 inches of wood.

The larvae were placed in a jar contain-
ing a large cork into which they immedi-
ately started to bore. The jar was left in
an outdoor screened insectary for the
winter. Adult sawflies emerged at the end
of May and were identified as Ametastegia

glabrata (Fallen) by Dr. H. E. Milliron,
Entomology Research Institute, Ottawa.

A. glabrata, which feeds on docks (Rumex
spp.) and Polygonum spp., normally hiber-
nates in the stems of these plants. Occa-
sionally it causes considerable damage in
the fall by boring into apples in orchards
that are not clean cultivated. It may also
hibernate in the dead portions of spur
growths that have been cut back the
previous season.

Becker and Sweetman recorded leaf-
feeding sawfly larvae Macremphytus tar-
satus (Say) in large numbers crawling
about dooryards and on buildings in Massa-
chusetts. The larvae bored into wooden
structures to make pupal cells, completely
embedding themselves in decayed or natur-
ally soft wood.

Reference

Becker, W. B. and H. L. Sweetman. 1946.

Leaf-feeding sawfly larvae burrow-
ing in structural wood. J. Econ.
Ent. 39: 408.

— Peter Zuk, Research Station, Vancouver ,

B.G.

Prog. Bntomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

EXPERIMENTS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA WITH ACRICID, A NEW

DINITRO MITICIDE1

R. S. Downing2

The control of phytophagous mites,
especially the European red mite,
Panonychus ulmi Koch, and the Mc-
Daniel spider mite, Tetranychus mc-
danieli McG., is becoming an increas-
ingly important and difficult problem,
mainly because of the mites’ ability
to develop resistance to most acar-
icides in a relatively short time. In
some areas of British Columbia, the
European red mite has developed
strains resistant to malathion, para-
thion, and other organic phosphates;
to the sulpho-esters fenson, ovex, and
Tedion; and in some instances to the
chlorinated hydrocarbon Kelthane.
The McDaniel spider mite poses a
perplexing problem because mala-
thion, parathion, and other phos-
phates, and in many cases, Kelthane,
have been ineffective against it.
There are few effective and safe miti-
cides available, consequently, the
search for new miticides of different
molecular structure has special sig-
nificance in the research work at
Summerland and elsewhere.

Dinitrophenol derivatives have
been used extensively for mite con-
trol in various areas of the world,
especially in British Columbia (5)
and, to the author’s knowledge, these
compounds have yet to induce resist-
ance in insects or mites. Twelve to
fifteen years ago dinitro-o-cyclo-
hexylphenol (DNOCHP) was used
quite extensively in British Columbia
but was dropped in favor of newer
and less phytotoxic miticides. The
fungicide - acaricide Karathane (di-
nitro capryl phenyl crotonate) is
fairly effective against mites (1) but
because of its relatively high cost has
had very limited use strictly as a

! Contribution No. 76 from the Regional Research
Station, Canada Department of Agriculture, Sum-
merland, British Columbia.

2 Entomologist.

miticide. A new dinitro compound,
closely related to Karathane, became
available for experimental purposes
in 1959. This compound, described
chemically as 1,1 -dimethyl acrylic
acid ester of 4,6-dinitro-2-sec. butyl-
phenol and given the trade name
Acricid, was developed by Farbwerke
Hoechst A.G. in Germany. Emmel and
Czech (2) state that the mammalian
toxicity of Acricid is average, the
acute LD50 to rats being 165 mg. per
kg. When fed to rats at 200 p.p.m. for
90 days, it caused no harmful effects.

This is a report of laboratory and
orchard experiments with Acricid in
British Columbia.

Methods
Laboratory Experiments

Stringless green pod beans were
grown in four-inch pots, three plants
per pot, and only the two primary
leaves were allowed to develop. The
plants were infested with the Mc-
Daniel spider mite, Tetranychus mc~
clanieli McG., or the two-spotted
spider mite, Tetranychus telarius
(L.), by placing on the plants pieces
of infested leaves from a stock cul-
ture of the mites. The infested plants
were placed in a 70°F. greenhouse for
four to five days. Then they were
sprayed with a compressed air paint
gun sprayer until thoroughly wetted.
Living and dead mites were counted
with a stereomicroscope at intervals
after spraying.

Orchard Experiments

Sprays were applied either by a
high-volume hand-gun sprayer, or
by a concentrate sprayer. The former
was operated at 425 p.s.i. and the
trees were sprayed until dripping.
The latter was a 1955 model “Turbo-
Mist’' concentrate machine. It applied
50 gallons of spray mixture per acre.

Estimates of mite populations were

Proc. Entomol, Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

made by taking a 20-leaf sample from
one quadrant of each of five trees per
plot. The leaves were processed by
the method of Henderson and Mc-
Burnie (3) as modified by Morgan
et al. (4).

Results and Discussion
Laboratory Experiments

On June 4, 1959 Acricid was com-
pared with DNOCHP (DN Dry Mix
No. 1, Dow Chemical Company, Mid-
land, Michigan) against the Mc-
Daniel spider mite. Three pots of bean
plants were used per treatment; mite
counts were made four, eight, and
twelve days after spraying. Both

preparations, at 0.0125, 0.025 or at
0.050 per cent concentration of active
ingredient, caused 100 per cent mor-
tality of mites but the Acricid seemed
to be somewhat more rapid in its
effect.

Lower concentrations were compar-
ed against the active stages of the
McDaniel spider mite and the results
are summarized in Table 1. Acricid at
0.0125 and 0.0062 and DNOCHP at
0.0125 per cent concentration were
equal in effectiveness but the two
lowest concentrations of DNOCHP
gave practically no control of the
mite.

TABLE 1. — Average Per Cent Mortality of the McDaniel Spider Mite
at Various Periods after Spraying

Average per cent mortality
Per cent Days after spraying

Miticide

active

ingredient

Acricid

0.0125

Acricid

0.0062

Acricid

0.0031

DNOCHP

0.0125

DNOCHP

0.0062

DNOCHP

0.0031

Check — no treatment ..

S.S.R. @ 5% level

31.66

20.80

26.06

16.28

@1% level

—

43.38

28.50

35.71

22.31

Because of their

chemical

mite on

bean plants. Table 2

shows

relationship, Acricid

was

compared

that Acricid is

considerably

with Karathane (Rohm & Haas Com-

effective than Karathane against the

pany, Philadelphia, Pa.) in January

two-spotted spider mite.

1961 against the two-spotted spider

TABLE 2.-— Average Per Cent Mortality of the Two-Spotted Spider Mite
at Various Periods after Spraying

Per cent

Average per cent mortality
Days after spraying

Miticide active ingredient

Acricid 0.0125

Acricid 1__ 1 - 0.0062

Acricid - 0.0031

Karathane „ 0.0125

Karathane .i— — — 0.0062

Karathane 0.0031

Check — no treatment

S.S.R @ 5% level

@1% level i._

100

21.27

29.15

100

11.93

16.34

100

15
9.75

13.36

Prog. Extomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

Orchard Experiments

In the first orchard experiment
with Acricid, its toxicity to Anjou
pear, a variety very sensitive to spray
injury, was compared with that of
DNOCHP. Acricid 25 per cent wettable
powder was applied at two, four, and
eight pounds per 100 gallons, and
DNOCHP, 40 per cent wettable pow-
der at one, two, and four pounds in
the summer with a bucket-pump
sprayer. Injury (yellow mottling and
browning of the leaves) was evident
with DNOCHP even at one pound
concentration. On the other hand,
Acricid at two pounds caused no in-

jury. At four pounds it produced some
yellow mottling and slight necrosis of
the foliage. At eight pounds mottling
was similar but the necrotic spotting
was more obvious.

In the summer of 1959 two orchard
experiments were carried out against
the European red mite. The first was
on mite-infested prune trees to which
the spray chemicals were applied by
hand-gun sprayer. Acricid, 25 per
cent, one pound per 100 gallons gave
good control; but one-half pound per
100 gallons was unsatisfactory (Table
3). DNOCHP appeared to be some-
what more effective.

TABLE 3. — Average Numbers of the European Red Mite per Leaf After Spraying
Prune Trees by Hand-Gun Sprayer on August 17, 1959

Average number mites per leaf
Amount Before spraying After spraying

Miticide per 100 gal. Aug. 17 Aug. 24 Sept. 1

Acricid (25% w.p.) 1 lb. 31.5 0.2 0.2

Acricid (25% w.p.) 8 oz. 40.7 10.7 4.3

DNOCHP (40% w.p.) 5 oz. 34.9 0.3 0.3

Check— -no treatment — 54.1 28.0 0.6

For the second comparison, the two
preparations were applied by concen-
trate sprayer to Newtown apple trees
infested with the European red mite.
One week after spraying, Acricid ap-
plied at eight pounds per acre had
reduced the mites from 11.5 to 0.7 per
leaf. DNOCHP at three pounds per
acre had reduced them from 16.0 to
2.0 per leaf. DNOCHP caused slight
injury to Newtown apple foliage.

In 1960 Acricid was applied against
the European red mite infesting Jon-
athan apple trees in the pink bud
stage. It was compared with Kara-
thane, 25 per cent wettable powder,
and fenson (50 per cent p-chloro-
phenyl benzene sulphonate, Murphy
Chemical Company, Wheathamp-
stead, England), a currently recom-
mended “pink-bud” miticide. The

preparations were applied with a con-
centrate sprayer. Seventy-nine days
later the average numbers of mites
per leaf were:

Pounds

Miticide per acre

Fenson 50% 4

Acricid 25% 8

Karathane 25% „ 6
Check-— no treatment

Average numbers
mites per leaf
0.1
1.5

16.4

10.5

Acricid was compared with Kel-
thane [18.5 per cent bis (p-chloro-
phenyl) trichloroethanol, Rohm &
Haas Company, Philadelphia, Pa.] in
June 1960 against the European red
mite on seedling apple trees. The re-
sults of these hand-gun applications
are given in Table 4, Acricid at three-
quarters or one pound per 100 gallons
gave good control as did Kel thane.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

TABLE 4.— Average Numbers of the European Red Mite per Leaf after Spraying Apple
Trees by Hand-Gun Sprayer on June 28, 1960

Average number mites per leaf*
Amount Before spraying After spraying

Miticide per 100 gal.

Acricid (25% w.p.) 0.75 lb.

Kelthane (18.5% w.p.) 2.00 lb.

Check — no treatment

* Based on 50 leaves per plot
** Sprayed with Acricid (25% w.p.)

Kelthane and Acricid were com-
pared again against the European red
mite in July, application being by
concentrate sprayer to Delicious,
Winesap, Jonathan, Newtown, and

June 27

July 5

July 12

July 20

July 26

7.4

0.7

0.3

0.4

0.6

4.4

0.0

1.3

0.3

0.2

17.6

38.8

34.0**

0.2

2.8

1 lb. per 100 gal. on July 13, 1960

Stayman apple trees. As indicated in
Table 5 both miticides controlled the
mite well. Neither preparation caused
any foliage or fruit injury.

TABLE 5. — Average Numbers of the European Red Mite per Leaf after Spraying Apple
Trees by Concentrate Sprayer on July 26, 1960

Amount

Miticide per acre

Acricid (25% w.p.) .... ......... 8 lb.

Kelthane (18.5% w.p.) 10 lb.

Check — no treatment —

Summary

Acricid, a new dinitro miticide of
moderate toxicity to mammals, was
less toxic to pear and apple trees than
the older and more hazardous dinitro
miticide, DNOCHP. In laboratory ex-
periments against the McDaniel
spider mite, Acricid was somewhat
more effective than DNOCHP. Against

Average number mites per leaf
Before spraying After spraying

July 25

Aug. 2

Aug. 9

Aug. 16

Aug.

17.2

0.6

5.2

1.7

2.3

13.3

0.4

4.6

1.8

0.6

6.6

3.9

9.8

11.0

3.8

the two-spotted spider mite, it was
more effective than a third dinitro
preparation, Karathane. In field ex-
periments against the European red
mite, Acricid was effective at one
pound per 100 gallons in high-volume
application and at eight pounds per
acre in concentrate spraying, but was
not quite as effective as DNOCHP.

References

1. Downing, R. S. Acaricide trials in British Columbia orchards, 1950. Proc. Entomol.

Soc. Brit. Columbia 47: 1-4. 1951.

2. Emmel, L., and M. Czech. Zur Wirkung und Toxikologie eines neuartigen Akarizides

auf Basis Dinitro-alkyl-phenyl-acrylat. Anz. Schadlingskunde 33(10): 145-149.
1960.

3. Henderson, C. F., and H. Y. McBurnie. Sampling technique for determining popula-

tions of citrus red mite and its predators. U.S. Dep. Agr. Cire. 671. 1943.

4. Morgan, C. V. G., D. A. Chant, N. H. Anderson, and G. L. Ayre. Methods for estim-

ating orchard mite populations, especially with the mite brushing machine.
Can. Entomologist 87: 189-200. 1955.

5. Morgan, C. V. G., and J Marshall. Dinitrophenol derivatives as summer acaricides

in British Columbia. Sci. Agr. 29: 191-199. 1949.

Proc. Entomoi. Sol. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

SOME HETEROPTERA NEW TO BRITISH COLUMBIA

G. G. E. SCUDDER'

During the course of the past three
years, collecting in British Columbia
and examination of existing collec-
tions have produced a number of
Heteroptera not recorded from the
Province. Whilst a revised annotated
check-list of Heteroptera for British
Columbia is in preparation, it is evi-
dent that it will be some time before
this is complete; it seems worthwhile
to record now some of the more inter-
esting new records.

Family PENTATOMIDAE

Sciocoris microphthalmus Flor.
Bouchie Lake, near Quesnel, 31. vii.
1959 (G. G. E. Scudder) ; Wycliffe, 8.
vi. 1961 (G. G. E. S.); Cranbrook, 8.
vi. 1961 (G. G. E. S.) ; Sullivan River,
Big Bend Highway, 10. vi. 1961 (G. G.
E. S.)— abundant on flower heads of
Yellow Dryas ( Dryas .. drummondii
Rich.) ; Westwick Lake, Cariboo, 23.
vi. 1961 (G. G. E. S.).

Family LYGAEIDAE

Arphnus coriacipennis (Stal.). Van-
couver, 21. ix. 1921 (W. Downes) ;
Penticton, 22. ix. 1921 (W. D.) ; near
Glalla, 6. viii. 1959 (G. G. E. S.) ;
Vaseux Lake, 4. vi. 1961 (G. G. E. S.).
Ashlock (1961) has recently synon-
ymised A . tristis Van Duzee and A .
profectus Van Duzee under A. coria-
cipennis. He indicates that there ap-
pear to be three colour forms of
coriacipennis , ones with head and
pronotum black (=A. tristis), ones
with head and thorax brownish (=A.
coriacipennis s. str.) and ones which
are quite pale (=A. profectus) . At the
moment it is not possible to state
what causes these colour variations.
The specimens from Vancouver, Va-
seux Lake and near Olalla are dark

i Department of Zoology, University of British
Columbia, Vancouver 8, B.C.

forms and those from Penticton are
pale. Ashlock records A. coriacipennis
from California, Oregon, Washington,
Nevada, Utah and New Mexico: Utah
specimens have been taken on Juncus
balticus.

Kolenetrus plenus (Distant) . West-
wick Lake, Cariboo, 1. viii. 1959 (G. G.
E. S.), a single brachypterous male.
This species was originally described
from Guatemala and Bueno (1946)
records it from Massachusetts, Con-
necticut, New York and Arizona:
Moore (1950) records it from Quebec.
The Westwick Lake specimen was
taken by searching among Juncus
tufts at the edge of the lake. When
first captured, I mistook the specimen
for an Acompus , not only due to its
appearance, but also because this is a
frequent habitat for Acompus in Bri-
tain. However, dissection revealed
that spiracles on abdominal segments
II, III and IV were dorsal indicating
that the specimen belonged to the
Myodochini; further study indicated
that it belongs to the genus Kolen-
etrus. It seems to be conspecific with
K. plenus (Dist.) ; this latter species
has the fore femora markedly in-
crassate and with two spines.

Since I at first thought the speci-
men to be an Acompus , I considered
that others also might have made the
same mistake and that perhaps the
record of Acompus from British Co-
lumbia might really refer to Kolen-
etrus. Barber (1918) recorded Acom-
pus rufipes (Wolff) from British
Columbia. His record was based on
two specimens in the United States
National Museum. These were from
the collection of P. R. Uhler and one
had the data ‘Victoria' and the other
‘N.R.R/, which Barber (loc. cit.) con-
sidered to refer to Northern Pacific or
Canadian Pacific of British Columbia.

Peou. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

Through the kindness of Dr. D. M.
Weisman and Dr. Gates Clarke of the
United States National Museum, I
have been able to borrow and exam-
ine the specimen from ‘Victoria'
mentioned by Barber: Dr. Weisman
(in lift.) informs me that he is unable
to trace the other specimen in the
Museum collections.

Examination of the ‘Victoria’ speci-
men, a female, shows that this is not
Acompus rufipes and belongs neither
to the genus Acompus Fieber nor to
the genus Kolenetrus Barber. It is in
fact a representative of a new Aus-
tralian genus of which I have seen a
number of specimens from New South
Wales. Thus I think it is safe to con-
clude that the ‘Victoria’ specimen is
from Victoria, Australia and not from
British Columbia, Canada. Acompus
rufipes is therefore here removed
from the list of Heteroptera from B.C.

Ligyrocoris latimarginatus Barber.
Goldstream, 15. ix. 1927 (W. D.). A
Pacific coast species recorded from
California, Oregon and Washington.

Megalonotus chiragrct (Fab.). I
have already noted (Scudder, 1960)
that this species occurs in British
Columbia, but have given no details.
Specimens examined are as follows:
Duncan, 1. x. 1932 (W. D.) ; Welling-
ton, 14. iv. 1949 (R. Guppy); Salt
Spring Is., 25. vi. 1949 (G. J. Spencer)
— on strawberries; University Cam-
pus, Vancouver, 14. viii. 1958, 22. ix.
1958, 18. iv. 1959 (G. G. E. S.) ; Vernon,
5. viii. 1959 (G. G. E. S.) ; Cultus Lake,
9. v. 1959 (G. G. E. S.) ; White Rock,
7. iii. 1960 (G. G. E. S.) ; West Vancou-
ver, 18. v. 1961 (G. J. S.); Creston, 7.
vi. 1961 (G. G. E. S.) ; Sicamous, 11.
vi. 1961 (G. G. E. S.) ; Pavilion, 30. vi.
1961 (G. G. E. S.) ; Essondale, 25. v.
1961, 1. vi. 1961 (W, Lazorko). I have
also seen specimens in the Canadian
National Collection from Victoria (G.
S. Walley) , Mission City (W. R, M.
Mason) and Oliver (J. R. McGillis),
and specimens are at hand from

Seattle, Wash. In Vancouver and on
the University Campus, M. chiragra
in 1959 was very abundant on boule-
vards. It is possible that this species
was introduced into the area in bal-
last (see Lindroth, 1957: Scudder,
1958) : I was in error (Scudder, 1960)
in stating that Slater & Sweet (1958)
suggested that this was the mode of
introduction of M. chiragra in the
Eastern United States.

Most of the British Columbia ma-
terial seems to be referable to ikf.
chiragra sahulicola (Thoms.) and fur-
ther to the nominate form of this
with both the second and the third
antennal segments usually pale in the
basal half; for other notes on this
complex see Bueno (1946). We may
note here that there does not appear
to be a significant difference in the
dimensions of the scutellum in the
various Nearctic and Palaearctic pop-
ulations, when the difference in wing
development and consequent thoracic
changes, are taken into account. Mea-
surements made are listed, the ratio
scutellum length /scutellum width be-
ing given with the standard error of
the mean: chiragra chiragra from
Southern England $ 1.28 2.49, $

I. 27 + 2.65; chiragra sabulicola from
Jersey, Channel Islands $ 1.29 i- 3.23,
2 1.40 (only 1 specimen studied);
chiragra from Vancouver, B.C. $ 1.28
J- 3.46, $ 1.32 + 1.72.

Stygnocoris pedestris (Fallen).
Malahat, 20. ix. 1950 (W. D.) ; Cultus
Lake, 2. ix. 1959 (G. G. E. S.) ; Lions
Bay, Squamish Road, 16. x, 1960 (G.

J. S.) . This species was first recorded
in North America by Barber (1918)
from specimens taken in Nova Scotia
and New York. It is recorded from
Quebec by Moore (1950).

Family TINGIDAE

Gargaphia opacula Uhler. Dog Lake
(Skaha Lake), 29, viii. 1946 (W, D.) ;
Vaseux Lake, 4. vi, 1961 (G, G. E. S.) ;
8 mi. N. of Oliver, 18. v. 1958 (H. & A,
Howden) (Can. Nat. Coll.) . Also taken

Proc. Extomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

by the late W. Downes on Purshia
tridentata D.C. at Oroville, Wash., 1.
vli. 1927.

Teleonemia nigrina Champ. Agassiz,
16. vii. 1933, 23. vii 1933 (W.D.).
According to notes left by the late W.
Downes, these specimens were taken
on Penstemon menziesii Hook at 1,000
ft. and on P. ruficola and P. diffusus
Dougl. in rock gardens.

Melanorhopala clavata Stal. Boit-
ano Lake, Cariboo, 30. vii. 1959 (G. G.
E. S.) ; Westwick Lake, Cariboo, 23. vi.
1961 (G. G. E. S.).

Dictyla labeculata (Uhler) . Cache
Creek, 18. vi. 1959 (G. G. E. S.). This
species, formerly listed in the litera-
ture as Monanthia labeculata Uhler,
now must be placed in the genus
Dictyla Stal. since it has been shown
that Monanthia Le Peletier is a syn-
onym of C opium Thunberg (see Drake
& Ruhoff, 1960).

Family REDUVHDAE

Reduvius personatus (L.). Creston,
vii. 1949; Oliver, 26. v. 1945 (D. Blair) ;
Oliver, 9. vii. 1961 (A. T. S. Wilkin-
son) ; Vaseux Lake, 12. vi. 1961 (P,
Zuk) ; Vancouver, 19. x. 1960 (P. Z.) —
the latter taken as fourth and fifth
instar larvae and reared. These in-
sects were fairly abundant in a dock-
side warehouse in Vancouver.

Family CIMICIDAE

Hesperocimex coloradensis List,
(det. R. L. Usinger). Summerland, 16.
vii. 1949 (G. B. Rich)— from nest of
Red-shafted Flicker (Colaptes cafer
(Gmelin) ). Lattin & Schuh (1959)
recorded this rare species from Ore-
gon and note that previous records
are from Colorado, Nebraska, Cali-
fornia and Mexico. The Oregon ma-
terial was taken from an abandoned
woodpecker nest and the species is
usually associated with the Purple
Martin (Progne subis (L.) ). I wish to
thank Prof. G. J. Spencer for allowing
me to include this record.

Family NABIDAE

Stalia major (Costa). University of
B.C. campus, Vancouver, 20. x. 1949
(Orchard) ; Brighouse, 15. x. 1944 (I.
Kosin) . Possibly introduced in ballast.

Family MIRIDAE

Pronotocrepis clavicornis Kngt.
Rock Creek, 30. v. 1958 (Forest Insect
Survey, Vernon) — on Ribes sp. Des-
cribed originally from specimens
taken at Ft. Garland, Colorado.

Dichrooscytus suspectus Reuter.
Elko, Twin Lakes, viii (F. I. S. V.) ;
Soda Creek, vii (H. R. MacCarthy) ;
Otterhead River, viii (F. I. S.:V);
Vanderhoof, vii (F. I. S.:V) — on
Picea; Topley, vii (F. I. S.:V) — on
White Spruce (Picea glauca).

Deraeocapsus fraternus (Van Du-
zee). Revelstoke, 17. vii. 1925 (A. A.
Dennys) ; 4 miles N. of Moyie, 28. viii.
1942 (F. Hesketh) ; Garibaldi, 13. vii.
1951 (W. Cottle); Salmo, vi (F. I.
S.:V) ; Christina Lake, vi (F. I. S.: V) .
The species was described from the
Sierra Nevada, near Lake Tahoe,
California.

Orectoderus obliquus Uhler. Jes-
mond, Williams Lake, Canim Lake:
specimens in Canadian National Col-
lection, Ottawa.

Family SALDIDAE

Lampracanthia erassicornis (Uh-
ler) . Colpitt Lake, Cariboo, 17. vi. 1959
(G. G. E. S.) ; Westwick Lake, Cari-
boo, 1. viii. 1959 (G. G. E. S.) ; Boitano
Lake, Cariboo, 17. vi. 1961 (G.G.E.S.).

Micracanthia ripula Drake. Kam-
loops (G. J. S.) ; Marble Canyon, Lil-
looet, v. (J. McDunnough) (Can. Nat.
Coll.).

Family HYDROMETRSDAE

Hydrometra martini Kirk. Lytton,
24. vii. 1931, 26. vii. 1931 (G. J. S.).

Family VEUIDAE

Microvelia buenoi Drake. Elk Lake,
Saanich Distr., 9. iv. 1926 (W. D.) ;

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

Duncan, 4. ix. 1926 (W. D.) ; Chilcotin,
26. v. 1959 (G. G. E. S.) ; Oliver, 5. vi.
1961 (G. G. E. S.); Westwick Lake,
Cariboo, 14. vi. 1961 G. G. E. S.) ; 149
mile Lake, Cariboo, 22. vi. 1961 (G. G.
E. S.) ; Williams Lake District, 24. vi.
1961 (G. G. E. S.) ; found in ponds
and sloughs often in association with
Duckweed ( Lemna ).

Microvelia pulchella Westw. Oliver,
6. ix. .19,5.7 (W. D.) ; Waseux Lake, 13.
viii. 1957 (WcD,)tm sheltered waters
at edge of lake; behind bulrushes.

Family HEBRIDAE

Merragata hebroides White. Oliver,
15. viii. 1957 (W. D.).

Family CORIXIDAE

Dasycorixa rawsoni Hungerford.

. 29

(det. I. Lansbury). McIntyre Lake,
Chilcotin, 20. x. 1960 (G. G. E. S.) —
taken in association with the corixids
Cenocorixa bifida (Hungerford) and
Hesperocorixa laevigata (Uhler), the
notonectids Notonecta kirbyi Hunger-
ford and N. undulata (Say) and the
dvtiscids Dytiscus ooligbuki Kby. and
D. cordieri Aube. D, rawsoni was not
recorded from the Province by Lans-
bury (1960) and previously has been
recorded only from Southern Saskat-
chewan (Hungerford, 1948) .

Acknowledgements

The research for this paper was done
whilst in receipt of a grant from the Na-
tional Research Council of Canada. Dr. L.
Kelton of Ottawa kindly determined the
Miridae listed.

References

Ashlock, P. D., 1961. A review of the genus Arphnus Stal with a new species from
Mexico (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae), Pan-Pacif. Ent. 37: 17-22.

Barber, H. G., 1918. Concerning Lygaeidae. — No. 2., J.N.Y. Ent. Soc. 26: 49-66.

Bueno, J. R. de la Torre — , 1946. A synopsis of the Hemiptera-Heteroptera of America
North of Mexico. Part III. Family XI — Lygaeidae, Ent. Amer. 26: 1-141.

Drake, C. J. & Ruhoff, F. A., 1960. Lace Bug genera of the world (Hemiptera: Tingidae),

Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. 112: 1-105.

Hungerford, H. B., 1948. The Corixidae of the Western Hemisphere (Hemiptera),

Univ. Kansas Sci, Bull. 32: 1-827.

Lansbury, I., 1960. The Corixidae (Hemiptera-Heteroptera) of British Columbia. Proc.
Ent. Soc. B.C., 57: 34-43.

Lattin, J. D, & Schuh, J., 1959. Hesperocimex coloradensis List in Oregon (Hemiptera:
Cimicdiae), Pan-Pacif. Ent. 35: 175-176.

Lindroth, C. H., 1957. The Faunal Connections between Europe and North America.

New York.

Moore, G. A., 1950. Check-list of Hemiptera of the Province of Quebec, Contr. Inst.
Biol. Univ, Montreal 26: 1-49,

Scudder, G. G. E., 1958. A new aspect on the faunal connections between Europe and
the Pacific Northwest, Proc. Ent. Soc. B.C. 55: 36.

Scudder, G. G. E., 1960. Dictyonota fuliginosa Costa (Hemiptera: Tingidae) in the
Nearctic, Proc. Ent. Soc. B.C. 57: 22.

Slater, J. A. & Sweet, M., 1958. The occurrence of Megalonotus chiragra (F.) in the
Eastern United States with notes on its biology and ecology (Hemiptera:
Lygaeidae), Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc. 53: 102-107.

Peoc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

ANNOTATED LIST OF FOREST INSECTS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
PART X — NOTODONTSDAE1

D. A. Ross- and D. Evans3

The larvae of this family feed ex-
clusively on broad-leaved hosts,
chiefly of Salicaceae and Betulaceae.
Several species are commonly found
on members of Rosaceae as well.
Datana ministra and Schizura con-
cinna occasionally have been suffi-
ciently numerous to cause noteworthy
defoliation.

Notodontid larvae are quite similar
to the cutworms, Noctuidae, but us-
ually have more elongate heads. The
majority are strikingly marked; most
species have prominences. Setae on
the upper body are primary, except-
ing Datana and Ichthyura which
have a light clothing of fine second-
ary hairs. There are ventral prolegs
on A3-6; and the anal prolegs are
more or less reduced or modified. The
anal prolegs may be held up at rest,
and are not used by Schizura or Cer-
vra for locomotion. The eversible
gland on the prothoracic venter is
branched on some species. Most noto-
dontids overwinter as larvae in co-
coons.

Ichthyura apicalis Walker. Populus
tremuloides (1). Mile 50 Big Bend
Highway. LARVA: head brown, ex-
cepting unpigmented configuration
about the frons; no swellings appar-
ent; pronotal shield with pair of
brown patches; body drab cream-
brown; faint dorsal lines. Head and
body moderately clothed with fine
short white hairs.

Ichthyura strigosa Grote. Populus
tremuloides (1). Wasa. LARVA: un-
known to writers.

t Contribution No. 774, Forest Entomology and
Pathology Branch, Department of Forestry, Ot-
tawa. Canada.

2 Forest Entomology Laboratory, Vernon, B.C.

3 Forest Entomology and Pathology Laboratory,
Victoria, B.C.

Ichthyura albosigma Fitch. Populus
tremuloides (4), Salix sp. (1), Alnus
sp. (1). Squilax, Kersley, Marguerite,
Prince George, and southern V.I. One
from Mile 49 Dawson Rd., Y.T.
LARVA: young instars prominently
humped, pale green with fine red lines
and abdominal segments 1, 3, and 8
also red. Late instars stippled mauve-
grey and brown, with indistinct
brown lines pale edged; large black
spiracles; shallow yellow tubercles,
long silvery setae; the head large and
mottled.

Ichthyura brucei Hy. Ed. Populus
tremuloides, Salix sp. (1). Central In-
terior. LARVA: head black, excepting
unpigmented inverted Y above and
bordering frons; small transverse
swellings on dorsum of A1 and 8, lat-
eral portions of prothoracic shield,
small supraspiracular patches, and
spiracles, black. Head and body
lightly clothed with fine, moderately
iong, white hairs.

Datana ministra Dru. Yellow-neck-
ed caterpillar. Betula spp., Amelan-
chier sp., Crataegus spp., Prunus sp.
(1), Salix sp. (1). Central portion
Southern Interior. LARVA: 1%

inches; head and body black (body
reddish-brown in earlier instars) ;
prothoracic shield yellowish-brown;
yellow subdorsal, supraspiracular,
subspiracular, subventral and ventral
lines; body sparsely clothed with long
grey hairs.

Odontosia elegans S t k r. Populus
tremuloides, Southern Interior, and
Cuisson Creek. LARVA: 1% inches;
head and thorax reddish to yellowish
brown, glossy; dorsum of body mot-
tled brown, venter of abdomen cream;

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia. Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

brown pro thoracic shield; brown
shallow transverse ridges on A2 and
A8; brown blotch about spiracles
down to prolegs on A3-6.

Notodonta simplaria Graef. Salix
sp. (3), Populus tremuloides (1).
Golden, Ochiltree, Lardo, and Burns
Lake. LARVA: 1 y2 inches; head tap-
ered to vertex, stippled with black;
body purplish, mottled; pale diagonal
lines; conical humps on A2, 3 and 8;
faint pale subspiracular stripe run-
ning down to tip of ventral proleg on
A6. Black above bases of thoracic
legs; black double dorsal stripe on
thorax and on humps of A2 and 3.

Pheosia rimosa Pack. Salix spp.,
Populus tremuloides , P . trichocarpa,
Betula sp. Interior B.C. LARVA: about
2 inches; green or yellowish-brown,
glossy; horn on A8; black transverse
band on T2 and A8, may be broken
on the former segment; thoracic legs
red; spiracles black, pale-ringed.

Pheosia portlandia Hy. Ed. Van-
couver Island. LARVA: unknown to
writers.

Nadata gihhosa A. & S. Betula
-spp., Salix spp., Alnus spp., Quercus
garryana , Populus trichocarpa (1),
Acer circinatum (1), Prunus sp., Rosa
spp. General throughout B.C. LARVA:
1% inches; head and body pale blu-
ish-green, covered with a bloom;
body flecked with yellow laterally;
subdorsal stripe, base of prolegs and
posterior margin of suranal plate,
pale yellow; no protuberances; setae
minute; spiracles small, reddish-
brown.

Dicentria pallida Stkr. Vancouver
Island. Hosts and larvae unknown to
writers.

Schizura semirufescens Wlk. Alnus
spp., Salix spp., Betula papyrifera (3) ,
Quercus garryana (1), Acer circiiiat-
um (1), Amelanchier sp. (1). South-

ern B.C. and V.I. LARVA: 1 y2 inches;
cream and brown head and body;
abdomen may be tinged with green;
brown M on head, X between arms;
hump at posterior margin of meta-
thorax; elongate forked protuberance
on A1 bent forward; forked hump on
A5 and 8. White V on A6 and 7.

Schizura iporrsoeae Doubleday. Bet-
ula papyrifera, Alnus spp. (3), Salix
sp., Amelanchier sp. (1). Southeast-
ern B.C. (Jones, 1951, also records it
from southern V.I.). LARVA: 1 y2

inches; brown and green with mark-
ings on dorsum of abdomen; a pair
of black longitudinal lines on each
side of the front of the head, with a
reddish-brown X between; thorax
green, speckled with brown; broken,
reddish-brown dorsal stripe with
white edge, split on thorax and div-
erging on Tl; pleura on T1 partly
brown; white dorsal patches on Al-4,
shield-shaped on A2 and 3 and white
broad-based V on A6-7; elongate
short-forked tubercle on Al; smaller
paired tubercles on A5 and 8. The
setae on this species are more prom-
inent than on the other three species.

Schizura concinna S. and A. Red-
humped caterpillar. Salix spp., Betula
spp., Prunus spp., Populus tremu-
loides, P. trichocarpa, Alnus spp.,
Acer glabrum and miscellaneous
other broad-leaved hosts. South-
eastern B.C. Occasionally known to
completely denude single trees or
clumps of trees. LARVA: 1 y2 inches;
head and transverse swelling on Al,
a dull red; body glossy, dull yellow
streaked with black or reddish-
brown; subdorsal, supra- and sub-
spiracular stripes white, edged with
black; tubercles black, those on dor-
sum elongated, the longest on Al.

Cerura occidentals Lintner. Popu-
lus trichocarpa, Salix spp. Kelowna,
Houston, Vernon, Prince George,

Pkoc. Extomol. Soc. Brit, Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

B.C., and Carmacks, Y.T. LARVA:
body iy2 inches + *4 inch stemapods;
head brown, dark brown bar from
ocelli to vertex; body green; dorsal
stripe brown-edged with cream,
stripe broad at front of Tl, tapered
to posterior margin of T2, the “ab-
dominal saddle” broadest on A4
where it encompasses the spiracles;
brown subventral patches on prolegs
of abdominal segments; pair of ves-
tigal subdorsal warts on Tl; small
slightly bilobed swelling on T2.

Cerura scofopendrina Boisduval.
Salix spp., Populus tremuloides.
Southern B.C, and V.I. and two rec-
ords from Skeena River Valley.
LARVA: 1 y2 inches +1/3 inch stema-
pods; head brown, darkest near
vertices; body yellow-green; dorsal
“stripe” purplish-brown, broad at
front of Tl, tapered to the posterior
margin of T2, slightly interrupted at
leading edge of T3. The “abdominal
saddle” broadest on A4 where it ex-
tends down behind the spiracles; a
pair of small subdorsal warts on Tl;
swelling if present on T2, not bilobed.

The California Tortoise-Shell, Nymphalis

After an apparent absence of eight years
this butterfly has again been seen in south-
ern Vancouver Island. It was first noticed
on September 8, 1960, and was last seen on
October 18. The butterflies frequented high-
ways, sheltered valleys, and slopes, usually
flying back and forth, settling occasionally
on roads, fences or bushes. While not
observed to visit flowers, they sought damp
places and over-ripe fruit such as black-
berries and apples. A slight tendency to
drift eastward was at times indicated but

Schizura unicornis A. & S. Alnus
spp., Betula spp., Salix spp., Malus
spp., Prunus spp. (3) , Amelanchier sp.
(1), Populus tremuloides. Southern
B.C. and V.I. LARVA: similar to

ipomoeae. Head light brown with
darker brown longitudinal stripes
from ocelli to vertices; thorax green,
pleura of prothorax partly brown, not
joined to dorsal stripe; abdomen light
brown and olive green; brown dorsal
stripe on thorax, split on prothorax
but not diverging; whitish triangular,
and truncated triangle-like markings
on dorsum of Al-3; narrow-based
white dorsal V on A6 and 7; promin-
ent forked tubercle on Al; paired
swelling on A5 with vestiges of tu-
bercles; pair of prominent tubercles
on prominent swelling on A8.

Gfuphisia septentrionis Wlk. Popu-
lus tremuloides, P. trichocarpa. Ver-
non, Squilax, 70 Mile House, 83 Mile
House, Place Lake, Exchamsiks.
LARVA: Head yellow-green with or
without black stripe on either side
of front; body yellow-green; yellow
subdorsal stripe; reddish broken
patches on dorsum of thoracic and
abdominal segments — excepting Al
and sometimes A2.

Californica Bdv., on Vancouver Island

not so noticeably as in 1952.

At least some individuals hibernate here,
for one was seen on the warm southern
slope of Mount Douglas on January 26,
1961.

Following the immigration of 1952, this
butterfly was frequently seen up to April
23, 1953, after which it disappeared.

Whether the same pattern will eventuate
in 1961 remains to be seen.

— George A. Hardy, Provincial Museum
( Rtd .), Victoria, B.C.

Proc. Emomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

ADDITIONS TO THE LIST OF CICADELLIDAE (HOMOPTERA) OF
BRITISH COLUMBIA, WITH ONE GENUS AND FOUR SPECIES
NEW TO CANADA

G. G. E. Scudder1

In his excellent monograph on the
Cicadellidae of Canada and Alaska,
Beirne (1956) gives the general dis-
tribution of the various species in-
cluding those known to occur in Brit-
ish Columbia. Too little collecting has
been done to --allow, the exact distri-
butiGH'Of the JBritish Columbia species
to be plotted so an annotated check-
list for the family is premature.

However, it seems worthwhile to
record the occurrence in the Prov-
ince of eleven species not previously
noted from British Columbia: four of
these and one of the genera are not
recorded in Canada by Beirne ( loc .
cit.) .

Macropsis occidentalis (Van Du-
zee). Royal Oak, 7. viii. 1919 (W
Downes) ; Saanich District, 7. vii. 1919
(W.D.) : new to Canada. Recorded
from California and Nevada by
Breakey (1932) and DeLong & Knull
(1945) . This is a pale yellow-green to
brown species with a black spot on
the epimera. Breakey (loc. cit.) who
revised the Nearctic Macropsis, notes
that Van Duzee reports this species
from Salix sp. In Beirne (1956) it
would run to the virescens and viridis
couplets. Breakey notes that occiden-
talis is similar to M. viridis (Fitch)
from which it differs by having the
rugae and punctures more coarse, the
epimera with a black spot and the
length 5mm. or less. M. occidentalis
has the pronotum parabolically right-
angled anteriorly, but lacks the black
spot at the base of the hind tibiae,
typical of M. virescens (Gmel.).

Thatuna gilletti Oman. Erie, 6. vi.
1961 (G. G. E. S.) : new to Canada.
Originally described from Moscow,
Idaho and hitherto known only from

t Department of Zoology, University of British
Columbia. Vancouver 8, B.C.

that state and Washington. The
genus has not been reported in
Canada, and thus does not appear in
Beirne (1956). It belongs to the tribe
Errhomenellini of which to date only
Errhomus montanus (Baker) is re-
corded in Canada from the southern
part of British Columbia. Errhomus
Oman can be separated from Tha-
tuna Oman by the fact that the
former lacks the numerous fine striae
on the crown. In Thatuna, the head
is short and broad and narrower than
the pronotum, and the posterior mar-
gin of the pronotum is incised. A full
description of the genus and species
is toi be found in Oman (1938).

Colladonus incertus (Gillette &
Baker). Royal Oak, 30. viii. 1949
(W.D.) ; Saanich, 16. viii. 1952 (W.D.) ;
Duncan, 22. ix. 1925 (W.D.) : new to
Canada. DeLong & Knull (1945) re-
cord this species from the following
states — Colo., D.C., Fla., Mass., N.J.,
N.Y., N.C., N.D., Ohio and Tenn. Niel-
son (1957) has recently revised the
genus Colladonus and notes that at
the time of writing only female speci-
mens of C. incertus were known. He
remarks that it is at present placed
in Colladonus, but states that this is
presumably because the female has a
spatulate process on the seventh ster-
num. He considered that since males
were unknown, incertus should be
treated as a species incertae sedis. All
the British Columbia specimens ex-
amined are female. In Beirne (1956)
incertus keys down with C. flavocapi -
tatus (Van Duzee). Nielson (1957)
states that incertus is similar to C.
waldanus Ball which Beirne includes
under flavocapitatus . From the latter
incertus can be distinguished by hav-
ing the hemielytra with the clavus
brown and the corium with an oblique

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

brown dash. Although these markings
are distinct, they do not fuse to pro-
duce a montanus-\\ke pattern. One
should also note here that C. egenus
Ball must be added to the British Co-
lumbia and Canada list. Nielson
(1957) reports this from Utah north-
westwardly to British Columbia, the
type locality being Chilliwack, B.C.
Recently I have come across a speci-
men of C. egenus with the data Pen-
ticton, 22. ix. 1919 (W.D.). This speci-
men, a male, was easily recognised by
the unique falcate, serrate pygofer
spine and the long bifurcate processes
which are more than one-half as long
as the aedeagel shaft. Other British
Columbia species of Colladonus not
considered in Beirne (1956) will be
found in the paper by Nielson.

Paraphlepsius eburneolus (Osborn
& Lathrop). Penticton, 16. viii. 1920
(W.D.) . In Canada, previously record-
ed only in southern Saskatchewan
and Manitoba.

Texananus extremus (Ball) . Gold-
stream, 28. iv. 1926. (W.D.) : new to
Canada. Crowder (1952) reports this
species from Utah, Arizona, Oregon,
California and Colorado. The genitalic
characters are distinctive in the male.
T. extremus has the process of the
connective as a single shaft (distin-
guishing it from T. oregonus [Ball])
and has the aedeagal shaft very short,
the apical half not strongly tapering
to apex, the inner margin of plate at
apex constricted. In comparison, T.
decorus (Osb. & Ball), T. marmor
(Sand & DeL.), T. arctostaphylae
(Ball) and T . proximus Crowder have
the aedeagal shaft tapering strongly
to apex and sickle-shaped, and the
inner margin of plate less constricted.
T. extremus also characteristically
has the ventral shaft of the connec-
tive tapering to apex from its base in
lateral view. This smallish pale
species is also here recorded from
Idaho. In the Downes collection, now

at the University of British Columbia,
are specimens taken by the late W.
Downes at Boise, Idaho on 25 July,
1923: they were determined by P. W.
Oman.

T . decorus (Osborn & Ball) . Midday
Valley, Merritt, 5. viii. 1925, 25. viii.
1925, 11. ix. 1925 (Wm. Mathers). In
Canada, previously recorded only
from southern Ontario.

Fieberiella florii (Stal). Penticton,
11. viii. 1957 (W.D.) — on Virginia
Creeper. Beirne (1956) notes that this
species occurs in southern Ontario
and suggests that it was introduced
from Europe, since this is a European
species. A similar introduction in
British Columbia is probable.

Driotura gammaroides (Van Du-
zee). Riske Creek, Chilcotin, 26. v.
1959, 30. v. 1959 (G.G.E.S.) ; 149 Mile
Lake, Cariboo, 29. v. 1959 (G.G.E.S.) :
recorded as widely distributed and
locally common in the grassland re-
gions of Alberta, Saskatchewan and
Manitoba. Dr. J. P. Kramer (in Hit.)
states that in the United States this
species extends as far west as
Montana.

Athysanella acuticauda Baker.
Riske Creek, Chilcotin, 26. v. 1959
(G.G.E.S); Westwick Lake, Cariboo,
14. vi. 1961; (G.G.E.S.); Pavilion, 30.
vi. 1961; (G.G.E.S.); Wardner, 7. vi.
1961 (G.G.E.S.) ; 149 Mile Lake, Cari-
boo, 15. v. 1959, 22. vi. 1961 (G.G.E.S.) :
common on open range land. Beirne
notes that in Canada it is widely dis-
tributed and locally abundant in the
grassland regions of Alberta, Sask-
atchewan and Manitoba, being also
found in southern Quebec.

A. robusta (Osborn). Fort St. John,
Peace River, 11. vi. 1959 (G.G.E.S.):
taken only on dry grassland slopes of
the Peace River canyon. In Canada
recorded as widely distributed and
locally common in the grassland re-

Pboc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Voi.. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

gions of Alberta, Saskatchewan and
Manitoba.

A. occidentalis Baker. Hedley, 4. vi.
1961 (G.G.E.S.) : recorded from the
grassland regions of Alberta and
Saskatchewan.

Acknowledgements

The research for this paper was done
whilst in receipt of a grant from the Na-
tional Research Council of Canada, I am
indebted to Dr. J. P. Kramer of the United
States National Museum for kindly check-
ing and determining the species listed.
Material is in the collections at the Univer-
sity of British Columbia.

References

Beirne, B. P., 1956. Leafhoppers (Homoptera: Cicadellidae) of Canada and Alaska,

Canad. Ent. Suppf. 2: 180 pp.

Breakey, E. P., 1932. A review of the Nearctic species of Macropsis (Homoptera,
Cicadellidae), Ann. Ent. Soc. Arrter. 25: 787-844.

Crowder, H. W., 1952. A revision of some Phlepsiuslike genera of the tribe Delto-
cephalini (Homoptera, Cicadellidae) in America North of Mexico, Univ. Kansas
Sci. Bull. 35: 1(3): 309-542.

DeLong, D. M. & Knull, D. J., 1945. Check List of the Cicadellidae (Homoptera) of
America, North of Mexico, Ohio State Univ. Grad. School Stud. (Biol, Sci. Ser.)

1: 102 pp.

Nielson, M. W., 1957. A revision of the genus tolladonus (Homoptera, Cicadellidae),
U.S. Dept. Agric. Tech. Bull. 1156: 52 pp. + 13 PI.

Oman, P. W., 1938. Revision of the Nearctic Leafhoppers of the tribe Errhomenellini
(Homoptera: Cicadellidae), Proc. U.S. Nat, Mus. 85: 163-180.

BOOK NOTICE

The Cicindelidae of Canada, by J,
B. Wallis. University of Toronto Press,
Front Campus, University of Toronto,
Toronto 5; 100 pages, 6x9 inches, 4
colour plates, halftones, maps, $5.00.

The bright colours and fascinating
ways of this small but important
group of insects attract immediate
attention. Cicindelidae, or tiger
beetles, are frequently encountered,
but they are difficult to capture, since
they are alert and elusive, and still
more difficult to identify. This inten-
sive study of the distinguishing char-
acteristics, geographical distribution
and variation, and habits and habi-
tats of tiger beetles in Canada— the
culmination of the author’s main in-
terest for many years— will provide a

much-needed reference work. Studies
of insect families are scarce, and pro-
fessional and amateur entomologists
alike will find this book a most useful
aid in their investigations and a
stimulus to further research.

J. B. Wallis, one of Canada’s most
distinguished amateur entomologists,
is an honorary member of the Ento-
mological Society of Manitoba and
was one of the founders of the Natur-
al History Society of Manitoba, which
awarded him its medal for outstand-
ing work in entomology.

The note above was received from
the University of Toronto Press in
September. We are pleased to draw
the attention of our members to this
important new Canadian work.

Proc. Eviomol. Soc. Brit Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

THE IDENTITY OF THE BLACK-WIDOW SPIDER IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

G. J. Spencer1

The genus Latrodectus Walckenaer
comprises the “Black-Widow” spiders
of the United States, though each
part of the world where these spiders
occur has its own name for them. An
abstract of a paper by Levi (1959) as
it pertains to the black-widows of
this Province, is presented here.

These poisonous spiders are notor-
iously difficult taxonomically and
considerable confusion has arisen
from physiological observations on
specimens of uncertain determina-
tion. All widespread species show var-
iation, and representatives of this
genus from neighboring colonies may
differ greatly in color or structure.
Since the female genitalia and the
palpi of the male are required for
identification, it is necessary to have
large collections of both sexes,
especially since the shape of the pal-
pus may be considerably changed
after use in transmitting sperm to
the female. Immatures cannot be
identified with certainty. Fortunately
Levi had enormous collections to
work over, from large areas of all the
continents.

The extreme variation in these
spiders is shown by the fact that at
least 43 species have been named in
the genus; Levi reduces them to six.
To illustrate one of the most remark-
able characteristics of the genus La-
trodectus, I shall touch on the very
wide and discontinuous occurrence of
the six species.

Latrodectus geometricus C. L. Koch
is a cosmotropical species reported
from the southern United States,
especially Florida; the West Indies;
Colombia in South America; Saudi
Arabia; Kenya, Zanzibar, Madagascar
and Capetown; some of the East In-
dian Islands; Australia; and Spain.

i University of British Columbia, Vancouver 8,
B.C.

Latrodectus mactans (Fabricius),
The Black-Widow Spider, is practic-
ally world-wide, being reported from
the warm areas of all the continents;
it has at least 46 synonyms and 5 sub-
species and the name mactans has
been attached to a range of other
species. It occurs in warmer parts of
the United States but northward only
as far as Oregon. It does not occur in
Canada and has not been reported in
Japan or most of China.

The Canadian species is Latrodec-
tus curacaviensis (Muller) 1776,
which was described from a female
from Curacao in the Lesser Antilles.
It has at least 16 synonyms, and in
Canada has been called mactans. Levi
describes its distribution as ‘‘the
Americas from southern Canada to
Patagonia including Galapagos
Islands but apparently is absent in
Mexico, Central America and Greater
Antilles, and is more common in the
temperate regions of north and south
America. The greater number of
curacaviensis specimens from north-
ern, compared to southern United
States, may be due to the compara-
tive rarity of black- widows (mactans)
in the northern states. The extreme
commonness of L. mactans in the
southern states probably discourages
collectors from picking up black-
widows.” It occurs in 30 States of the
Union, from those just south of the
49th parallel to Florida and New
Mexico. In Canada, it has been col-
lected in Ontario from Bruce Co.,
Dyer Bay; Lambton Co., near Oaks-
dale; Norfolk Co., Delhi; in Alberta
from Medicine Hat; in British Colum-
bia from Kamloops — many collec-
tions; Cascade, Wellington, Vernon,
Vancouver by Nathan Banks; Sum-
merland and Victoria — many collec-
tions. To these can be added the
Gulf Islands and Lillooet, where a

Proc. Extomol. Soc. Erit. Columbia. Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

citizen reported it to me in January,
1961 as “occurring in thousands.” I
have found it on the Douglas Lake
Ranch, in the Nicola area, and in
Vancouver.

The dorsal abdominal patterns vary
considerably, from coal black near
the Pacific coast, to nearly white or
very pale, with 6 black bars, in the
Argentine. The largest males occur in
Florida and the largest females in
the Pacific ^States; the smallest males
and femaies are in the Argentine.

Levi gives the habitat of L. cura-
caviensis as trees and shrubs in Flor-
ida, where L. mactans lives on the
ground. In the northern States cura -
caviensis is found in fields and woods
underneath logs and stones, usually
away from human habitations. In
the Nicola area I found its webs
abundant in dark areas of horse
stables, and in the Kamloops area at
3000 ft, (which seems to be locally
its altitudinal limit), in little-used
cabins, high on the walls. In Vancou-
ver, I found it in the crawl space
under a small house and in a base-
ment at ground level.

The next 3 species are rare. Latro-
dectus pallidus O. P. Cambridge, from
the Plains of Jordan in Palestine,
differs from mactans only in habits
and physiology, in its food, the loca-
tion of its webs, the time of oviposi-
tion, the thermal death point and
the degree of toxicity of its venom;
morphologically, it is similar to
mactans .

Latrodectus hystrix Simon is found
only in Aden and the Yemen, and
Latrodectus dahli Levi, n. sp., in
Bushire, Iran.

This record of Latrodectus Waick-
enaer corrects my note on “The Black
Widow Spider, Latrodectes mactans
Fabr., in Vancouver” in Vol. 57 of
our Proceedings, where the spelling
was unfortunately taken from a vol-
ume on Medical Entomology, and now
establishes our local spider as Latro-
dectus curacaviensis (Muller).

Acknowledgment

I am greatly indebted to Professor J.
Adams for calling my attention to the
article by Herbert W. Levi and for lending
me his copy of the Journal in which it
appeared.

Reference

Levi, H. W. The spider genus Latrodectus (Araneae, Theridiidae). Trans. Amer. Micros.
Soc. 78: 7-42. 1959,

EDITOR'S NOTE

Readers and contributors will no-
tice that the papers in this issue are
in a new arrangement. This was sug-
gested and discussed at the executive
meeting of 9 March, 1961. Papers
listed under Taxonomic and General
have been scrutinized by one or usu-
ally more members of the Editorial
Board; those listed under Economic
have been subjected not only to
scrutiny by three or more members
of the Editorial Board, but also in
some cases to competent outside ref-
erees in appropriate fields. The Board
hopes that this policy will enhance
the presentation and assure the qual-
ity of those important contributions,

without narrowing the scope of the
Proceedings by excluding papers of
general interest.

Contributors will be interested in
the following quotations from the
minutes of the executive meeting of
9 March, 1961:

“The cost of reprints to authors
unsupported by an Institution was
discussed. ‘Unsupported* authors were
defined as those whose reprints are
not paid for by the Institute concern-
ed. Such authors if ordering 100 re-
prints or more, would in future
receive 50 of these free and the rest
to be charged at the regular price.
Such unsupported authors would also

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

in future be allowed two plate blocks “The format of a reprint order was
free. Any other concessions were left discussed and the free page allowance

In the hands of the Secretary to de- to each author per Proceedings was
cide as best seems fit under the increased from 10 to 12. ”
circumstances.”

DISTRIBUTION OF TRIRHABDA PILOSA BLAKE (COLEOPTERA:
CHRYSOMELIDAE), ATTACKING BIG SAGEBRUSH IN THE INTERIOR

OF BRITISH COLUMBIA1

F. L. Banham2

Canada Department of Agriculture,

Entomology Laboratory,

Kamloops, B.C.

Introduction

In 1960 and 1961, distribution sur-
veys were made of Trirhabda pilosa
Blake, unofficially named the sage-
brush beetle, in British Columbia.
Interest in this insect centers on its
apparent ability to control big sage-
brush, Artemisia tridentata Nutt.
From 1954 to 1961, larvae and adults
of this species have attacked the foli-
age of big sagebrush plants on more
than 3500 acres of rangeland in the
Kamloops area. About fifty per cent of
the plants attacked have been killed.

Big sagebrush normally inhabits
overgrazed or otherwise impoverished
volcanic soils in the lower and middle
grass zones (i.e. 1000-2000 and 2000-
3000 foot elevations, respectively) on
much of the rangeland in south-
central British Columbia. It is con-
sidered to be native in the former
zone and an invading weed in the
latter. In most locations its elimina-
tion or retardation would result in
improved stands of native grasses.

In July, 1954, Mr. Wm. L. Pringle,
Agronomist of the Canada Range Ex-
perimental Farm at Kamloops, ob-
served a two-acre stand of big sage-
brush which had been severely
defoliated. This was near the Lac le
Jeune road, about six miles south-
west of Kamloops (3). Close exam-
ination showed numerous small

1 Contribution No. 14, Entomology Laboratory,
Kamloops. B.C.

2 Associate Entomologist.

metallic blue beetle larvae feeding on
the leaves of the sagebrush. Adults
collected from this site were identi-
fied as Trirhabda pilosa Blake by Mr.
W. J. Brown, Entomology Division,
Canada Department of Agriculture,
Ottawa (1). This identification was
confirmed by Mrs. Blake, who des-
cribed and named T . pilosa in 1931,
from specimens taken in California,
Nevada and Wyoming (2). She listed
Artemisia tridentata Nutt, as the
host. In British Columbia, an author-
itative identification of T. pilosa was
uncertain for a time, because three
other species of Trirhabda also have
been taken. Specimens of T. attenu-
ata (Say) and T. flavolimbata Mann,
have been collected from the Kam-
loops area and T. canadensis (Kby.)
from the Vernon area. The first is
very similar to T. pilosa .

Careful checking of the Canadian
National Collection by Mr. W. J.
Brown showed that specimens of T.
pilosa had been taken in this prov-
ince at Seton Lake, Nicola, Summer-
land, and Kamloops. The earliest
record was a single specimen taken
in the Kamloops area in 1890. Al-
though these records indicate that
the insect has been taken from widely
separated locations, no early reports
have been found which record defoli-
ation of sagebrush similar to that
noted by Pringle.

Methods and Results

In 1960 and 1961 surveys were made

Prog. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia. Yol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

Fig. 1 — Distribution of Trirhabda pilosa Blake in south-central British Columbia.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

of T. pilosa in stands of big sage-
brush and of areas which previously
had been attacked. Active infesta-
tions were assessed by recording the
numbers of larvae and adults per
plant in the following categories:
Very light — 1 to 5

Light — 6 to 15

Moderate — 16 to 50

Heavy — 51 and over

Previously attacked stands of sage-
brush were assessed on the basis of
apparent damage caused by the in-
sect.

T . pilosa appears to be fairly gen-
erally distributed in stands of big
sagebrush in British Columbia. (Fig.
1). In most areas infestations of T.
pilosa were recorded as light or very
light and were restricted to fewer
than ten sagebrush plants at any one
location. The resulting larval and
adult feeding on the sagebrush foliage
appears to be causing so little damage
as to be negligible. Single moderate
infestations of one-quarter and two
acres, respectively, were recorded at
Merritt and Keremeos. Three light,
one moderate, and four heavy infes-
tations from four to 300 acres were
recorded at Kamloops. There, three
previously attacked stands of sage-
brush ranging from 80 to 1500 acres

Acknowledgement

The author acknowledges with thanks the
assistance of W. A. Low, Student Assistant,
who helped with the 1960 survey; and Wm.
L. Pringle, Agronomist, Range Experiment-
al Farm, Kamloops, who located and pro-

were recorded as heavy. The heavy
infestations indicate that stunting
and death of big sagebrush will con-
tinue at Kamloops.

Discussion

To date, the sudden increase of T.
pilosa has not been satisfactorily ex-
plained. It has been postulated that
a new physiological strain may have
developed, or that a hybrid may have
developed from a crossing of two
Trirhabda species present in the area.
A single factor such as greater long-
evity of the adults and therefore
greater fecundity, or particularly
favourable environmental or host
plant conditions, might explain the
heavy feeding damage which has re-
sulted in killing some big sagebrush.

Summary

T. pilosa Blake appears to be gen-
erally distributed in stands of big
sagebrush, Artemisia tridentata Nutt.,
in south-central British Columbia. In
most areas foliage feeding by light
infestations of this insect has caused
little or no apparent damage. How-
ever, in the Kamloops area, feeding
by heavy infestations has killed or
severely retarded the growth of big
sagebrush on more than 3500 acres
of rangeland.

vided information regarding certain T.
pilosa sites, and identified plants. The
guidance and editorial assistance of Dr. R.
H. Handford, Officer-in-Charge of this
laboratory, are also gratefully acknowl-
edged.

References

1. Arnott, D. A. 1956. Occurrence of Trirhabda pilosa Blake (Coleoptera: Chrysom-

elidae) on sagebrush in British Columbia, with notes on life history. Proc. Ent,
Soc. British Columbia, 53: 14-15.

2. Blake, Doris H. 1931. Revision of the species of beetles of the genus Trirhabda

north of Mexico. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. 79 (2).

3. Pringle, Wm. L. 1960. The effect of a leaf feeding beetle on big sagebrush in British

Columbia. J. Range Management, 13: 139-142.

Proc. Entomol. Soe. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

HISTORY OF MOSQUITO CONTROL IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

C. L. Neilson' and L. C. Curtis2

As early as 1856, J. K. Lord (7)
collected mosquitoes in the Lower
Fraser Valley of British Columbia
and made pungent remarks on their
abundance and habits. His determin-
ations, however, were generally
faulty. The first careful study of mos-
quitoes in the province was by H. G.
Byaf (!) who.' visited the Kootenay
district and. Vancouver Island in 1903.
In 1919 he made a journey through
the northern part of the province,
and collected from Prince George to
Atlin (2). From 1899 to 1919 Fletcher,
Trehearne and Hewitt made collec-
tions, all of which appear to have
been submitted to Dyar for determin-
ation and publication.

In 1919 Hearle began a study of
mosquitoes in the Fraser Valley in
response to a request from the mun-
icipalities of the lower mainland for
a mosquito control programme. In
1920 he published a preliminary re-
port of his findings (4). This work
concluded with a full report publish-
ed by the National Research Council
(5) and a published list of the mos-
quitoes of British Columbia (6).
Within two years of the establish-
ment by Hearle of the Livestock In-
sect Laboratory at Kamloops in 1928,
mosquito control programmes were
started at Kamloops and Kelowna.
Interest in controlling mosquitoes
grew over the next 15 to 20 years until
by 1948 Gregson (3) reported that
twenty-four communities were prac-
tising mosquito control. Since 1948 L.
C. Curtis has continued mosquito
investigations at Kamloops and has
acted as a technical adviser. Since
1953 C. L. Neilson has collaborated
with Curtis as technical adviser and

i Provincial Entomologist, Douglas Building, Vic-
toria, B.C.

? Entomology Laboratory, Box 210, Kamloops,

encouraged Provincial Government
participation.

The number of projects varies
somewhat from year to year. This is
largely because adequate control has
not always been achieved on account
of lack of funds or loss of key per-
sonnel in the district. At present
there are twenty-five cities, towns, or
districts actively engaged in mos-
quito control.

The largest control district in the
province is that of the Fraser Valley
Mosquito Control Board, which con-
sists of the Municipal Districts of
Richmond, Burnaby, Maple Ridge,
Pitt Meadows, Coquitlam, Surrey,
Langley, Matsqui, Mission, Kent, and
Chilliwack, together with the City of
Mission and the Village of Harrison
Hot Springs. The annual expenditure
is about $25,000.

In the Interior, the cities of Revel-
stoke, Kamloops, and Kelowna spend
approximately $3,000 annually, while
the Penticton budget is near $1,800.
All have been engaged in mosquito
control for about thirty years. Other
cities doing control work include
Kitimat, Prince George, Quesnel, and
Grand Forks. Of the smaller centres,
Merritt, Clinton, and Salmon Arm are
active.

Other mosquito control work is car-
ried out by the following organiza-
tions: Barriere and Louis Creek Mos-
quito Control Association, Little Fort
Mosquito Control Board, Central
North Thompson Board of Trade
(Birch Island - Clearwater) , Lower
North Thompson Mosquito Control
Committee, Sicamous Mosquito Con-
trol Committee, Solsqua Farmers’ In-
stitute, Malakwa Farmers’ Institute,
Arrowhead Chamber of Commerce,
Wasa Mosquito Control Committee,
Christina Lake Community Club, and
Falkland- Westwold Board of Trade.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

It is expected that new control organ-
izations will operate at Spences
Bridge and in the Invermere district.

Areas that conduct sporadic control
include Argenta, Golden, Norgate
Park in North Vancouver near the
First Narrows Bridge, Oliver, and
Savona.

Control measures now consist
mainly of larviciding with 1 per cent
DDT in oil at 2-3 gallons per acre or
with DDT in gelatine capsules (“Toss-
its”)3 or treatment of breeding areas
before hatching with five per cent
granular aldrin or heptachlor at 1-2
pounds per acre.

Larviciding by the use of aircraft
is carried on as a regular practice in
the Fraser Valley, and at Kitimat,
Kamloops, the North Thompson Val-
ley, and a few smaller areas as the
occasion demands, and as money is
available. Engine-equipped ground
sprayers for both larviciding and
adulticiding are used at Penticton,
Kelowna, Kamloops, Revelstoke, Kiti-
mat, Louis Creek-Barriere, Clinton,
Sicamous, and Grand Forks. Similar
equipment was used by the Fraser
Valley Mosquito Control Board in
1961. Other ground work is largely
done by knapsack sprayer, granular
insecticides, or “Tossits.” However,
insecticide-treated sawdust is still
used, and a few aerosol generators
are operated from the exhaust of
jeeps, trucks or tractors.

3Wyco Inc., West Palm Beach, Fla., U.S.A.

Financing of the various control
operations has been largely by city
grants, or in smaller communities by
fund-raising activities and gifts. The
Fraser Valley Control Board operates \
on funds contributed by the various
bodies on a population basis, and the
Federal and Provincial governments
make annual contributions. The Pro-
vincial Department of Agriculture has
for the last two years made very
small annual grants to ten of the
widely scattered rural districts in
order to encourage their efforts. The
grants afford the Provincial Entomol-
ogist an excellent opportunity to work
with the communities to improve
their techniques.

In conclusion, it is our belief that
the time has come for Provincial
legislation under which control areas
may operate, raise funds in an orderly ,
manner, finance the purchase of
heavy equipment, and provide con-
tinuity of employment for skilled
workers. It would give workers the
right to entry upon lands for the
abatement of mosquito nuisance, and
protect individual workers from dam-
age claims. At the same time, it would
give affected property owners and
ratepayers a voice in the direction of
operations.

A further desirable development
would be an association of mosquito
control workers to provide means for
administrators and operators to dis-
cuss the many mutual problems that
may arise in this difficult field.

References

1. Dyar, H. G. 1904. Notes on the mosquitoes of British Columbia. Proc. Entomol. Soc.
Wash. 6: 37-41.

2 1921. The mosquitoes of Canada. Trans. Roy. Can. Inst. Toronto. 13(1):

71-120.

3. Gregson, J. D. 1952. The history of the study of external arthropods affecting man
and animals in B.C. Proc. Entomol. Soc. B.C. 48: 22-24.

4 Hearle, E. 1920. The importance of mosquitoes, with notes on some B.C. species.
Proc. Entomol. Soc. B.C. 13-15: 132-135.

5. 1926. The mosquitoes of the lower Fraser Valley, B.C. and their control.

Nat’l. Research Council Rep. No. 17.

6. 1927. List of the mosquitoes of B.C. Proc. Entomol. Soc. B.C. 24: 11-19.

7. Lord, J, K. 1866. The Naturalist in Vancouver Island and British Columbia. London.

Proc. Entomol. Soe. Brit. Columbia. Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

NOTES ON THE LIFE HISTORIES OF FOUR MOTHS FROM SOUTHERN

VANCOUVER ISLAND

(LEPIDOPTERA: PHALAENIDAE AND GEOMETRIDAE)

George A. Hardy'

Orthosia pulchella algula Sm.

This species has an expanse of 35
mm., the primaries of uniform fus-
cous brown with a faint purplish
reflection, the secondaries a dark
smoky brown. Compared with some
members of the genus it is somewhat
scarce in my experience; I have taken
only two specimens in more than
ten years of study. The caterpillar
very closely resembles that of O.
transparens Grt. A specimen captur-
ed at light, at Royal Oak, on March
27, 1959 had laid 135 ova by March
30, in a close-set, single-layered batch
on the side of the container.

Ovum

Size 1.0 mm. by 0.75 mm., a slightly
depressed hemisphere with about 40
vertical ribs, the edges of which are
closely indented, giving a bead-like
appearance; pale cream, gradually
becoming darker as development pro-
ceeds, with an orange dot on the
micropylar area and an orange ring
about midway. On a few ova the
orange was replaced by dark purple.
Hatched April 22.

Larva — 1st" Insfrar

Length 2 mm. Head pale brown.
Body sordid white, translucent, with
short, scattered hairs. They did not
eat the chorion. They nibbled reluc-
tantly at willow leaves, but not until
most of the larvae had died was it
found that Arbutus menziesii is one
of the preferred food plants.

2nd Inst-ar

May 8. Length 6 mm. Body pale
chocolate-brown, with thin white
dorsal and subdorsal lines, tubercles
black and conspicuous.

3rd Insfar

May 15. Length 12 mm. Appearance
similar to first instar.

i Provincial Museum, Victoria, B.C. (Rtd.)

4th Instar

May 25. Length 18 mm. Head small
in proportion, reddish-white thickly
covered with white dots having black
centres. Body red-purplish-brown,
finely vermiculated with white; dor-
sal line indicated as a white dash on
the centre of each segment; one or
two very fine whitish lines just above
the spiracular line, which is hardly
discernible as a pale band; the tuber-
cles black, white bordered.

May 31. Length 20 mm. Head whit-
ish, tinged with purple, the vertex
and sides brown, the latter mottled
with lighter brown. Body smooth,
dark purplish-brown, finely irrorated
with a lighter shade; dorsal line
white, and broken; subdorsal lines
very faint, whitish; the tubercles
black, white on the outer sides; un-
derside, legs and claspers concolourus
with upper side. They fed well on
arbutus. When disturbed they snap-
ped the head and forebody vigorously
back and forth, and emitted an oral
fluid when irritated. Noticeably geo-
tropic.

5th Instar

June 6. Length 25 mm. Head as des-
cribed. Body thickly flecked with fus-
cous and luteus dots on a background
of flesh-colour; cervical plate dark
brown, centred with a white continu-
ation of the dorsal line; dorsal line
white and broken; spiracular line
dark grey, inconspicuous; legs pale
brown; underside and claspers flesh
colour. Full-grown by June 10.

June 17. Larvae burrowed into the
earth in the jar, where they spun
strong cocoons.

Pupa

Size 18 mm. by 6 mm. Smooth,
shiny, dark brown. Cremaster two
fairly stout spines, with slightly
curved tips and 2 or 3 minute curl-

Proc. E:\tomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

tipped hairs at the base, set upon the
smooth tip of the last segment.

Imago

Emerged March 25, 1960.

Pleroma obliquata Sm.

Four species of the genus Pleroma
are listed by Jones (1951) for British
Columbia, three of which have been
recorded from Vancouver Island. All
seem to have a western American dis-
tribution.

They are medium sized moths with
densely hairy bodies, a wing expanse
averaging 35 mm., and are coloured in
various shades of ash-grey, often in
striking contrast. They come readily
to light, but hide by day where their
colour and markings render them
almost indistinguishable from their
surroundings.

A female P. obliquata , taken on
April 4, 1959, had laid 25 ova by April
10.

Ovum

Size 1.0 mm. by 0.75 mm., obconical,
strongly ribbed and cross-ribbed,
cream at first, turning darker in a
day or two, with a purplish-lead tinge,
heavily streaked, and blotched with
dark brown, chiefly between the ribs
of which there are about 40. Became
a dark plumbeous colour at maturity.
The eggs hatched on April 27.

Larva — 1st Instar

Length 2 mm. Head light brown,
shiny. Body, a dark grey with short
scattered hairs. Rested with thoracic
segments raised sphinx-like. It fed
on wax-berry, Symphoricarpos ra-
cemosus .

2nd Instar

May 2. Length 5 mm. Similar in
appearance to first instar but darker
in colour.

3rd Instar

May 6. Length 7 mm. Head dark,
piceous brown. Body slender, humped
on A. 8, greenish-grey with a broad
whitish dorsal line, narrower sub-
dorsal lines and supra - spiracular
lines, a broad spiracular line, the

cervical plate dark brown. Hump on
A. 8 brown, legs brown, spiracles
black; tubercles black, each bearing
a short black seta.

4th Instar

May 10. Length 10 mm. Head light
orange-brown. Body dark olive, light-
er on the sides, with a broad white
dorsal line ending on A. 7, narrow
subdorsal and supraspiracular lines,
A. 8 and 9, with a transverse white
dash. Spiracular line broader than
the subdorsals but not so wide as the
dorsal line; underside darker than
dorsal side.

5th Instar

May 20. Length 20 mm. Head
honey-brown with suffused dark ver-
tical patches on each side, shiny and
with a few long thin hairs. Body with
a dark chocolate band on dorsum
containing a broad white dorsal line;
dorsal line edged with black and
threaded along the centre with a thin,
interrupted, greenish line; sides dark
cinnamon with several very thin
whitish lines; orange spiracular line
only evident on A. 7, 8, and 9; spira-
cles white, ringed with black; hump
on A. 8 dark chocolate with a trans-
verse white bar. Underside greyish
with many longitudinal, rather faint,
darker lines.

6fh Instar

May 27. Length 30 mm. Head grey
with a broad, dark brown, vertical
bar on each side. Body brownish to
reddish grey, with a broad fuscous
band on the dorsum containing the
white dorsal line with an orange, or
rust-coloured, suffusion; sides light
grey, spiracular line not well marked
except on A. 7 to 9, where it showed as
a dark band containing the white
spiracle. A. 8 humped, with a dark
patch on dorsum edged behind with
a transverse white line.

By June 2 the larva was full-grown.
The body tapered towards the head,
which was held straight out and look-
ed like a part of the body, since the
subdorsal lines continued along the

Proc. Entomol. Sioc. Brit. Columbia, Yol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

side of the face. The dark dorsal
band, containing the dorsal line, was
constricted between segments, giving
a wavy appearance to the band as a
whole.

June 10. In the moss at the bottom
of the container the caterpillar had
constructed a tough, papery cocoon
in which fragments of debris were
incorporated.

Pupa

Size 15' mm. by 5 mm. Cylindrical,
smooth,; dull; and piceous. Abdominal
segments with small, raised, irregular
striae on the anterior margins; cre-
master two very short, stout, diverg-
ent horns on a slightly rugose, conical
base at the end of the last segment.
Imago

Two adults emerged on February
22, 1960, and five more on the next
day.

Behrensia conchiformis Grt.

This distinctive moth has an ex-
panse of 30 mm. The primaries are
light grey with a dark central band
containing a conspicuous white spot;
the secondaries are light grey with a
wide fuscous margin. It is usually
taken at light during April and early
in May.

A batch of ova was obtained on May
3, 1960, scattered singly on the sides
and bottom of the container.

Ovum

Size 1.0 mm. by 0.75 mm. A truncate
cone, with about 24 vertical ribs that
produce iridescence according to the
incidence of the light; white, gra-
dually developing minute dark dots,
chiefly on the upper part, some of
which tend to form an indistinct ring
round the upper third. Hatched on
May 12.

Larva— 1st Instar

Length 3 mm. Head opaque, white.
Body opaque, dull white. They con-
sumed the chorion, and were very
active, looping like geometrid larvae.
After trying several plants Symphor-
icarpos racemosus was accepted.

2nd Instar

May 19. Length 5 mm. Head as des-
cribed, with small black dots bearing-
setae. Body bluish-green from the
food ingested; subdorsal and supra-
spiracular lines indicated by faint
dark lines; spiracular line bluish-
white, bordered by thin dark lines; A.
8 slightly humped. Rested with the
head extended in line with the body
on the edge of a leaf or along a stem,
where they were difficult to detect
at a glance.

3rd Instar

May 26. Length 15 mm. Head pale
bluish-white, streaked with light
brown, with sparse, coarse hairs.
Body slender, with a slight hump on
A. 8, pale bluish-white; dorsal line
faint, double, milky- white; the sides
lighter than the dorsum, with 3 thin
pale brown lines; spiracular line
white; underside sordid white with a
light brown spot on the centre of each
segment; legs and claspers colourless,
outer side of claspers with several
black dots.

May 29. Length 18 mm. Head pale
whitish-brown speckled and streaked
with light brown. Body grey-green,
faintly marked with a double, milky-
white dorsal line; below this on each
side, four very thin whitish lines;
underside pale grey-green streaked
with beige; tubercles very small black
dots, each bearing a seta.

4th Instar

June 1. Length 22 mm. Head beige,
dappled with light brown. Body grey-
ish, with ochre tinge on dorsum;
darker on sides; dorsal line a faint,
creamy double line coalescing on A.
7 and 8, the latter slightly humped
with fleshy processes on each side,
each bearing a seta at the tip; three
or four thin, light lines above the spir-
acular line which was indicated by a
thin line on which were the small,
white, black-rimmed spiracles; three
or four thin, light lines below the
spiracular line; underside* paler than

Pboc. Extomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Yol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

dorsal side; claspers with black dots
on the outer sides.

June 4. Length 30 mm. When at
rest they lay straight along stems
which they superficially resembled,
resulting in perfect camouflage.

June 10. Length 45 mm. The larvae
full-grown. Head greyish, resulting
from light brown freckles on a beige
base. Body light brown with a faint
tinge of ochre; sides lighter; dorsal
line milk-white with a suffused
brownish thread down the centre,
more decided on A. 8 and 9, where it
continued between the two short,
seta-bearing papillae; spiracular line
similar to the dorsal line, edged above
with black on which were the spir-
acles; underside pale with several fine
lines.

June 18. Pupated in cocoons spun
on the leaf surface. Comminuted
fragments of leaves were incorporat-
ed in the cocoon, which blended into
the background as a result.

Pupa

Size 15 mm. by 4 mm. Cylindrical,
tapering off for the last two or three
segments; semi-glossy; the wing-
cases minutely wrinkled; anterior
part of the segments closely and
coarsely punctate; dark brown, with
a fuscous shade on the wing-cases.
Cremaster two very minute, widely
spaced divergent projections on an
elongate, rugose, conical base.

Stamnodes blcickrnorei Sweet.

This small geometer has an ex-
panse of 21 to 27 mm., and is of
somewhat subdued colouration. It is
pale cream with a satiny lustre, the
primaries with some light brownish
patches, chiefly along the costa and
tips. In females these patches extend
over the wing, with a noticeable fi-
sh aped one on the middle third. The
secondaries are devoid of markings
on the upper surface but below have
two brownish spots, one on the inner
margin, the other near the anal
angle.

My attention was drawn to the
early stages when several larvae were
found feeding on waterleaf, Hydro-
phyllum tenuipes, at Goldstream, in
May, 1958.

In July, 1958, ova were obtained
from several specimens but none
hatched. On April 28, 1960, larvae
in nearly all stages of development
were taken by sweeping the food
plant. From these the following se-
quence was worked out.

Ovum 9b

Size 0.75 mm. by 0.50 mm. An ob-
tuse oval, smooth, with very obscure
microscopic reticulations; chalky-
white to pale cream. They were laid
loosely, or so weakly attached to a
leaf as to be easily shaken off. Three
batches consisted respectively of
about 30, 20, and 27 ova. They were
laid from July 3 to 5. A few ova were
obtained on August 6, 1960.

Larva — 1st Instar

Length 2 mm. Head green. Body
semi - translucent, green, without
markings.

2nd Instar

Length 5 to 10 mm. Head smooth,
shiny, whitish - green, semi - translu-
cent. Body pale green, subdorsal
lines, supra-spiracular and spiracular
lines thin and yellow, with several
fine, broken lines between; a decided
fuscous bar along the dorsum of A. 8
and 9.

3rd Instar

Length 18 mm. Head pale green.
Body apple green, subdorsal, supra-
spiracular and spiracular lines indic-
ated by irregular rows of whitish dots;
A. 8 and 9 with a strongly marked
fuscous bar along the dorsum; inter-
segmental rings yellow; spiracles
black; tubercles minute, black on
white bases, seta-bearing; underside
pale green; body noticeably constrict-
ed between the segments.

4th Instar

Length 22 mm. Head pale brown-
ish-green, dotted with black in four
indistinct, vertical lines. Body green;

Proc. EiNTOMOL. Sue. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

dorsum of segments with sagittate
fuscous marks pointing forward, ac-
centuated on A. 7 to 9; subdorsal lines
thin, yellowish; spiracular area whit-
ish with margins blending into the
ground colour; spiracles black.

Some larvae had the sagittate
markings widened to extend over
most of the dorsum, with the ground
colour sometimes very dark brown;
the underside chocolate brown.

When at rest they lay curled up on
the underside of the leaf, dropping to
the ground if disturbed, or occasion-
ally, when only slightly alarmed,

raising the fore part of the body
sphinx-like.

May 5. Pupated in a slight cocoon
at the bottom of the container.

Pop©

Size 8 mm. by 3 mm. Smooth; the
abdominal segments strongly punc-
tate; green at first gradually chang-
ing to brown; the cremaster two
divergent, stout, very short spines at
the tip of a flat projection on the
dorsal side of the last segment.
Imago

Two emerged on June 1, one on
June 6, and one on June 9, 1960.

Reference

Jones, J. R. J. L. 1951. An annotated check list of the Macrolepidoptera of British
Columbia. Ent. Soc. Brit. Columbia Occas. Paper 1.

A RECORD OF SLUGS IN VANCOUVER GARDENS

G. J. Spencer1

At the end of August 1959 we moved
to another house in West Point Grey
and before long it was evident that
slugs were common in the garden. In
the 18 years that we lived in the
previous house, I had found and slain
6 slugs only so I asked the previous
owners of the new house if they had
been troubled by slugs and was told
that they had seen less than a dozen.
With a flashlight I collected and kill-
ed an uncounted number in the
autumn of 1959, and throughout the
season 1960 I estimated that I took
between one and two thousand with-
out seeming to reduce the population.

As soon as the creatures emerged
from hibernation in March, 1961, I
kept track of the numbers taken and
from their first appearance to 29 July,
I obtained 3158 slugs and 49 snails,
collected as follows: March, 73 slugs
and 8 snails; April, 558 and 12; May,
1271 and 15; June, 654 and 10; July,
602 and 4. By the middle of June the
small native species of slugs began
to appear, so for 2 weeks in June and

i University of British Columbia, Vancouver 8,
B.C.

4 weeks in July, they were counted
separately. They totalled 357 large
and 681 small; of this number of the
small species, 320 were taken on July

5 after 24 hours of pouring rain.

These slugs and snails were very

kindly identified for me by Mr. R. J.
Drake, Malacologist and Archaeolo-
gist with the Canadian National Mus-
eum who is currently working out
from this University.

They fall into two groups: those
that have come in from Europe and
are rapidly reaching outbreak pro-
portions, and our native species. Of
the former, Arion ater (Linne) is by
far the most common of the large,
3-inch slugs occurring locally and is
in two forms: uniformly shiny black,
and dark or light brown. They are
the earliest to emerge from hiberna-
tion and feed on the new shoots of a
number of garden plants, largely iris
and daisies. An even larger slug
occurring in much smaller numbers
is Limax maximus Linne which is
thin and long, reaching 5 inches when
fully expanded. It is conspicuously
spotted around the head end, with 3

Proc. Entgmol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

rows of black spots down the body. It
occurs in one corner of our garden
only, near the compost heap. This
species has long been in western
North America but originally came
from Europe. The third immigrant is
the snail, Cepaea nemoralis (Linne)
which has a wide range of color pat-
terns from uniformly yellow or yellow
and brown, to having three wide or
narrow conspicuous black lines fol-
lowing the spiral. This snail climbs
high up on vegetation at night and
hides on the ground by day.

The second group, of native species
occurring locally, includes the largest
of all, Ariolimax columbianus Gould.
This reaches a length of over 6 inches
and is brown or green with large or
small irregular black blotches on the
back, sometimes so close together as
to make the slug look black. It is the
chief slug of Stanley Park woods, to
be found anywhere along the walks
or paths. It occurs mostly in gardens
that have recently been dug out of
the bush and has not turned up so far
in my garden.

Another native species is the little
pale brown, grey, or dirty white
Derocerus reticulatus (Muller) which
is 1 to iy2 in. long, fully expanded.
This slug does not show up until June
but probably starts earlier in the sea-
son and is overlooked on account of
its size. It seems to be largely a grass
feeder but climbs iris, gladiolus and
montbretia leaves and rasps off the
upper epidermis. It occurs rarely on
fine warm nights but swarms out dur-
ing and after rain.

The size of this population in one
garden is remarkable. Our lot is the
average for this street, being 60 x 120
ft. from sidewalk to rear lane. In
front, the property has a lawn on
each side of the concrete approach
and a flower bed against the house.
At the back, 18 feet is taken up with
a concrete drive to the garage under
the house and the rest consists of
lawn with a flower bed 4 ft. wide on

three sides. At irregular intervals I
patrolled the territory with a flash-
light, following the same course every
time and counting only the specimens
that occurred on my property. Last
summer I must have killed well over
1000 slugs and yet the count is over
3000 this year up to the end of July.
The previous owners were apparently
unaware of this infestation and it is
remarkable that there was any gar-
den left at all. Some of, the slugs un-
doubtedly moved frorp the garden
next door where the -^vegetation is
rather rank.

The Control of Snails and Slugs

Snails at the present are scarce
and occur singly; they are readily
crushed under foot.

Slugs are favoured by rank growth
either in garden beds or in brush
alongside; therefore clean cultivation
keeps down their numbers.

Salt sprinkled over a slug’s body
produces a tremendous outpouring of
slime and kills it fairly rapidly. If
insufficient salt is used, the slime
keeps off the salt and the slug moves
away.

Fifty or so slugs in a basin, shaken
up with an ounce of gasoline, die
almost immediately; even the fumes
of gasoline in an enclosed space, will
kill them.

The standard commercial bait of
metaldehyde and calcium arsenate,
in pellet form, is extremely effective;
poisoned slugs seldom move more
than one foot from the bait.

I have found that a pound of fish
cat food mixed with an ounce of cal-
cium arsenate or white arsenic, is
very attractive to slugs. The mixture
should be rubbed on the sides and
bottoms of empty cans and the tops
squeezed nearly flat so that cats and
dogs cannot get at the bait but slugs
can creep in between the edges. This
costs 10c per tin for cat food and a
variable amount for the arsenic and
is the cheapest bait that I have
evolved so far.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia. Yol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

THE GROWING PROBLEM OF POLLINATION IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF EXTENSION ENTOMOLOGY

J. C. Arfand1 and J. Corner2

Extension work in the field of
pollination, even with the large
amount of research information
available (Bohart [1960], Free [I960],
Todd & McGregor [I960]) , is difficult.
The effects of adequate pollination
are only realized when yields over a
period of se.veral:< years are considered.
The results of a single field demon-
stration may be obscured by uncon-
trollable factors, such as weather, the
general physiological condition of the
plant, competing bloom, or the popu-
lation level of wild pollinators. As a
result, an important extension tool
is often rendered ineffective. Further-
more, because of the complexity of
the problem, many growers develop
the attitude that with or without
pollinators successful yields are
largely a matter of chance. For ex-
ample, the yields of legume seed in
the Peace River district of Northern
British Columbia fluctuate consider-
ably from year to year. The yields of
crops that are adequately pollinated
tend to be higher than the district
average. However, the fact that the
variability is general suggests to
many growers that the success or
failure of the enterprise lies outside
their control.

In some areas a reasonable wild or
honey bee population exists and the
growers obtain fair or good yields of
self sterile crops without any special
effort. Under these conditions it is
difficult for the individual to accept
his responsibility for preserving the
pollinators. It is even more difficult
for him to realize that an increase in
the number of pollinators could re-
sult in increased yields, better quality
and more even ripening.

i A/Provincial Entomologist, Vernon, B.C.

2 Provincial Apiarist, Vernon, B.C.

The fruit- or seed-grower and the
beekeeper often fail to understand
each others’ problems. The beekeeper
in the Okanagan may feel that the
orchardist is spraying dangerous in-
secticides unnecessarily and indis-
criminately. The seed grower in the
Peace River district may feel that
the beekeeper is getting something
for nothing and should pay for put-
ting bees near the field. Bringing
these two groups to a common point
of understanding is a major part of
the extension program in pollination.

A discussion of the program in
British Columbia including what has
been done, future plans and where
research can help, is best considered
under the main crops involved.
LEGUMES

Several methods have been used to
give growers the facts on legume pol-
lination. For the past three or four
years considerable information has
been included in the annual short
courses in beekeeping in the Peace
River district, and meetings for bee-
keepers and seed growers have been
held. Several formal addresses have
been presented to the British Colum-
bia Seed Growers Association and to
the British Columbia Honey Produc-
ers Association. An exhibit on pollin-
ation was prepared and exhibited at
fall fairs. Two pamphlets, “Insects
and Legume Seed Production’’ and
“Clover Seed Growers, Why Gamble?
Use Bees”, have been written and dis-
tributed. A successful demonstration,
described in this paper, of planned
pollination of alsike clover has been
conducted.

Alfalfa

In Canada the economic production
of alfalfa seed depends on the popu-
lation level of certain species of wild
bees. Honey bees are able to obtain

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

nectar by going into the side of the
flower and consequently they “trip”
only a small percentage of the flowers
visited. They obtain pollen from other
sources. Extension efforts to conserve
wild bee nesting sites have been al-
most helpless against the economic
facts which demand that the grower
clear and break more and more land
so that cash crops can be planted.
The result has been that alfalfa seed
production in the Peace River district
has followed the familiar trend des-
cribed by Stephen (1955). As the
acreage increases the yields drop,
growers are forced to turn to other
crops, and alfalfa becomes confined
to the hinterlands.

Future extension programs will
probably depend on one or more of
the following developments:

A. Establishing areas for alfalfa
seed production where the wild bee
population can be conserved.

B. Developing practical methods of
semi-domesticating wild bees.

C. Finding ways of forcing honey
bees to pollinate alfalfa under our
conditions.

In the meantime extension efforts
will have only a very limited effect.

Alsike and Sweet Clover

Alsike and sweet clover are readily
pollinated by honey bees and are good
nectar sources. Consequently more
extension progress has been made in
the pollination of these crops than in
the pollination of other legumes. An
increasing number of seed growers in
the Peace River District are realizing
the value of honey bees on alsike or
sweet clover and are urging beekeep-
ers to put colonies near their fields.
They are not yet, however, willing to
pay for the bees either in cash or on
a share crop basis. The beekeeper is
therefore necessarily concerned only
with honey production, consequently
he tends to use insufficient colonies
for good pollination. Further-
more, he brings the colonies in before
the fields are in bloom and does not

space them — factors which greatly
influence their effectiveness. It is
important that the alsike or sweet
clover seed grower and the beekeeper
fully appreciate each other’s position.

As a part of the extension effort a
demonstration of alsike pollination
was conducted in the Peace River dis-
trict of Northern British Columbia:

On July 18, 1960, at Mile 24 Alaska
Highway, forty colonies of honey bees
were set out in 65 acres of alsike
isolated by about 3 miles from other
legumes. This acreage consisted of
three adjacent fields of 20, 30, and 15
acres respectively. The colonies were
spaced evenly around the centre 30
acre field.

By early September the seed had
ripened evenly on all three fields. An
average of 450 lb. of clean seed per
acre was harvested as compared to an
estimated district average of 250 lb.
per acre. The most impressive feature
was the appearance and quality of
the seed.

It is interesting to note that the
honey yield was 160 lb. per colony.
The district average was 150 lb.

Red Clover

Red clover pollination presents sev-
eral special problems. Although cer-
tain species of bumble bees are ideal
pollinators, they are seldom present
in large enough numbers except in
newly settled areas. It has been
pointed out elsewhere in this paper
that attempts to conserve wild bee
populations have generally proved
futile. Honey bees are good pollin-
ators of red clover if they are used in
large enough numbers and if com-
peting bloom is kept to a minimum
(Bohart 1960). Unfortunately, bee-
keepers avoid putting colonies on red
clover because it is an unreliable
nectar source. The use of honey bees
on red clover has to be consciously
and specifically for pollination. Con-
sequently, widespread acceptance of
planned pollination on red clover will
probably come only after it is an

Proc. Extomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

accepted practice on sweet or alsike
clover.

FRUIT TREES

There is a large amount of research
information on tree fruit pollination
(Free 1960). However, the fact that
little of the research has been con-
ducted in British Columbia is a ser-
ious handicap to the extension
worker.

Where the need for increased pol-
lination is obvious, as with plantings
of Red Delicious apples, cherries, and
pears, certain fundamentals can be
applied. For example, it is well known
that honey bee colonies should be
brought in after and not before the
beginning of bloom. Several other
questions are, however, impossible to
answer. What is the value of hand
collected pollen? Are beehive inserts
more effective than hand applicators?
How should honey bee colonies be
spaced in the orchard? What are the
effects of prevailing winds in pollin-
ation? In many cases the information
from different areas on these ques-
tions is not in agreement.

The importance of pollination is
sometimes unclear. McIntosh apples,
for example, generally have an over-
set of fruit. With this variety, how-
ever, would there be an improvement
in quality and evenness of ripening if
the king blossoms were set up quickly,
even though thinning sprays were
used subsequently?

There is also a lack of basic infor-
mation on such questions as the for-
aging area of worker honey bees
under various conditions. It is evident
that only limited extension work is
possible until an increased amount of
research is conducted under local
conditions and until more basic infor-
mation becomes available.

THE PROBLEM OF INSECTICIDES

The widespread use of insecticides
has no doubt been a factor in pollin-
ation in the Okanagan Valley fruit
growing area. The chemical poisoning
of honey bees except from the arsen-

icals has probably not been great, but
in recent years some losses have
occurred (Arrand & Corner, 1959).
Partly because of a fear of insecti-
cides, some beekeepers are moving
their colonies to other areas. This
along with the probability that wild
pollinator populations have been
reduced has increased the importance
of planned pollination in this area.

During the past few years in British
Columbia, beekeepers have been in-
formed, by various methods, of the
toxicities of new orchard chemicals
and of possible ways of avoiding bee
poisoning. Abstracts of pertinent
papers have been mimeographed and
distributed and the problem has been
discussed fully at several beekeepers
meetings. However, there has been
little attempt made to bring the
problem to the attention of fruit
growers other than the warnings in
the spray calendars.

Research can aid by giving more
attention to the bee toxicity aspect
of new chemicals that are being test-
ed. The subject appears to be of
increasing interest to researchers in
other areas (Johansen [I960]; Ander-
son and Atkins [1959]).

BLUEBERRIES

Research information from other
areas indicates that there is consid-
erable variability in the self-fruitful-
ness of high bush blueberry varieties.
However, the stigma of the flower on
all varieties protrudes considerably
beyond the anthers and regardless of
the degree of self-fertility, bees are
important in transferring pollen
(Merrill, 1936). In addition, there is
fairly general agreement that cross-
pollination increases the size of
berries and the earliness of ripening.

Once again extension is handicap-
ped by a lack of information under
local conditions and with local var-
ieties. Many growers in the blueberry
growing areas feel that their crops
are not being adequately pollinated
and are asking for information.

Proc. Entomol. Sgc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

MISCELLANEOUS melons and holly has had little atten-

In British Columbia the pollination tion by research or extension workers,
of cranberries, greenhouse cucumbers,

References

Arrand, J. C., J. Corner. 1960. Observations in the Interior of British Columbia during
1959 of the effect on honeybees of orchard spraying with Sevin. Proc. B.C.
Ent. Soc. 57: 21.

Anderson, L. D. and E. L. Atkins, Jr. 1959. The toxic effects of pesticides on bees,
Agric. Chem. 14 (7): 59.

Bohart, G. E. 1960. Insect pollination of forage legumes. Bee World 41: 57-64, 85-97.
Free, J. B. 1960. The pollination of fruit trees. Bee World 41: 141-151, 169-186.
Johansen, Carl, 1960. Bee poisoning, a hazard of applying agricultural chemicals. Wash-
ington State University, Sta. Circ. 356, Revised Jan.

Merrill, T. A., 1936. Pollination of the highbush blueberry. Tech. Bui. No. 151, Agric.
Exp. St., Michigan State College.

Stephen, W. P. 1955. Alfalfa pollination in Manitoba. J. Econ. Ent. 48: 543-548.

Todd, Frank E., S. E. McGregor. 1960. The use of honey bees in the production of crops.
Ann. Rev. Ent. 5: 265-278.

MUSINGS OF A RESEARCH OFFICER, AGRICULTURE (ENTOMOLOGY)

J. Marshall, Research Station, Summerland, B.C.

Entomological research in Canada
grew from virtually nothing in 1918
to a well organized profession 40
years later. There were at first more
positions to be filled than trained
entomologists to fill them, and so men
with some background in zoology,
and even amateur insect collectors,
were pressed into service. It was not
by chance that a number of those
entomological pioneers were born in
England, or were sons of English par-
ents. The English, generally speaking,
have a more lively interest in insects
and other aspects of nature study
than Canadians. Since the beginnings
of entomology in this country at least
nine of our universities have institut-
ed Departments of Entomology, or
courses in Entomology. The colorful
day of the amateur entomologist
turned professional is over.

Since many of the early problems
in entomology had to be solved
quickly and with no nonsense, the
pioneers of the science tended, on the
whole, to emphasize the practical
viewpoint; and they did well with it.
Then, as the more straightforward
problems were cleared up, attention

had to be paid to less obvious issues.
There arose a growing band of bright
and shining young college graduates
complete with Ph.D. degrees and a
tendency to regard their predecessors
as well intentioned but really some-
what ignorant chaps. One scintillat-
ing mind has summed it up in a
word — “nozzle-heads”, he calls the
pioneer entomologists and those of
his contemporaries who work in ap-
plied research.

Entomology in much of the western
world has been going through a sort
of scientific adolescence, a period
when on the slightest pretext, the
amateur statistician churns his ex-
perimental results in an electrical
calculator until finally they butter
into some sort of statistical odds.
There is an urge to substitute statis-
tical formulae for common sense.
Even simple bits of research may
emerge so gaudily bedecked in statis-
tical finery that only a knowing few
would ever guess their true stature.
Perhaps the entomologists, and other
biologists, have been moved to strive
for profundity in the belief that if
the layman can comprehend it can’t

Prog. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia. Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

be science. Public awe of the mys-
teries of atomic science may have
played a part here too.

Happily there are signs that Judg-
ment, queen of human attributes,
may be coming back into her own.
What, in the argot, might be called
the beatnik period of agricultural
science seems to be on the wane. Of
late more papers have been appearing
in which the author, defying fashion,
has>.-bee» content ta , state in plain
Engfish* tiie - ECPndlties^s of the experi-
ment'and the results. ‘ Readers have
been given credit for sufficient in-
telligence to assess the results with-
out recourse to mechanical predi-
gestion.

Numbers of our agricultural scien-
tists come from the towns and cities,
and have never known the vicissi-
tudes of farming. Although they
might protest the point they have the
townsman’s outlook on farming, a
profession that can be carried on
successfully by an intelligent man
with but little formal schooling. More
by their actions perhaps, than by
their words, they emphasize that they
are scientists first, agriculturists sec-
ond, and farmers not at all. Since the
promotions of scientific workers in
farming are not authorized by the
farmers themselves it is not surpris-
ing that the agricultural scientist can
drift away almost completely from
the realities of life on the farm yet do
better financially than if he had
busied himself with the farmer’s
worries. Those of us who may be a
trifle cynical have often noticed a
tendency to identify intelligence with
the business suit or, more particu-
larly, with the white laboratory coat.
But, in fact, the agricultural scien-
tist has good reason to respect the
ability and intelligence that are re-

quired for successful farming. Likely
as not numbers of the so-called dirt
farmers for whom, in the long run,
he is working are at least his intellec-
tual equals if not his superiors.

In the administrative circles of
agricultural science there is an un-
derstandable proneness to equate a
research worker’s ability with the
number and apparent profundity of
his publications. The trouble is that
to award a quid of salary for a quo
of productive effort is to some degree
a subjective matter as well as an
objective one, and the administrator
may be hard put to assess either as-
pect accurately. One of the crying
needs in agricultural research, as
indeed in many another field of
human endeavour, is a better method
of estimating the value of an indiv-
idual’s work to his fellow-man— -some
reliable means of stripping off the
showier trappings of erudition and
exposing what’s underneath. This
hardly seems to be the sort of job
that the computer people will ever
be able to solve; but maybe it is just
as well that intrinsic human worth is
not susceptible to mathematical
analysis. In any case granting that
every research worker should have to
produce evidence that justifies his
salary, today’s pressure to publish can
hardly be considered a boon to
science. Certainly the literature of
agricultural science, including ento-
mology, is coming to wear pretty
baggy britches. Its bulk seems to be
greater than the substance warrants.

These remarks can be summarized
in a few words. They urge less hum-
bug in agricultural research, and
more understanding of the farmer’s
problems. They urge less concern
with the pay cheque, and more con-
cern with a good day’s work.

Peoc. Etntomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 58 (1961), Dec. 1, 1961

BOOK REVIEW

All things come to those who wait
including, nowadays, almost every
worthwhile book in a paper backed
edition. ‘The Forest and the Sea’
started life in a hard cover; now it
appears, well printed, at sixty cents
as a Mentor Book (New York: New
American Library, 1961, 216 pp.).

The importance and pleasure of
this textbook of ecology are in no way
diminished because most of the ideas,
examples, and conclusions are not
original, although it is fair to say that
the best writing is in the author’s
references to his own experience in
Albania, Colombia, central America,
the south Pacific, and the West
Indies. In a useful summary by chap-
ters, nearly 70 sources are given, of
which Bates remarks wryly that he
has “. . . tried to observe the faint
boundary between research and plag-
iarism . .

In fact much of the material is
thoroughly familiar or even element-
ary, and for this the author rightly
makes no apology. Essentially he has
written an introduction to ecology,
and it is the distillation of ideas with
examples that is important. The book
represents the content of an under-
graduate general education course,
“Zoology in Human Affairs,” at the
University of Michigan where Bates
is a professor. Often one is aware of
the author speaking, generally in the
first person, as a wise, experienced
biologist, giving his personal views to
second-year students. The writing is
discursive, eminently readable and

never pedantic. In passing he raps
the knuckles of professional ecolo-
gists for their addiction to coining
words.

The title is from an interesting if
not very useful analogy developed at
some length, between the various
layers of the forest and the sea, from
the treetops or surface, to the floor
or benthos. But the forest discussed,
despite a conifer on the jacket, refers
to mature, equatorial rain forest, such
as most of us will never see.

The author refers to insects with
authority, having worked for 25 years
on malarial and yellow fever mos-
quitoes. Using an example of Anoph-
eles in Albania, he presents a good
discussion of speciation. From a
single species, according to conven-
tional taxonomy, no less than 7 non-
interbreeding populations were sorted
out, separable only by spots on their
eggs and different tastes in hosts.

Bates makes a good case for more
emphasis on what he calls ‘skin-out’
biology, the study of organisms as
such, rather than ‘skin-in’ biology,
the study of organs, cells and pro-
cesses. The last few chapters deal
with the evolutionary background
and ecology of man, and the book
ends with a plea for more intelligent
conservation and better understand-
ing of biology as a whole.

‘The Forest and the Sea’ should be
required reading for ecology students,
recommended reading for students of
ecology.

— H. R. MacCarthy.

Printed by The Vernon News Ltd.

PROCEEDINGS /

of the

ENTOMOLOGICAL
SOCIETY of
BRITISH COLUMBIA

Vol. 59.

Issued December 1st, 1962

ECONOMIC Page

Condrashoff and Arrand — Chemical control of the aspen leaf miner,

Phyllocnistis populiella Cham. (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) . 3

MacCarthy — Insecticides for control of brassica pests in British Columbia 5
Handford and Bergis — Indications of resistance to DDT by the imported

cabbageworm in the Okanagan Valley 11

Wilde — Effect of two spray programs on leafhoppers in cherry orchards

in the Kootenay Valley of British Columbia 12

Wilde — Incidence of leafhoppers inhabiting sweet cherry orchards in the

Kootenay Valley of British Columbia 15

Pielou and Williams — The pattern and persistence of deposits of Sevin,
with and without surfacants, on foliage of fruit trees. I. Appli-
cation by concentrate sprayer 18

Pielou and Williams — The pattern and persistence of deposits of Sevin,
with and without surfactants, on the foliage of fruit trees. II.

Application by high volume sprayer 25

Silver, Collis, Alexander and Allen — The green-striped forest looper on

Vancouver Island 29

Cottrell — Poplar borer, Saperda calcarata Say, in interior British

Columbia 33

GENERAL

Hardy — Notes on the life histories of one butterfly and three moths from
Vancouver Island (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae, Phalaenidae and

Geometridae) 35

Forbes — Aphids of strawberries in British Columbia 39

Gregson — The tick reference library at Kamloops, British Columbia, and

its application to tick studies in Canada 44

Forbes — Oviposition of the cabbage fly, Hylemya brassicae (Bouche)

(Diptera: Anthomyiidae), in coastal British Columbia 47

Geistlinger and Taylor — A method of demonstrating the form of larval

galleries of wood-boring insects

Oldershaw — Some techniques in insect photography

Science Notes 14, 17, 24, 32, 34, 43, 52,

Editor’s Note

Book Reviews 53, 57, 58,

51
56
56
59

PROCEEDINGS

of the

ENTOMOLOGICAL
SOCIETY of

BRITISH COLUMBIA

Voh 59,

Issued December 1st, 1962

ECONOMIC Page

Condrasiioff and Arrand — Chemical control of the aspen leaf miner,

Phyllocnistis populiella Cham. (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) . 3

MacCarthy— Insecticides for control of brassica pests in British Columbia 5
Handford and Bergis— Indications of resistance to DDT by the imported

cabbageworm in the Okanagan Valley 11

Wilde — Effect of two spray programs on leafhoppers in cherry orchards

in the Kootenay Valley of British Columbia 12

Wilde — Incidence of leafhoppers inhabiting sweet cherry orchards in the

Kootenay Valley of British Columbia 15

Pielou and Williams — The pattern and persistence of deposits of Sevin,
with and without surfacants, on foliage of fruit trees. I. Appli-
cation by concentrate sprayer 18

Pielou and Williams — The pattern and persistence of deposits of Sevin,
with and without surfactants, on the foliage of fruit trees. II.

Application by high volume sprayer 25

Silver, Collis, Alexander and Allen — The green-striped forest looper on

Vancouver Island 29

Cottrell — Poplar borer, Saperda calcarata Say, in interior British

Columbia 33

GENERAL

Hardy — Notes on the life histories of one butterfly and three moths from
Vancouver Island (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae, Phalaenidae and

Geometridae) 35

Forbes — Aphids of strawberries in British Columbia 39

Gregson — The tick reference library at Kamloops, British Columbia, and

its application to tick studies in Canada 44

Forbes — Oviposition of the cabbage fly, Hylemya brassicae (Bouche)

(Diptera: Anthomyiidae) , in coastal British Columbia 47

Geistlinger and Taylor — A method of demonstrating the form of larval

galleries of wood-boring insects 50

Oldershaw — Some techniques in insect photography 51

Science Notes 14, 17, 24, 32, 34, 43, 52, 56

Editor’s Note 56

Book Reviews 53, 57, 58, 59

Proc. Entomoi.. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

DIRECTORS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY
OF BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR 1962-63

Honorary President

Honorable Frank Richter
Minister of Agriculture, Victoria

President

D. P. Pielou, Summerland

President-Elect
R. R. Lejeune

Vice-President
M. G. Thompson

Secretary -Treasurer
Peter Zuk

Honorary Auditor
D. G. Finlayson

Editorial Committee

H. R. MacCarthy, Chairman R. R. Lejeune

J. A. Marshall W. G. Mathers D. A. Ross

Advisory Board

G. J. Spencer, Vancouver H. G. Fulton, Chilliwack

C. V. G. Morgan, Summerland L. C. Curtis, Kamloops

M. G. Thompson, Vancouver

Prog. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Yol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

CHEMICAL CONTROL OF THE ASPEN LEAF MINER, PHYLLOCNISTIS
POPULIELLA CHAM. (LEPIDOPTERA: GRACILLARIIDAE)

S. F. CONDRASKOFF1 AND J. C. ARRAND2

In British Columbia and the
Yukon Territory the aspen leaf miner,
Phyllocnistis populiella Cham, re-
cently has occurred in great numbers
throughout the range of trembling
aspen, Populus tremuloides Michx.

The labyrinthine mines made by
the larvae cause the leaves to take on
a silvery appearance. Every year
inquiries are received from property
owners who are concerned about the
unsightly effects on aspen trees used
as ornamentals or for shade. The
control tests described here were
aimed at providing home owners
with a method of protection. The
long-term effect of the leaf miners on
trees has not been assessed, although
unpublished reports from Idaho and
Wyoming attribute deaths of aspen
trees to heavy infestations over sev-
eral years.

In spring, when the aspen buds
open, the moths deposit eggs on both
upper and lower leaf surfaces. Ovi-
position continues until leaves reach
approximately two - thirds full size.
The developing larvae mine the upper
and lower epidermis, and after at-
taining full size in 4 or 5 weeks, they
spin cocoons. Ninety per cent of the
mining occurs in the third or final
mining instar which lasts 4 or 5 days.
The fourth instar does not mine. The
pupal stage lasts about 2 weeks. New
adults are frequently seen in June,
July, and August, resting on trees and
shrubs; soon afterwards they dis-
appear to hibernate. There is one
generation per year.

Trunk applications of a systemic
poison were tested first. The possi-
bility that the newly-hatched larvae
might be easily killed with minute

1 Forest Entomology Laboratory, Vernon, B.C.

2 Assistant Provincial Entomologist, Vernon, B.C.

quantities of material, and the ease
of applying insecticide to the trunk
suggested that such a method might
be ideal for home owners, who ordin-
arily lack adequate spray equipment.
When it became evident that the
trunk applications were not effective
foliage sprays were tried.

Procedure and Results
1. Trunk Applications

On April 12, 1961, as buds were
opening at 1700 feet elevation at
Larkin, B.C., Rogor3 emulsion (con-
taining 30 per cent active ingredient4
or three lb. per Imperial gallon) was
brushed on to 10 aspen trees 4-10
inches d.b.h. picked at random. A
total of 3.5 oz. of this material was
used on the 10 trees. Ten untreated
trees were marked for a check.

Two weeks later, in the same area,
a felt band soaked with one oz. of
Rogor was wound on the trunk of
three trees. In addition, one-quarter-
inch holes were drilled to a depth of
about 2 inches in the trunk of 3 trees
and one ounce of Rogor emulsion
injected with a syringe. Assessments
were based on examinations of 200-
1000 aspen leaves from each treat-
ment.

Results are shown in Table 1. The
only method that showed promise of
control was injection of the material
into drilled holes. The kill achieved
by this method was much higher
than indicated under “third instar
mines” in Table 1. Since many larvae
were already in the third instar at
the time of treatment, the proportion
surviving to cocoon gives a truer
picture of the kill, which was over 80
per cent. Injected trees sustained

3 Also known as Dimethoate.

4 Methyl dimethyldithiophosphorylacetamide.

Prog. Extomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

TABLE 1. — Effect of Rogor emulsion on Phyllocnistis populiella Cham, in trembling
aspen at 1700 ft. elevation, Larkin, B.C. Material applied to trunks by
various methods, April, 1961.

Percentage leaf surfaces affected

Treatment

All

3rd instar

mines

Cocoons

Painted in 6-in. band

Banded with treated felt

Injected into % in. holes

Untreated

some injury from the insecticide, Lower dosages applied just before
resulting in blanching of the leaves, bud-burst should be tested.

TABLE 2. — Effect on 150 leaves (300 surfaces) of Thiodan and Rogor sprays on
Phyllocnistis populiella Cham., in trembling aspen at 3000 ft. elevation,
Vernon, B.C. Three Afoot trees sprayed with 2 oz. of each material in
1 gal. water. 24 May, 1961.

Infestation after 33 days

Surfaces Surfaces with signs
Treatment infested of survival to 3rd

at spraying instar or beyond Cocoons

Thiodan 264 52 7

Rogor 268 31 6

Untreated 284 243 163

2. Spray Applications

When trunk applications failed,
spray tests were conducted at a
higher elevation, where tree and
insect development was less ad-
vanced. On May 24, 6 four-foot high
infested saplings at 3000 feet eleva-
tion near Vernon, were sprayed to the
point of dripping with a compressed-
air hand sprayer. Three of the trees
were treated with 2 oz. of Thiodan,
and 3 with 2 oz. of Rogor, in one
gallon of water.

As shown in Table 2, both materials
gave excellent control. By June 26,
33 days after treatment, treated trees
were markedly greener and had
grown considerably taller than un-
treated trees, which suggests that the

leaf miners may reduce growth
significantly.

The control obtained is not surpris-
ing. Reports from other areas show
that closely related species are easily
controlled with a number of mater-
ials. Ayoub (1960) reported that
Phyllocnistis citrella is readily con-
trolled on citrus trees in Saudi Arabia
with sprays containing any one of the
following materials: parathion, mala-
thion, heptachlor, dieldrin, DDT, or
“Gamma Isomer.” In Italy, De Beilis
(1960) reported that good control of
Phyllocnistis suffusella was obtained
on poplars by spraying infested leaves
with parathion, malathion, Diazinon,
demeton, Rogor , or a mixture of
parathion and DDT.

References

Ayoub, M. Al-S. 1960. Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton, a main citrus pest in Saudi Arabia.
Bull. Soc. Ent. Egypte, 44: 387-391.

De Beilis, E. 1960. Control tests against Phyllocnistis suffusella Z. Pubbl. Cent. Sper.
Agric. For. Roma, 4: 225-231.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

INSECTICIDES FOR CONTROL OF BRASSICA PESTS
IN BRITISH COLUMBIA1

H. R. MacCarthy

Introduction

The purpose of this 4-year investi-
gation was to find a calendar recom-
mendation for control of cole crop
pests, better suited to local conditions
than the existing one. An earlier
paper dealt with the first season’s
work in 1958, when the pests were ex-
ceptionally abundant (Forbes and
MacCarthy, 1959). During the next 3
years the populations at Vancouver
were much lower, so that single treat-
ments only were necessary, making it
possible to study the rates of reinfest-
ation.

Most of the insecticides were or-
ganophosphates with systemic effects.
This paper reports the effectiveness
of the materials, and the persistence
of the best of these against the 4
common pests: the cabbage aphid,
Brevicoryne brassicae (L.) ; the green
peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulz.) ;
the diamondback moth, Plutella
maculipennis (Curt.) ; and the im-
ported cabbageworm, Pieris rapae
(L.). The last was in small numbers.

Materials and Methods

The insecticides were:

DDT; 50 per cent wettable powder.

Derris; 7.94 per cent emulsible con-
centrate, formulated for this experi-
ment by P. C. Oloffs, courtesy of
Laters of Canada, 330 Lysander Lane,
Richmond, B.C.

Diazinon, O, O-diethyl 0-(2-isopro-
pyl-4-methyl - 6 - pyrimidinyl) phos-
phorothioate; 25 per cent emulsible
concentrate; Fisons (Canada) Ltd.,
Toronto, Ont.

Dimethoate (Rogor), O, O-dimethyl
S- (N-methylcarbamoylmethyl) phos-
phorodithioate; 46 per cent soluble

i Contribution No. 35. Research Station, Re-
search Branch, Canada Department of Agriculture,
6660 N.W. Marine Drive, Vancouver 8, B.C.

concentrate; American Cyanamid Co.,
Stamford, Conn.

Di-Syston, O, O-diethyl £-2(ethyl-
thio) ethyl phosphorodithioate; 5 per
cent granules; Chemagro Corp., San
Mateo, Calif.

Ekatin-M, O, O-dimethyl S-(mor-
pholino-carbamionyl-methyl ) dithio-
phosphate; emulsible concentrate
containing 2.1 lb. active material per
Imp. gallon; Sandoz Ltd., Basle, Swit-
zerland.

Larvatrol “75 W”, wettable powder
containing 75 billion spores per gm. of
Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner; Nut-
rilite Products, Inc., Buena Park,
Calif.

Malathion; 57 per cent emulsible
concentrate; American Cyanamid Co.,
Stamford, Conn.

Perthane, di(p-ethylphenyl) di-
chloroethane; emulsible concentrate
containing 4 lb. of active material per
U.S. gallon or 50 per cent wettable
powder; Rohm & Haas Co., Philadel-
phia 5, Pa.

Phosdrin, dimethyl carbomethoxy-
propenyl phosphate; water soluble
liquid containing 12.3 lb. Phosdrin per
Imp. gallon; Shell Oil Co. of Canada,
Toronto, Ont.

Phosphamidon, dimethyl 2-chloro-
2-diethylcarbamoyl-l-methyl vinyl
phosphate; “4 spray” containing 4 lb.
of active material per Imp. gallon;
Ortho Agricultural Chemicals Ltd.,
New Westminster, B.C.

Sevin, methylnaphthyl carbamate;
50 per cent wettable powder; Union
Carbide Chemicals Co., New York, N.Y.

Thiodan, hexachloro - hexahydro-
methano-2, 4, 3-benzo-dioxathiepin
oxide; emulsible concentrate contain-
ing 2 lb. of active material per Imp.
gallon; Niagara Brand Chemicals,
Burlington, Ont.

Proc. Eaiomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

The surfactant Triton B 1956
(Rohm and Haas Co., Philadelphia 5,
Pa.) was added to all sprays at 4
ounces per 100 gallons. Di-Syston
granules were applied at the base of
the plants in 1959 and 1960; in 1961
they were mixed with the seed just
before sowing. In that year the 3
brassica crops were not transplanted,
but were grown directly from seed.

Brussels sprouts was the chief test
crop, being used in all years. The
methods of culture and appraisal of
results have been published (Forbes
and MacCarthy, 1959). In 1961 the
size of the plots was tripled to include
equal numbers of rows of broccoli and
rutabagas, in order to gauge the effect
of treatment on other brassica crops.
In each year a randomized block de-
sign was used in 4 replicates. To de-
termine any toxic effect of seed fur-
row treatment with Di-Syston by the
end of the 1961 season (7 Nov.), 10
plants were taken at random and
weighed, from each of the 4 replicates
of the untreated, Di-Syston, and di-
methoate plots. Above ground weights
were recorded for Brussels sprouts
and broccoli, both of which were not
harvested; the weight of the entire
plant was recorded for rutabagas.

Records made later than 6 weeks
after spraying are not used here (with
an exception noted), because after
this time apparent control may result
from inability of the pests to re-col-
onize, rather than from residual tox-
icity.

Results with the best materials are
presented by plotting the cumulative
totals (Fig. 1). This method permits
easy comparison between the rates of
increase in treated and untreated
plots.

Bioassays were made in 1959 using
discs 9 cm. in diameter, cut from
middle leaves of plants in each of the
control and Di-Syston plots. The leaf
discs were placed in petri dishes and
ten adult aphids from greenhouse

colonies were put into each dish. The
survivors were counted after 3 days.

Results and Discussion

The populations levels of the 4
pests varied from year to year as
shown by the totals in the untreated
plots in 6 weekly counts on an upper,
middle, and a lower leaf of 5 Brussels
sprouts plants in 4 replications, i.e.
on 60 leaves per week:

Cabbage aphids,

1959

1960

1961

colonies

Green peach aphids,

... 115

495

adults — -

Diamondback moth

... 591

123

155

larvae

Imported

... 142

cabbageworms

... 27

In 1959 green peach aphids were
sufficiently abundant by 28 July to
warrant spraying, but cabbage aphids
did not appear until a month later.
Hence in Fig. 1 (upper left) the points
on the graph represent counts made
from 31 to 66 days following spraying.

Tables 1, 2, and 3 show the treat-
ments, rates and percentage control
achieved, calculated by Abbott’s for-
mula. The materials are discussed
here, in alphabetical order:

Since the local populations of dia-
mondback moth and imported cab-
bageworm were known to be suscep-
tible, DDT was included (Table 1) as
a standard against which other lar-
vacides could be measured.

Derris is recommended on provin-
cial spray calendars for use against
caterpillars near harvest. It reduced
the numbers to about one-half of
those in the control plots for 3 weeks
following application. Disadvantages
to its use are the high cost and the
difficulty of obtaining fresh concen-
trate.

Diazinon gave fairly good results
against aphids and caterpillars (Fig.
1), and retained its effectiveness for
2 weeks. It now appears on both the

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

TABLE 1. — Percentage control of brassica pests from single applications* of insecti-
cides to Brussels sprouts, based on 6 weekly counts, 31 July-9 Sept., 1959,

at Vancouver, B.C.

Active

Cabbage

Green

Treatment

material

aphids**

Peach

Caterpillars

per acre,

aphids

lb.

Diazinon 25% EC

0.5}

with Perthane 50% WP

1 1

Dimethoate 46% SC

Di-Syston 5 G with

DDT 50% WP

Di-Syston 5 G with

Perthane 50% WP

Malathion 57% EC

1.25

Phosdrin WS

.45

Phosphamidon 4

0.5

Thiodan 2 EC

0.75

* Di-Syston was applied to the soil at the base of the plants when they were 8 in. high,
3 and 4 July. Other materials applied 28 July.

** Cabbage aphids were absent until one month after application of the sprays. These
data are based on the 6 counts 28 Aug.-9 Oct.

commercial and garden growers’ cal-
endars.

Dimethoate (Rogor) gave good con-
trol of all pests (Fig. 1), especially
green peach aphids. Against cater-

pillars it had little effect after about
2 weeks. This material will be held
in reserve for future recommenda-
tion.

TABLE 2. — Percentage control of brassica pests from single applications* of insecti-
cides to Brussels sprouts, based on 6 weekly counts, 29 Aug.-7 Oct., 1960,
at Vancouver, B.C.

Active

Cabbage

Green

Treatment

material

aphids

Peach

Caterpil

per acre,

aphids

lb.

Dimethoate 46% SC

Di-Syston 5 G

with Larvatrol 75 W

Di-Syston 5 G

1 1

with derris 7.94% EC

1 pint f

Di-Syston 5 G

with Perthane 45 EC

Di-Syston 5 G

with Sevin 50 W

Ekatin - M 20 EC

Malathion 57% EC

1.251

with Perthane 45 EC

1 f

Phosdrin WS

0.5

Di-Syston was applied to the soil at the base of the plants when they were 8 in. high
20 July. Other materials applied 25 Aug., 1960.

Proc. Extomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Deo. 1, 1962

Di-Syston alone had no effect on
caterpillars (Forbes and MacCarthy,
1959) . Against cabbage aphids it gave
superior control, and was effective for
a shorter time against green peach
aphids. There was a marked reduc-
tion in the numbers of aphids even
when it had been applied with the
seed 100 days earlier; in Brussels
sprouts it reduced the numbers of
cabbage aphid colonies by 74 per cent
and of adult green peach aphids by
58 per cent. However, furrow applica-
tion reduced the emergence of seed-
lings: in Brussels sprouts by 68 per
cent, in broccoli by 46 per cent, and
in rutabagas by 62 per cent. Some of
the young plants were stunted but
they had outgrown this when they
were weighed on 7 November. Di-
Syston appeared on the commercial
growers’ spray calendar for 1962-63
with the recommendation that the
granules be applied at transplanting
or as a side dressing.

Ekatin-M used at the rate recom-
mended by the manufacturer gave
poor results and was used in 1960
only.

Larvatrol “75 W” appeared to have
little persistence but this may have
resulted in part from rain that fell on
the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th days following
the treatment in 1960.

Malathion proved in 3 seasons of
trial to be ineffective against aphids,
but useful against caterpillars. It has
been retained in the home gardeners’
calendar because of its low mammal-
ian toxicity but dropped from the
commercial growers’ calendar.

Perthane was tested 5 times in the
3 years, in combination with Di-
Syston, malathion, or Diazinon (Fig.
1), giving good to excellent control of
caterpillars. It was included in the
commercial growers’ calendar on the
basis of its performance and very low
mammalian toxicity.

Phosdrin is recommended as a late-
season and pre-harvest spray. It must
be reapplied frequently in seasons of
heavy infestation, since pests appear
to recover rapidly. The short residual
effect is clear (Fig. 1).

Phosphamidon is a promising sys-
temic with useful characteristics. It
had good contact action against the
4 pests, with some systemic effect for

2 weeks. This agrees with the manu-
facturers’ residue studies.

Sevin was shown in earlier studies
to be ineffective against aphids, but
against caterpillars it was effective
and persistent (Fig. 1).

Thiodan appeared to be ineffective
against cabbage aphids, but it re-
duced the numbers of caterpillars for

3 weeks after application.

The persistence of Di-Syston was
investigated in 1959. Brussels sprouts,
treated at 2 and 1 lb. toxicant per
acre were harvested 101 and 102 days
after treatment and sent to the
Chemagro Corporation, Kansas City,
Mo., for analysis. No detectible resi-
dues were found.

Table 4 shows the results of a bio-
assay of plants treated with Di-Sys-
ton. There was a significant reduc-
tion of cabbage aphids 126 days after
treatment, but not later. Green peach
aphids were not affected at 126 days
and were not tested again.

In 1961 the materials judged most
effective during the previous 3 sea-
sons were tested on Brussels sprouts,
broccoli, and rutabagas. All the treat-
ments (Table 3) reduced (P=.01)
the number of cabbage aphids for at
least 6 weeks. Considering green
peach aphids, the numbers were re-
duced to a highly significant degree
by dimethoate for 6 weeks, by diaz-
inon and by Phosdrin for 4 weeks
after spraying, and by Di-Syston for
17 weeks or 119 days after the gran-
ules were applied. All the treatments

CATERPILLARS GREEN PEACH APHIDS, ADULTS CABBAGE APHIDS, COLONIES

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

1959 I960 1961

DAYS FOLLOWING SPRAYING

Fig. 1 Cumulative total numbers of brassica pests showing the comparative rates of
reinfestation for 6 weeks following application of sprays.

Peoc. Entomol, Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

TABLE 3. — Percentage control of brassica pests from single applications" of insecti-
cides to Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and rutabagas, based on 6 weekly

counts, 5 Sept.-lO Oct., 1961, at Vancouver, B.C.

Active

Cabbage

Green

Treatment

material

aphids

Peach

Caterpillars

per acre,

aphids

lb.

Diazinon 25% EC

Dimethoate 46% SC

Di-Syston 5 G with

Perthane 45 EC

Phosdrin WS

0.5

* Di-Syston was applied with the seed 17 May. Other materials applied 30 August.

significantly reduced the numbers of
caterpillars for 2 weeks, with further
highly significant reductions during
the 5th week with Diazinon, dimetho-
ate and Perthane.

In the check plots there were fewer
cabbage aphids (P = .001) in broccoli
than in Brussels sprouts or rutabagas,
but fewer green peach aphids (P =
.10) in Brussels sprouts. The cater-
pillars were uniformly distributed.

Summary

Thirteen insecticides were tested

during 1959, 1960, and 1961 for control
of low to medium populations of cab-
bage aphids ( Brevicoryne brassicae
(L.)), green peach aphids ( Myzus
persicae (Sulz.)), diamondback moth
larvae ( Plutella maculip ennis
(Curt.)), and imported cabbage-
worms ( Pieris rapae (L.) ) . The results
are based on weekly appraisals, fol-
lowing single applications of the in-
secticides to Brussels sprouts. Alone
or in combinations the spray mate-
rials were: DDT, derris, diazinon, di-

TABLE 4. — Surviving aphids out of 40 caged for 3 days on 9 cm. discs cut from middle
leaves of Brussels sprouts plants, treated with Di-Syston, 1959, Vancouver,

B.C.

Active material
per acre, lb.

126

Days following
Cabbage aphids

137 144

treatment

Green peach aphids
126

Control

methoate, Ekatin-M, Larvatrol, mal-
athion, Perthane, Phosdrin, Phospha-
midon, Sevin and Thiodan. Di-Syston
granules were applied in the soil or
with the seed. The best all-around
control was achieved with Dimetho-
ate, Diazinon, Di-Syston plus Per-
thane, and Phosdrin. Di-Syston was
found to kill cabbage aphids up to 126
days, although it could not be detect-

ed by chemical means 102 days after
application. Applied in the seed fur-
row it reduced emergence by up to 68
per cent, and caused stunting.

Acknowledgments

Grateful acknowledgment is made for
assistance in the field from my colleagues,
A. R. Forbes, A. T. S. Wilkinson, and D. G.
Finlayson. Technical help was given by
M. D. Noble, J. Hill, A. Clancy, and N. J.
Filmer.

Reference

Forbes, A. R., and H. R. MacCarthy. Control of aphids and caterpillars on Brussels
sprouts in British Columbia. Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia 56: 33-39. 1959.

Proc. Eatomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

INDICATIONS OF RESISTANCE TO DDT BY THE IMPORTED
CABBAGEWORM IN THE OKANAGAN VALLEY1

R. H. Handford and Imants Bergis2

Reports of dissatisfaction with
DDT as used against the imported
cabbageworm, Pieris rapae (L.), in
the Okanagan Valley in 1960, sug-
gested that experimental tests were
advisable. Accordingly, an experi-
ment was set up in June, 1961, in a
field of Pennstate Ballhead cabbages
on the farm of S. and J. Low near
Kelowna, B.C. There were five treat-
ments arranged in four randomized
blocks. Each plot measured 16.5 ft. x
16.5 ft. and contained 80 to 100 plants.

The cabbage plants were set out on
June 25 and the plots were staked on
June 27. The insecticide for each plot
was measured separately into two
quarts of water and applied with a
knapsack sprayer. Spraying was done
on June 28, July 7, 18, 28, August 9
and 21. Dibrom was substituted for
DDT on August 21 to avoid illegal
residues at harvest. Otherwise the
treatments on each date were as fol-
lows:

1. DDT, 50% wettable powder, 4 lb.
per acre.

2. Thuricide, 30 billion viable spores
per gram, 1 lb. per acre.

3. Phosdrin E.C., 1.54 lb. actual per
20 fl. oz., 8 fl. oz. per acre.

4. Dibrom E.C., 9.6 lb. actual per
U.S. gal., 16 fl. oz. per acre.

5. Untreated check.

The effectiveness of the treatment
was determined by counting the lar-
vae on 12 plants selected at random
in each plot on July 6, 11, 27, August
9 and 21, before treatment in each
instance. The diameter of the cab-
bage heads was measured at the end
of the experiment.

i Contribution from the Entomology Laboratory,
Canada Department of Agriculture, Research
Branch, Kamloops, B.C.

2 Officer in Charge and Greenhouseman, respec-
tively.

The total number of larvae on 48
plants per treatment, counted on the
five dates indicated, was divided by
the number of replicates (four) to
give the following means:

Phosdrin 7.8

Thuricide . 11.3

Dibrom 13.8

DDT 27.0

Check 51.3

Difference necessary for signific-
ance at the 5% point was 3.95.

Difference necessary for signific-
ance at the 1% point was 5.54.

The difference in amount of dam-
age to the leaves and heads was con-
siderably greater than indicated by
the differences in numbers of cater-
pillars. Mortality in plots treated with
Phosdrin and Dibrom was very high
immediately following treatment, and
the worms found in these and the
Thuricide plots just before treatment
were very small as compared to those
in the check plots and in those
treated with DDT.

The average sizes in inches of heads
in plots receiving the different treat-
ments were as follows:

Dibrom 5.36

Phosdrin 5.30

Thuricide 5.02

DDT 4.69

Check 4.41

Difference necessary for signific-
ance at the 5% point was 0.22.

Difference necessary for signific-
ance at the 1% point was 0.31.

Again, as in the comparison of the
number of larvae, the differences in
damage, and probably in marketable
heads, was much greater than the
differences in size, but in the same
direction.

Proc. Extomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Yol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

It was obvious, from both criteria,
that DDT, although used at double
the strength recommended in prev-
ious control charts, did not give satis-
factory control.

Although no counts were made of
aphid populations, it was observed
that they were numerous enough to
cause considerable injury to plants in
the check plots and to those treated
with Thuricide. They increased less
rapidly on plants receiving DDT, and

were not observed on those treated
with Dibrom or Phosdrin. This may
have accounted in part, at least, for
the larger heads produced in the plots
treated with Dibrom or Phosdrin.

We should like to express our
thanks to Mr. E. M. King, Horticul-
turist (Vegetables), B.C. Department
of Agriculture, Kelowna, for indicat-
ing the need for the experiment and
for arranging for a suitable experi-
mental site.

EFFECT OF TWO SPRAY PROGRAMS ON LEAFHOPPERS IN CHERRY
ORCHARDS IN THE KOOTENAY VALLEY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA1

W. H. A. Wilde2

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to
present results of an experiment to
assess the value of dieldrin ground
sprays as compared to DDT and Sul-
phenone tree sprays for control of
leafhoppers in sweet cherry orchards.
Assessments of spray programs were
made by comparing the numbers of
leafhoppers caught on sticky boards
in the tree canopies (2). Spraying
tree canopies with DDT and Sulphen-
one was a procedure used by some
Kootenay Valley growers for con-
trolling leafhoppers and mites. Diel-
drin was selected for use as a ground
spray because of its reported residual
action against earwigs, spittle bugs,
and thrips, pests prevalent in Koot-
enay Valley cherry orchard cover
crops, and because it was considered
possible that such an insecticide
would provide economic control
against leafhopper populations. Most
of the leafhoppers recorded in this
test work are known to spend part of
their life -cycle in cover crops.

Materials and Methods

Three plots were used, each con-
sisting of a block of 24 sweet cherry

1 Contribution No. 59, Research Station, Research
Branch, Canada Department of Agriculture, Sum-
merland, British Columbia.

2 Entomologist.

sHexachloro-epoxy-octahydro-dimethanonaphtha-
lene. Shell Oil Company of Canada, Limited.

trees, almost all of the Lambert
variety, 10 to 16 years old. Each plot
was bordered by a buffer row of trees
on all sides. The two treated plots
were in one orchard and the check
plot was in another. The two orchards
immediately adjoined each other and
were separated by a fence somewhat
overgrown with native shrubs includ-
ing Symphoricarpus sp., Ribes sp.,
Crataegus sp., and Rosa sp. The check
plot, which simulated conditions in
many Kootenay Valley cherry or-
chards, was not irrigated, mowed,
pruned, or sprayed for eight years,
including the year of the experiment;
the ground cover was tall couch grass.
The check trees were vigorous but
growth was not so succulent as that
in the treated plots.

The sprays were applied by a high
volume sprayer. Fogging in the tree
canopy applications held spray run-
off to a minimum. The ground sprays
of 20 per cent emulsible dieldrin3 at
the rate of 0.75 gallon per 100 gallons
of water were applied on May 15 and
August 12. The tree spray was 50 per
cent DDT wettable powder at 3
pounds per 100 gallons with 40 per
cent Sulphenone wettable powder at
2.5 pounds per 100 gallons applied on
May 15 and August 12. A single spray

Proc. Entomoi. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

of 40 per cent nicotine sulfate at 1
pint per 100 gallons of water, a stand-
ard black cherry aphid control spray
used by Kootenay cherry growers, was
applied to tree canopies of both
sprayed plots on June 27.

The leafhoppers were sampled by
hanging plywood sticky boards, mea-
suring 6 x 12 inches, in the cherry
trees. Each board was sprayed on one
side with “Deadline” tanglefoot, a
material which remained sticky in
any weather (2) and was capable of
holding large insects. The boards
were hung at random with wire hooks
up to a height that could be reached
conveniently from the ground, on
trees of which the numbers were
randomized each week. The boards
were also numbered; odd-numbered
boards were painted yellow, even ones

white. Yellow or white board colors
were used to determine if variations
existed in leafhopper color prefer-
ences (3). Ten boards were hung for
one week at a time in each of the
three plots. The boards were changed
each Tuesday or Wednesday for 20
weeks from May 7 to September 18,
1957.

With large numbers of insects in
fairly homogenous groups it was pos-
sible to determinue the value of
ground- versus tree - sprays, and
population changes in the spray plots
with those in the check plot.

Mean monthly temperatures at
Creston (elevation 1,990 feet) were
somewhat below average during 1957,
except in April (+2°F.), May ( + 6°F.)
and September (+4 F.). Precipitation
was about y2 inch below normal for

Fig. 1. — Leafhopper populations in tree spray, ground spray, and check plots in sweet
cherry orchards, Creston, B.C., May to September 1957.

Pkoc. Extomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962 |

every month except May (— .26 inch)
and June (— .03 inch). There was
good snow cover in the previous
winter. Killing frost in 1957 occurred
September 16.

Results

The reduction of leafhopper popu-
lations by tree canopy sprays as com-
pared to ground sprays is shown in
Figure 1.

Although mesophyll - feeding leaf-
hoppers of the genus Edwardsiana are
unlikely to transmit little cherry
virus, they were included in total
leafhopper counts because they could
be identified on sight, and because
their high numbers showed the
effects of the sprays. The residue of
the foliage spray of August 12 ap-
peared to hold down their numbers.
Ground spraying had no deleterious
effect on this predominantly tree-
and shrub-living group. The first gen-
eration bred mostly on native shrubs
growing along the fence referred to,
but from early June the succeeding
and overlapping generations bred on
the cherry trees.

Macrosteles and Psammotettix were
genera collected regularly. Week by
week comparisons among counts of
adult Macrosteles fascifrons show
that numbers in the ground spray

plot were greater than in the others.
There appeared to be no migratory
flights of Macrosteles . When the
pooled numbers were plotted against
time, the curve was bimodal with !
peaks about July 3 and September 4,
suggesting two generations.

The pooled numbers of other species
of leafhoppers were reduced by both
programs. These species are likely to
include vectors of little cherry virus.

Leafhoppers were more attracted
to yellow colored sticky boards than
they were to white colored sticky
boards (3) .

Summary

Two sprays of dieldrin, applied to
ground cover only, had little effect on
the numbers of leafhoppers in sweet
cherry trees. By comparison, DDT-
Sulphenone sprays, applied to tree
canopies, gave economic control. The
effects of the spray programs were
assessed by comparing leafhopper
counts on 10 sticky boards per plot
with counts from 10 boards in the
adjacent check plot. Ground sprays
were tested against conventional tree
canopy sprays because many leaf-
hopper genera found in cherry or-
chards spend a portion of their life-
cycle in orchard cover crop.

References

1. Cox, Constance E. Handbook on statistical methods. Can. Dep. Agr. Publ. 3

(processed) 1954.

2. Kaloostian, G. H., and M. S. Yeomans. A sticky board trap used in scouting for pear

psylla. U.S. Dep. Agr. Bur. Entomol. Plant Quarantine, ET 220. 1944.

3. Wilde, W. H. A. A note on color preferences of some Homoptera and Thysanoptera

in British Columbia. Can. Entomol. 94: 107. 1962.

Phyciodes mylitta Edw. on Vancouver Island

Available records make no mention of this
butterfly as occurring on Vancouver Island,
although records are frequent enough on
the mainland of British Columbia.

I first ran across it in September, 1961,
when two males were taken in separate
localities in the general area of Coldstream.
As P. mylitta is known to be double brooded
and to feed on thistle in the caterpillar
stage, I searched in the spring of 1962 for
individuals of the first brood. After investi-
gating many possible habitats I was at last
rewarded by finding a small population of

both sexes in the same district, thus estab-
lishing its existence on Vancouver Island.

It would interest me to know if anyone
else has come across it. Why it has been
overlooked for so long is a mystery for it is
not particularly shy or retiring. It could be
a recent introduction either by natural or
artificial means, or with its very early and
late appearance in the year and restricted
habitat it could simply have eluded obser-
vation.

— George A. Harcly, Provincial Museum
( Rtd .), Victoria, B.C.

Broc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

INCIDENCE OF LEAFHOPPERS INHABITING SWEET CHERRY ORCHARDS
IN THE KOOTENAY VALLEY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA1

W. H. A. Wilde2

Introduction

This report on the composition of
leafhopper populations in two cherry
orchards in the Kootenay Valley,
British Columbia, is a part of the
long-term search for vectors of little
cherry virus of sweet cherry, Prunus
avium L. At least three species of
leafhoppers of the subfamily Delto-
cephalinae, included in this study,
have transmitted little cherry virus
experimentally from Lambert to Star
or Sam varieties of sweet cherry un-
der field and laboratory conditions
(10).

The value of leafhopper surveys in
an area where plant virus problems
exist and the importance of deter-
mining if known leafhopper vectors
are present in that area is discussed
by Turner (8) .

1 Contribution No. 96, Research Station, Research
Branch, Canada Department of Agriculture, Sum-
merland, British Columbia.

2 Entomologist.

Methods and Materials

The method of sampling leafhop-
per populations, arrangement of
plots, and leafhopper nomenclature
used in this investigation are de-
scribed in a previous paper (11) by
the author.

Results

The following table lists identities
(1) and totals of leafhoppers trapped
on sticky boards (2) during a period
of 20 weeks in 1957 in test plots in
sweet cherry orchards of the Koot-
enay Valley, B.C.

Discussion

The most numerous leafhopper was
Edwardsiana rosae (L.) ; 4,393 adults
were trapped out of a total of 5,849
adult leafhoppers. E. rosae is a meso-

TABLE 1. — Species and Numbers of Leafhoppers Trapped on Sticky Boards in Sweet
Cherry Orchards, Kootenay Valley, B.C., May 1 to September 18, 1957.

Species Total

Edwardsiana rosae (L.) 4,393

Neokolla hieroglyphica (Say) 265

Psammotettix lividellus (Zett.) = affinis Gill. & Bak. 262

Macrosteles fascifrons (Stal) 182

Dicraneura absenta DeL. & Cald. 168

Erythroneura spp. ( aspera B. & G. and plena Beam.) 110

Empoa gillettei Van. D 65*

Osbornellus borealis DeL. & M. .. 60

Scaphytopius acutus (Say) 57

Empoasca maligna (Walsh) 44

Idiocerus populi L 24

Stenocoelidia lineata (Bak.) 23*

Euscelidius schenki (Kirsch.) 22

Aphrodes sp 22

Colladonus geminatus (Van D, & C. montanus Van D.) 17

Sorhoanus orientalis (DeL. & Dav.) 14

Chlorotettix unicolor (Fitch) 7*

Exitianus exitiosus (Uhl.) 5

Macropsis ferruginoides group 4*

Gyponana angulata (Spang.) 2

Oncopsis sp. 2

Balclutha punctata (Thumb.) 1

* Species not recorded previously from Kootenay Valley cherry orchards.

Proc. Entomol. soc. JtJRiT. Columbia, Yol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

phyll feeder and therefore is unlikely
to be a virus vector. The first genera-
tion bred mostly on native shrubs,
but succeeding and overlapping gen-
erations bred on the cherry trees.

Neokolla hieroglyphic a (Say) is a
vector of alfalfa dwarf virus. After
the second week of June the numbers
dropped sharply, then tapered off.
Only a single specimen was trapped
after July 17. It has a wide range of
woody and herbaceous hosts.

Psammotettix lividellus (Zett.), a
grass-living species, was noted as a
migratory flight during mid-May. P.
lividellus has been responsible for one
experimental transmission of little
cherry (10).

Species of Macrosteles are likely to
include virus vectors. Most of those
taken were M. fascifrons (Stal), a
species long known to transmit aster
yellows and more recently found by
the author (10) to transmit little
cherry virus.

Dicraneura (probably absentee DeL.
& Cald.) was almost as numerous as
M. fascifrons. This is a common
grass-living form and, in the Koot-
enays, is often found in association
with M. fascifrons and P. lividellus.

Erythroneura spp. (probably aspera
B. & G. and plena Beam.) were num-
erous during the week of May 1 to 7.
These progeny of the overwintered
adults became well dispersed, since
Erythroneura were trapped only oc-
casionally after May 29. The host
range is wide.

Both Empoa gillettei Van D. and
Osbornellus borealis DeL. & M. have
been caught on a wide range of hosts,
but there is little specific information
on their feeding preferences. O.
borealis was collected only after the
end of July, a pattern of distribution
observed also in the Cariboo (4) and
in Utah (3). Known hosts include
alfalfa and potatoes.

Scaphytopius acutus is a vector of
peach and cherry western X, and of
alfalfa witches’-broom viruses. The
host range of S. acutus includes
grasses, legumes, potatoes, weeds, and
woody brush plants. A few were trap-
ped early in May, none in June, and
then increasingly from early July. A
similar pattern was obtained in the
Cariboo (4).

The species of Empoasca trapped
was probably maligna (Walsh) . The
genus includes three vectors of cran-
berry false blossom virus.

Euscelidius and seven species of
Colladonus (5) are known vectors of
aster yellows. Two species of Colla-
donus, C. geminatus and C. montanus,
have transmitted Western X-disease
of peach.

Chlorotettix unicolor (Fitch), never
plentiful in Kootenay Valley cherry
orchards, was first collected by the
author in 1955. Since that time this
species has shown a small increase
in numbers in sweet cherry orchards
of that area. C. unicolor is a vector of
aster yellows.

Species of Macropsis have trans-
mitted peach yellows and little peach
viruses and a raspberry virus.

Species of Empoa, Stenocoelidia,
Chlorotettix, and Macropsis are new
records for sweet cherry orchards of
the Kootenay Valley; they are not
represented in Waddell’s list (9).

The number of leafhoppers record-
ed in this study were much higher
than those reported recently from
Delaware (6, 7) in peach and apple
orchards subjected to seven sprays.

Summary

The incidence of leafhoppers in
sweet cherry orchards near Creston
in the Kootenay Valley of British
Columbia was recorded for 20 weeks
in 1957. E. rosae was the most com-
mon leaf hopper: 4,393 were trapped
out of a total of 5,849. Next in order of

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

abundance were N. hieroglyphica and
P. lividellus whose numbers were 265
and 262 respectively. Six leafhopper
species found in trace numbers were
C. unicolor, E. exitiosus, Macropsis
sp., G. angulata, Oncopsis sp. and B,
punctata. Of the 22 species recorded,
N. hieroglyphica, P. lividellus, M. fas-
cifrons, C. geminatus, C. montanus ,

S. acutus, E. maligna, E. schenki, C .
unicolor and M. ferruginoides group
are either known plant virus vectors
or are closely related to species known
to be vectors of plant viruses.

Acknowledgments

The author is grateful to Messrs. W. A.
Kemp and A. R. Thurston, Creston, B.C.,
for the use of their orchards.

References

1. Beirne, B. P. 1956. Leafhoppers (Romoptera: Cicadellidae) of Canada and Alaska.

Can. Entomologist 88, Suppl. 2.

2. Kaloostian, G. H., and M. S. Yeomans. 1944. A sticky trap board used in scouting for

pear psylla. U.S. Dep. Agr. Bur. Entomol. Plant Quarantine, ET220.

3. Kaloostian, G. H. 1952. A current report on vectors of Western X-disease virus of

stone fruits. Proc. Utah State Hort. Soc.

4. MacCarthy, H. R. 1956. Insect populations in Cariboo potato fields. Proc. Entomol.

Soc. Brit. Columbia 52: 8-11.

5. Oman, P. W. 1949. The Nearctic leafhoppers, a generic classification and check

list. Proc. Entomol. Soc. Wash., D.C. Mem. 3.

6. Stearns, L. A. 1956. Meadow snittlebug and peach gumosis. J. Econ. Entomol.

49: 382-385.

7. Stearns, L. A. 1958. Transient insects in Delaware’s apple and peach plantings.

J. Econ. Entomol. 51: 81-82.

8. Turner, William F. 1952. The role of insect surveys in virus-vector research.

U.S.D.A. Plant Disease Reptr. Suppl. 211: 47-50.

9. Waddell, D. B. 1952. A preliminary list of the Hemiptera of the Kootenay Valley.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia 48: 93-96.

10. Wilde, W. H. A. 1960. Insect transmission of the virus causing little cherry disease.

Can. J. Plant Sci. 40: 707-712.

11. Wilde, W. H. A. In press. Effect of two spray programmes on leafhoppers in cherry

orchards of the Kootenay Valley of British Columbia. Proc. Entomol. Soc.
Brit. Columbia.

Occurrence of Anoplonyx spp. in the Larch Forests
of British Columbia and Yukon Territory

T. A. D. Woodsi

Four species of the larch sawfly genus
Anoplonyx occur in British Columbia, two of
which extend into Yukon Territory. Occi-
dens Ross and laricivorus Roh. and Midd.
are found on western larch, Larix occiden-
tal is Nutt., in southeastern British Columbia.
Canadensis Harr, and luteipes (Cress.) occur
on eastern larch. L. laricina (Du Roi) K.
Koch, in central and northern British Co-
lumbia and southeastern Yukon Territory.

A. occidens has been collected throughout
its host’s range from June 8 to August 6. In
southeastern British Columbia A. laricivorus
larvae have been collected between June 13
and September 5.

A. canadensis larvae have been collected
between August 2 and 31. In 1960, five lar-
vae of A. luteipes were taken on July 23, at

i Forest Entomology Laboratory, Vernon, B.C.

Mile 579 Alaska Highway, 40 miles east of
Lower Post. Some luteipes larvae were col-
lected on July 20, 1961 at Mile 658, 25 miles
west of Watson Lake, Y.T. Previously, this
species was known to occur only east of the
Rocky Mountains (Wong, 1955). The collec-
tion dates represent the times that speci-
mens were found and do not necessarily
establish the complete larval feeding period.

The above information is based on data
obtained from the records of the Forest In-
sect Survey at Vernon, B.C.

References

Wong, H. R. 1955. Larvae of the Nearctic
species of Anoplonyx. Can. Ent. 87:
224-227

Ruppel, D. H. 1958. A Brief history of the
larch sawfly, Prsstiphora erichsonii
(Htg.) in Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit.
Col. 55: 32-35.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

THE PATTERN AND PERSISTENCE OF DEPOSITS OF SEVIN, WITH AND
WITHOUT SURFACTANTS, ON THE FOLIAGE OF FRUIT TREES
L APPLICATION BY CONCENTRATE SPRAYER1

D. P. Pielou and K. Williams2

Research Station, Research Branch, Canada Department
of Agriculture, Summerland, British Columbia

Introduction

Most work involving the chemical
anaylsis of insecticide deposits on
foliage has been done with bulk sam-
ples of leaves. However, many an-
alytical methods are now sufficiently
sensitive that the small deposit on
even one side of a single leaf may be
determined. Determination of the
residues on single leaves permits a
more precise assessment of the dis-
tribution of deposit throughout a tree
and allows one to obtain a more de-
tailed picture of the deposit decline.
The entomological importance of
these matters in insect control is
obvious. Difficulties in achieving
effective control of certain insects
and mites, in recent years, make such
studies desirable. The understanding
of certain aspects of insecticide re-
sistance may be improved. The rela-
tive merits of ‘heavy’ and ‘light’
spraying (assumed to be equivalent
to intense and moderate selection)
have been argued in connection with
the development of resistant strains.
However, these arguments need
modification if it is proven that there
is a variegated pattern of deposit.

Methods

The insecticide used was Sevin3
(1-methyl-iV-naphthyl carbamate) 50
per cent wettable powder. The sur-
face active spreader - sticker was
Plyac4 (polyethylene 629 emulsifiers

i Contribution No. 100, Research Station, Re-
search Branch, Canada Department of Agriculture,
Summerland, British Columbia.

2 Entomologist and Chemist, respectively.

3 Union Carbide Chemicals Company, White
Plains. New York.

4 Allied Chemical Corporation, General Chem-
icals Division, New York 6, N.Y.

and dispersants; estimated actual
polyethylene, 25 per cent). Applica-
tion was by concentrate air-blast
sprayer3 at a rate equivalent to eight
pounds of formulated Sevin, in 50
Imperial gallons of water per acre.
Where Plyac was used it was added at
the rate of one Imperial gallon per
acre. Rate of travel was 90 feet per
minute (approximately one mile per
hour) ; pump pressure was 300 pounds
per square inch. There was no drip
from the leaves at this rate of appli-
cation. Marshall (2) has stressed
that the absence of drip characterizes
efficient concentrate spraying.

Cherry trees were used, variety
Van, approximately 20 feet in maxi-
mum height. Leaf samples were
taken at heights of 6, 10 and 14 feet.
At each height there was one sam-
pling point in each of the north,
south, east and west quadrants of the
tree. Each point was identified by a
tag and leaves were collected within
-f or — 2 feet horizontally and + or —
1 foot vertically of the tag. On each
sampling date leaves were picked at
each point.

Leaves were carried from the or-
chard to the laboratory by their
stems; they were handled with great
care so as not to brush off any of the
deposit. Insecticide deposits were re-
moved from the leaves with the ap-
paratus shown in Figure 1. The pro-
cedure is as follows. An individual
leaf is placed on top of a screw-cap
jar, S, the lip of which has been

5 Okanagan Turbo Sprayers Ltd., Penticton,
British Columbia.

Proc. Entomoi.. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

Fig. 1 — Device for the removal of Sevin deposits from leaves. TS, thumbscrew; F, frame;
PB, pressure block; B, base; S, solvent vessel; L, leaf

ground flat. This vessel contains 15
ml. of chloroform. The leaf is pressed
in solvent-tight juxtaposition with
the vessel by the pressure of the
thumbscrew, TS, against the pressure
block, PB. The thumbscrew is held
by the rigid frame, F, attached to the
base, B. The entire unit is placed on
its side and agitated briskly for one

minute. Experiment shows (5) that
this action removes the entire surface
deposit of Sevin from the leaf; and
(using test leaves bearing a deposit
on one side only) that there is no
translocation by the chloroform from
one leaf surface to another in this
period. The extract is analyzed by
the colorimetric method of Miskus,

Proc. Extomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

Gordon and George (3). Since the
circular area from which the insecti-
cide is removed is known exactly, the
residue can be expressed in micro-
grams per sq. cm. On individual
leaves, deposits as low as 0.4 micro-
grams per sq. cm. can be accurately
determined and traces as low as 0.07
micrograms per sq. cm. can be detect-
ed. Of the leaves picked at each sam-
pling point, on each occasion, half
wwere analyzed for deposit on their
upper surfaces, the others on their
lower surfaces. It is not possible to
measure deposits on the two surfaces
of the same leaf with the apparatus
described. However, more recently we
have devised a method in which this
is possible (5). It was not, however,
used in this study.

Chemical analyses were made on
leaves on all trees immediately after
the spray had dried and 1, 4, 8, 11,
16, 22 and 32 days later.

During the period of the experi-
ments the mean maximum tempera-
ture was 75.8° F., and the mean mini-
mum, 50.6° F. There was no measur-
able rainfall in this period. Irrigation
of the orchard was by low level sprin-
klers. None of the sprinkler water
reached the lowest sampling level.

Results

Examination of the original data
immediately suggested that there
were no differences between the
north, south, east and west sampling
points. A preliminary analysis of
variance confirmed this and the data
were therefore pooled to form cate-
gories of leaf surface, surfactant
treatment, height, and leaf replica-
tion. A detailed analysis of variance
was then done on this basis. A sum-
mary of the results for days 0, 1 and
4 is shown in Table I. Subsequent to
day 4, there were too many zero val-
ues in the chemical analysis data to
allow further convincing analysis of
variance. Examination of Table I

shows that the conspicuous differ-
ences arise from the presence or ab-
sence of Plyac or between the two leaf
surfaces. It will be noted that there
are significant first-order inter-
actions, but as these are different in-
teractions on each of the three days,
and are not repeated, it is doubtful if
they have any biological meaning.
Table II shows the mean values for
deposits on leaves categorized into:
(a) upper and lower surfaces; (b)
presence and absence of Plyac treat-
ment. The ratio of deposits between
lower and upper surfaces, and be-
tween Plyac-treatment and non-
treatment are also shown.

The data plotted in Figs. 2 and 3
also emphasize the trends seen in
Table II and continue them beyond
the point at which full analysis of
variance was possible. In Fig. 2 the
decline of deposits (upper and lower
surfaces combined) has been com- ;
pared for treatment with, and with-
out, Plyac. To eliminate the factor of
difference in initial deposits, and to
give a truer picture of the rate of
decline, the curves have been plotted
as percentages of the initial deposits.
In Fig. 3 are shown the differences in
decline rate of Sevin deposits on the
upper and lower surfaces of Plyac-
free leaves. Again a percentage plot-
ting is used to eliminate the effect of
initial differences in deposit on the
two surfaces. Curves similar to Fig.

3, but slightly shifted to the right, are
produced if the data for Plyac-treated
leaves are plotted in the same way.

It was noticed that the standard
wettable powder produced a deposit,
on both upper and lower surfaces,
that was very easily removed by gen-
tle pressure with an artist’s water-
color brush. The addition of the
Plyac, however, produced a deposit
that was very much more difficult to
remove by this method.

Proc. Evi'cmoL. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

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i—l

i—L

i— i

i—l

D-

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298.51847 433.67210 357.81757

Proc. Eatomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962
TABLE II

The Influence of Surface, and Presence of Plyac, on the Mean Deposits of Sevin

on Cherry Foliage.

Mean deposits of Sevin,

Ratio:

Time

Surface

micrograms per sq. cm.

with

With Plyac

Without Plyac

without

Day 0

Lower surface, L

3.31

2.46

1.35

Upper surface, U

1.89

1.41

1.34

Ratio: L/U

1.75

1.74

Day 1

Lower surface, L

3.28

2.43

1.35

Upper surface, U

1.85

0.95

1.97

Ratio: L/U

1.77

2.59

Day 4

Lower surface, L

3.23

2.33

1.39

Upper surface, U

1.45

0.71

2.04

Ratio; L/U

2.23

3.28

Discussion

The work described in this paper
shows that variations in deposit be-
tween leaf surfaces, on cherry trees
up to a height of 14 feet at least, are
essentially random except in one im-
portant respect. Initial deposits of
Sevin are about 75 per cent higher on
the lower surface than on the upper.
Even in the absence of rain, as in this
work, there is a marked tendency for

this relative difference to increase,
until the residual deposits have fallen
to a low value. The half-life of the
initial deposit is approximately two
and a half days longer on the lower
surface than on the upper (Fig. 3) . In
the presence of rain, or of high sprin-
kler water falling on the foliage, this
divergence is likely to be further in-
creased. Under such conditions de-
posits of wettable powder are rapidly

Fig. 2 — The influence of Plyac on the rate of decline of Sevin deposits on cherry foliage
in the absence of rain. Thq decline is plotted on a percentage basis as the
presence of Plyac induced a substantially larger initial deposit on the foliage.

Puoc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

o o

Fig. 3 — Differences in the rate of decline of Sevin deposits on the upper and lower sur-
faces of cherry foliage in the absence of rain. The decline is plotted on a per-
centage basis as the initial deposits were approximately 75 per cent higher on
the lower surfaces than on the upper.

reduced on apple leaves (6). More
recently it has been shown that most
of this loss, in dwarf apple trees sub-
ject to overhead sprinkling, is from
the upper surface of the leaves (4).
In fact when bulk samples of foliage
reveal an appreciable deposit the
whole of the insecticide may be con-
centrated on the lower leaf surfaces.
The implications for the control of
insects or mites that prefer one side
of a leaf are obvious.

The addition of Plyac to the Sevin
results in an increase of about 35 per
cent in the initial deposits for a fixed
output rate of the machine. The rea-
sons for this are not certain. How-
ever, observations made with a labor-
atory atomizer sprayer (4) suggest
that this may be as much the result
of reduced rebound loss (caused by a
decrease in surface tension and con-
sequent loss of structural strength
and elasticity of the drops) , as of the

adhesive qualities of the Plyac. It is
also noteworthy that the addition of
this surfactant, though it causes an
increase in initial deposits, does not
alter the initial partition ratio of the
total deposit between lower and upper
leaf surfaces. This strongly suggests
that it is some inherent character-
istic of the leaf, and not formulation,
that induces the higher deposits on
the lower surfaces.

Plyac is stated (1) to have some
waterproofing or “rain resistant”
qualities. This point was not exam-
ined in this work since no rain fell
during the experiment; and irriga-
tion was by low level sprinklers. Nev-
ertheless, the Plyac treatment result-
ed in a somewhat slower decline of
deposits even after making allowance
for the greater initial deposits. It ap-
pears likely that this is the result of
a lessening of loss caused by leaf-to-
leaf abrasion. The influence of Plyac

Proc. Extomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

in improving resistance to loss by
gentle brushing has been noted. How-
ever, experiments on isolated leaves
in a wind tunnel (4) show that wind
itself does not cause appreciable loss
of deposit. But wind-induced rubbing
of leaf against leaf must cause con-
siderable loss. The matter would bear
detailed investigation particularly if
a quantitative method of measuring
the abrasive forces could be devised.
More effective substances than Plyac,
or a different rate or formulation,
could conceivably produce a greater
effect on persistence. Some prelim-
inary experiments (4) suggest that
certain acrylic polymers, at suitable
rates, have an enormous influence on
the abrasion resistance of insecticide
deposits but, also, that resistance to
abrasion loss is not necessarily iden-
tical with resistance to rain loss.

Summary

An analysis of the inter-leaf pat-
tern of Sevin deposited on cherry
foliage, by concentrate air - blast

sprayer has been made. There were
no differences in mean deposit up to
a height of 14 feet; nor were there
any differences associated with leaves
collected from different quadrants of
the trees. Initially, deposits were ap-
proximately 75 per cent higher on the
lower sides of the leaves than on the
upper. Subsequent erosion of the de-
posits was faster on the upper sur-
faces so that the disparity was em-
phasized with time. There was no
rain during the experiment; if there
had been, there is evidence that this
disparity would have been enhanced.
The addition of an amount of Plyac,
equal in its content of active ingredi-
ent to that of the Sevin, resulted in
initial deposits approximately one-
third higher than in its absence. The
rate of decline of deposits was also
somewhat slower when Plyac was
present. In the absence of rain, loss
of deposit by leaf-to-leaf abrasion is
thought to be an important factor in
the disappearance of a pesticide from
foliage.

References

(1) General Chemical Division, Allied Chemical Corporation. 1959. Plyac spreader-

sticker. Bull. New York 6, N.Y.

(2) Marshall, Jas. 1958. Concentrate spraying in deciduous orchards. Publ. 1020, Can.

Dep. Agr., Ottawa.

(3) Miskus, R., H. T. Gordon, and D. A. George. 1959. Colorimetric determination of

1 -naphthyl N-methylcarbamate in agricultural crops. J. Agr. Food Chem.
7: 613-614.

(4) Pielou, D. P., and K. Williams. Unpublished observations.

(5) Pielou, D. P., K. Williams, and F. E. Brinton. 1962. Differences in the deposition

and persistence of pesticides on the upper and lower surfaces of leaves. Nature.
195: 256-257.

(6) Williams, K. 1961, Note on the effect of rain, and sprinkler irrigation, on the per-

sistence of spray residues of Guthion and Sevin on apple leaves. Canadian J.
Plant Sci. 41: 449-451.

(Received for publication ).

Pleroma obliquata Sm. and P. conserta Grt. from ova laid by obliquata
(Lepidoptera: Phalaenidae)

The progeny of a batch of ova laid by P.
obliquata in April, 1960, consisted not only
of the expected obliquata but also of 2 speci-
mens of P. conserta in March 1961.

Many of the pupae remaining were alive,
so they were kept over in a flower pot in an
open shed. During March and April, 1962,
there emerged 12 conserta and 4 obliquata.

Close examination of a series of these two
species indicates that conserta is a melanic
form of obliquata. One or two individuals
showed a gradation between the two. P. ob-
liquata is uniformly grey with dark a.m. and
p.m. lines; P. conserta has primaries of solid

black except for the grey outer margin and
a contrasting white costal area on which an
extension of the otherwise concealed a.m.
and p.m. lines are plainly evident. It may be
that a prolonged pupal period results in a
larger proportion of conserta.

The foregoing suggests that conserta and
obliquata are forms of one species. Since
conserta was described by Grote in 1881 and
obliquata by Smith in 1891, obliquata is a
form of conserta.

— George A. Hardy , Provincial Museum
( Rtcl .), Victoria, B.C.

Pkoc. Extomoi.. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

THE PATTERN AND PERSISTENCE OF DEPOSITS OF SEVIN, WITH AND
WITHOUT SURFACTANTS, ON THE FOLIAGE OF FRUIT TREES
II. APPLICATION BY HIGH VOLUME SPRAYER1

D. P. Pielou and K. Williams2

Research Station, Research Branch, Canada Department
of Agriculture, Summerland, British Columbia

Introduction

In a previous paper (5) an account
was given of the distribution and de-
cline of deposits of Sevin (1-naphthyl
iV-methylcarbamate) , using a method
of extraction applicable to the deposit
on one side of a single leaf. The in-
fluence of Plyac (active ingredient,
polyethylene 629) on these deposits
was also investigated. Those investi-
gations were made using the ‘con-
centrate’ air-blast method of spray-
ing. In concentrate spraying the wet
deposit on foliage consists of a dense
pattern of drops. These drops have
coalesced from the smaller drops in
the air that have fallen on the
leaves. * By correct manipulation of
the sprayer, these drops do not coal-
esce to the point where irregular
patches of fluid occur, i.e., to the
point of ‘incipient run-off‘ (3). In
high volume spraying, on the other
hand, the foliage is deliberately
drenched with large quantities of
fluid, much of which ultimately falls
to the ground. The film of water re-
tained produces an insecticide de-
posit, which on drying, is different in
many ways from that produced by
concentrate spraying. In this paper
an account is given of some charac-
teristics of the deposits from high
volume application. Points of com-
parison and contrast are made with
the findings in the previous paper
(5) in which concentrate spraying
was used.

1 Contribution No. 110, Research Station, Re-
search Branch, Canada Department of Agriculture,
Summerland, British Columbia.

2 Entomologist and Chemist, respectively.

Methods

The methods, trees, and sampling
arrangements were as previously de-
scribed (5) except in a few important
respects.

The sprayer used was a truck-
mounted, gun-type machine. It was
operated at a pump pressure of 400
pounds per square inch. The cherry
trees were sprayed very thoroughly,
approximately 20 Imperial3 gallons
being used per tree. Sevin, 50 per cent
wettable powder, was applied at a
rate of one pound per 100 gallons,
and, Plyac, when included, at one pint
per 100 gallons. This is one-sixteenth
the concentration used in the concen-
trate application (5). Leaf samples
were taken immediately after the de-
posits were dry, and six days later.

In place of the device previously
used (5) a new piece of apparatus was
constructed that allowed the simul-
taneous, but separate, removal of the
deposits from the two faces of the
same leaf. This apparatus is described
elsewhere (6). Since both faces of
each leaf were analyzed for insecti-
cide it was possible to test for corre-
lation between deposit size for the
two surfaces. This was not possible
in the former study.

Chemical analysis of the extracts
was made according to the method
of Miskus, Gordon and George (4) .

Results

The mean values of deposits group-
ed according to sampling time, leaf
surface, and treatment are shown in
Table I. Ratios, showing the relation

3 Imperial measure used throughout.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

TABLE 1. — The Influence of Surface, and Presence of Plyac, on the Mean Deposits of
Sevin Produced on Cherry Foliage by High Volume Spraying.

Mean deposit of Sevin,

Time Surface micrograms per sq. cm. Ratio:

With Plyac Without Plyac with/without

Lower, L ..... 1.76 3.12 0.56*

Day 0 Upper, U 1.39 2.43 0.57*

Ratio: L/U 1.27* 1.28*

Lower, L 0.78 1.64 0.48*

Day 6 Upper, U 0.49 0.87 0.56*

Ratio: L/U 1.59* 1.89*

* All ratios significantly different from the null hypothesis value of 1.0.

between deposit size on the two leaf
surfaces and between treatments, are
also included in the table. It will be
seen that, as in concentrate spraying
(5) deposits are heavier on the lower
surfaces of leaves. A conspicuous ef-
fect, but in the reverse direction to
that observed with concentrate spray-
ing, is also obvious as a result of
Plyac treatment.

To see whether the values for de-
posit size on the lower leaf surfaces
ranged independently of those on the
upper surfaces, coefficients of correla-
tion were calculated. For deposits
sampled on the day of spray applica-
tion, the coefficient of correlation be-
tween the lower and upper deposits

was 0.3695 when Sevin plus Plyac
was used; where Sevin was used alone
it was 0.3797. Examination of Table
VI in Fisher and Yates Statistical
Tables (1) shows that these values
are highly significant (P = 0.01). At
the sampling on the sixth day the
values of the coefficient were, respec-
tively, 0.3057 and -0.1382. The for-
mer value is significant (P = 0.05)
but the latter is not. It would appear,
therefore, that initially there is a
slight tendency for a heavy deposit
on one surface to be associated with
a heavy deposit on the other, and vice
versa; but this relation tends to dis-
appear or be reduced with time.

TABLE 2. — Sevin Deposits on Cherry Foliage. Samples Taken Immediately the Spray
Had Dried. Means and Variances for Two Methods of Application, Presence
Absence of Plyac, and for Upper and Lower Leaf Surfaces.

hydraulic

Absent ( Lower
( Upper

Sevin deposit,

Type

Leaf

Micrograms per sq. cm.

of spraying

Plyac surface

Mean

Variance

Present ( Lower

3.309

1.922

Concentrate

( Upper

1.885

1.227

air-blast

Absent ( Lower

2.456

1.662

( Upper

1.405

0.953

general mean,

concentrate:

2.264

Present ( Lower

1.761

0.2452

High volume,

( Upper

1.387

0.3062

3.119

2.427

general mean,
high volume:
2.178

0.519'

0.501'

' Significantly lower than corresponding variance for concentrate application.
2 Significantly lower than when Plyac absent in high volume application.

Proc. Extomoi.. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

There was much less variation in
deposit from leaf to leaf than was
observed with concentrate applica-
tion. The variances, for both leaf
surfaces, and both treatments, are
shown, together with the values for
the mean, in Table 2. Also included
in this table are some relevant figures
from the previous study on concen-
trate application (5) together with
values for the variance which were
not previously published. The general
mean for high-volume spraying was
2.178 micrograms per square centi-
meter; that for the concentrate
application of the previous study
was 2.264 micrograms. The closeness
of mean deposit in the two series of
experiments emphasizes the validity
of comparison of various criteria for
the two methods of application.

Discussion

The results summarized in Table
1 show that, as with concentrate
spraying (5), significantly more Sevin
is deposited on the lower surfaces of
the leaves. With time this ratio in-
creases as a result of a more rapid
loss from the upper surfaces. Also, as
in the previous work (5), the addition
of Plyac does not alter the ratio of
the initial deposits between lower
and upper surfaces. Unlike the results
previously obtained with concentrate
spraying, however, there is no evid-
ence that Plyac reduces the rate of
decline of deposits.

However, the most noteworthy
point of this investigation is that the
addition of Plyac, instead of produc-
ing an increase in deposit of Sevin,
as with concentrate spraying (5),
reduced the initial deposits by nearly
half. This reversal of effect, which
holds for apple as well as cherry, has
been referred to in a preliminary
account (7). Plyac is generally des-
cribed as a sticker-spreader (2).
However, these results, in combina-
tion with those of the previous paper
(5) suggest that the spreading pro-

perties are predominant in high
volume spraying whereas the sticking
properties are predominant in con-
centrate application. The abundance
of water used in high volume applica-
tion, and the ready wetting properties
of the surfactant, ensure not only the
production of a thin film of fluid on
the leaves, but facilitate, all too well,
run-off of the surplus fluid. On the
contrary, with efficient concentrate
application, no run-off occurs (3),
Run-off is particularly wasteful with
concentrated spray fluids. The Plyac
additive cannot, under these condi-
tions, promote film-formation nor
enhance the efficiency of run-off. The
increased deposits obtained in this
form of spraying have been attributed
to reduced loss from rebounding
spray drops, and improved adhesion
of the discrete clusters of particles
of Sevin (5) .

In Table 2 another important
effect of the addition of Plyac in high
volume spraying is apparent. There is
much less variability in magnitude of
deposits, between leaves when this
material is present. The variance, for
either upper or lower surfaces, was
reduced to approximately one half by
the addition of Plyac. On the other
hand, the addition of Plyac did not
produce any significant difference in
variance in concentrate spraying. In
the light of the comments in the
previous paragraph this is what one
might expect. Spreading properties,
such as those shown by Plyac in high-
volume spraying, tend to promote
uniformity. But there is no reason
why the sticking qualities, more ap-
parent in concentrate spraying,
should promote a more uniform
deposit.

Another point, apparent in Table
2, is that even in the absence of
Plyac, leaf-to-leaf variance is two or
three times greater in concentrate
than in high-volume spraying. This

Proc. Extomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

virtue of reduced variance, however,
is bought at the price of a greatly
increased amount of insecticide per
acre for in high-volume spraying a
large proportion of the spray fluid
runs off the foliage and is lost on the
ground. The proportion lost varies
with the stage of foliar growth of the
trees. However, in general, high-
volume spraying uses twice as much
insecticide per acre, and about 20
times as much water, to do the same
job of insect control (3).

The low value of correlation be-
tween fresh deposits on the two sur-
faces shows there is a tendency for
a heavy deposit on one surface to be
associated with a heavy deposit on
the other. The relation is not very
marked, however, and it tends to dis-
appear with time presumably as a
result of the equalizing effects of
weathering and loss processes.

Summary

A study of the inter-leaf pattern of
deposits of Sevin on cherry foliage
has been made using high-volume
methods of spray application. The
results are contrasted with previous
studies in which concentrate air-blast
spraying was used. As in the latter

case there were no significant differ-
ences in mean deposit up to a height
of 14 feet; nor were there any dif-
ferences associated with different
quadrants of the trees. Initially,
deposits were approximately 27 per
cent higher on the lower than on the
upper surfaces of the leaves. Subse-
quent erosion was more rapid on the
upper surface so that this disparity
increased with time. This relation was
not, however, as marked as in con-
centrate application. The addition of
one pint of Plyac to one pound of 50
per cent Sevin resulted in decreased
initial deposits; the reverse of the
relation with concentrate application.
However, the addition of Plyac mark-
edly reduced the leaf-to-leaf vari-
ance; in contrast to concentrate
spraying, where Plyac made no
change. The variance was always less
in high volume than in concentrate
spraying. There was only a slight
tendency for a high deposit on a
lower surface to be associated with a
high deposit on an upper surface; and
vice versa. This correlation was sig-
nificant but low immediately after
application; after six days it was
reduced or absent.

References

1. Fisher, It. A., and F. Yates. 1953. Statistical Tables for Biological, Agricultural and

Medical Research. 4th ed. Oliver and Boyd. Edinburgh.

2. General Chemical Division, Allied Chemical Corporation. 1959. Plyac spreader-

sticker. Bull. New York 6, N.Y.

3. Marshall, Jas. 1958. Concentrate spraying in deciduous orchards. Publ. 1020. Can.

Dep. Agri., Ottawa.

4. Miskus, R., H. T. Gordon, and D. A. George. 1959. Colorimetric determination of

1-naphthyl N-methylcarbamate in agricultural crops. J. Agr. Food Chem.
7: 613-614.

5. Pielou, D. P., and K. Williams. 1962. The pattern and persistence of deposits of Sevin,

with or without surfactants, on the foliage of fruit trees. I. Application by
concentrate sprayer. Proc. Ent. Soc. Brit. Columbia. 59:

6. Pielou, D. P., K. Williams, and F. E. Brinton. 1962. Differences in the deposition and

persistence of pesticides on the upper and lower surfaces of leaves. Nature.
195: 256-257.

7. Williams, K., and D. P. Pielou. 1962. Note on the reversal of some effects of surface
active agents on pesticide deposits on foliage as a result of different methods
of application. Canad. Entomol. 94: 874-875.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

THE GREEN-STRIPED FOREST LOOPER ON VANCOUVER ISLAND1

G. T. Silver, D. G. Collis, N. E. Alexander, and S. J. Allen^

Introduction

The green-striped forest looper,
Melanolophia imitata Wlk., was not
regarded as a potentially dangerous
forest insect until it caused heavy
defoliation in 1960 on the west coast
of Vancouver Island. As this is the
first record of M. imitata causing ser-
ious damage to forested regions in
British Columbia the results are
worthy of a historical note.

The moths of this looper emerge in
April or May, mate, and each female
lays an average of 80 eggs. The sex
ratio is approximately 1:1. The larvae
feed from June to September. West-
ern hemlock, Tsuga heterophylla
(Raf.) Sarg., is the preferred host.
Foliage of all ages is eaten but one-
year-old needles are preferred. When
feeding is completed the larvae drop
to the ground and the insects over-
winter as pupae in the duff.

Methods

Data on annual population fluctu-
ations were obtained by analysing
random 3-tree beating samples col-
lected on the west coast of Vancouver
Island. The extent and intensity of
defoliation in 1960 was obtained by
aerial surveys. Plots and sample
points were established in localities
selected to represent light, medium,
and heavy defoliation, and records
were obtained on defoliation and tree
mortality.

The method adopted for pupal
counts, based on preliminary sampl-
ing to obtain data on the distribution
of pupae, was to take four one-foot-
square duff samples from beneath
each tree. These were taken along a
straight line, two on the exposed side

i Contribution No. 900, Forest Entomology and
Pathology Branch, Department of Forestry, Ot-
tawa, Canada.

2 Forest Entomology and Pathology Laboratory,
Victoria, B.C.

of the tree and two on the shaded
side. Sample positions were against
the base of the tree and midway be-
tween the base of the tree and the
periphery of the crown. Three trees
were sampled at each area. The aver-
age number of pupae in the 12
samples was considered representa-
tive of the pupal population in each
area.

Results

Extent and Intensity

Survey records show that in 1951
larval populations of the green-
striped forest looper increased along
the west coast of Vancouver Island.
The build-up reached its height in
1952 on the south side of Barkley
Sound, but defoliation did not exceed
30 per cent and that only in one
small area. The population decreased
in 1953, and remained at a low level
until 1957.

The population of the green-striped
forest looper started to increase again
in 1957 as shown by the occurrence of
larvae in collections (Table 1). Both
occurrence and number of larvae
increased in 1958, and by 1959 high
populations were present in the west
coast drainages of Vancouver Island,
two of which are shown in Table 1.
The outbreak reached a peak in 1960,
particularly in drainages 005 and 023.
Survey activities on the west coast
were seriously curtailed in 1960 due
to boat troubles, so no collections
were made in the infestation area
during the larval period. Heavy de-
foliation was reported in early Sep-
tember, and aerial surveys later in
September recorded defoliation rang-
ing from light to heavy in 32 localities
extending from Herbert Inlet to
Nasparti Inlet. The total area of
visible feeding was calculated at

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

TABLE 1. — Summary of Green-striped Forest Looper Larvae Found in Beating Samples
From Drainage Divisions on the West Coast of Vancouver Island.

% samples including

Av. no.

larvae/

Year

larvae

sample containing larvae

DD 005'

DD 0232

DD 005

DD 023

1956

—

1957

1958

1959

1960

—

1961

1 Alberni Inlet to Escalante Pt.

2 Escalante Pt. to south of Cape Cooke on Brooks Peninsula.

22,755 acres, of which 4,640 had sus-
tained heavy, 13,120 acres medium,
and 4,995 acres light defoliation. The
defoliation limits established during
the aerial survey were 0-25, 25-50,
and over 50 per cent for light, med-
ium, and heavy, respectively. The
infested areas ranged from 30 to
6,340 acres.

Visual estimates of defoliation on
plot trees, and pupal counts made in
the same localities, are shown in
Table 2. The average number of
pupae in areas of medium and heavy
defoliation was about the same.
There was, however, no way of know-
ing what 2.0 pupae per square foot
meant in terms of expected larval
population or defoliation. Although
chemical control was not recom-
mended, the need for such action was
considered a possibility in 1961.

Efforts were made in the spring of
1961 to appraise the anticipated out-
break. Of 75 pupae collected and

caged for adult emergence, only four
produced moths, twenty were para-
sitized, and the remainder died of
other causes. The moth flight at the
end of May was very light, and only
a small number of eggs was found in
limited sampling. At this point it was
believed that the 1961 population
would be too small to cause appre-
ciable defoliation. The predicted drop
in larval numbers was confirmed by
the reduced numbers obtained in
beating samples (Table 1), and by the
relative number of larvae per sample
collected from the same points in
1960 and 1961. Some of these were
(1961 in brackets) : White Pine Cove,
444 (11); Herbert Inlet, 262 (4);
Beddingfield Bay, 460 (40) ; Millar
Channel, 486 (120); and Tofino Inlet,
215 (28).

Natural Control

Parasites — The effect of parasites
on the large population of 1960 is not
fully known as no samples were

TABLE 2. — Defoliation and Numbers of Green-striped Forest Looper Pupae at Sample
Plots. September, 1960.

Degree of

Percentage

Av. no.

Locality

defoliation

pupae

represented'

(western

per sq. ft.

hemlock)

of duff

Ououkinsh Inlet

light

0.44

Port Eliza

medium

0.46

Millar Channel

2.02

Beddingfield Bay

1.92

Eelstow Passage

heavy

1.46

Viliaverde Is.

2.06

Bligh Is.

0.50

' Defoliation limits determined by aerial survey.

Prog. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

obtained from most of the more
heavily infested areas. Of 563 larvae
collected up to early September and
reared, only 28 or five per cent died of
parasites. Of 133 larvae collected after
mid-September, 70 per cent died of
parasites, and of a total of 317 pupae
collected, 104 or 32.8 per cent were
parasitized.

The figure of 70 per cent larval
parasitism may be unreliable. As these
collections were made late in the sea-
son, many healthy larvae might have
already dropped to the duff and
pupated, leaving the retarded para-
sitized larvae on the trees. The figure
of 32.8 per cent pupal parasitism
appears to be more reasonable, and
is supported by collections made in
the spring in which 26.7 per cent of
the pupae died of parasites.

Seven hymenopterous parasites
were reared from the 1960 collections.
Dusona pilosa (Walley) and Asti-
phromma strenuum Holmberg were
the major larval parasites and were
recovered only from larvae. Other
species reared from larvae were
Euceros thoracicus Cresson, Meteorus
sp., and Zele sp. Aoplus cestus (Cres-
son) was the most numerous pupal
parasite, followed by Gravenhorstia
alaskensis Ashmead. Three E. thor-
acicus Cresson were also reared from
pupae. It is not certain if the numbers
of parasites recovered from rearings
are related to their importance as
control factors in the field population.

Disease — On May 5, 1960, while
searching for pupae, small orange
fruiting bodies about V2 inch long
were observed protruding from the
duff. In every case these grew out
from a Melanolophia pupa. The
fructifications were identified as the
perfect state of Cordyceps militaris
(Fr.) Link. The fruiting bodies were
plentiful in early May but appeared
only in shaded locations at the end of
the month. Sampling was not inten-
sive enough to determine the control

exerted, but it is believed that C.
militaris caused considerable pupal
mortality, and was probably one of
the factors involved in the population
decrease in 1961.

Defoliation and Tree Mortality

Defoliation estimates, made by
crown levels and crown classes, show
that feeding was, without exception,
heaviest in the upper crown levels of
all classes of trees. Trees of all crown
classes from suppressed to dominant
were fed upon, but defoliation was
heaviest in the intermediate trees.

Mortality, in the plots analysed, was
restricted to trees which were 90 per
cent or more defoliated. Most of the
remaining trees in this defoliation
class were top-killed; in some in-
stances the upper 2/3 of the crown
was dead in 1961. Although no mor-
tality occurred among trees with less
than 90 per cent total defoliation,
top-kill occurred among those which
were less than 50 per cent defoliated.

Aerial and ground surveys indic-
ated that mortality occurred only in
the stands which had been heavily
defoliated in 1960. The heaviest dam-
age occurred on Villaverde Island
where loss was calculated at 7,300 cu.
ft. per acre for the 260 acres. Average
tree mortality for the remainder of
the area was calculated at 116 cu. ft
per acre. Total mortality, up to the
fall of 1961, was estimated at 2,400,-
000 cu. ft. of western hemlock. This
figure could be conservative as some
trees which were heavily defoliated
may die in the next one or two years.

Discussion

The rapidity with which the green-
striped forest looper population in-
creased to tree-killing proportions
and then collapsed, allowed little time
to obtain specific data on sampling
techniques. With the exception of
the occurrence and average number
of larvae per collection no data were
obtained to show correlation between

Pkoc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

population levels and defoliation. Al-
though pupal counts were made in
the fall of 1960, there was no way of
determining if the numbers found
represented a potentially dangerous
population. Because of the reduced
population in the spring of 1961 it
was not feasible to develop a method
for sampling eggs.

A number of natural control fact-
ors contributed to the decrease of the
population. Larval parasites, although
not numerous enough to exert any
great degree of control, were present
in appreciable numbers. Pupal para-
sitism accounted for about 30 per cent
mortality in the overwintering popu-
lation, but does not account for the
heavy pupal mortality and the result-
ing low moth emergence. Cordyceps
is an unknown factor, but could have
played a significant role in the col-
lapse of the outbreak.

One of the aspects in the outbreak
which is difficult at this time to
explain is the severe tree mortality on
Villaverde Island. Aerial surveys,
supported by ground observations,
indicate that tree mortality was rela-
tively light on Bligh Island, although
it is near Villaverde Island and also
received heavy defoliation.

The nature of the recent infesta-
tion points out one of the great
difficulties in dealing with looper out-
breaks. The population started to
increase throughout most of Vancou-
ver Island (in fact throughout most
regions of the Vancouver Forest Dis-

trict) in 1958, and reached a level in
1959 which must now be regarded as
dangerously high. Populations re-
mained high or increased in 1960 only
in isolated localities along the west
coast of Vancouver Island; elsewhere
the number of larvae dropped.
Defoliation heavy enough to be ob-
served from the air occurred in 32
localities, totalling less than 23,000
acres, scattered along 80 lineal miles
of inaccessible coast line. Of this area
only 4,640 acres were heavily defoli-
ated, and over three-quarters of the
total tree mortality of 2,400,000 cu. ft.
occurred on a few small islands of
only 260 acres. If future outbreaks
follow a similar pattern very compre-
hensive and detailed surveys would
be required to detect and take action
to prevent such heavy mortality from
occurring again on other small islands
or inlets along the coast.

Summary

The green-striped forest looper
which started to increase in 1957
reached severe outbreak proportions
in 1960 in a large number of small
separate localities along the west
coast of Vancouver Island. The popu-
lation decreased to a low level in
1961. Tree mortality, up to the fall of
1961, was estimated at 2,400,000 cu, ft.
of western hemlock.

This species must be added to the
growing list of defoliators capable of
causing damage to forests in British
Columbia.

Note on the reference collection of inflated larvae at the
Forest Entomology Laboratory, Vernon, B.C.

Over the past few years the reference col-
lection of inflated larvae of lepidopterous
and hymenopterous tree defoliators has
been expanded greatly. The collection is
chiefly used as a reference aid in identifying
larvae taken in Survey collections or sub-
mitted by persons in forest industry and
related fields.

Represented in the collection are:

Lepidoptera Hymenoptera

Families 34 6

Genera 209 20

Species 350 23

The collection contains most common and
many uncommon defoliators found in the
forests of interior British Columbia. The
lepidopterous families are represented by a
varied number of species; for example, the
collection contains 130 species of Geometri-
dae, 75 species of Noctuidae and 15 species
of Notodontidae. The total number of in-
flated larvae is about 1,530.

This note is published to make local ento-
mologists aware of the existence of the col-
lection and to invite them to use it.

— •/. K. Harvey and D. A. Ross, Forest Ento-
mology Laboratory, Vernon, B.C.

Pkoc. Eniomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Yol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

POPLAR BORER, SAPERDA CALCARATA SAY, IN INTERIOR
BRITISH COLUMBIA

C. B. Cottrell’

Introduction

The poplar borer, Sayerda calcarata
Say, has caused extensive damage in
open-growing stands of trembling
aspen, Populus tremuloides Michx., in
the Thompson and Nicola valleys. Al-
though aspen is not considered a com-
mercially important tree in this area,
groves or belts of aspen provide shel-
ter from wind and shade for cattle,
and reduce soil erosion.

Complete data on the life history of
the poplar borer in British Columbia
are lacking. According to L. O. T.
Peterson (1945), in Saskatchewan
adults of the poplar borer emerge
during the last part of June and most
of July, usually in the fourth year of
development. Egg-laying has been
observed from July 2 to August 13.
The collection of the Forest Entomol-
ogy Laboratory at Vernon contains
adults taken in interior British Col-
umbia from June 27 to August 26.

Damage

The poplar borer is frequently
found damaging trees at elevations
under 3000 feet in the Thompson Val-
ley from Kamloops to Spences Bridge,
and from there to Stump Lake in the
Nicola Valley. Smaller infestations in
trembling aspen have been observed
at Victoria, Vernon, Clinton, Lac La
Hache, 158 Mile House, Williams
Lake, Vanderhoof and Prince George.
Larvae tentatively identified as S.
calcarata were taken from a black
cottonwood (P. trichocarya Torr, and
Gray) near Cache Creek. This is the
only indication that S. calcarata may
attack black cottonwood in interior
British Columbia. Attacks have been
recorded on several other species of
poplar in eastern Canada and in the
United States.

In most infestations only a few as-
pen trees have been killed. Even five-
inch d.b.h. trees with up to 120 en-
trance holes on the main stem con-

TABLE 1 — Average Diameter of Healthy and Infested Trees in Five Trembling Aspen
Plots Attacked by Poplar Borer in the Thompson and Nicola Valleys, 1961.

No. trees Percentage

Location examined trees

infested

Kamloops __ 170 65

Knutsford 266 47

Cache Creek 51 51

Quilchena 49 41

Merritt 67 61

Average d.b.h.

tinue to live. Usually, attacked trees
become disfigured and stunted; large
swellings are often found on the bole
around entrance holes and sometimes
large branches and the tops of trees
die. Of 170 trees in one grove at Kam-
loops, 10 per cent were dead and of

i Forest Entomology Laboratory, Vernon, B.C.

Av. d.b.h.

Range d.b.h.

Av. d.b.h.

healthy

infested

trees

6.8

3-15

7.7

5.2

3-11

5.6

8.0

3-14

8.0

5.6

3-10

5.8

5.9

4-10

6.7

6.0

6.6

266 trees in a grove at Knutsford
eight per cent were dead apparently
from poplar borer attack.

It was observed that trees on the
perimeter of pure stands of aspen on
rangeland were the most heavily at-
tacked, especially those in the portion
of the grove with a north and east
exposure. Very few attacks have been

Proc. Extom oi.. Soc. Brit, Columbia, Yol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

TABLE 2 — Location and Number of Attacks by the Poplar Borer on Trembling Aspen
in Sample Plots in the Thompson and Nicola Valleys, 1961.

No. attacked

Av. no. attacks per tree section

Av. no. attacks

Location

trees

Clear bole

Crown

per infested

examined

Lower Upper

tree

Kamloops ....

110

1.3

4.6

17.7

8.1

Knutsford

124

0.4

4.5

5.9

0.7

Cache Creek

0.6

2.2

2.7

0.4

Quilchena

, 20

0.6

1.3

1.4

0.3

Merritt

...... 41

0.7

2.7

0.8

0.1

observed on aspens growing in conif-
erous forests.

Five plots were established in the
Thompson and Nicola valleys to rec-
ord the number and size of trees at-
tacked (Table 1), and the number
and location of attacks on individual
trees (Table 2).

No aspen trees under three inches
d.b.h. were attacked and a preference
was shown for trees in the five to
eight inch d.b.h. class. A few trees as
large as 15 inches d.b.h. were at-
tacked.

In four of the five plots, the highest
number of attacks occurred in the
lower crown where often large

branches were attacked. The next
highest number of attacks was found
on the upper clear bole, except in the
Kamloops plot. In general, most at-
tacks were concentrated near or in-
cluded the first three or four large
branches of the lower crown.

Some poplar borer attacks have
been found on apparently healthy
aspen trees, but in most of the
Thompson and Nicola Valley infesta-
tions the poplar borer is associated
with a carpenter worm, believed to
be Prionoxystus robiniae (Peck), and
has attacked aspen trees weakened
by other pests such as satin moth,
Stilpnotia salicis (L.).

Reference

Peterson, L. 0. T. 1945. Some aspects of poplar borer, Saperda calcarata Say, (Ceram-
bycidae) infestations under parkbelt conditions. Contribution No. 2528. Divi-
sion of Entomology, Department of Agriculture, Ottawa.

Additional Notes on Nymphalis caiifornica Bdv.

This is a sequel to my contribution regard-
ing this species up to January 1961 (Proc.
Entom. Soc. Brit. Columbia 58: 32, 1961).

On March 13, 1961, two specimens were
seen on a sheltered hillside at Royal Oak on
Vancouver Island. From then on it was
often seen up to May 18, after which it dis-
appeared from my notice.

No migratory tendency was observed until
about May 18 when a definite drift to the
northeast against a light northeast wind was
clearly marked. They were flying in ones
and twos at widely spaced intervals. Occa-
sionally one would alight on a lilac flower
or, on higher ground, on manzanita, soon to
resume their northeastward journey.

Dates and localities include: Mt. Finlay-
son, May 16; Little Saanich Mountain, May

17; and the Langford district May 18. A few
stragglers were reported from the general
area up to May 21.

In the past this butterfly has disappeared
from Vancouver Island after each visit, but
showed up again in numbers from Septem-
ber 11, 1961. Evidently it is going to dupli-
cate last season’s record.

I have no information as to where it spent
the period between May 21 and September
11, 1961, or whether it spent the larval stage
on any plant other than Ceanothus, which is
absent in this district; or whether it migrat-
ed from the mainland as usually seems to
be the case.

— George A. Hardy, Provincial Museum
( Rtd .), Victoria, B.C.

Proc. Entomoi.. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Yol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

NOTES ON THE LIFE HISTORIES OF ONE BUTTERFLY AND THREE
MOTHS FROM VANCOUVER ISLAND (LEPIDOPTERA: LYCAENIDAE,
PHALAENIDAE AND GEOMETREDAE)

George A. Hardy1

Sfrymon sylvinus Bdv.

Five species of Strymon are record-
ed for British Columbia, but only 2
of these on Vancouver Island. They
are all small butterflies with a wing-
span averaging 25 mm. The wings of
S. sylvinus are dark brown above with
orange spots in the anal angle of the
secondaries; below, they are charac-
teristically brownish-ash dotted with
black.

Two females taken in the Malahat
district on August 5, 1960 were con-
fined over twigs of Salix mackenziana.
By August 7 several ova were laid in
the axils of the leaf scars close
against the stem, in a row of two to
six. Here they remained for the fol-
lowing winter.

Ovum

Size 0.8 mm. by 0.5 mm., turban
shaped, coarsely reticulate, adjoining-
angles projected into blunt hyaline
spines; light fuscous brown with an
olive tinge, becoming whitish towards
maturity. Hatched April 2, 1961.

Larva — 1st Instar

Length 1 mm. Head small, retracted
into T. 1, dark brown. Body tapering
from the head, pale brown, with 2
paler lines on the dorsum, and 4 rows
of short, stiff, curved hairs directed
forward on the T. segments, but back-
wards on the rest. It fed on the under
side of the willow leaves, eating small
holes in the epidermis.

2nd Instar

April 26. Length 3 mm. Head black.
Body onisciform, pale green, with 4
whitish stripes along the dorsum,
their margins blending into the
ground colour; hairs short and dis-
tributed over the body.

i Provincial Museum, Victoria, B.C. (Rtd.)

3rd Instar

May 20. Length 11 mm. Head nearly
quadrate, narrow above, dark brown.
Body onisciform, tapering dorsally
and laterally from the T. segments;
pale green sides, having a dark green
dorsal stripe with yellow margins,
broad on the T. segments, tapering to
a point on A. 8; 10 double, oblique,
faint, whitish lines on each side;
spiracular line yellow; underside dark
green; short pubescence chiefly in 4
rows; small white mushroom-shaped
bodies thickly sprinkled over the
whole body.

May 25. Length 17 mm. Full grown.
Turned to dark purplish just before
pupation, which took place on the
underside of a piece of bark. The larva
spun a silken mat and put a strand of
silk round the thorax. Pupated June
1.

Pupa

Size 12 mm. by 5 mm. Dull, with an
irregular band of short brown setae
along the juncture of the upper and
lower surfaces, and a few thinly scat-
tered hairs on the upper side of the
A. segments. Dark mahogany brown.
No cremaster noticeable.

Imago

Emerged June 20, 1961.

Euxoa vetusfra Wlk.

A female taken at rest in Saanich,
laid about 300 ova in a loose pile on
the bottom of the box, by September
14, I960.

Ovum

Size 0.75 mm. by 0.50 mm. Hemis-
pheric, smooth, faintly close-ribbed
and cross-ribbed; white, turning in a
day or so to pale cream with a pink
dot in the centre and a broken ring
of the same colour round the should-
er. Hatched September 26.

Proc. Entomot.. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

Larva — 1st instar

Length 2.5 mm. Head smooth, dark
brown. Body dull grey, soon showing
signs of green from ingested food;
cervical plate dark brown. Fed on
Plantago lanceolata, Tri-folium alba ,
and later Hypochaeris radicata . They
showed a marked preference for the
latter.

By October 2 they were sluggish,
tending to congregate in a heap be-
neath the herbage. General colour
brown with fine whitish broken sub-
dorsal lines.

2nd Instar

October 12. Length 6 mm. Head med-
ium brown. Body olive grey with a
pair of dark marks like parentheses
on the dorsum of each segment, and
a dark fuscous line just above the
black spiracles; tubercles shiny,
black; the underside dark olive-green.
They dropped from the leaves at the
slightest disturbance, and fed at
night.

3rd Instar

October 24. Length 8 mm. Appear-
ance similar to the second instar.
They grew slowly and showed some
tendency to hibernate.

4th Instar

November 22. Length 14 mm. Head
shiny, dark brown with darker
patches on the sides. Body with a
dark grey dorsal band edged with
fuscous and a faint, double, fuscous
doral line; the sides with a lightly
banded effect of grey, beige, and
fuscous; spiracular line light grey,
the edges blending into the ground
colour; tubercles shiny, black and
conspicuous; underside, legs and
claspers dull grey; cervical plate dark
brown with 3 white longitudinal lines.

5th Instar

December 20. Length 35 mm. Head,
pale brown with broad oblique dark
brown bar on each side, the rest
faintly reticulated with the same
colour. Body ground colour pale

clouded grey, with a faint double dor-
sal line, subdorsal lines thin, pale
fuscous; spiracular line indicated by
a suffused fuscous line along the row
of black spiracles; tubercles shiny
black, prominent, larger along the
subdorsal lines; underside and clasp-
ers pale grey; the legs pale brown.
The larvae were geotropic, and moved
up to feed at night.

6th Instar

April 19, 1961. Length 35 mm. Head
as described. Body integument grey,
tough and leathery; the subdorsal
lines faint, broken, and light grey;
the sides with a wavy darker grey
band just above the indistinctly light
grey spiracular line; tubercles black
and conspicuous. They pupated in
earthen cavities beneath the moss
about the end of May.

Pupa

Size 18 mm. by 5 mm. Smooth and
shiny, the anterior border of the A.
segments finely punctate; dark
piceous brown; cremaster 2 short,
straight, slightly divergent spines at
the tip of the last segment.

Imago

Emerged from July 14 to July 20,
1961.

Remarks

The data above were obtained from
2 groups of larvae from the same
batch of ova. On October 24, 1960,
about half were put with earth, moss
and a food supply into a 10-inch
flower pot, which was placed outdoors
under the eaves of the south wall
of a house. The remainder were kept
indoors. Those kept outdoors hiber-
nated on cold days, feeding infre-
quently in mild weather; those kept
indoors continued to feed and grow
slowly. On January 21, 1961, the out-
door group averaged 10-15 mm., while
the indoor group averaged 30-35 mm.
in length. Under normal conditions
the larvae go into hibernation, after
about the second moult, resuming
activity in the following spring.

Proc. Exxomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

Most of the outdoor group success-
fully completed the metamorphosis,
but the indoor group died before
pupating, apparently from inability
to feed rather than from disease.

Xylomlges simplex W!k.

Eight of the 10 species of Xylomiges
recorded in British Columbia are from
Vancouver Island. They form a com-
pact group in size, general appear-
ance, and time of flight, which is
usually early in the season.

X. simplex has a wing expanse av-
eraging 40 mm. It is light ash grey
marked with an intricate pattern of
black bars, lines and dots. It is on the
wing from March to May.

A female taken at Royal Oak on
March 24, 1961 had laid 300 ova by
March 27, They were in a single com-
pact layer on the side of the con-
tainer. In another case the ova were
disposed in several groups, but
always in a single layer.

Ovum

Size 0.9 mm. by 0.5 mm. A depressed
hemisphere with about 50 close-set
ribs; pale cream with a greenish
tinge, turning pink by March 31, and
lead grey by April 18. Hatched on
April 21.

Larva— 1st Instar

Length 2 mm. Head smooth, shiny,
jet black. Body translucent, whitish
soon becoming green with ingested
food; cervical plate black; tubercles
black and conspicuous. After trying
many plants the larvae finally ate
Alnus rubra. They concealed them-
selves in folded leaves or between 2
leaves held together by a few strands
of silk.

2nd Instar

May 5. Length 6 mm. Head as des-
cribed. Body fuscous green; cervical
plate black with lines coinciding with
the doral and subdorsal lines, which
were thin and whitish; tubercles
prominent, black-ringed with white

at their bases; spiracular line thin
and white, with black spiracles;
underside fuscous; legs and claspers
black.

3rd Instar

May 16. Length 15 mm. Head as
described. Body dark fuscous olive-
green; cervical plate as described;
dorsal and subdorsal lines thin and
mjilk- white; spiracular line broad,
yellow, threaded with a suffused rusty
tinge along the centre; tubercles
black, each bearing a short white
hair; underside dark olive green;
legs and claspers black. Each larva
rested in a half curled position be-
tween 2 leaves or in a fold of a single
leaf.

4th Instar

May 23. Length 20 mm. Appearance
as described. The body with a tinge of
yellowish grey; spiracular line orange.

5th Instar

May 30. Length 30 mm. Head round,
large in proportion to the body,
smooth, shiny, reddish brown. Body
suffused with light pink over a yel-
lowish background; dorsal and sub-
dorsal lines very indistinct, pale
cream; spiracles black on a pale yel-
low spiracular line; tubercles hardly
discernible; underside concolorous
with the upper.

At this stage all the larvae died
from some cause unknown. These
notes were completed from mature
larvae collected in the field in 1960.

Pupa

Size 16 mm. by 5 mm. Smooth,
shiny and brown; anterior part of the
A. segments finely and closely punc-
tate; cremaster 2 very short, closely
set setae with recurved tips and 4
smaller ones at their base, set upon
the smooth rounded end of the last
segment. The pupae were in cells
among the debris at the bottom of
the container.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Yol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

Pero mom son onus Hy. Edw.

Four species of the genus Pero are
recorded for British Columbia. All are
similar in shape and colour, the wings
with mottled shades of brown or grey
and a broad central band of darker
brown.

From a specimen of morrisonarius
taken at Royal Oak, ova were obtain-
ed on June 6 and 7, 1960. They were
laid in small irregular clusters or
singly, mostly on raised fibres of the
wooden box, affixed by the small end
which gave them stalked appearance.

Ovum

Size 1 mm. by 0.75 mm. Broadly
oval, smooth, shiny, translucent; pale
green becoming dark olive at matur-
ity. Hatched on June 17.

Larva — 1st Instar

Length 5 mm. Head light honey-
brown. Body very slender; olive green
with darker intersegmental rings.
They were very active and readily
suspended themselves by a thread at
the least disturbance. After various
trials they ate Cornus occidentalis.
The food plants listed in the litera-
ture are all conifers.

2nd Instar

June 23. Length 10 mm. Head light
brown dotted with dark brown on the
sides. Body brownish-green; dorsal
line faint, dark green, broader on the
T. segments and on A. 7 to 9; subdor-
sal lines lighter green. They spent
considerable time suspended by a
thread from the cover of the con-
tainer, especially prior to moulting.

3rd Instar

June 30. Length 18 mm. Head dark
brown on the vertex and sides, with
a white patch on the front. Body pale
olive-brown with several fine, alter-
nately dark and light lines along the
dorsum; tubercles noticeably black,
2 on the dorsum of each segment; a
short fuscous line on the dorum of
the T. segments and segments A. 7 to
9; A. 6 with an arrow-shaped dark

brown spot on the centre of the dor-
sum; underside pale brown with
alternate light and dark dashes along
the median line. Some larvae had an
additional small dark brown spot on
A. 7, while others had a larger area
of dark brown on the sides of A. 6.
4th Instar

July 6. Length 25 mm. Head
notched, dark brown above but whit-
ish below. Body cylindrical, with a
slight hump on A. 9, light olive-brown
with several faint, thin, pale lines on
the dorsum; A. 1 with 2 small irregu-
lar brown spots on the dorsum, A. 6
with 2 oblique dark brown dashes on
the dorsum followed by a horseshoe
spot of the same colour, A. 7 with 2
parallel brown dashes, A. 9 with a
dark transverse bar, and a brown
patch on each side of the T. seg-
ments; tubercles black and conspicu-
ous. The intensity of these markings
varied with individuals.

5th Instar

July 20. Length 45 mm. Appearance
as described but the general colour
more yellowish brown. In one or two
specimens the body was uniformly
pale brown lightly and evenly
freckled with dark brown; underside
of A. 3 with a pair of dark brown
fleshy tubercles on each side.

Pupated in the moss at the bottom
of the container on August 1.

Papa

Size 14 mm. by 5 mm. Wing-cases
dull, roughened by minute etchings
and piceous brown, the rest of the
pupa smooth, shiny, mahogany-
brown; anterior part of the A. seg-
ments closely punctate; cremaster 2
parallel, closely set spines with the
tips slightly excurved, and 1 or 2 very
short, fine hairs with recurved tips,
set on a smooth, shiny, sub-conical
boss at the end of the last segment.
Imago

Emerged May 31, 1961. Other speci-
mens continued to emerge up to June
18.

Proc. Extomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

Reference

Jones, J. R. J. L. 1951. An annotated check list of the Macrolepidoptera of British
Columbia. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Occasional Paper 1.

APHIDS OF STRAWBERRIES IN BRITISH COLUMBIA’

A. R. Forbes

Considerable, interest is being taken
in the aphids found on strawberries
because of their importance in trans-
mitting viruses. Since 1956 special
attention has been given to collecting
aphids from strawberries in British
Columbia in connection with a major
project on strawberry viruses. This
paper reports data from the collec-
tions.

Methods

From 1956 to 1961, about 75 collec-
tions of aphids were made from
strawberry fields on the lower main-
land and Vancouver Island, which
are major strawberry growing areas
of British Columbia. Commercial va-
rieties sampled included British Sov-
ereign, Marshall, Siletz, and Puget
Beauty. Several collections were also
made from strawberries in green-
houses. Some rearing was done in the
insectary at Vancouver.

The aphids were preserved in 80
per cent ethyl alcohol and mounted
by the method of Hille Ris Lumbers
(Hille Ris Lambers, 1950; Spencer,
1959). Identifications were made by
the author and by Dr. W. R. Richards,
Taxonomy Section, Entomology Re-
search Institute, Ottawa.

Only aphids that were actually re-
producing on strawberries are dis-
cussed in this paper. The alate strays
which were frequently found on the
plants are not included.

i Contribution No. 45, Research Station, Research
Branch, Canada Department of Agriculture, 6660
N.W. Marine Drive, Vancouver, B.C.

Species Found

Nine species of aphids were found
colonizing on strawberry: Pentatri-
chopus fragaefolii (Cockerell), Pen-
tatrichopus thomasi H.R.L., Macro-
siphum euphorbiae (Thomas), Myzus
ascalonicus Doncaster, Aulacorthum
solani (Kalt.), Fimbriaphis fimbriata
Richards, Myzus ornatus Laing, Aphis
forbesi Weed, and Acyrthosiphon mal-
vae subspec. rogersii (Theobald).
These are listed in their approximate
order of abundance.

Discussion

P. fragaefolii and P. thomasi are
the commonest aphids on strawberry
in the area, one or both being present
in large numbers in every field ex-
amined. Until 1953 both were identi-
fied as P. fragaefolii. Hille Ris Lam-
bers then recognized two morpho-
types: one with 6 marginal capitate
setae on abdominal tergites II-IV and
one with the 6 marginal plus 6 sub-
marginal setae. Cockerell’s type
lacked the submarginal setae and so
the name fragaefolii applied to this
species. Hille Ris Lambers named the
other thomasi (Hille Ris Lambers,
1953 pp. 72-73). P. thomasi was iden-
tified from British Columbia in 1957
(Forbes, 1959) .

The chaetotaxy on which this sepa-
ration is based is subject to variation
however and Hille Ris Lambers rec-
ognized this in his description when
he said: “In exceptional specimens
the inner pair of marginal hairs [sub-

Proc. Extom ol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

marginals] is absent on most of the
mentioned segments [II-IV].” Figure
1 shows the occurrence of these sub-
marginal setae on the 3 abdominal
tergites II-IV on 677 adult apterae
collected in British Columbia. The
variation is considerable but never-
theless populations of the two species
can be distinguished.

Intraclonal variation also occurs.
Several clones were reared at Van-
couver. Of 20 adult apterae examined
from one clone, 2 had 5 submarginal
setae on abdominal tergites II-IV and
18 had 6; of 15 examined from an-
other clone 2 had 0, 2-1, 2-2, 3-3, 3-5,
and 3-6; of 21 from still another clone
1 had 0, 1-2, 2-4, 6-5, and 11-6.

Schaefers (1960) studied the chae-
totaxy of these aphids in California
and found the same range. This
marked variation leads to confusion
in separating these species and even
raises the question of their validity
as species. Further biological study is
needed.

As for hosts other than cultivated
strawberry in British Columbia, P.
fragaefolii has been collected from
Rosa spp. and P. thomasi has been
collected from Potentilla anserina L.
and from Fragaria glauca (S. Wats.)
Rydb.

Pentatrichopus minor (Forbes),
which is common on strawberries in
eastern Canada, and Pentatrichopus
jacobi (H.R.L.), recorded on certain
wild Fragaria species in the western
United States (Schaefers, 1960), have
not been collected here.

M. euphorbiae (= solanifolii Ashm.)
occurred frequently on strawberries,
usually on the petioles of young
leaves or on the runners. In one field
this species constituted about 40 per
cent of the aphids of the sample but
usually it accounted for less than 5
per cent. It was especially common
on strawberry in May and it seems
likely that it can hibernate on straw-
berry. This is a polyphagous species.

M. ascalonicus occurred each
spring. Damage to strawberries by
this polyphagous aphid was first re-
corded in the spring of 1955 (Andison,
1956). The aphids feed on the blos-
som trusses and young leaves distort-
ing them and dwarfing the plants.
When numerous these aphids cause
severe damage from March to early
May. It was a serious pest in 1955
and 1958.

When first found on strawberry
this aphid was identified as Myzus
persicae (Sulz.), which it resembles
closely. In fact M. ascalonicus was
collected by R. Glendenning from
carrot at Chilliwack, B.C. in October,
1947 and he had tentatively labelled
it as M. persicae (MacGillivray, 1954).
This makes one wonder whether the
published records of M. persicae on
strawberry (e.g. Palmer, 1952) really
refer to M. ascalonicus. Repeated at-
tempts in the insectary at Vancouver
failed to establish M. persicae on
strawberry (H. R. MacCarthy, unpub-
lished) .

A. solani occurred fairly often, es-
pecially on strawberries in the green-
house. Like M. euphorbiae it prefer-
red new growth. It too is a polyphag-
ous aphid.

F . fimbriata was described (Rich-
ards, 1959) from material collected
by the author from Marshall straw-
berries on Lulu Island. They were
first observed there in August, 1956,
when a very heavy infestation was
present. The species has since been
collected from strawberry at Agassiz,
Victoria, and Vancouver and from
blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum
L., at Vancouver.

M. ornatus has been collected sev-
eral times from strawberry in the
greenhouse and in the field at Van-
couver. In 1961 it became abundant
in strawberry plots on the farm at the
University of British Columbia and
caused some deformity in the plants.
This is another polyphagous species.

Proc. Extomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

o :

0 S 2 3 4 5 6

Fig. 1— Number of submarginal setae on abdominal tergites II-IV of P. fragaefolii and
P. thomasi in British Columbia.

Proc. Ea’tomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

A. forbesi was collected in large
numbers from the stems and crowns
of British Sovereign strawberries in a
garden at Vancouver in 1958 but has
not been recorded elsewhere in the
province. The only other Canadian
records of this species according to
Richards (1958) are from St. Cath-
arines, Ontario. This species is ap-
parently confined to strawberry.

A. malvae subspec. rogersii was col-
lected in small numbers at Vancouver
(April 24, 1959; May 5, 1959; May 18,
1960) and at Saanich (June 5, 1959).
It is common on strawberry in Eng-
land and the Netherlands (Hille Ris
Lambers, 1947) but has not been rec-
orded from North America before.
This subspecies is apparently confin-
ed to strawberry.

Of the 8 aphids reported by Massee
(1935) as having been recorded on
strawberry, only 4 (P. fragaefolii, A.
malvae subspec. rogersii, M. euphor-
biae, and A. forbesi ) are included in
the present list. Three other species
from Massee’s list occur on other
hosts in British Columbia but have
not been taken on strawberry: Mac-
rosiphum rosae (L.) is very common
on species of Rosa; Pentatrichopus
potentillae (Wlk.) has been collected
from Potentilla anserina L.; and Am-
phorophora rubi (Kalt.) is common
on species of Rubus. Pentatrichopus
brevipilosus Baerg, the 8th aphid on
Massee’s list, is now thought to be P.
minor (Schaefers, 1960).

Most of the species of the present
list have also been identified from
strawberries in the Netherlands
(Klinkenberg, 1947). In addition she
lists Macrosiphum (Sitobion) fraga-
riae (Wlk.), which has been collected
from Rubus spp. at Vancouver but has
not been found on strawberry. Hille
Ris Lambers (1939) states that it has
as host plants Rubus spp. and Gram-
ineae and more rarely Rosa, Agri-
monia, and Fragaria.

Several of these aphids have been
tested and found to be vectors of
strawberry viruses (M e 1 1 o r and
Forbes, 1960).

Summary

Nine species of aphids were found
colonizing on strawberry in British
Columbia: Pentatrichopus fragae-

folii (Cockerell), Pentatrichopus
thomasi H.R.L., Macrosiphum eu -
phorbiae (Thomas), Myzus ascaloni-
cus Doncaster, Aulacorthum solani
(Kalt.), Fimbriaphis fimbriata Rich-
ards, Myzus ornatus Laing, Aphis for-
besi Weed, and Acyrthosiphon mal-
vae subspec. rogersii (Theobald).
These are listed in their approximate
order of abundance.

F . fimbriata was described from
strawberry in British Columbia in
1959. It also occurs on Vaccinium. A.
malvae subspec. rogersii has not pre-
viously been recorded from North
America.

References

Andison, H. 1956. Common strawberry insects and their control. Canada Dept. Agr.,
Sci. Service Ent. Div., Pub. 990. 21 pp.

Forbes, A. R. 1959. Three new records of aphids (Homoptera: Aphididae) in British
Columbia. Can. Ent. 91: 121.

Hille Ris Lambers, D. 1939. Contributions to a monograph of the Aphididae of Europe,

II. Temminckia 4: 1-134.

Hille Ris Lambers, D. 1947. Contributions to a monograph of the Aphididae of Europe,

III. Temminckia 7: 179-320.

Hille Ris Lambers, D. 1950. On mounting aphids and other soft-skinned insects. Ent.
Berichten 13: 55-58.

Hille Ris Lambers, D. 1953. Contributions to a monograph of the Aphididae of Europe,
V. Temminckia 9: 1-176.

Klinkenberg, C. H. 1947. Het onderzoek van bladluizen op aardbeien. Netherlands.
Directie van de Tuinbouw. Medelingen 10: 214-215.

Pkoc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

MacGillivray, M. E. 1954. Note on Myzus ascalonicus Doncaster (Homoptera: Aphidae),
an aphid new to North America. Can. Ent. 86: 454.

Massee, A. M. 1935. Notes on the strawberry aphid (Capitophorus fragariae (Theo.)).

Ann. Rept. East Mailing Res. Sta. for 1934: 173-179.

Mellor, F. C. and A. R. Forbes. 1960. Studies of virus diseases of strawberries in Brit-
ish Columbia III. Transmission of strawberry viruses by aphids. Can. J.
Botany 38: 343-352.

Palmer, M. A. 1952. Aphids of the Rocky Mountain Region. The Thomas Say Founda-
tion. Vol. 5. 452 pp.

Richards, W. R. 1958. Personal communication, dated July 4.

Richards, W. R. 1959. A new genus and three new species of Aphididae (Homoptera).
Can. Ent. 91: 248-253.

Schaefers, G. A. 1960. A systematic study on the strawberry aphid complex (Penta-
trichopus spp.). Annals Ent. Soc. Amer. 53: 783-793.

Spencer, G* X 1959. On mounting lice by the Ris Lambers method for aphids. Proc.
Ent. Soc. British Columbia. 56: 53.

Resistance to insecticides in roof maggots in British Columbia

Considerable experimentation by entomol-
ogists of the Victoria, Agassiz, Chilliwack,
and Kamloops laboratories resulted in effec-
tive controls for onion maggots, Hylemya
antiqua (MeigJ, in onions; cabbage maggots,
Hylemya brassieae (Bouche), in cole crops;
and carrot maggots (carrot rust fly), Psila
rosae (F.), in carrots, parsnips, and celery.
Each control included one or more of the
cyclodiene group of chlorinated hydrocar-
bons.

Until 1957, damage to onions was reduced
below one per cent by using dieldrin applied
to the seed. In 1957 damage at one location
near Vancouver was above 75 per cent and
great numbers of maggots were present. In
1958 damage was general wherever onions
were grown commercially in B.C. Puparia
sent to Oregon State University, Corvallis,
for toxicological testing showed that mag-
gots from Vancouver, Vernon, Kamloops and
Kelowna were resistant to dieldrin and hep-
tachlor but still susceptible to DDT and
malathion.

In 1959 reports of poor control of cabbage
maggots near Victoria on Vancouver Island
indicated that resistance had developed.
Puparia from the fields concerned and from
fields near Vancouver were sent to the En-
tomological Laboratory, Chatham, Ont., for
testing. The results showed that flies from
the fields on Vancouver Island had a high

degree of resistance to cyclodiene hydrocar-
bons but were still susceptible to the phos-
phate Diazinon. Flies from the lower main-
land were still susceptible to both types.

In 1961 loss of the first planting of carrots
at Colony Farm, Essondale, signalled resist-
ance in carrot maggots. Puparia from this
field were sent to Chatham for testing. The
results showed a high degree of resistance
to the cyclodiene insecticides but suscepti-
bility to phosphates.

Resistant cabbage and carrot maggots oc-
curred only in isolated pockets until the
summer of 1962. Then resistant cabbage
maggots were reported and later confirmed
from Abbotsford and Cloverdale, the two
principal cole crop areas of the lower main-
land. Uncontrolled damage in 1962 to first
planting carrots at Colebrook and to second
planting carrots at Cloverdale with later
confirmatory tests showed that resistant car-
rot maggots had become established in those
areas.

An alarming feature was the very large
numbers of each species at locations where
resistance developed. We are now faced
with the problem of reducing the population
to acceptably low numbers using control
practices that are not entirely satisfactory.

— Z). G. Finlayson, Research Station. 6660
N.W. Marine Drive, Vancouver 8. B.C.

Pkoc. E.ntomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

THE TICK REFERENCE LIBRARY AT KAMLOOPS, BRITISH COLUMBIA,
AND ITS APPLICATION TO TICK STUDIES IN CANADA

J. D. Gregsoni

The tick reference library at Kam-
loops consists of about 5000 references
on 5 x 8 cards, together with more
than 1200 reprints. Because there is
no comparable library elsewhere in
Canada and because it may be of
service to those engaged in related
fields of study, particularly those of
zoonosis, it is timely to draw attention
to its main headings. Its role in aid-
ing present studies on ticks is exem-
plified by references to current and
future problems on these parasites.

The ticks of Canada received their
first recognition through C. G. Hewitt,
when, as the Dominion Entomologist
at Ottawa, he published “A contribu-
tion to the knowledge of Canadian
ticks” (Hewitt, 1915). He cited sixteen
species and emphasized the import-
ance of ticks as carriers of serious
diseases to man and animals. Only
seven of the names then listed remain
unchanged in the present list of over
thirty species recorded in Canada
(Gregson, 1956). On the other hand,
the cause of the disease, tick paraly-
sis, which had been recognized then
only for three years, is still little
understood.

Projected research on ticks did not
begin until 1928 when Eric Hearle,
Officer-in-Charge of the newly-estab-
lished Dominion Entomological La-
boratory at Kamloops, commenced
his studies on insects affecting live-
stock and man in British Columbia.
Kamloops has since remained the
center for tick studies and attention
has accordingly been paid to the com-
pilation of references pertinent to
this work. At first these were mainly
confined to North American publica-
tions on taxonomy, with little regard

i Research Station, Box 210, Kamloops, B.C.

to tick-borne diseases south of the
forty-ninth parallel. As knowledge of
bird migrants and parasites increased
and as world-travel became an every-
day occurrence it became increasingly
important to recognize species of
ticks and diseases transmitted by
them that were of potential import-
ance to Canada. Similarly, as litera-
ture on ticks increased, it became
desirable to refer to any fundamental
research being done elsewhere on
species similar to those in Canada.
Thus the reference library now covers
every aspect of tick research that has
come to the writer’s attention, includ-
ing publications on tick-borne dis-
eases, for these frequently contain
information on the vectors and their
hosts. Reprints have been secured
wherever possible. However, complete
works of foreign publications and
their translations are often difficult
to obtain. A third of the references
to ticks and tick-borne diseases, for
example, are in foreign languages;
more than half of these are in Rus-
sian.

An arbitrary filing system was
adopted to include the main sections
on systematics, morphology, tick-
borne diseases, and control. However,
because many of the references
referred to data on more than one of
these subjects, priority was given to
the first category. References to spe-
cific ticks are filed according to their
respective genera; those containing
several genera are filed under a
“grouped” heading. For convenience
Nearctic references are filed separ-
ately. When the emphasis is on
morphology, disease, or control, they
are filed under these headings or

Peoc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

subheadings thereof. To date no at-
tempt has been made to cross index
the individual references for subject
matter, or to make an author index
of the whole series. Both are desir-
able.

T. Sysf-emafics

Over 1500 separate references are
in this category. The vast amount of
information in many of the foreign
works, Russian in particular, can be
extracted only as the publications are
acquired and studied. Such papers on
Old World species, their hosts and
habits, have much to offer when com-
pared with our own studies, for in
Canada we are in a favourable posi-
tion to appraise our north-western
species in terms of Holarctic origins.
Considered in this light, it is import-
ant to speculate on their capacity to
transmit tick-borne diseases at pres-
ent confined to Asia and Europe.

Looking southwards, an observant
eye must be kept on all Nearctic
records and descriptions of ticks, par-
ticularly those which may be trans-
ported on bird or bat migrants. Recent
taxonomic studies of certain argasids
in this group have cast doubt on the
identity of at least one species that
is presumed to have been brought in
on a bird. Past records of ticks from
caves, seashore retreats, beaver
houses, burrows, and human dwel-
lings, have shown that they may well
extend their normal range in such
protected conditions; the biology and
epizootic significance of southern
species cannot be ignored. Amongst
species occurring in Canada are tax-
onomic problems of variation in size,
host specificity, and distribution
which can profitably be compared
with similar findings in the U.S. and
other parts of the world.

2. Morphology

This section contains over 600 refer-
ences and is broken down to include
anatomical observations, studies on

behaviour and physiology, reproduc-
tion, and feeding. Histological and
embryological studies go back little
further than 1900. Since then there
have been several major works on the
feeding mechanisms of various mem-
bers of the Ixodoidea, the last origin-
ating from this laboratory in 1960,
but controversy and ignorance still
exist over the exact function of cer-
tain structures of the sucking appar-
atus. Considerable study in Europe
has also been made on the cuticle of
ticks in relation to water balance;
again, experience has shown that
these researches could profitably be
extended to cover local species.

References to the behaviour of
ticks cover such challenging subjects
as host specificity, dispause, photo-
periodic rhythm in feeding, questing
habits, attractants, and phenological
correlations. Knowledge of any one of
these topics can aid our search for
better methods of tick control; taken
together they represent the intricate
relationships that exist between the
tick, its environment, and its host.

Studies on parthenogenesis, fertil-
ity, the egg waxing organ, and other
aspects of reproduction are of special
significance to local population re-
search. This becomes apparent when
it is realized that the potentiality of
tick population is measured largely
in terms of the several thousand eggs
that a female lays. Because mating
causes an increase in the engorging
rate of female Dermacentor andersoni
Stiles, these studies are also of inter-
est at Kamloops where attempts are
being made to feed ticks by artificial
means.

3. Tick-Borne Diseases

There are over 2000 references to
tick-borne diseases, with emphasis on
Texas fever, Rocky Mountain spotted
fever, tularaemia, relapsing fever,
tick paralysis, Q fever, and Colorado
tick fever, all of which occur in North

Proc. Extomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

America. Except for Texas fever, all
have been recorded in Canada. Since
British Columbia is unique in having
a greater tick paralysis problem than
anywhere else in the world, the 350
references to this disease are par-
ticularly complete. In addition, there
are about one hundred references to
kindred conditions of toxicity pro-
duced by tick bite.

The value of these references to
disease will be not so much in their
practical use as in providing data for
a fundamental picture of tick-borne
disease potentialities. In Canada, par-
ticularly in British Columbia, are
heavy populations of ticks at the
border of many urban areas. The fact
that these ticks are largely free of
virulent forms of disease should not
be accepted as a fortuitous circum-
stance— rather, it should be studied
as a phenomenum peculiar perhaps
to our latitude, and correlated with
records of the complex interrelations
that exist between ticks, their hosts,
and their geographic positions.

4. Control

Five hundred references to control
show that ticks have been fought
mainly by sprays and dips of arsen-
icals, and recently of chlorinated
hydrocarbons. Resistance to chemi-
cals has appeared in South Africa,
Australia, Brazil, and the United
States. To date none has occurred in
Canada; the brown dog tick ( Rhipi -
cephalus sanguineus (Lat.) ) will
probably be the first to show resist-

ance here. Russian references to the
control of ticks on vegetation by
smokes, dusts, and sprays, and to their
elimination by manipulation of either
their natural or domestic hosts are of
importance, particularly in relation
to tick-wild-life complexes in Can-
ada. Although tick parasites have
been studied and released on many
occasions, there is a lack of informa-
tion on other means of natural con-
trol, such as predation and tick
diseases. Voles and ground beetles
have been cited as devouring ticks,
and there is one reference to a fungus
attacking the genitalia of ticks. The
causes of fluctuations in the popula-
tion of ticks in British Columbia are
largely unexplained. In North Amer-
ica the tick parasite, Ixodiphagus
texanus, has been taken as far north
as Idaho; in Africa the northward
movement of similar parasites has
been observed in a parasitized tick on
a migrating bird. It has not been
determined whether such parasites
play a part in British Columbia.

Hewitt hoped that the meagreness
of his records would stimulate others
to add to the knowledge of a group
which offered problems of unusual
interest. Since his time there have
been about ninety publications on
ticks and tick-borne diseases in Can-
ada; more than a third of which
pertain to tick paralysis. Although
much fundamental research remains
to be done there is little doubt that
his wish is being fulfilled.

References

Gregson, J. D. 1956. The Ixodoidea of Canada. Can. Dept. Agric. Pub. 930. 92 pp.
Hewitt, C. G. 1915. A contribution to a knowledge of Canadian ticks. Trans. Royal Soc.
of Canada. 9: 225-239.

Peoc. Entomol. Soc. Beit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

OVIPOSITION OF THE CABBAGE FLY, HYLEMYA BRASSICAE (BOUCHE)
(DIPTERA: ANTHOMYNDAE) IN COASTAL BRITISH COLUMBIA1

A. R. Forbes

The cabbage maggot, Hylemya
brassicae (Bouche), is the most ser-
ious pest of cole crops in British
Columbia (Forbes and Finlayson,
1957) . Its biology was studied from
1947-1956 in connection with exten-
sive field experiments which resulted
in highly effective control measures
with chlorinated hydrocarbon insec-
ticides. By 1960 a strain of H. bras-
sicae resistant to the chlorinated
hydrocarbons was established on
Vancouver Island. This paper records
results of the 1947-1956 oviposition
studies which may be useful in efforts
to achieve control of this pest again.

Methods

Most of the observations were made
on cabbages and rutabagas grown in
loamy sand or clay loam on a single
farm near Victoria. Egg counts were
made in 1956 on cabbages grown in
sandy loam at Vancouver.

The beginning of egg-laying each
year was determined by searching for
eggs in the soil around large numbers
of seedlings in seedbeds and young
transplants in the field as frequently
as possible during April and early
May.

The eggs around each of 10 plants
were counted twice weekly during the
oviposition period of the years 1952-
1956. The same plants were used for
each count, except that young cab-
bage plants were substituted as the
older ones matured and were har-
vested. All the eggs found were re-
moved with a moistened camel hair
brush.

i Contribution No. 46. Research Station, Re-
search Branch, Canada Department of Agriculture,
6660 N.W. Marine Drive, Vancouver 8, B.C.

Results and Discussion

At Victoria the flies began to
emerge from the overwintered pu-
paria during the first long warm
period during April or May and began
to lay eggs about a week thereafter.
In the 9 years under istudy, the
earliest and latest dates for the start
of egg-laying were April 23 and May
8, respectively (Table 1.).

TABLE 1. — Beginning of egg-laying by the
cabbage fly, Hylemya brassicae
(Bouche), at Victoria, B.C.,
1947-1956.

Year Date

1947 April 23

1948 April 26

1949 April 25

1950 May 8

1951 May 3

1952 April 24

1953 April 24

1955 May 2

1956 May 2

Representative egg-count data are
presented* graphically (Fig. 1).

These data and others not reported
show that eggs are laid throughout
the growing season but that 3 periods
of relatively heavier egg-laying occur.
The times of this heavier egg-laying
varied with the season but were gen-
erally in May, mid-June to mid-July,
and mid-August to mid-September.
Field observations and cage studies
showed that these periods of heavier
egg - laying followed closely the
appearance of overwintered, first, and
second generation flies and therefore
represent the times of deposition of
most of the first, second, and third
generation eggs.

48 Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

NUMBER OF EGGS ON TEN PLANTS

Fig. 1. — Oviposition by the cabbage fly, Hylemya brassicae (Bouche), in British Columbia.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit, Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

Egg deposition in spring appears to
be heavier than in summer (Fig. 1).
This has also been noted by Gibson &
Treherne (1916) in British Columbia,
by Miles (1953) in England, and by
de Wilde (1947) and Yaman (1960) in
the Netherlands. Miles considers that
this is not due to lack of adults but
rather to the fact that the environ-
ment in summer provides little food
to sustain the adults and as a result
they do not survive to complete ovi-
position. De Wilde implicates para-
sites, predators, and weather condi-
tions. In the localities of the present
studies still another factor was in-
volved: as the season advanced there
was present a progressively greater
acreage of cole crops over which the
eggs were distributed and while the
egg-laying of each generation may
have been equal or even successively
greater, the number of eggs to be
found on a sample of 10 plants was
smaller.

In coastal British Columbia early
cabbages attract large numbers of
first and some second generation
eggs. Later cabbages attract some
first and some third but mostly sec-
ond generation eggs. Since rutabagas
are not usually seeded until late June
and are not favored for oviposition
until mid-July, they receive mostly
third generation eggs.

Summary

Oviposition studies Jn coastal Brit-
ish Columbia from 1947-1956 showed
that the cabbage fly, Hylemya bras-
sicae (Bouche), begins to lay eggs in
late April or early May. Some eggs are
laid throughout the growing season
but periods of heavier oviposition
occur in May, mid-June to mid-July,
and mid-August to mid-September.
These are the times of deposition of
most of the first, second, and third
generation eggs.

References

Forbes, A. R. and D. G. Finlayson. 1957 Species of root maggots (Diptera : Antho-
myiidae) of cruciferous crops in British Columbia. Proc. Ent. Soc. British
Columbia 54: 25-28.

Gibson, Arthur and R. C. Treherne. 1916. The cabbage root maggot and its control in
Canada with notes on the imported onion maggot and the seed-corn maggot.
Dominion of Canada. Dept. Agr., Ent. Branch Bull. 12. 58 pp.

Miles, Mary. 1953. Field studies on the influence of weather conditions on egg-laying
by the cabbage root fly, Erioischia brassicae, Bche. I. Ann. App!. Bio!. 40:
717-725.

Wilde, J. de. 1947. Onderzoek betreffende de Koolvlieg en zijn bestrijding. Netherlands.
Dir. van den Landb. Verslag. van Landbouwk. Onderzoek 53: 309-426.

Yaman, I. K. Abu. 1960. Natural control in cabbage root fly populations and influence
of chemicals. Meded. Landbouwhogeschool, Wageningen 60: 1-57.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

Fig. 1. — Lead casts of galleries formed by wood-boring cerambycid larvae, Monochamus
sp., displayed in a plastic cylinder. — Photo by J. C. Holms.

A METHOD OF DEMONSTRATING THE FORM OF LARVAL
GALLERIES OF WOOD-BORING INSECTS1

N. J. Geistlinger and D. W. Taylor2

A method of displaying the char-
acteristics of the larval galleries of
wood-boring insects was developed by
using lead casts of the galleries. A dry
section of log that had been infested
with cerambycids was split longitud-
inally into several pieces to expose a
larval gallery. Larval boring shreds
were removed and the gallery was
cleaned throughout its length. The
pieces of log were then reassembled
to form a mould held in place by wire
or clamps.

The entrance hole of the cleaned
gallery was sealed with adhesive tape,
and molten lead was poured into the
exit hole. After the lead in the gallery
mould had hardened for three to five
minutes, the wood was carefully
chipped away. The cast was then
separated from the wood and dressed

, Contribution No. 853, Forest Entomology and
Pathology Branch, Department of Forestry, Ot-
tawa, Canada.

2 Forest Entomology Laboratory, Vernon, B.C.

with a coarse file, taking care not to
alter its shape or the size of the
entrance and exit holes.

A demonstration model was con-
structed by cementing the gallery
casts, in natural positions, into a
hollow, transparent plastic cylinder
20 inches long, and 6 inches in inside
diameter with walls Vs inch thick.
Holes of 3/16 inch diameter were
made with an electric hand drill
through the walls of the cylinder at
the position of the entrance and exit
hole for each cast. These holes were
shaped with a small round file to
receive each end of the lead cast. The
casts were painted and then cement-
ed into place with Lepage’s Model “B”
(No. 440) airplane cement.

The cylinder was set vertically in a
heavy wooden base (Fig. 1). A thin
circular sheet of plastic was cemented
to the top of the cylinder to keep out
dust.

Peoc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

SOME TECHNIQUES IN INSECT PHOTOGRAPHY

D. H. Oldershaw1

Insects are very small compared to
man. Since average cameras are built
for panoramic and human photog-
raphy, this means that to photograph
small objects extra equipment is nec-
essary such as extension tubes, tele-
photo lens or multi-lens built for mic-
robe work. The camera should have a
reflex system . focusing through the
lens to relieve the camera-man of
parallax correction worries. A very
firm support for the camera should be
used such as a bench or tripod. For
accurate light intensity reading an
incident type light meter is prefer-
able.

Reflectors should be made by the
photographer of size and type to suit
the occasion. Aluminum foil glued
over a stiff backing which is then
mounted in a stand, allows two-way
movement. A smooth-surfaced alum-
inum foil reflector will give a hard,
clear beam of light, but a slightly
wrinkled aluminum surface will give
a softer light. If a very soft effect is
required, use a dull white reflector.
Take care that there is not any light
beamed directly into the camera lens
from a reflector.

For shiny convex surfaces of dark
color in the subject, which is very
often encountered with insects, use a
polar screen over the lens to cut out
unwanted reflections. For extremely
shiny subjects it may be necessary to
use polar screens over the light beam
and over the lens. The light source
may vary from the sun to strobe or
tungsten. In any case with a number
of reflectors, not only is the light in-
creased, but also the heat factor. This
can be controlled by heat screens
which are placed in the light beam, if
the subject is susceptible to heat.

i Apiary Inspector, British Coulmbia Dept, of
Agriculture, 406 6th St., New Westminster, B.C.

The following examples will help to
show how the equipment mentioned
can be used:

Photographing Wasps Digging
Burrows

Having observed a wasp at work,
imagine a clock face lying on the
ground, its figures facing up, with the
wasp’s position at the centre of the
dial. Call this position X.

The sun’s rays enter at 9 o’clock
passing through X to 3 o’clock. One
reflector placed at 3 o’clock reflects
the sun’s rays to X, a second reflector
at 5 o’clock also reflects the sun’s rays
to X, while the camera is at 6 o’clock
with its lens focused on X. Check the
front of the lens to make sure that no
light rays are directly beaming into it
from the sun or reflectors. If light is
entering directly into the lens, put on
a lens hood over the lens mount.
Check the exposure with a meter, and
set the lens aperture and speed.

Photographing Into Cavities,
Cocoons, etc.

A comb containing young honey bee
larvae is held in its natural vertical
position, at right angles and at eye
level to the observer who faces the
sun.

Make a variable parabolic reflector.
Take a large piece of plywood coated
with aluminum foil on one of its sur-
faces and cut a small hole in its
centre. Two loops of cord positioned
at either end of the board and tight-
ened with a piece of wood twisted be-
tween the cords, produce the parab-
ola. Place this reflector immediately
in front of the observer. Focus the
camera lens through the hole in the
reflector. Use a lens hood to prevent
stray direct light entering the lens.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

Photographing Internal Structures

of Insects

Visualize a clock face in its normal
vertical position. At the dial centre
(X) place a shallow transparent
trough containing the organs in fluid.
Direct a light beam from 4 o’clock to
pass through X and illuminate the
organs. The camera is positioned at 2
o’clock with its lens focused on X.

Improvised Controlled Artificial
Lighting

Visualizing the clock face once
more, direct a projector beam from 9
o’clock through X where the insect is
stationed to 3 o’clock, where a flat or
parabolic reflector is placed to re-
direct the beam to X.

It is left to the artistic ability of the
photographer or his desire to empha-
size certain features as to how far
from the subject the reflectors are
placed in these examples.

Exposure Compensation

When the subject is closer to the
camera than 10 times the focal length

of the lens the exposure must be in-
creased. For instance with a 4 inch
lens any object less than 40 inches
away requires additional exposure.

The corrected exposure is deter-
mined by the following method:

Multiply exposure time as indicated
by meter by a correction factor.

The correction factor is (M + l)*
where M = magnification or reduc-
tion. To calculate M, measure the ob-
ject and its image in the viewing
screen, and divide the value for the
object into that for the image. Ex-
ample: with insect size and image
size the same, write (1 + 1)2 = 4.
With a meter reading of 1/100 sec. at
F 11, we have 1/100 X 4 = 1/25 sec.
at F 11.

Following are the comparative F
stop settings for this exposure giving
a varying depth of focal field:

1/400 at F 2.8, i.e. the shallowest
field of focus, 1/50 at F 8.

1/200 at F4, 1/25 at F 11.

1/100 at F 5.6, 1/10 at F 16, i.e. the
deepest field of focus.

Reference

Exposure Meter Manual. Photo Research Corporation, Hollywood, U.S.A.

SCIENTIFIC NOTE

An instance of chemical attraction of the
ambrosia beetle, Trypodendron lineatum

(Oliv.), is of enough interest to record. Dur-
ing December, 1957, a batch of home-made
beer was prepared, using malt extract,
sugar, bakers yeast, hops and gelatin. It
was capped and held for about three months.
After use, a few bottles were put in a base-
ment, these still containing small amounts
of liquid and settled material, possibly in-
cluding living as well as dead yeast cells.

The following May, after the spring flight
of the ambrosia beetles, it was noted that
there were several dozen Trypodendron in
the bottles. They had apparently entered
the basement and crawled through the necks
of the bottles and had drowned in the liquid
residue. Four or five bottles had attracted
and trapped an estimated 80 - 100 beetles.

Youbou is the site of a large sawmill and
log booms are common on Cowichan Lake,
close to the town. Although beetles may

have been attracted to the general area by
the floating logs or freshly sawn lumber,
they have not been known to enter houses
in numbers. It is assumed, therefore, that a
strong attractant was produced in the beer
residue, leading beetles, presumably at the
time of their spring attack flight, to enter
the basement, find the bottles and crawl
inside them.

No other insects were found with the
beetles, which were readily recognized as
T. lineatum. The British Columbia Forest
Products Company has carried out control
operations against this species in recent
years, and the species is familiar.

This observation is being placed on record
as a result of the interest of J. A. Chapman
and J. M. Kinghorn, Forest Entomology and
Pathology Laboratory, Canada Department
of Forestry, Victoria, B.C.

— W. E. Binion, B.C. Forest Products Co.,
Youbou, B.C.

Proc. Enxomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

BOOK REVIEW

SILENT SPRING. Rachel Carson.
297 + 67 pages, Houghton Mifflin Co.,
Boston, 1962. $5.95. Reviewed by J.
Marshall, Canada Agriculture, Re-
search Station, Summerland, B.C.

In Silent Spring Miss Carson flays
the misuse of pesticides; and in so
doing she says much that badly needs
saying. It is a grisly book; and like its
more cheerful predecessor, The Sea
Around Us, it is exceedingly well done.

To have dealt in a strictly factual
way with pesticides, with equal prom-
inence to their good features as well
as their bad, would have given us a
book for scientists. But a book for
scientists was not what Miss Carson
or her publishers had in mind. Silent
Spring is aimed at the general public,
so it emphasizes only one aspect of
pest control, that is, the possibility of
the wholesale poisoning of man, and
other animals, through the thought-
less and indiscriminate use of physio-
logically potent pesticidal chemicals.

Miss Carson gives the public a very
dim view of the applied entomologist.
“The concepts and practices of ap-
plied entomology,” she says, “for the
most part date from the stone age of
science. It is an alarming misfortune
that so primitive a science has armed
itself with the most modern and ter-
rible weapons, and that in turning
them against the insects it has also
turned them against the earth.” That
is her parting blast.

Despite all the work that has gone
into this book the author cannot have
learned a great deal about applied
entomology. Presumably she has not
understood that applied entomology
includes the application of the prin-
ciples of biological control, a proced-
ure to which she gives highest praise.
To refer to applied entomology as a
stone age science might presuppose
an immensely erudite critic. Admit-
ting her undoubted skill as a writer,
Miss Carson has erected no notable

landmarks in science. Her background
in research hardly qualifies her to
launch a sweeping indictment of a
branch of science that is patently
foreign to her.

But the end may justify the
means. Certainly, if Silent Spring
fails to arouse the public, and bring
about a change of emphasis in pest
control procedures, it will be no fault
of Rachel Carson. If the book puts an
end to massive, ill-conceived cam-
paigns to wipe out insects over wide
areas by the wholesale application of
chemicals, or if it discourages the
blind reliance on chemical control
that is only too obvious in some parts
of North America, it will serve well
indeed.

Back of the current pesticide scare
there are faddists. On the one hand
are the food faddists who harbour the
neurotic suspicion of insidious poison-
ing from almost any food that is not
“naturally” grown. On the other hand
are the eradication faddists who have
an urge to rid the world, or bits of it,
of any organism that might be
labelled “pest.” Despite public shock
following the tragedy of thalidomide,
if we had no faddists doubtless we
would have no pesticide scare.

Silent Spring deplores the wide-
spread and, in a sense, indiscriminate
operations of the professional eradi-
cator, as well it might. But it does
not differentiate sufficiently between
campaigns aimed at the eradication
of an insect over a wide area, and the
operations of a farmer or fruit grower
aimed at the control of an insect on
his own property. To eradicate an
insect with pesticides is an exceed-
ingly difficult, in fact almost impos-
sible, job. But merely to control an
insect over a modest area is usually
a routine operation. In the first case
the use of pesticides generally is
prodigal, and failure is soon forgot-
ten; those responsible are financially

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

unaffected. In the second case the
individual has to pay for the pesti-
cides, and failure can mean serious
financial loss.

Although Miss Carson is not op-
posed to the use of pesticides — “It is
not my contention that chemical
insecticides must never be used. I do
contend that we have put poisonous
and biologically potent chemicals
into the hands of persons largely or
wholly ignorant of their potential for
harm” — she does not tell us how to
reconcile the two statements. It is
difficult to imagine how more than a
handful of people could qualify as
pesticide applicators if qualification
meant adequate schooling in the
intricacies of toxicology and biologi-
cal control. As long as pesticides are
used they will, in all likelihood, be
used by people who know little or
nothing of their side effects. The
problem is to develop pesticides so
specific that harmful effects will not
overshadow beneficial effects. Sub-
stantial progress has already been
made in that direction. That is con-
trary to Miss Carson’s opinion that all
pesticides should be called biocides.

An obvious reply to Silent Spring
is that serious curtailment of pesti-
cide usage would mean more human
hunger. The author has foreseen the
criticism. She maintains that the real
food problem nowadays is, in fact
over-production. It is costing the
United States about one billion dol-
lars a year to carry surplus food
supplies. She does not mention that
over two-thirds of the world’s popu-
lation is undernourished. Nor does
she mention that the surplus would
vanish overnight if pests and diseases
were uncontrolled. Nor does she men-
tion that the stock piled foods do not
by any means cover the United States
dietary.

Here is an example of a curious
blind spot in Miss Carson’s approach;
the belief that there is something

particularly stealthy and baleful
about chemicals that are synthesized
around carbon. She notes that in
Nova Scotia, where pest control she
believes, is on a highly enlightened
plane, synthetic insecticides are
avoided. The recommended ones are
Rvania, nicotine sulphate and lead
arsenate. On several occasions she
refers approvingly to Ryania. Her
assumption appears to be that be-
cause Ryania is derived from a plant
it has special virtues as a pesticide,
i.e., toxic to pests yet innocuous to
plants, or to the higher animals. But
experiments conducted in British
Columbia apple orchards have shown
Ryania to be highly phytotoxic. And
if it had been given a fraction of the
toxicological study that has been
accorded DDT who knows what other
doubtful qualities might have come
to light.

As for nicotine sulphate, the fact
that it too is derived from a plant
makes it no less toxic to mammals.
Of 61 currently listed insecticides
nicotine sulphate is the seventh most
lethal to humans, and its residue per-
sists longer than is generally believed.

In one chapter of Silent Spring
mention is made of the high mam-
malian toxicity of the arsenicals. But
the third insecticide that apparently
meets with the author’s approval
(perhaps because it does not have a
bad record against birds) is the worst
of the arsenicals. Lead arsenate, in
fact, is perhaps the most sinister
pesticide that has ever been in com-
mon use. During the 17 years since
lead arsenate was banished from
British Columbia orchards, spray
poisoning of orchard workers has
dropped from a commonplace to a
rarity. And the wholesale poisoning
of orchard soils has been halted. Yet
the substitutes are synthetic organic
compounds held in special horror by
Silent Spring.

Proc. Enxomoi. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

Since agriculture is strange terri-
tory for Miss Carson it is to be
expected that she will lose her way
from time to time in that most com-
plex of sciences. Here is an example
of a seemingly minor lapse that leads
to a notable misconception. In East-
ern apple growing districts where
forested areas often adjoin orchards
the codling moth may be greatly
reduced during the winter by wood-
peckers. Since in those areas the
insect has- but one generation a year,
birds may thus play a measurable or
even a decisive role in controlling it.
Silent Spring implies that wood-
peckers are effective agents of codling
moth control everywhere. That may
not be so. In the drier areas of West-
ern North America the apple orchards
are generally well removed from
forested areas, and the codling moth
may have three generations a year.
Even in neglected orchards, near
woodlands in which woodpeckers are
active during the winter, there are
always codling moth survivors. In
two or three generations, over the
course of four or five months, the
progeny of those survivors increase
to such numbers that the fruit is
invariably a total loss.

Silent Spring has particularly bit-
ter words for the chlorinated hydro-
carbons. In one chapter Miss Carson
has them leaching out the soil and
contaminating underground water,
with incalculable potential for harm.
In another chapter she emphasizes
that their prolonged persistence in
the soil is a hazard to the complex
web of life that maintains soil fer-
tility. These are versatile compounds
indeed.

Silent Spring contends that new
chemicals introduced to combat the
development of pesticide resistance
will necessarily be more and more
poisonous to higher animals. The
reasoning is unclear. As time passes
more and more of the new pesticides
have low rather than high mammal-

ian toxicity. An example is Sevin, a
new compound used to combat cer-
tain insects that have become resist-
ant to DDT. Sevin is even less toxic
to the higher animals than DDT.
Another example is the acaricide
Tedion, of which 2 pounds is the
estimated lethal dose for an adult
human. Pity the adult human who,
at one sitting, downs even one pound
of ordinary table salt!

In her preoccupation with biologi-
cal control Miss Carson overlooks the
fact that the great majority of
applied entomologists are far from
wedded to the use of pesticides. (Ad-
mittedly there are exceptions.)
Indeed, few applied entomologists
would not cheerfully bury all pesti-
cidal chemicals if that were feasible.
Silent Spring conveys a different
thought. Referring to biological con-
trol there is this: “It had its period of
drought, when workers in applied
entomology, dazzled by the spectacu-
lar new insecticides, of the 1940’s,
turned their backs on all biological
methods and set foot on the treadmill
of chemical control.” Tut tut, Miss
Carson!

Few entomologists would disagree
with Silent Spring’s approving quote
from the Director of the Plant Pro-
tection Service of Holland. “Practical
advice should be: ‘Spray as little as
you possibly can’.” Although there
have been some lapses, certainly that
broadly summarizes Canadian policy.
It is a far cry from the picture
painted by Miss Carson.

If Silent Spring succeeds in bring-
ing about a more rational use of
pesticides it will do what it sets out to
do, and will be for the general good.
The danger is that it may do more
than it sets out to do. If the book
leads to unreasoning fear, and hence
to unnecessarily restrictive pesticide
legislation, the cost of food produc-
tion will assuredly rise. Then the
consumer will suffer; and the poorer
the consumer the more the suffering.

Pkoc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

Phaeoura mexicanaria (Grote) in British Columbia
(Lepidoptera: Geometridae)

J. Grant i

Rindge (1961) gives the range of the geo-
metrid moth, Phaeoura mexicanaria (Grote),
as the western United States. Although
there are no published records for this spe-
cies in British Columbia, larvae have been
taken in Forest Insect Survey collections on
a few occasions in the southern Interior:
Kettle Valley, 28 August, 1953; Salmon Arm,
17 July, 1958; Grand Forks, 12 August, 1959;
and Oliver, 24 August, 1961. Larvae were
obtained by beating the branches of pon-
derosa pine trees over a sheet laid on the
ground, and were fed ponderosa pine foliage
in the insectary for periods up to 26 days
before they pupated. The only members of
the genus for which the food plants were
previously known were two deciduous feed-
ers: P. quernaria (J. E. Smith) on oak and
cherry, and P. cristifera Hulst on willow.

The larva of P. mexicanaria resembles a
rough twig of the host tree. A description
of an ultimate-instar larva from Grand Forks
follows: head 4.56 mm. wide, pale brown,
notched, with brown patches suggesting a
herring-bone pattern; body 44 mm. long,
6.4 mm. wide, pale brown, covered with line

i Forest Entomology Laboratory, Vernon, B.C.

brown granules; conspicuous tubercles bear-
ing setae D-2 on abdominal segments 1 to
5 and setae D-l on segment 8. Tubercles
largest on A2, gradually diminishing in size
to A5; those on A8 about equal in size to
those on A3. An adult reared from this
larva was identified by Dr. E. Munroe of the
Entomology Research Institute, Ottawa, as
P. magnifieans Dyar; since reduced in
Rindge’s revision to synonymy with mexi-
canaria.

An adult male, also identified by Dr. Mun-
roe, was collected at Rock Creek on 10 July,
1958. It was flying in a lighted garage about
10 p.m.

Acknowledgment

The writer is indebted to Dr. W. C. Mc-
Guifin, Forest Entomology and Pathology
Laboratory, Canada Department of Forestry,
Calgary, Alta., for the description of the
larva.

References

Rindge, F. H. 1961. A Revision of the Naco-
phorini (Lepidoptera, Geometridae).

Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 123: 91-
153.

EDITOR'S NOTE

It may surprise contributors and
readers to learn how widely the Pro-
ceedings are distributed. Here is a list
of places outside British Columbia to
which one or more copies are sent,
either in exchange for publications or
by subscription.

In Canada:

Belleville, Ont.
Calgary, Alta.
Edmonton, Alta.
Fredericton, N.B.
Guelph, Ont.
Halifax, N.S.
Hamilton, Ont.
Lethbridge, Alta.

In the U.S.:

Ames, la.

Anchorage, Alaska
Ann Arbor, Mich.
Atlanta, Ga.
Berkeley, Calif.
Bozeman, Mont.
Cambridge, Mass.
Chicago, 111.
Cincinnati, 0.
Corvallis, Oreg.
Davis, Calif.

Montreal, Que.
Ottawa, Ont.
Quebec, Que.
Saskatoon, Sask.
Sault Ste. Marie,
Ont.

Toronto, Ont.
Winnipeg, Man.

Fayetteville, Ark.
Honolulu, Hawaii.
Indianapolis, Ind.
Ithaca, N.Y.
Lincoln, Neb.

Los Angeles, Calif.
Madison, Wis.
Manhattan, Kan.
Mount Vernon,
Wash.

New Haven, Conn.

New York, N.Y.
Philadelphia, Pa.
Portland, Oreg.
Prosser, Wash.
Provo, Utah.
Pullman, Wash.
Raleigh, N.C.
Reading, Pa.

Elsewhere:

Adelaide, Australia
Amsterdam, Holland
Berlin, Germany
Bologna, Italy
Brisbane, Australia
Canberra, A.C.T.
Coimbra, Portugal
Dunedin,

New Zealand
Frunze, U.S.S.R.
Fukuoka, Japan
Leningrad, U.S.S.R.
Lisbon, Portugal
London, England
Lund, Sweden
Manila, Philippines
Mexico City, Mexico
Moscow, U.S.S.R.
Nelson,

New Zealand
Paris, France
Portici, Italy

Sacramento, Calif.
San Francisco, Calif.
Seattle, Wash.

St. Paul, Minn,
Tucson, Ariz.

Union Gap, Wash.
Urbana, Mich.
Washington, D.C.

Pretoria,

South Africa
Rio de Janiero,
Brazil
Rotorua,

New Zealand
Sapporo, Japan
Stockholm, Sweden
Taipei, Formosa
Teheran, Iran
Tikkurila, Finland
Tokyo, Japan
Uppsala, Sweden
Venice, Italy
Versailles, France
Warsaw, Poland
Wellington,

New Zealand
Weybridge, England
York, England
Zurich,

Switzerland

Pkoc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Yol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

BOOK REVIEW

A Handbook of Biological Illustra-
tion, by F. W. Zweifel. University of
Chicago Press, 1961. Pp. 131. $1.95.

This paper-back fills a need. Here,
in simple terms are clear instructions
and up-to-date information “for the
biologist who is not an artist and the
artist who is not a biologist.” The
author is both. She holds a B.A. in
zoology, and from the University of
Arizona an M.A. in art. The book is
an expansion of her thesis.

Although not exhaustive the cov-
erage appears to be adequate, and the
rather brief treatment is well plan-
ned, as the chapter headings show:
Printing Processes, Size and Reduc-
tion of Illustrations for Publication,
Materials, Drawing, Preparation of
Graphs and Maps, Lettering, Illustra-
tions from Photographs, Mounting

and Handling Illustrations. The
chapters on drawing and graphs take
up more than half of the book.

One illustration is worth special
mention. In describing the use of
scratchboard (cardboard surfaced
with chalk) the author shows 3 stages
in drawing the ventral view of a
bandicoot’s skull. The finished pro-
duct (p. 60) is a classic, having an
almost three-dimensional quality.

The printing, paper, and of course
the illustrations are of high quality,
which may account for the rather
high price. Fifteen different refer-
ences are given at the ends of the
chapters, but are not cited in the
text. There are sub-headings within
the chapters, and an index.

— H. R. MacCarthy.

Proc. Ex to mol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

BOOK REVIEW

Observations and Experiments in
Natural History, by Alan Dale. New
York. Doubleday - American Museum
of Natural History, 1962. Pp. x and
148. $.95.

For anyone concerned with in-
structing young people in biology or
research this attractive little book
could be a good starting point. Its
English author, who died in 1960 at
44, was a teacher who must have had
a flair for generating curiosity and
excitement. He was influential in
revising the curriculum in High
School biology in the U.K., and was
the author of 3 textbooks and ‘Pat-
terns of Life’ and ‘Introduction to
Social Biology.’ The current edition
of this book has been adapted for
North American use from the 1960
original.

First of the 6 chapters is an intro-
duction in which Dale illustrates
research methods and pitfalls. Then
follow observations and experiments
on invertebrates, insects (45 pages),
vertebrates, lower plants, and higher
plants. There are simple experiments
on snails (homing, use of oxygen),
flukes, crustaceans, earthworms
(light reactions, regeneration, bur-
rows) , spiders, hydra, centipedes, and
millipedes.

In the insects there are experiments
on pupation and hibernation, photo-
taxis and feeding, light-compass
reactions, color and sex recognition
by Lepidoptera, selection of food by

caterpillars, pollination by various
bees, olfaction in ants, and so on. The
subjects are common, e.g.: beetles
(water, click, burying, ground, and
Geotrupes ) ; water striders and water
boatmen; lacewings, grasshoppers,
gall makers, cabbage butterflies and
aphids.

But there is more than just experi-
ments and observations. On every
page the author poses questions and
leaves problems dangling, perhaps
with a hint as to how answers might
be found. He sees groups of 5 or 6
water striders in mid-winter. Are
they feeding? On what? How long
can they go without food? If males
play no part in rearing larvae are
over- wintering adults always female?
Try with bumblebees, mosquitoes and
earwigs. How fast do aphids repro-
duce? Which end of an aphid is born
first? Do blowflies arrive at rotting
meat in succession or at random?
Dale thinks Calliphora come first and
Lucilia a day or so later. The same
fertility of ideas runs through the
chapters on vertebrates and plants.

The style is easy and appropriate
with no undue use of the first person.
There are 28 sketches in the text and
8 original halftone plates illustrating
13 or 14 of the phenomena dealt with.
In short, here is a book to stimulate
the latent biologist in most young
people.

— H. R. MacCarthy.

Proc. Entomoi, Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 59 (1962), Dec. 1, 1962

BOOK REVIEW

Insects , a Guide to Familiar Amer-
ican Insects. H. S. Zim and C. Cottam.
New York, Simon & Schuster, 1956.
Pp. 160. $1.00.

One of the avowed aims of our
society is to encourage amateur
entomology. Members who are asked
to suggest a book for beginners need
look no further than this really
pocket-sized Golden Nature Guide.
The authors are the ubiquitous Dr.
H. S. Zim, Professor of Education at
the University of Illinois, and Dr.
Clarence Cottam, Director of the
Welder Wildlife Foundation, Former-
ly Assistant Director of the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service. The all-import-
ant illustrations are by James Gordon
Irving. These are all in color, mostly
showing food plants or other back-
ground. It is surprising that the book
is not better known for this is the
revised second edition; the first edi-
tion appeared in 1951.

To save space there is no table of
contents, but there is an index. The
book opens with directions and a
short descriptive key to 15 orders with
typical specimens illustrated. Then
comes a 10-page outline, giving one
or 2 paragraphs each on: what insects
are; insect relatives; numbers; in-
sects and man; insects in their place;

control; family tree; structure; when
and where to look; and how to set
about collecting and studying. Later
2 pages of text describe and distin-
guish between butterflies and moths.
These pages are enlivened by mar-
ginal and text pictures. Most of the
225 species on 135 pages have their
ranges shown on small maps, cover-
ing North America from just south of
the Mexican border to about 200 miles
into Canada. Naturally, the species
include some not found in Canada,
nevertheless all the insects are com-
mon but showy or striking in some
way. Scientific names of all the
species illustrated, are given in a sec-
ond index by page numbers. There is
also an annotated list of 6 books to
cover the next stage of study or
inquiry. These are: Comstock , J. H.,
An Introduction to Entomology ;
Jaques, H. E., How to know the In-
sects; Klots, A. B ., A Field Guide to
the Butterflies ; Lutz, F. E., Field Book
of Insects; Swain , R., The Insect
Guide; and XJrquhart, F. A., Introduc-
ing the Insect.

In sum, this little book is a miracle
of compression. For price, coverage,
and sheer attractiveness it has no
peer.

—H. R. MacCarthy.

Printed by The Vernon News Ltd.

PROCEEDINGS

of Hi©

ENTOMOLOGICAL
SOCIETY 0f
BRITISH COLUMBIA

ECONOMIC Page

Wilkinson — Wireworms of cultivated land in British Columbia 3

Downing and Jack — The specificity of Binapacryl, a dinitro miticide,

against the European red and McDaniel spider mites 19

Curtis — Mosquito production in sewage lagoons . ... 22

Spencer — Control of pests in herbarium and insect cabinets 23

Marshall — Background for integrated spraying in the orchards of

British Columbia 26

Ross and Arkand — Preliminary insecticide tests against the Douglas-fir

needle midges, Gontarinia spp., Larkin, B.C., 1962 32

v GENERAL

Sugden and Ross — Annotated list of forest insects of British Columbia.

Part XI Papilio spp. (Papilionidae) 17

Forbes — An occurrence of the bulb and potato aphid, Rhopalosiphoninus
laty siphon (Davidson) (Homoptera: Aphididae), on potato in

British Columbia 30

Dennys — Phidippus and the wasp 34

Hardy — Notes on the life histories of four moths and one butterfly from
Vancouver Island (Lepidoptera: Phalaenidae, Lasiocampidae

and Lycaenidae) 35

Scudder — Ileteroptera stranded at high altitudes in the Pacific Northwest 41
Rudd — Khapra beetle, Trogoderma granarium Everts, intercepted at

Vancouver, B.C 45

Spencer — Further records of delayed emergence of Ruprestis aurulenta L.

(Coleoptera: Buprestidae) 45

Wilde — Hyperpredators of the pear psylla, Psylla pyricola Foerster

(Homoptera: Chermidae) 48

Gregson — The decline of the Pacific tick ( Ixodes pacificus Cooley and

Kohls) at West Vancouver 50

Obituaries — F. C. Whitehouse 52

Mrs. M. E. (Hippesley) Clark 53

Edward Ronald Buckell 55

Science Notes 17, 21, 40, 44, 47, 52

Book Reviews 56, 57, 58, 59

PROCEEDINGS

of the

ENTOMOLOGICAL
SOCIETY 0f
BRITISH COLUMBIA

Vol. 60 Issued December 1st, 1963

ECONOMIC Page

Wilkinson — -Wire-worms of cultivated land in British Columbia . 3

Downing and Jack — The specificity of Binapacryl, a dinitro mi'ticide,

against the European red and McDaniel spider mites 19

Curtis — Mosquito production in sewage lagoons 22

Spencer — Control of pests in herbarium and insect cabinets 23

Marshall — Background for integrated spraying in the orchards of

British Columbia 26

Ross and Arran d — Preliminary insecticide tests against the Douglas-fir

needle midges, Contarinia spp., Larkin, B.C., 1962 32

GENERAL

Sugden and Ross — Annotated list of forest insects of British. Columbia.

Part XI Papilio spp. (Papilionidae) 17

Forbes — An occurrence of the bulb and potato aphid, Rhopalosiphoninus
laty siphon (Davidson) (Homoptera: Aphididae), on potato in

British Columbia 30

Dennys — Phidippus and the wasp 34

Hardy — Notes on the life histories of four moths and one butterfly from
Vancouver Island (Lepidoptera: Phalaenidae, Lasiocampidae

and Lycaenidae) 35

Scudder — Heteroptera stranded at high altitudes in the Pacific Northwest 41
Rudd — Khapra beetle, Trogoderma grgnarium Everts, intercepted at

Vancouver, B.C 45

Spencer — Further records of delayed emergence of Buprestis aurulenta L.

(Coleoptera: Buprestidaa) 45

Wilde — Hyperpredators of tho pear psylla, Psylla pyricola Foerster

(Homoptera: Chermidae) 48

Gregson — The decline of the Pacific tick ( Ixodes pacificus Cooley and

Kohls) at West Vancouver 50

Obituaries — F. C. Whitehouse 52

Mrs. M. E. (Hippesley) Clark 53

Edward Ronald Buckell 55

Science Notes 17, 21, 40, 44, 47, 52

Book Reviews 56, 57, 58, 59

PliOC. E.ntomoi.. Soc. Brit. Columbia., Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1,

DIRECTORS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF
BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR 1963-64

Honorary President

Honorable Frank Richter
Minister of Agriculture, Victoria

President

R. R. Lejeune, Victoria

President-Elect
M. G. Thompson

Vice-President
J. C. Arrand

Secretary -Treasurer
Peter Zuk

Honorary Auditor
D. G. Finlayson

Editorial Committee

H. R. MacCarthy, Chairman R. R. Lejeune

J. A. Marshall W. G. Mathers D. A. Ross

Advisory Board

G. J. Spencer, Vancouver H. G. Fulton, Chilliwack

C. V. G. Morgan, Summerland L. C. Curtis, Kamloops

M. G. Thompson, Vancouver

Pkoc. E.MOiior,. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

WIREWORMS OF CULTIVATED LAND IN BRITISH COLUMBIA1

A. T. Wilkinson

The first published record of wire-
worm damage in British Columbia
appears to be that of Anderson (1892)
who reported great damage during
1891 at Salmon Arm and South Saan-
ich by a “hard yellow worm, the larva
of the skip jack beetle”. Many reports
of damage followed but identifica-
tions were largely by inference based
on adults collected in the general
area where wireworm damage occur-
red. The first authentic identification
of pest species appears to be that of
Glen et al. (1943). They listed Limon-
ius canus LeC., Ludius (=Ctenicera)
aeripennis Kby., L. ( —C .) glauca
Germ., and L. (— C.) pruinina Horn,
as pests in the Okanagan Valley and
L. (-C.) aeripennis and L. canus as
pests of truck crops on the Pacific
Coast. In the Peace River area they
found L. (=C.) a. destructor ( =des -
tructor) Brown and Cryptohypnus
(= Hypolithus ) nocturnus ( =bicolor )
Esch. attacking grain and truck crops.
From 1946 to 1958 annual surveys
were made of many agricultural areas
to identify the species found and to
determine their importance as pests.
The purpose of this paper is to bring
together the information obtained
in the surveys (Table 1), and to pro-
vide a workable key to the known
local species.

Methods

The surveys were carried out main-
ly during the spring when the larvae
could be found near the surface

1 Contribution No. 57, Research Station, Re-
search Branch, Canada Department of Agriculture,
6660 N.W. Marine Drive, Vancouver 8, B.C,

2 Now retired at Tacoma, Washington.

actively feeding on seeds or seedlings.
Large numbers were collected wher-
ever possible; sorhe were preserved
and some reared to obtain adults for
positive identification. In some areas
damage was assessed at harvest.
Grower’s inquiries on wireworms were
followed up and assistance was ob-
tained from Provincial District Agri-
culturists and Horticulturists in
locating areas where wireworms were
troublesome. Adults were collected by
sweeping the grass and beating
shrubs and trees around the fields.
This was done to help determine the
larvae found in the fields.

The illustrations were made with
the aid of a squared reticule, but are
not drawn to the same scale through-
out. The adults were identified by E.
C. Becker, Taxonomy Section, Ento-
mology Research Institute, Ottawa,
and by M. C. Lane2, U.S.D.A., Walla
Walla, Washington. Determinations
of larvae were made or checked by
M. C. Lane.

The key to the species was made
using largely the methods and ter-
minology of Glen et al. (1943) and
Glen (1950). The lengths given for
larvae are those of the last instar at
full growth.

Results and Discussion

Twenty-seven species of wireworms
in 9 genera have been identified from
cultivated land. Other Dalopius
species were found and are listed here
but are not separable to species in
the larval stage. It has not been pos-

Proc. Extomol. Soo. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1. 1963

sibie to determine their separate
importance as pests. The larvae of 9
species in other genera have been
recognized only recently and describ-
ed in this paper for the first time.
Little is known about their habits or
status, but none of these new species
is thought to have caused appreciable
damage in the past.

Genus AGRIOTES Eschscholfz

This is one of the most important
genera. Six species are found in agri-
cultural land: Agriotes criddlei Van
D., A. ferrugineipennis (LeC.), A.
opaculus (LeC.), and A. sparsus LeC.
are native, but A. lineatus (L.) and A,
obscurus (L.) were introduced from
Europe around 1900. The 9th abdom-
inal segments (Fig. 2, 36, 37, 39, 40)
of Agriotes and Dalopius are conical
and pointed, which separates them
from the 7 other genera mentioned
in this paper. In Agriotes the 9th ab-
dominal segment lacks the two cen-
tral dorsal setae (Fig. 37) which are
present in the closely related Dalop-
ius (Fig. 36). Becker (1956) included
10 species of Agriotes in his key to
the larvae of nearctic species. The
larva of A. opaculus was not included
in Becker’s key since it was recog-
nized only in 1956.

Agriotes criddlei Van Dyke. The
larva is small, about 10 mm. long.
Like Dalopius it has a ring of setifer-
ous tubercles (Fig. 36) on the apical
third of the 9th abdominal segment
which separates it from other Agriotes
but has the blunt point typical of
Agriotes. Glen (1944) described the
larva in detail.

It has been found in three locations
in upper parkland loam where wheat
was grown. Once only was it found
feeding on the seedlings. The damage
caused was considered negligible.

Agriotes ferrugineipennis (Le-
Conte). This larva is large, about 21
mm. long. It is readily distinguished

from other Agriotes by the nipple-
like, blunt tip of the 9th segment
(Fig. 39) and a small, well defined
eye spot at the base of each antenna.

Glen (1944) described this larva
as Agriotes sp. It is found across
southern British Columbia and is
especially abundant in the lower
Fraser Valley. It seems to have no
preference for any particular type of
soil but is usually found in wet areas
and irrigated land. Often it is found
in gardens where the soil is kept wet
by sprinkling. It has not been found
in large numbers nor has it been re-
ported damaging crops.

Agriotes opaculus (LeConte). This
larva is about 15 mm. long, and is
generally lighter yellow than any
other species. The setae are fine, light
colored and very difficult to see, which
gives the larva a naked look. There
is no eye spot at the base of the
antenna (Fig. 38).

Only one infestation has been
found. A. opaculus and C, aeripennis
were found together feeding on potato
seed pieces near Quesnel. The land
was silty-loam and had been in sod
for the previous 4 years.

Agriotes sparsus LeConte. About
17 mm. long. It has two clear muscu-
lar impressions (Fig. 37) similar to
those of lineatus and obscurus but is
somewhat smaller and lacks eye
spots (Fig. 38) at the base of the
antenna. Becker (1956) has described
this larva more fully.

The larvae of sparsus are found
mostly in low, moist, silty-loam soils
in the delta of the Fraser River. They
have been found causing damage as
far east as Cloverdale. This is one of
the main pests attacking potatoes in
the area. In one field near Ladner in
1955 where a population of nine A.
sparsus larvae per sq. ft. was found,
65 per cent of the potatoes were
graded as unmarketable for table

Pkoc. Extomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

use because of wireworm damage and
the average damage in nine fields was
20 per cent. Damage usually occurs
when potatoes are planted following
sod and is more severe in the second
year. Most of the damage is caused
late in the season so that early pota-
toes are seldom damaged. There is
one record of their attacking gladio-
lus corms on Lulu Island. Ctenicera
lobata (Esch.) is often found in the
same fields as sparsus.

Agriotes linecitus (Linnaeus) and
Agriotes obscurus (Linnaeus) . The
larvae of these Old World species are
extremely difficult to separate. They
are discussed here together. Full
grown larvae are 18-22 mm. long.
Both have muscular impressions on
the 9th abdominal segment (Fig. 37),
and eye spots (Fig. 38) at the base of
the antenna. Both have been des-
cribed by Beling (1883), Eidt (1954),
and Becker (1956). A. lineatus has
also been described by Roberts (1928,
p. 90) and A. obscurus by Ford (1917) .

The distribution in British Colum-
bia is limited to two areas each of
about 1000 acres near the coast. The
rate of spread is slow. Both species
are found near Cobble Hill on south-
ern Vancouver Island but A. lineatus
is dominant (King, 1950). A. obscurus
alone occurs near Agassiz in the lower
Fraser valley (King, et al., 1952). Po-
tatoes, corn and rye planted following-
pasture have been very severely dam-
aged (Wilkinson, 1957). Populations
of more than 20 wireworms per square
foot have been found in pastures, but
less than half this number have
caused severe reduction in stands of
corn.

The soil at Agassiz is silty-loam and
at Cobble Hill it is clay, but both
species may occur in light sandy,
gravelly and muck soils so long as
the moisture remains high all year.

Genus CTENICERA Latreille

Eight species of this important
genus have been found. They are,
Ctenicera aeripennis (Kby.), C. fun-
erea (Brown), C. glauca (Germ.), C.
morula (LeC.) C. pruinina (Horn),
and C. semimetallica (Walk.) in one
group and C. lobata (Esch.) and C.
resplendens (Esch.) in another. The
first group has a large caudal notch
(Fig. 1, 22, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30), and the
presternum of the prothorax is divid-
ed into four sclerites (Fig. 16). The
second group has a small caudal
notch (Fig. 7, 8) and the presternum
of the prothorax is undivided (Fig.
15). The larvae of lobata and res-
plendens resemble closely those of
the genus Limonius included in this
paper. The larvae of funerea, semi-
metallica, morula , lobata, and res-
plendens are described here for the
first time.

Ctenicera aeripennis (Kirby) and
Ctenicera destructor (Brown). Glen
(1950) described destructor in detail
and found it indistinguishable from
aeripennis except by size. The larva
of aeripennis attains 28 mm. but des-
tructor rarely exceeds 22 mm. The
most important character separating
the aeripennis-destructor complex
from other Ctenicera having a large
caudal notch, is the lack of setae on
the central dorsal area of the 9th
abdominal segment (Fig. 29). C.
glauca is also without setae in this
area (Fig. 26) but can be recognized
by the sharp horny protuberances on
the lateral margins of the 9th seg-
ment (Fig. 26), and by relatively
slender urogomphi (Fig. 27). In aeri-
pennis and destructor, the protuber-
ances are rounded and the urogomphi
are short and thick (Fig. 29, 31).

C. aeripennis is by far the most
widespread pest species in the pro-
vince. Larvae have been found in all
agricultural areas. It is found in light
sandy loams in the valleys but is

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

much more abundant in high park-
land soils. It is not found in large
numbers in irrigated land. Glen
(1950) records both aeripennis and
destructor in the Peace River area
with destructor predominating in
open grassland. Because they are in-
distinguishable and both occur in
the same general area of the Peace
River Block, the localities are listed
in Table I for the aeripennis-des-
tructor complex. The two species are
not known to occur together else-
where.

Ctenicera glauca (Germar). The
largest specimen collected measured
17 mm. The species falls in with the
aeripennis group but can easily be
separated by projections on the lat-
eral margins and the urogomphi (Fig.
26). Glen (1950) described this species
in detail.

It has been found in three areas
attacking wheat in parkland soil. It
was found with aeripennis but was
never numerous enough to cause ser-
ious damage. It was also found in
muck soil in the Okanagan Valley
near Vernon damaging cabbage
transplants.

Ctenicera morula (LeConte).
Length about 23 mm. C. morula re-
sembles aeripennis in appearance
and is found with aeripennis in the
same habitat. It can be separated by
the presence of 4 setae on the central
dorsal area of the 9th abdominal
segment (Fig. 30) which are lacking
on aeripennis (Fig. 29). In lateral
view the urogomphal prongs on
morula and funerea are like grappl-
ing hooks (Fig. 32) . These two species
can be separated by the inner prongs;
on morula the inner prongs angle
inward from the base (Fig. 30), while
on funerea they curve strongly inward
(Fig. 25).

There is no record of crop damage
by this species. It is usually found

with aeripennis in well-drained light
soils but is never the predominant
species nor does it occur in numbers
that would cause serious damage.

Ctenicera funerea (Brown) . Length
about 15 mm. C. funerea has a large
caudal notch and urogomphal prongs
like grappling hooks (Fig. 32). It can
be further identified by the presence
of several small setae in addition to
the 4 larger setae in the central dor-
sal area of the 9th abdominal seg-
ment (Fig. 25).

There is no record of damage by
this species. It has been found only
twice: in well-drained, light, sandy-
loam soil planted in wheat, and in an
irrigated orchard.

Ctenicera pruinina (Horn). Length
about 22 mm. It can be separated
from other species in the group by
having a large caudal notch, 4 or
more setae on the central dorsal area
and outer urogomphal prongs which
are straight or bent slightly caudad
at the tip (Fig. 33). The outer prongs
of funerea , morula, aeripennis and
glauca all have outer prongs that
curve sharply caudad (Fig. 31, 32).
Glen (1950) described this larva more
fully.

This is a serious pest of grain crops
in dry-farming areas of Washington,
Idaho and Oregon (Lane, 1925, 1935)
but there is no record of it as a pest
in British Columbia. It has been found
only in newly broken sagebrush land
in the southern Okanagan Valley.

Ctenicera semimetallica (Walker).
The largest specimen measured 23
mm. It is similar to aeripennis and
morula but can be separated by the
two setae on the central dorsal area
of the 9th abdominal segment (Fig.
22).

Several specimens are usually
found in large collections of aeripen-
nis from parkland soils. There is no

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Deo. 1, 1963

record of it causing damage.

Ctenicera lobata (Eschscholtz) .
Length about 15 mm. This species
diners from previously mentioned
Ctenicera in having a small caudal
notch (Fig. 8) and an undivided
presternum of the prothorax (Fig.
15). The color varies from light yel-
low to brown depending upon the soil
in which it is found. In peat soil it is
whitish yellow, but in silt loam it is
much darker. It is very similar to
several Limonius larvae described
here but can readily be separated and
recognized by the dark transverse
striations on the dorsum of abdom-
inal segments 1-8 (Fig. 9).

Agriotes sparsus is found with C.
lobata in heavy silt loams but not in
peat soil. It is mainly a pest of late
potatoes in the Lower Fraser Valley
but has attacked other vegetable
crops and gladiolus conns. Damage is
usually heaviest when potatoes are
grown in the second year after sod.

Ctenicera resplendens (Esch-
scholtz) . The largest larva measured
27 mm. Like lobata this species has a
small caudal notch (Fig. 7) and an
undivided presternum of the pro-
thorax (Fig. 15). It can be separated
from lobata by the blunt setiferous
protuberances on the lateral margins
of the 9th abdominal segment; these
are more rounded and less prominent
on Limonius larvae (Fig. 19) and
lobata (Fig. 8) . It has been found in
land planted to wheat where aeri-
pennis was causing damage. It is not
considered a pest.

Genus LIMONIUS Eschscholtz

Five species of the genus Limonius
were found in agricultural land: the
Pacific Coast wire worm, L. canus LeC.,
the most important pest species; the
western field wire worm, L. infuscatus
Mots.; the sugar-beet wireworm, L„
calif ornicus Mann.; the Columbia

Basin wireworm, L. subauratus LeC.;
and L. pectoralis LeC.

Larvae of this group are recogniz-
ed by the small caudal notch and
small posterior aperture (Fig. 14, 19,
21) and by the undivided presternum
of the prothorax (Fig. 15). Other
genera having these characteristics
can be separated from Limonius by
transverse striations on the dorsum
of the abdominal segments 1-8 (Fig.
9) (Athous pallidipennis and C.
lobata ) or by prominent blunt setif-
erous protuberances on the lateral
margins of the 9th abdominal seg-
ment ( C. resplendens ) (Fig. 7). L.
canus , infuscatus , californicus and
subauratus were included in a key by
Lanchester (1946) to six Limonius
species. Lanehester’s method of sep-
aration was followed closely.

Limonius canus LeConte. Length
18 mm. The anterolateral grooves of
the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th abdominal
tergites (Fig. 18) fade as they ap-
proach the median suture on canus
and subauratus but remain strong
(Fig. 17) on infuscatus and califor-
nicus. Canus can be separated from
subauratus by the tergal plate which
is longer than wide with angulate
anterior corners in canus (Fig. 19)
and as wide as long with rounded
anterior corners in subauratus , (Fig.
21). Lanchester (1939) described the
species in detail.

This wireworm has been a major
pest of vegetables for many years. It
is generally found in light, moist,
sandy loam, and loam soils through-
out southern B.C. and Vancouver
Island and has become adapted to
conditions in irrigated areas. Seed-
lings are severely damaged in the
spring when the larvae feed near the
surface after overwintering at depths
of 2 or more feet. Root crops are dam-
aged in late summer and fall.

Limonius infuscatus Motschulsky.
This wireworm is similar to canus in

Pboc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia. Vol. 60 (1968), Deo. 1, 1963

size, color and habits but can readily
be separated from the other 4 Limon-
ius species by the outer urogomphi
which curve anteriorly to form hooks
(Fig. 13).

It is generally found with canus
and is often the predominant species
causing damage. It has not been
found so far north as canus.

Limonius californicus (Manner-
heim) . In size and color the larvae
are similar to those of canus and
infuscatus. The anterolateral grooves
remain strong as they approach the
median suture as in infuscatus (Fig.
17) but the outer urogomphal prongs
stand erect (Fig. 20).

This species was found in econ-
omic numbers only in the Kootenay
Valley near the Montana border,
where it was damaging potatoes. It
has been found as far north as Kel-
owna in the Okanagan Valley but
the infestations were light.

Limonius subauratus LeConte. The
larvae are similar to other Limonius
species in size and color. Like canus
the anterolateral grooves fade out as
they approach the median suture on
abdominal segments 1-8 (Fig. 18),
but unlike canus the tergal plate on
the 9th abdominal segment is wider
than long and the anterior corners
are rounded (Fig. 21).

According to Lane (in litt.) and
Lanchester (1946) this species is a
pest and may often be found with
other species of Limonius in the
Pacific Northwest, but we have found
a single specimen in 70 collections of
Limonius larvae. The adults of this
species have been collected in fields
bordering sandy moist river banks
but larvae have never been collected
in cultivated land.

Limonius pectoral is LeConte.
Length about 14 mm., colored light
yellow. The larvae of pectoralis differ
from other elaterid larvae in having
two prominent conical protuberances

on the dorsum of the 9th abdominal
segment (Fig. 14) . The outer prongs
of the urogomphi are reduced to
small pointed tubercles (Fig. 14).
Previous descriptions were made by
Glen et al. (1943) and Glen (1950). It
was found once in wheat growing in
loam near Prince George. The field
was also heavily infested with Cten-
icera aeripennis and Dalopius sp.

Genus HYPOLITHUS Eschscholtz

Only two species of this genus have
been found in cultivated soil in the
Province. They can be recognized by
the presence of small, dorsoposteroe-
picranial setae and medial antero-
tergal setae on the anterior part of
each body segment (Fig. 3) and by
four setae on the central dorsal area
of the 9th abdominal segment (Fig.

4) . The larva of Hypolithus impressi-
collis (Mann.) is described here for
the first time.

Hypolithus bicolor Eschscholtz.
Length 11 mm. It is separated from
H. impressicollis by the urogomphal
prongs: the inner prongs on bicolor
are larger than the outer prongs (Fig.

5) while on impressicollis the prongs
are subequal in length (Fig. 6). Glen
et al. (1943) described this larva
more fully.

This species appears to have a wide
range. It was found in well separated
localities (Table 1), generally in loam
soils. The population was usually low
but on occasion moderate damage
was caused.

Hypolithus impressicollis (Man-
nerheim) . Length 12 mm. This species
is readily separated from bicolor by
the urogomphal prongs.

It has been found only in the delta
of the Fraser River in low, poorly
drained fields. Damage observed has
been that caused to potato seed pieces
in spring but not to the mature crop.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

Genus MELANOTUS Eschscholfz

Melanotus oregonensis (LeConte) .
This species is the only representa-
tive of the genus found so far in the
Province. The larva is described here
for the first time. The largest larva
collected was 23 mm. and was consid-
erably darker than most wireworms.
It is readily recognized by the 9th
abdominal segment which is flatten-
ed and scalloped at the tip (Fig. 34,
35) and by striate impressions on the
anterior dorsum of each abdominal
segment (Fig. 35).

It is not considered a serious pest.
It was found only once, when it was
damaging newly-planted grape cut-
tings in light sandy soil in the Okan-
agan Valley.

Genus HEMICREPBDIUS Gervnar

Hemicrepidius or e g onus (Le-
Oonte). Only one species of this
genus has been found in cultivated
land. The largest larva collected mea-
sured 21 mm. This wireworm has not
been described previously. It has
transverse striations on the dorsum
of abdominal segments 1-8 (Fig. 9)
and an undivided presternum of the
prothorax like that of C. lohata (Fig.
15) but with a large caudal notch. It
is also similar to Athous species but
can be recognized by the absence of
eye spots at the base of the antennae.
It has been found only in the lower
Fraser Valley in muck and peat soils.
It has no record of damaging crops
in this area.

Genus ATHOUS Eschscholfz

Athous pallidipennis Mannerheim.
Length 21 mm. The caudal notch is
small (Fig. 11) and the outer prongs
are long, slender and curved anter-
iorly (Fig. 12). It has transverse stri-
ations (Fig. 9) like C. lobata and H.
oregonus but can be separated by the
sharp horny protuberances on the
lateral margins (Fig. 11). Eyes are
present. Glen (1950) described this

larva more fully. It has been found
twice in cultivated fields of muck
soil but is not considered of economic
importance.

Genus AEOLUS Eschscholfz

Aeolus mellillus (Say). The largest
larva collected measured 14 mm. This
small fiat larva is easily recognized
by the v-shaped caudal notch (Fig.
24) and the anal armature on the
10th abdominal segment (Fig. 23).
A more detailed description is given
by Comstock and Slingerland (1891).
It was found once in light sandy soil
planted to potatoes. It is not consid-
ered to be a pest species.

Genus DALOPIUS Eschscholfz

The genera Dalopius and Agriotes
are closely related and in many ways
are similar in habits and appearance.
Dalopius larvae are separated from
Agriotes by having central dorsal ter-
gal setae on the 9th abdominal seg-
ment (Fig. 36). The 9th segment of
Dalopius is pointed and bears three
whorls of pre-apical setiferous tub-
ercles (Fig. 36). The larvae are rela-
tively slender and the largest mea-
sured 19 mm. The following 10 species,
known to occur in British Columbia,
cannot be recognized or separated in
the larval stage: D. asellus Brown, D.
corvinus Brown, D. fucatus Brown,
D. gartrelli Brown, Z). insolens
Brown, D. insulanus Brown, D. mart-
timus Brown, D. spretus Brown, D.
suspectus Brown and D. tristis Brown.

Dalopius larvae have been found
in nearly every area but usually in
such small numbers that they are
not considered to be pests. Popula-
tions build up in sod but seldom
seem to survive even light culivation.
D. asellus Brown,’ which was identi-
fied by rearing larvae to adults, dam-
aged potato seed pieces in the Cari-
boo. Dalopius larvae also caused con-
siderable damage to a strawberry
planting in the Kootenay Valley.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

1. Ninth abdominal segment with me-
dian caudal notch (Fig. 1, 4)

Ninth abdominal segment without
median caudal notch (Fig. 2)

2. Head bearing dorsal poster© epicran-
ial setae; thoracic segments and first
8 abdominal segments bearing medial

anterotergal setae (Fig. 3)- 3

Without dorsal posteroepicranial

setae and medial anterotergal setae- 4

3. Inner prongs of urogomphi longer than

outer prongs iHypolifhus bicolor

Urogomiphal prongs subequal in length
(Fig. 6) Hypolithus impressieoilas

4. Caudal notch small with narrow pos-
terior aperture (Fig. 7, 8, 11, 14, 19,

21) 5

Caudal notch large with wide poster-
ior aperture (Fig. 1, 22, 24. 25, 26, 28,

29, 30) 12

5. Dorsum of abdominal segments 1-8

with transverse striations (Fig. 9). 1 6

Dorsum of abdominal segments with-
out transverse striations (Fig. 17, 18) 7

8. Outer prongs of urogomphi, long, slender
and curved anteriorly; ninth abdominal
segment with sharp horny protuberances

on lateral margins (Fig. 11, 12)

Athous pallidipennis
Outer prongs of urogomphi short and
erect; ninth abdominal segment with
small rounded protuberances (Fig. 8, 10)
Ctenicera lobata

7. Dorsum of ninth abdominal segment
with prominent, blunt setiferous protu-
berances on lateral margins (Fig. 7) — —

Ctenicera respiendens
Dorsum of ninth abdominal segment
with rounded less prominent protu-
berances on lateral margins (Fig. 14,

19, 21) 8

8. Ninth abdominal segment with two

conical protuberances on the central
dorsal area (Fig. 14) Limoniys pectoral is
Ninth abdominal segment without
protuberances on the central dorsal
area 9

9. Inner ends of anterolateral grooves

of second, third and fourth abdom-
inal tergites remain strong as they
approach the median suture (Fig. 17) 10
Inner ends of anterolateral grooves of
second, third and fourth abdominal
tergites fade and end before reach-
ing the median suture (Fig. 18) 11

10. Outer prongs of urogomphi curved

anteriorly to form hooks (Fig. 13)

Limonius infuscafus
Outer prongs of urogomphi erect or

inclined posteriorly (Fig. 20)

Limoniys califomicus

11. Tergal plate of ninth abdominal seg-

ment elongate, with' sides, straight
distinctly angulate (Fig. 19)

Limonius canus

Tergal plate of ninth abdominal seg-
ment round or oval with anterior
angles rounded (Fig. 21)

Limonius suhauratus

12. Tenth abdominal segment with anal
armature (Fig. 23); caudal notch V-

shaped (Fig. 24)_ Aeolus meiSiSSus

Tenth abdominal segment without
anal armature; caudal notch rounded
(Fig. 22, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30) 13

13. Presternum of prothorax divided in-
to 4 sclerites (Fig. 16) 14

Presternum of prothorax undivided
(Fig. 15) HemicrepidSiug ©regortus

14. Ninth abdominal segment with setae
on the central dorsal area (Fig. 22,

25, 28, 30) 15

Ninth abdominal segment without
setae on the central dorsal area (Fig.

26, 29) 18

15. Ninth abdominal segment with 2

setae on the central dorsal area; cau-
dal notch U-shaped (Fig. 22)

Ctenicera semimefallisa
Ninth abdominal segment with 4 or
more setae on the central dorsal
area; caudal notch not U-shaped, in-
ner prongs curved or angled inward

(Fig. 25, 28, 30) % 16

16. Outer prongs of urogomphi curved
strongly caudad (Fig. 32) 17

Outer prongs of urogomphi straight
or bent slightly caudad at the tip
(Fig. 33) .Ctenicera pruirsina

17. Inner prongs of urogomphi curved

strongly inward; protuberances on
lateral margins of ninth abdominal
segments small (Fig. 25)

Ctenicera ffunerea

Inner prongs of urogomphi angled in-
ward from base; lateral margins of
9th abdominal segment with promin-
ent protuberances (Fig. 30)

Ctenicera morula

18. Ninth abdominal segment with round-

ed protuberances on lateral margins
(Fig. 29); urogomphi short and thick
(Fig. 31) Ctenicera aeripennis

Ctenicera destructor
Ninth abdominal segment with sharp
homy protuberances on lateral mar-
gins (Fig 26), urogomphi relatively
slender (Fig. 27) Ctenicera giauea

19. Posterior of ninth abdominal segment
flattened and scalloped (Fig. 34, 35)

Meianofus ©regonensis
Posterior of ninth abdominal seg-
ment subcorneal (Fig. 2, 36, 37, 39,

40) 20

20. Central dorsotergal setae on ninth
abdominal segment as figured (Fig.

36) Dalopius spp.

Central dorsotergal setae not present
(Fig. 37, 39, 40) 21

Key to wi reworms of cultivated Sand in British Columbia

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

21. Ninth abdominal segment with two
conspicuous muscular impressions

(Fig. 37) 22

Ninth abdominal segment without
muscular impressions (Fig. 39, 40) 23

22. Head with definite eye spot behind

base of antenna (Fig. 38)

Agriotes obscurus
Agriotes Sineafus

Head without eye spot behind base
of antenna Agriotes sparsus

23. Ninth abdominal segment with seti-

ferous tubercles (Fig. 36)

Agriotes criddiei

Ninth abdominal segment without
setiferous tubercles (Fig. 39) 24

24. Ninth abdominal segment nipple-like

(Fig. 39) Agriotes ferrugineipennis

Ninth abdominal segment tapering
gradually towards a blunt tip (Fig.

40) .... Agriotes opaeulus

TABLE 1 — Species of wireworms found in cultivated land with localities in British

Columbia.

Species

Agriotes eriddlei Van D.

A. ferrugineipennis LeC.

A. Sineafus (L.)

A. obscurus (L.)

A* opaeulus (LeC.)

A. sparsus LeC.

Afhous pallidipennis Mann.
Ctenicera aeripennis (Kby.) —
C. destructor (Brown)

C. funerea (Brown)

C. giauca (Germ.)

C. lobata (Esch.)

C, morula (LeC.)

C. pruinina (Horn.)

C. resplendent (Esch.)

Ce semi metallic® (Walk.)
DaSopius asellus Brown
Dalopius spp.

Aeolus melliflus (Say)
Hemicrepidius oregonus (LeC.)
Hypolithus bicolor Esch.

hi. impressacollis (Mann.)
Limonius californicus (Mann.)
L. canus LeC.

L. infuscafus Mots.

L. pectoral is LeC.

L. subauratus LeC.

MeSamofos oregonerasis (LeC.)

Localities

Kettle Valley, Brigade Lake, Wycliffe.

Creston, Grand Forks, Keremeos, Chilliwack, Coquitlam.
Vancouver, Armstrong, Kelowna, Cloverdale.

Cobble Hill.

Cobble Hill, Agassiz.

Quesnel.

Ladner, Lulu Island, Cloverdale,

Cordova Bay, Lulu Island.

Prince George, Vanderhoof, Wycliffe, Montney, Grand
Haven, Bessborough, Smithers, Quesnel, Cranbrook,
Creston, Brigade Lake, Cowichan, Courtenay, Burnaby,
Cloverdale, Ladysmith, White Rock, Cordova Bay,
Coquitlam, Victoria, Salmon Arm, Gundy, Dawson Creek.
Wycliffe, Oliver.

Wycliffe, Quesnel, Kettle Valley, Vernon, Grand Forks.
Ladner, Lulu Island, Cobble Hill, Chilliwack.

Prince George, Montney, Smithers, Terrace, Kettle Valley,
Creston, Tete Jaune, Brigade Lake, Salmon Arm, Procter.
Keremeos, Oliver.

Boundary Creek, Prince George.

Quesnel, Kamloops, Kettle Valley.

Prince George.

Smithers, Tete Jaune, Cobble Hill, Grand Forks, Lulu
Island, Chilliwack, Metchosin, Vancouver, Oliver, Cowichan,
Glen Lake, Prince George, Quesnel, Agassiz, Ladner,
Armstrong, Echo Lake, Cranbrook, Balfour, Salmon Arm,
Procter.

Grand Forks.

Lulu Island, Cloverdale, Ladner.

Quesnel, Smithers, Prince George, Agassiz, Armstrong,
Salmon Arm, Kelowna, Brigade Lake.

Lulu Island, Cloverdale, Ladner.

Wycliffe, Newgate, Kelowna.

Wycliffe, Duncan, Vernon, Kelowna, Grand Forks, Agassiz,
Vedder Crossing, Abbotsford, Kamloops, Shoreacres Nelson,
Cranbrook, China Creek, Langley, Summerland, Saanich,
Oliver, Penticton, Armstrong, Salmon Arm, Lillooet.
Victoria, Vernon, Duncan, Kelowna, Grand Forks, Alberni,
Keating, Cobble Hill, Oliver, Armstrong, Lavington.

Prince George.

Cranbrook,

Kelowna.

Peoc. Entomol. Soc. Beit. Columbia. Vol. 60 (1963) , Dec. 1, 1963

Condusions

Since Lane (1952) has listed 150
elaterids from the Province, it is like-
ly that species not listed here will
turn up in cultivated land; it is less
likely that they will be in economic
numbers. The most serious pests in
the southern Interior were L. canus
and L. infuscatus in irrigated land,
C. aeripennis in dry land, and L. cali-
fornicus in both. In the southern
coastal area the most serious pests
were C. lobata and A . sparsus, with
the two European wireworms posing
a continuing threat. In the Peace
River area C. aeripennis and C. des-
tructor predominated, but in the
Cariboo area C. aeripennis only.

There is evidence that in culti-
vated land the wlreworm population
is being depleted. Each year losses
from wlreworm damage are becom-
ing less and enquiries on control
fewer. Other workers have noticed
the same trend (Lafrance, 1963).
This may result from the extensive
use of soil treatments not only

against wireworms but also against
other soil insects. The combination of
the long life cycle and the wide use
and persistence of modern insecti-
cides in the soil has reduced wire-
worms from major to minor pests in
British Columbia.

Summary

Spring surveys of the various agri-
cultural areas in British Columbia
produced 27 species in cultivated
land. These are listed by localities,
annotated, and distinguished briefly.
An illustrated key is provided. The
major damaging species were: Cten-
icera aeripennis (Kby.), C. lobata
(Esch.), Limonius canus (LeC.), L.
infuscatus Mots., and Agriotes spar-
sus LeC. An assessment is made of
the relative importance of each
species.

Asknowiedgment

Grateful acknowledgment is made to M.
D. Noble, Technician, for assistance in the
field; and to C. L. Neilson, Provincial En-
tomologist, for some collected material; and
especially to M. C. Lane for instruction and
identifications.

References

Anderson, J. R. 1892. Wireworms (Elateridae) In Diseases and Pests. First Rept. B.C.
Dept. Agr. 1891. p. 829.

Becker, E. C. 1956. Revision of the nearctic species of Agriotes (Coleoptera: Elateridae).
Can. Entomologist 88, Suppl. 1, 101 pp.

Beling, T. 1883. Beitrag zur Metamorphose der Kaferfamilie der Elateriden. Deutsche
Ent. Zeitschr. 27: 129-144.

Comstock, J. H , and M. V. Slingerland. 1891. Wireworms. New York Agr. Expt. Sta.
Bui. 33: 191-272.

Eidt, D. C. 1954. A description of the larva of Agriotes mancus (Say), with a key separat-
ing the larvae of A. lineatus (L.), A. mancus (Say), A. ohscurus (L.) and A*
sputator (L.) from Nova Scotia. Can. Entomologist 86: 481-494.

Ford, G. H. 1917. Observations on the larval and pupal stages of Agriotes obscurus L.
Ann. Appl. Biol. 3: 97-115.

Glen, R., K. M. King, and A. P. Arnason, 1943. The identification of wireworms of eco-
nomic importance in Canada. Can. J. Res. 21: 358-387.

Glen, R. 1944. Contributions to a knowledge of the larval Elateridae (Coleoptera); No.

3. Agriotes Esch. and Dalopius Esch. Can. Entomologist 76: 73-87.

Glen, R. 1950. Larvae of the elaterid beetles of the tribe Lepturoidini (Coleoptera:
Elateridae). Smiths. Misc. Coll. Ill, no. 11, 246 pp.

King, K. M. 1950. Vegetable insects of the season 1949 on Vancouver Island. Can. Ins.
Pest Rev. 28: 1-2.

King, K. M , R. Glendenning, and A. T. Wilkinson. 1952. A wire worm (Agriotes obscurus
L.). Can. Ins. Pest Rev. 30: 269-270.

Lanchester, H. P. 1939. The external anatomy of the larva of the Pacific Coast wire-
worm. U.S. Dept. Agr. Tech. Bui. 693.

Pboc. Entomol. Soc. Beit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

Figs. 1-10 — Ctenicera, Agriotes and Hypolithus: 1. C. aeripennis, dorsal; 2. A. sparsus,
dorsal; 3. H. impressicollis, head and thoracic segments, dorsal; 4. H. bicolor,
ninth abdominal segment, dorsal; 5. H. bicolor, left urogomphus, lateral;
6. H. impressicollis, left urogomphus, lateral; 7. C. resplendens, ninth abdom-
inal segmjent, dorsal; 8. C. lobata, ninth abdominal segment, dorsal; 9. C.
lobata, abdominal segments, dorsal:, 10. C. lobata, ninth abdomjinal segment,
lateral.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec, 1, 1963

Figs. 11-21 — Athous, Limonius, Hemicrepidius, Cfenicera: 11. A. pallidipennis, ninth
abdominal segment, dorsal; 12. A. pallidipennis, ninth abdominal segment,
lateral; 13. L. infuscatus, left urogomphus, lateral; 14. L. pecforalis, ninth
abdominal segment, dorsal; 15. H. oregonus, presternum of the prothorax;
16. C. aeripennis, presternum of the prothorax; 17. L. infuscatus, second,
third and fourth abdominal segments, dorsal; 18. L. canus, second, third
and fourth abdominal segments, dorsal; 19. L. canus, ninth abdominal seg-
ment, dorsal; 20. L. californicus, ninth abdominal segment, lateral; 21. L.
subauratus, ninth abdominal segment dorsal.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

Figs. 22-30 — Ctenicera, Aeolus: 22. C. semimetallica, ninth abdominal segments, dorsal;

23. Aeolus mellillus, ninth and tenth abdominal segments, lateral; 24. A.
mellillus, ninth abdominal segment, dorsal; 25. C. funerea, ninth abdominal
segment, dorsal; 26. C. glauca, ninth abdominal segment, dorsal; 27. C.
glauca, ninth abdominal segment, lateral; 28. C. pruinina, ninth abdominal
segment dorsal; 29. C. aeripennis, ninth abdominal segment, dorsal; 30. C.
morula, ninth abdominal segment, dorsal.

Proc. EiXTOMOL. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

Figs. 31-40 — Ctenicera, Melanotus, Dalopius, Agriofes: 31. C. aeripennis, left urogom-
phus, lateral; 32. C. morula, left urogomphus, lateral; 33. C pruinina, left
urogomphus, lateral; 34. M. oregonensis, ninth abdominal segment, lateral;
35. M. oregonensis, ninth abdominal segment, dorsal; 36. D. asellus, ninth
abdominal segment, dorsal; 37. A. sparsus, ninth abdominal segment, dorsal;
38. A. obscurus, head, lateral; 39. A. ferrugineipennis, ninth abdominal
segment, dorsal; 40. A. opacuius, ninth abdominal segment, dorsal.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

Lanchester, H. P. 1946. Larval determination of six economic species of Limonius (Co-
leoptera: Elateridae). Ann. Ent. Soc. America 39: 619-626.

Lafrance, J. 1963. Emergence and flight of click bettles (Coleoptera: Elateridae) in
organic soils of southwestern Quebec. Can. Entomologist 95: 873-878.

Lane, M. C. 1925. The economic wireworms of the Pacific Northwest (Elateridae). J.
Eicon. Ent. 18: 90-98.

Lane, M. C. 1935. Recent progress in the control of wireworms. Proc. World’s Grain
Exhib. and Conf. 1933. 2: 529-534.

Lane, M. C. 1952. List of Elateridae of British Columbia. Proc. Ent. Soc. British Co-
lumbia 48: 65-67.

Roberts, A. W. R. 1928. On the life-history of wireworms of the genus: Agriotes Esch.,
Part IV. Ann. Appl. Biol. 15: 90-94.

Wilkinson, A. T. 1957. Chemical control of the European wireworm Agriotes obscurus
(L.) in the lower Fraser Valley of British Columbia Can. J. PI. Sci. 37: 413-417.

ANNOTATED LIST OF FOREST INSECTS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
PART XI Papilio spp. ( PAPILIONIDAE) 1

B. A. SUGDEN AND D. A. ROSS2

Six species of the genus Papilio
commonly occur in British Columbia.
The larvae of four species feed on the
foliage of broad-leaved trees and
shrubs but are not sufficiently num-
erous to be of economic importance.

Full-grown forest Papilio larvae
are velvet green, about 1 y2 to 2 inches
long, widest at the metathoracic seg-
ment and tapering gradually to the
last abdominal segment. The head is
tan to reddish brown. A dorsal
Y-shaped, orange-coloured, eversible
gland is present near the anterior
margin of the prothorax; two “eye
spots” appear on the dorsum of the
third thoracic segment, and a trans-
verse yellow band bordered posterior-
ly by a velvet black band occurs on
the dorsum along the anterior margin
of the first abdominal segment. Pap-
ilio spp. overwinter in sheltered sites
as chrysalids usually supported in an
upright position by a silken “har-
ness”. Hybrids may occur where the
ranges of some species overlap.

i Contribution No. 989, Forest Entomology and
Pathology Branch, Department of Forestry,
Ottawa, Canada.

2 Forest Entomology Laboratory, Vernon, B.C.

P. glaucus canadensis R. & J. —

Populus tremuloides Michx., Alnus sp.
(3 records), Betula sp. (3), Populus
trichocarpa Torr. & Gray (1), Salix
sp. (1). Throughout the interior of
British Columbia, commonest in the
central and northern Interior.
LARVA: easily separated from other
forest Papilio because each “eye spot”
is composed of only one element. The
“eye spot” is yellow, outlined in black
and bisected by a black line; the blue
centre spot is enclosed by a black
line. The black transverse band, nar-
rower than the anterior yellow band,
does not extend to the spiracular
line.

P. rutulus Luc. — Populus spp., Salix
spp., Betula sp. (2), Alnus sp. (2).
Central to southern Interior, south-
ern coastal regions and Vancouver
Island; common. LARVA: each “eye
spot” composed of two elements, yel-
low, enclosed by a black line. The
larger element, bisected by a black
line, has a bluish centre spot; the
line about the blue spot is wider than
the line containing the element. The
black transverse band, twice as wide
as the anterior yellowish band, does
not extend to the spiracular line.

Pboc. Entomot,. Soc. Rrtt. Cotjtmbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

P. eurymedon Luc. — Ceanothus
sanguineus Pursh, Betula sp. (1),
Prunus sp. (1). Central and southern
Interior, southern coastal regions and
Vancouver Island; common. LARVA:
the markings on the larvae of this
and the preceding species are similar,
but the blue centre of the eye spot on
P. rutulus measures about 1 mm,
while that of P. eurymedon is ap-
proximately i/2 mm.

P. multicoLfdatus Kby. — Prunus
spp., Salix sp. (1), Southern interior
of British Columbia; common. LAR-

VA: each “eye spot” is composed of
two elements that range from yellow-
ish green to yellow, and are enclosed
by very fine black lines. The larger
element, bisected by a thin black line,
has a centre spot of pale blue bor-
dered by yellow which in turn is out-
lined in black. The black transverse
band, three or four times wider than
the anterior yellowish band, extends
below the spiracular line. Many
individuals have a narrow black line
on the dorsum of the anterior mar-
gin on some of the abdominal seg-
ments.

Reference

Brower, Lincoln P. 1959. Speciation in Butterflies of the Papilio glaucus Group. 1. Mor-
phological relationships and hybridization. Evolution 13: 40-63.

HOLOPLEURA MARGINATA Lee. reared from Douglas fir (Coleoptera:Cerambycidae)

On October 5, 1961, I noticed small piles
of fresh boring dust beneath two Douglas fir
branches lying on the ground in a dense
stand near Okanagan Landing. Most of
the bark of the branches was intact but the
wood surface had been beautifully sculptur-
ed by wood-boring larvae, which subsequent-
ly had tunnnelled into the centre of the
branch. One branch containing a cerambycid
pupa was opened; the other was kept at
room temperature and on January 20, 1962,
an adult Holopleura marginata Lee. emerged
through the same elliptical hole by which

the larva had entered the wood. A living
larva in a second gallery was preserved.

Adults have been collected on only three
occasions in the Forest Insect Survey in
Interior British Columbia: Arrowhead, (H.
B, Leech, Proc. Ent. Soc. B.C. 42:18); Silver-
ton, June 24, 1953; and Texas Creek, May 25s
1961. In all cases, specimens were obtain-
ed by beating the branches of Dougas fir
trees.

— >7. Grant , Forest Entomology Laboratory,
Vernon , B.C1.

Termites in the Queen Charlotte Islands

In September, 1962 I received five speci-
mens of Zootermopsis termites from Mr. J.
F. Munro of the British Columbia Forest
Service which he had taken in Queen Char-
lotte City; this was the first record I had
of these insects on the Queen Charlotte
Islands.

In the autumn of 1962, I was given one
worker termite by Mr. Bristol Foster, a
graduate student, which he took at Rose
Harbour, Q.C. Islands, on 16 August 1960.

These two records increase the known

range of termites in this Province. Since
the specimens were workers and so can-
not be determined to species, one can only
guess that the species is Z. angusticollis
which I took in 1926 in large numbers at
Tofino, on the west coast of Vancouver
Island. This was an island distribution but
not nearly so far north as the Queen Char-
lotte Islands.

- — G. J. Spencer , University of British
Columbia, Vancouver 8, B.C.

Proc, Bntomol. Soc, Brit. Columbia, Yol. 60 (1963), Dec, 1, 1963

THE SPECIFICITY OF BINAPACRYL, A DINITRO MITICIDE, AGAINST
THE EUROPEAN RED AND McDANIEL SPIDER MITES1

R, S. Downing and I. D. Jack**

The miticide, 2 - sec - butyl - 4,6 -
dinitrophenyl 3-methyl-2-butenoate.
generically known as binapacryl, has
been under investigation at the Sum-
merland Research Station since 1959,
Laboratory and field experiments in
1959 and 1960, when the preparation
was known by the trade name Acri-
cid, have been reported by Downing
(1). Field experiments during 1961
and 1962 are described in this paper.

Methods

Sprays were applied to dripping
with a high-volume handgun sprayer
or at 50 gallons per acre with a low-
volume “concentrate” sprayer. The
handgun sprayer was used to spray
dwarf apple trees where the plot size
was 10 to 12 trees. The concentrate
sprayer was used against standard
size apple trees of which there were
12 to 18 trees per plot.

As a rule, mite populations were
estimated by taking a 20-leaf sample
from one quadrant of each of 5 trees

i Contribution No. 138 from the Regional Re-
search Station, Canada Department of Agriculture,
Summerland, British Columbia.

2 Entomologist and Student Assistant respec-
tively.

per plot. The leaves were processed by
the method of Henderson and Mc-
Burnie (2) as modified by Morgan
et al. (3) .

In 1959 and 1960 the miticide was
obtained from Farbewerke Hoechst,
Frankfurt, Germany. In 1961 the
Hoechst product, Acricid, was supple-
mented by a formulation from the
United States, Niagara 9044, a 50 per
cent wettable powder obtained from
Niagara Chemical Division, Food
Machinery Corporation, Middleport,
New York. In 1962 Niagara 9044,
given the brand name, Morocide, was
formulated as 25 per cent or 50 per
cent wettable powder.

Results and Discussion

In 1961 binapacryl (Niagara 9044)
was applied at low volume to control
the European red mite, Panonychus
ulmi (Koch), and the McDaniel spider
mite, Tetranychus mcdanieli McG. on
mature Delicious, Winesap, Newtown,
Jonathan and Stayman apple trees.
The preparation gave excellent con-
trol of the McDaniel spider mite
(Table 1) but was ineffective against
the European red mite. The spray
caused no foliage or fruit injury.

TABLE 1 — Average Numbers of the European Red Mite and McDaniel Spider Mite per
Leaf Before and After Spraying Apple Trees by Low-Volume Sprayer on
June 27, 1961.

Miticide

Amount
per acre

Before

spraying

Days after spraying
9 15

European Red Mite

Binapacryh (50% w.p.)

4 lb.

Check — no treatment

McDaniel Spider Mite

Binapacryl* (50% w.p.)

4 lb.

Check — no treatment
* As Niagara 9044

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

Table 2 summarizes results from
high volume application of binapacryl
against mites infesting dwarf apple
trees. Mite counts were from samples
of 10 leaves from each of 5 trees per

plot and 2 plots per treatment. As in
the previous experiment binapacryl
gave poor control of the European red
mite but excellent control of the
McDaniel spider mite.

TABLE 2 — Average Numbers of the European Red Mite and McDaniel, Spider Mite per
Leaf Before and After Spraying Apple Trees by High-Volume Sprayer on
August 7, 1961.

Miticide

Amount
per acre

Before

spraying

Days after spraying
7 14 25

European Red Mite

Binapacryl> (25% w.p.)

1.5 lb.

Check — no treatment

0.3

McDaniel Spider Mite

Binapacryli (25% w.p.)

1.5 lb.

Check — no treatment

0.4

« As Acricid

Later in the summer of 1961 bin-
apacryl was compared with Tedion
against the McDaniel spider mite.
Applied at low volume, binapacryl 25
per cent wettable power at 8 or 12
pounds per acre gave excellent initial
and residual control. Tedion, on the
other hand, gave characteristically
poor initial control but excellent res-

idual control. A year later, however,
leaf samples from these plots, that
had not been sprayed in the mean-
time, gave surprising results. As
shown in Table 3 there was an out-
standing increase in numbers of the
European red mite where binapacryl
had been applied. There was no such
effect from the use of Tedion.

TABLE 3 — Average Numbers of the McDaniel Spider Mite and European Red Mite per
Leaf After Spraying Apple Trees by Low-Volume Sprayer on June 13, 1961.

McDaniel Spider Mite

European Red Mite

Amount

Before

Days after

1 year

Miticide

per acre

spraying

spraying
8 18 27

after spraying

Binapacryl! (25% w.p.)

8 lb.

0 0 0

Binapacryli (25% w.p.)

12 lb.

0 0 0

Tedion (25% w.p.)

4 lb.

11 1 0

Check — * no treatment

69 472 8

0.2

■' As Acricid

2 Sprayed with Tedion (25% w.p.) 4 lb. per acre

Application of binapacryl was re-
peated in this orchard in 1962 in the
same way as in 1961 except that the
formulation of binapacryl was 25 per
cent wettable powder instead of 50
per cent wettable powder. The dosage
of active ingredient, however, was

unchanged. Table 4 shows that bina-
pacryl, 3 pounds of active ingredient
per acre, in 2 applications gave good
control of the European red mite, but
a 2-pound dosage was inadequate.
But even the lower dosage kept the
McDaniel spider mite at an exceed-
ingly low level for the season.

Proc. EtsTomol. Soc. Bkit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec, 1, 1963

TABLE 4 — Average Numbers of the European Red Mite and McDaniel Spider Mite per
Leaf After Spraying Apple Trees by Low-Volume Sprayer on July 26, 1962.

Amount Before Days after spraying
Miticide per acre spraying 8 14 23 34

European Red Mite

Binapacryl) (50% w.p.)

4 lb.

302

Binapacryl! (50% w.p.)

6 lb.

Check — no treatment

McDaniel Spider Mite
Binapacryb (50% w.p.)

4 lb.

Binapacryl! (50% w.p.)

6 lb.

Check — no treatment

' As Morocide
2 Resprayed Aug. 13

Summary

Binapacryl is the generic name for
the miticide that has been previously
known by the trade designations:
Acricid, Niagara 9044, and Morocide.
During 1961 it gave excellent control
of the McDaniel spider mite at a dos-
age of 2 pounds of active ingredient
per acre in low-volume spraying and
at 0.75 pound of active ingredient
per 100 gallons in high volume spray-
ing. Binapacryl was ineffective
against the European red mite in 2

of the 3 orchards in which it was
applied. In the third orchard the
European red mite was not numerous
in 1961; but in 1962 a surprisingly
heavy European red mite infestation
occurred in trees that had been
sprayed with binapacryl the previous
year. This infestation was not ade-
quately controlled by 2 successive
applications of binapacryl at 2 pounds
of active ingredient per acre. Two
applications at 3 pounds per acre did,
however, prove effective.

References

1. Downing, R. S. 1961. Experiments in British Columbia with Acricid, a new dinitro

miticide. Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia 58: 22-25.

2. Henderson, C. F , and H. Y. McBurnie. 1943. Sampling technique for determining

populations of citrus red mite and its predators. U.S. Dep. Agr. Circ. 671.

3. Morgan, C. V. G., D. A. Chant, N. H. Anderson, and G. L. Ayre. 1955. Methods for

estimating orchard mite populations, especially with the mite brushing machine.
Can. Entomologist 87: 189-200.

A Live Giant African Snail Intercepted in Vancouver, 1963

On January 16, 1963, one of us (R.J.D.)
was telephoned by a housewife in North
Vancouver about a large snail shell from
Hawaii. I picked up the live snail and
recognized it as the giant African snail,
Achatina fulica Bowdich. The housewife
was pleased to be rid of it.

The shell was collected near a beach at
Honolulu by the man and his wife while
they were on a Christmas vacation. They
wanted the large attractive shell as a
souvenir. The man put it in his pocket and
it was carried thus in all innocence when
they cleared through customs at Vancouver.
At home the shell was placed on the moist
soil of a large potted plant. Presently the
family realized the shell was occupied

since the snail began to extend and bury
itself. They then called the University.

The snail was killed and deposited in the
Zoological Museum of the University of
British Columbia, (U.B.C.I.M 10743). The
dimensions in cm. were as follows: length,
7.5; width, 4.0; aperture, 3.5x2. 0; weight,
43.4 gm.; with about 7 whorls.

This is the second interception of the
giant African snail at Vancouver (Zuk, P.
Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia 46: 32,
1950).

— P. Zuk. Research Station,

6660 N. W. Marine Drive, Vancouver, B.G.

-Robert J. Drake, Department of Zoology ,
University of B.C., Vancouver S, B.C.

Pboc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia. Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

MOSQUITO PRODUCTION IN SEWAGE LAGOONS

L. C. Curtis1

A fairly recent development in
community sanitation is the rapidly
expanding use of sewage lagoons, or
stabilization ponds. Compared with
the traditional mechanized sewage
disposal plant they have the advan-
tages of low first cost, depreciation,
and maintenance. Unfortunately for
those interested in mosquito control,
some communities have responded to
the low maintenance concept by pro-
viding none, with the result that the
lagoons have provided ideal condi-
tions for producing mosquitoes, prin-
cipally Culex tarsalis, a potential dis-
ease vector.

A heavy population of C. tarsalis at
Kamloops led to an investigation of
four lagoons in the district which
gave clear demonstrations of mos-
quito breeding at its worst, and the
possibility of its suppression. These
four pools are discussed in descend-
ing order of nuisance value.

Lagoon A , a pool about three acres
in extent, was attached to a large
private institution. Roughly rectang-
ular, it had a peninsula extending a
short distance from one end on which
were the inlet works. The water had
the appearance of pea soup due to
algae, and the pool apparently per-
formed its primary function excel-
lently. It contained a number of large
carp which no doubt played an im-
portant role in keeping the main
body of water free of mosquito and
other insect larvae. Unfortunately
the banks were heavily overgrown
with vegetation down to and beyond

j Research Station, Entomology Laboratory, Can-
ada Department of Agriculture, Kamloops, B.C,

the waterline, giving place to a mas-
sive growth of cattails extending in
places six feet from the shore. In this
zone, sheltered from wave action and
predation, Culex larvae proliferated
excessively.

Lagoon B, a large pool of about
twelve acres, served a suburban
community. The banks were heavily
covered with weeds and some wil-
lows, and there was a margin of a
few inches of vegetation emerging
from the water. This margin sup-
ported a moderate population of
Culex larvae. At one end an overflow
carried the effluent to a depressed
area of several acres where it formed
a swamp, heavily overgrown, which
supported an exceedingly dense popu-
lation of mosquitoes.

Lagoon C consisted of two sections
of fifteen acres each, which at the
time of inspection had been in use
only for a few weeks. The banks were
thickly overgrown with annual weeds,
some of which had been inundated by
the rising water. This had formed a
narrow margin of protected water
in which were a few mosquito larvae.
It was obvious that this was a tem-
porary condition, and the future
state of the banks would depend upon
the quality of maintenance. However,
in this case there had been a long
interval between the original excava-
tion of the pools and the inauguration
of the system, during which the beds
had given rise to numerous tall ter-
restrial plants, even including wil-
lows, which protruded above the
water. The annual plants would soon
be gone, but the willows could thrive
and form a mosquito harbour.

Pnoc. Ea iomol. Soc. Bkit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Deg. 1, 1963

Lagoon D was two small basins,
totalling about three acres, attached
to a large public institution. The
pools had been in use for a number
of years but produced no mosquitoes.
The reason for this lay in their con-
struction. The outline was rectangu-
lar, and the banks were lined with
shale which gave footing to a scat-
tered population of annual weeds,
none of which extended below the
water line. Accordingly wave action
and native predators eliminated all
larvae.

Chemical methods of larval con-
trol are uneconomic in sewage la-
goons, as the normally residual larvi-
cides degenerate rapidly in the highly
polluted water, making repeated,
heavy applications necessary. For-
tunately, the environment may be so
manipulated 'that the existing natural
control factors become highly
efficient.

The most effective deterrents to
mosquito production in these pools
are wave action and natural preda-
tors. Both are inhibited by the
presence of emergent or floating
vegetation. If the following points
are observed in the construction and
maintenance of sewage lagoons there
is little likelihood that they will
become sources of mosquitoes.

1. The area of the pools should be
as large as possible, and the establish-

ment of nearby windbreaks should be
avoided, so that wave action may be
encouraged.

2. The dykes should be wide enough
on top to permit the passage of
mowers and other maintenance
machinery.

3. The banks should have a moder-
ate slope, and if formed of soil, they
should be planted to grass and kept
mowed.

4. The water should be kept at
sufficient depth to prevent the estab-
lishment of bottom-rooted vegetation.

5. There should be provision for a
rapid draw-down of a foot or so,
when this is compatible with the
primary function of the pool, to
destroy larvae by stranding.

6. Seepage or overflow should be
carried away in deep, clear channels.

7. Emergent vegetation should be
killed by herbicides or removed
mechanically. Floating drift should
be cleared away.

8. Coarse fish, such as carp, may
be introduced as predators.

Abstract1

Four sewage lagoons are described
that illustrate in varying degree
conditions that encourage mosquito
production. Steps are outlined by
which mosquito breeding in ponds
can be prevented.

CONTROL OF PESTS IN INSECT AND HERBARIUM CABS NETS

G. J. Spencer’

For some years I have worked on
control of museum pests, chiefly
Anthrenus verbasci (L.), the varied
carpet beetle, which is also the most
widespread household pest in Van-
couver; Attagenus piceus Oliv., the

black carpet beetle; Perimegatoma
(Megatoma) vespulae Milliron, a par-
thenogenetic species which feeds
indiscriminately upon herbarium
specimens and dried insects; Stego-
bium paniceum (L.), the drug store
beetle; and Ptinus ocellus Brown
(= tectus ). We do not yet contend

! University of British Columbia.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Bp.it. Columbia. Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 196:

with Anthrenus scrophulariae, the
buffalo carpet beetle, which is com-
mon as far west as Haney, or with A.
museorum, the museum beetle, which
is a pest in eastern North America.
My experiments have employed
sprays, baits, and fumigants.

Sprays

Before the university museum ac-
quired steel cabinets, I sprayed 5 per
cent chlordane once a year around
the bases of our wooden cabinets.
This was effective in keeping out A.
verbasci and A. piceus but not P.
vespulae; the adults of this species
apparently fly indoors and must ovi-
posit in cracks under the lids of
wooden drawers. I have found dead
adults on the glass tops of drawers.

Two per cent chlordane and 2 per
cent heptachlor are effective applied
with a 4-inch wide fine jet to sus-
ceptible places or painted on by hand
with a 2-inch brush where spray
vapour is undesirable. However, treat-
ing the edges and lids of drawers is
a laborious process and is not very
effective after three months.

Baits

Herbarium specimens are attacked
by three species of beetles: S. pani-
ceum, P . ocellus and Perimegatoma
vespulae. Solutions of mercury bi-
chloride have long been used against
these pests in herbaria, but after
about one year the mercury sublimes
so that the flowers and buds are des-
troyed and sometimes the leaves.

Canned cat food, dried and pulver-
ized is an excellent medium for rear-
ing household insects. To prepare
baits I used 4 per cent Paris green,
i.e. ortho-arsenite of copper of about
53-63 per cent arsenious oxide con-
tent. This was thoroughly incorpor-
ated into 96 per cent wet cat food,
which was then dried and pulverized,
and put in containers in a deep

enough layer that A. verbasci larvae
could burrow under it. The culture
was maintained at 70 F. The larvae
readily ate the bait but did not be-
come paralysed. In 24 hours, 8 per
cent were dead; in 15 days, 23 per
cent; in 3 y2 months, 88 per cent; and
the last died in 4 months.

Fumigants

A block of histological embedding
wax of 1 y2 cubic inches was kept on
the surface of crude benzene hexa-
chloride in a sealed jar for three
weeks until it smelt fairly strongly.
Two thin shavings of the wax were
cut from the corners and placed in a
tight, glass-topped tin box of 3 inches
diameter with 25 A. verbasci larvae
of various sizes taken at random. In
22 hours several were showing circus
movements or ataxia which gradually
spread until every one was affected
and the larvae started to die off. After
17 weeks only one was alive but
twitching. It was still in the same
condition two weeks later. It appear-
ed that 4 per cent of the larvae show-
ed a degree of resistance to the vap-
our of benzene hexachloride given
off from wax.

One half gram and one gram res-
pectively of lindane (99 per cent
gamma isomer) was thoroughly in-
corporated into 100 grams each of
unpurified, natural, beekeepers wax,
which was melted, stirred, poured
into molds, cooled, and cut up into
small pieces. The pieces were rolled
by hand into half-inch diameter
marbles. About one month after be-
ing made, the ‘marbles’ had a white
bloom of lindane. They were trans-
fixed with stout insect pins in the
same way that moth balls are pre-
pared for insect cabinets. Into the
centre of two clean, empty insect
drawers each of 538 cubic inch inside
capacity, were stuck one marble each
of 0.5 per cent and 1 per cent lindane

Proc. Ecttomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Yol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

with 50 A. verbasci larvae taken at
random from a large culture. The
drawers were checked daily.

In both drawers, the smallest larvae
became paralysed in 24 hours. In 48
hours those nearest the wax marbles
were on their backs, dead. Day by day
paralysis affected the larvae; first
they showed circus movements, then
ataxia, and then they lay upside down
apparently dead or occasionally
twitching their legs. It became diffi-
cult to tell when larvae were really
dead so that their reaction to light
was used as an index. Ten inches from
a 100 W globe the light was 180 foot
candles; a beam concentrated
through a iy2 inch reading glass at
10 inches was 600 f.c. and at 7 inches,
900 f.c. A severely paralyzed larva
normally motionless on its back would
slowly twitch its feet in 15 seconds at
600 f.c. and at 900 f.c. within 5 to 10
seconds. If no movement occurred at
900 f.c., the larva was declared dead.
Within 30 days at 1 per cent lindane
and 37 days at 0.5 per cent lindane,
every larva was dead. In both
drawers, two out of the 50 larvae sur-
vived nearly one week after the others
died, again suggesting some resist-
ance in 4 per cent of these insects.

One peculiar feature was the fact
that about 25 per cent of the larvae
pupated and produced beetles which
seldom moved more than about an
inch from the pupal case and invar-
iably died upside down 24 hours after
emergence.

A local collector complained about
book lice infesting his cabinet of
insects. I gave him lindane and wax
which he made into marbles. He
reported to me that 24 hours after
these were pinned out every book
louse was either paralysed or dead.
This happened with fresh lindane
marbles before the bloom appeared.

To test lindane vapour further, a
3-inch diameter petri dish, 1/2-mch

deep, was carpeted with fine sand to
give good footing, supplied with 7
dried grasshoppers and one bee and
then stocked with 50 A. verbasci
larvae. The petri dish was placed in
the middle of an empty insect drawer
into which had been dusted one gram
of lindane of salt-shaker size. Within
19 hours sorrfe larvae had lost the
ability to climb on to the food. In
three days one was dead, several lay
on their backs with legs twitching
and the rest showed irregular and
circus movements. In 31 days only 4
were alive. In 43 days only one show-
ed any twitching under prolonged
light of 600 f.c. and in 54 days this
one was dead. Lindane vapour must
take effect relatively fast because no
larva attempted to chew the dead
insects or to tunnel into them.

A test with the black carpet beetle
and lindane showed that mature and
nearly mature larvae of this species
are more resistant than A. verbasci
larvae. Into a cabinet drawer full of
irregularly pinned-out large and
small insects was dusted evenly one
gram of coarse lindane crystals aver-
aging 1mm x 0.5mm. Twenty-five
mature and early mature A. piceus
larvae were added. Within 24 hours
they showed irregular back and forth,
but not circus movements. In a few
days some were dead or dying; after
12 days the remaining 19 were re-
moved and placed in an empty petri
dish in a clean untreated drawer to
see if recovery occurred. Three sur-
vived after 28 days. These were trans-
ferred to a clean tin with normal
food; 12 days later another one ap-
parently recovered and was similarly
transferred, with food. These recov-
ered larvae were left undisturbed for
7 months and were then checked:
the single one had died, and of the
three larvae, one had transformed
into a beetle which had died and the
other two were paralysed, lying on

Pr.oc. Extomol. Soc. Bkit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

their backs twitching when disturbed.
Turned right side up, the larger one
slowly burrowed into the food but the
smaller seemed unable to burrow. It
is likely that they had eaten some
food during the 7 months.

Another 25 larvae from the same
stock were put into the drawer with
coarse lindane. The effect of the poi-
son was more rapid than it had been
on the first group. In 6 days most were
dead or paralysed and 11 showed
movement under 600 to 900 f.c.; one

larva seemed stimulated and crawled
slowly and incessantly; in 18 days
this was the only survivor and it
finally died on the 49th day.

These experiments show that 1
gram of lindane scattered on the floor
of a drawer of insects will immobilise
and eventually kill dermestid larvae
and should prevent others from be-
coming established. One ounce of
lindane will treat 28 drawers for a
year.

BACKGROUND FOR INTEGRATED SPRAYING IN THE ORCHARDS
OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

J. Marshall

Research Station, Summerland, B.C.

The practical meaning of integrat-
ed spraying is the production of a
maximum crop of high quality fruit
with a minimum of pesticides. In con-
trolling our orchard pests the idea is
to work with Nature as closely as we
can rather than to disregard her by
relying blindly on preventive spray-
ing and “shotgun” spray chemicals.
The ultimate objective is to improve
our competitive position, and stay in
business.

In 1944 Country Life in British
Columbia (28:6, 5) carried an unor-
thodox item on orchard pest control.
Titled, “Is it advisable to spray for
the three types of mites in B.C.
orchards?”, the article was a fore-
runner of a number of others, pub-
lished elsewhere, that are helping to
put orchard pest control on a logical
basis. That early item drew attention
to the importance of natural factors
in controlling orchard pests. It point-
ed out that when a spray treatment
kills beneficial species as well as pest
species, it may, in the long run, do
more harm than good. In local or-
chard circles the article aroused
brief speculation. Then this entomo-

logical firecracker quietly fizzed out.
Like the American Austin it was
ahead of its time.

But, during the intervening years,
things have been happening in the
entomological world. In 1946 Pickett,
Patterson, Stultz and Lord (Scientific
Agriculture 26:11) published the first
of a series of articles dealing with
the influence of spray programs on
the fauna of apple orchards in Nova
Scotia. Their well documented work
aroused considerable discussion. It
stimulated inquiry in various other
fruit growing areas; notably in Hol-
land, Belgium, Great Britain and
California. The outcome has been the
firm realization that we cannot hope
to subdue our orchard pests by any
one method of control; and, in par-
ticular, that chemical control should
be applied with caution. During the
last 10 or 12 years this note of caution
has been heavily underscored by the
development of resistance to pesti-
cides in a wide variety of noxious
insects and mites.

For many years it had been known
that insects might become resistant
to such very different inorganic

Proc. Entomol. Soo. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

preparations as acid lead arsenate
and lime sulphur. But only in the
’fifties, after the introduction of DDT
and its many successors, did the full
significance of resistance become
clearly evident. The problem is wide-
spread; all over the world pesticide-
resistant insects, mites and ticks are
evolving rapidly under the stimulus
of chemical selection. Synthetic mole-
cules of high initial effectiveness
become useless one after another.
The chemists are hard put to keep
pace with the ceaseless change. Some
entomologists claim that a pesticide
used at low dosage may lead more
quickly to the segregation of a resist-
ant strain of pest than at high dos-
age. Other entomologists incline to
the opposite view. We have to balance
uncertainty there, against certainty
otherwise, that the low dosage is
preferable.

The man on the land may not real-
ize that the way in which he uses a
pesticide can have a bearing on its
period of usefulness. Apart from
being a waste of money the needless-
ly frequent use of a pesticide may be
an open invitation to chemical selec-
tion. The more often a pest population
is exposed to a pesticide the sooner
will a resistant strain be segregated.
And there is another matter to think
about. Some pesticides are highly
toxic to certain pests, but only mod-
erately toxic to certain beneficial
species. Heavily applied these com-
pounds may be indiscriminately
lethal. But, if used at a dosage just
high enough to kill pests, they may
spare the beneficial species.

The careful use of pesticides yields
yet another, and very different divi-
dend. The lower the dosage of pesti-
cide the lower the spray residue on
the fruit at harvest. The consumer is
becoming increasingly uneasy about
spray residues, and understandably
so. There is no point in giving any

justification for public concern. That
brings us to a modern best-seller.
Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring
(Houghton & Mifflin, Boston, 1962), is
already one of the most quoted, and
most editorialized books of our time.
In lovely, flowing English it evokes
a grisly spectre. With spine-chilling
examples of death already done, it
warns of the mass poisoning of our
environment by sinister pesticides
synthesized with diabolical skill in
the laboratories of modern merchants
of death. To millions unacquainted
with the facts (most consumers)
Silent Spring’s impressively technical
list of references, and its frequent
dropping of names in science and
medicine, greatly emphasize its cred-
ibility. And of special concern to fruit
growers, spray residue, writ large
throughout the book, becomes a term
to rank with that modern abomina-
tion, atomic fallout.

Regardless of the fact that Silent
Spring is woefully biased, and in fact
misleading, our methods of pest con-
trol will assuredly be modified by
spray residues, the needless destruc-
tion of beneficial, or aesthetically
desirable organisms, and the develop-
ment of pesticide resistance. That is
why, as the author of the long-
defunct Country Life article that sug-
gested more thought and less spray,
I think the time has come for action.

In 1961 we of the Summerland Re-
search Station began a long-term
experiment in a commercial orchard
at Summerland. The purpose was
primarily to demonstrate the influ-
ence of various dormant sprays on
the abundance of pests, predators,
and parasites. Following the applica-
tion of the dormant sprays (one plot
received no dormant spray) we ap-
plied foliage sprays only when pest-
induced, commercial loss was clearly
imminent, and used selective pesti-
cides whenever possible. During the

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

second year the per-acre outlay for
pesticides in the owner-sprayed part
of the orchard (sprayed “according
to the book”) was about 25 dollars
more than the outlay in the experi-
mental block. Yet the owner-sprayed
trees were no healthier, and the crop
returns no larger. And equally im-
portant, the owner, a very competent
operator, had a more efficient sprayer
than that employed in the experi-
mental block.

This demonstration of savings in
operational costs shows what can be
done with integrated spraying. But
it does not go far enough. The or-
chard in question is in a cool part of
the Summerland district. Pest con-
trol there is considerably less difficult
than in, for example, the hotter and
drier Oliver-Osoyoos district. What
we need now is an extension of this
sort of thing into each major fruit
producing area of the B.C. interior;
and that is what we are planning.

Working together, the Horticultural
Branch of the British Columbia De-
partment of Agriculture, and the
Summerland Research Station of the
Canada Department of Agriculture
are arranging comprehensive demon-
strations. Adjoining blocks of mature
pear trees and mature apple trees
(except for a third of each treated
with dormant oil, and a third treated
with dormant lime sulphur), will be
sprayed only when spraying is un-
questionably necessary. That will hold
whether against insects, mites, or
fungus diseases. Preference will be
given to selective pesticides. Indis-
criminate compounds, such as DDT,
will be avoided if at all possible. By
doing all we can to ensure the sur-
vival of predatory and parasitic
species, and by enlisting the aid of
the weather whenever the weather
can help us we shall aim for the max-
imum reduction of pests by natural
control agencies, and hence the mini-

mum application of chemical control
measures. In the Okanagan Valley
there will be demonstration blocks of
from 3 to 5 acres each at Oliver,
Summerland, Kelowna and Vernon.
In the Similkameen Valley there will
be a block at Keremeos,

We shall have to ensure that the
spraying technique is adequate, and
that the spray chemicals are deposit-
ed in the amounts intended. To that
end foliage and fruits will be sampled
from the tops and bottoms of the
trees in each orchard. The samples
will then be analyzed in the chemical
laboratory.

Of the many interrelated forms of
life that exist in British Columbia
orchards, we know relatively little.
Until fairly recently the resources of
the Entomology Laboratory at Sum-
merland had to be largely devoted to
the “brushfire” type of research— the
day-to-day job of keeping abreast of
the codling moth and its associated
problem makers, the orchard mites.
With the codling moth problem con-
tained for the moment, thanks to the
two modern synthetic preparations
Ghithion and Sevin, we can now
tackle the broader issues. Some of
these issues are inherent in the pro-
posed project on integrated pest con-
trol. As long as the project is in
operation (at least 5 years) we shall
assess the rise and fall of pest species,
parasites, and predators. This ecol-
ogical work is fundamental; without
it we are, in a sense, without a com-
pass. In making our pest control
recommendations we shall eventually
be on more solid ground.

Let us now consider where we stand
with our present spray practice. Al-
though perhaps unnoticed by many
fruit growers, the use of pesticides in
the British Columbia fruit industry
has been progressively put on a more
rational basis over the last 13 years.
We took the first step in 1949 with the

Pkoc. Entomol. Soc. Bkit. Columbia. Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

introduction of low- volume (concen-
trate) spraying, a technique in which
our industry is a recognized leader.
At once the growers were able to re-
duce quite substantially the per-acre
quantities of pesticides. The next
step was in 1960 when we further re-
duced the dosages of pesticides. After
that date the recommended amounts
presupposed good equipment, pro-
perly operated (minimum dosages),
rather than as previously, poor equip-
ment, poorly operated (maximum
dosages) . The latter procedure is still
followed in many other fruit growing
areas. And finally, by undertaking the
demonstration of integrated spray-
ing, we are preparing to take the third
step. When we have shown the wis-
dom of spraying only when spraying
is clearly necessary, instead of as a
just- in-case preventive measure, we
shall have reduced the use of pesti-
cides to an absolute minimum; and
that will be a good thing. But none
of us, research people or fruit grow-
ers, can afford to forget that the very
survival of the fruit industry still
depends on pesticides.

The next job will be to develop
radically new pest control techniques.
The autocidal (sterile male) project
for controlling the codling moth, that
has been under way at the Summer-
land Research Station since 1956,
represents such a technique. Al-
though this new method of control
looks more and more promising as the
work goes on, it is still some years
from practical application even if all
continues to go well.

We plan to follow the demonstra-
tions of integrated spraying with
the preparation and distribution of

a grower’s manual to illustrate clearly
the essentials of the procedure. The
manual, a loose-leaf publication in
full color, would be used in conjunc-
tion with the annually-revised spray
recommendations. Primarily a pic-
torial representation of symptoms of
pest infestation, and disease infec-
tion, rather than of the pests or
disease organisms themselves, it
would illustrate the stage of damage,
or pest abundance, at which spraying
becomes necessary. It would also
carry illustrations of the most import-
ant agents of biological control.

Integrated control requires that
pests be associated with the symp-
toms of their attack. For that reason
certain pests such as the European
red mite and the McDaniel mite, and
their eggs, would likewise be illustrat-
ed. The manual would also carry full-
color illustrations of symptoms of the
various mineral deficiencies that may
be found in British Columbia or-
chards. Sometimes such symptoms
are confused with pest injury, or with
disease symptoms.

No deciduous fruit industry has yet
been provided with a manual of the
type that we propose. The reasons,
doubtless, are that the best of color
reproduction, which is what we would
need, is expensive; and it necessitates
superior photography. But, if our
demonstrations of integrated spray-
ing should prove successful, prepara-
tion of the manual will be such an
obvious step that the growers them-
selves will insist on it. That is why, in
anticipation of success, the Research
Station photographer will get on with
the job this year.

Proc. Entomol. Soc Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

AN OCCURENCE OF THE BULB AND POTATO APHID

Rhopa/osiphoninus latysiphon (Davidson)

(HOMOPTERA: APHIDIDAE) , ON POTATO IN BRITISH COLUMBIA1

A. R. Forbes

In mid-April 1963, we were called
to examine sprouting potatoes which
were very heavily infested with Rho-
palosiphoninus latysiphon (Davidson)
(Fig. 1). The tubers had been stored
at a comparatively warm tempera-
ture since January in preparation for
early planting. This is the first record
of this aphid on potatoes in B.C.,
although Glendenning (1929) record-
ed it from cultivated violet at Agassiz.

R. latysiphon is easily recognizable
by its corniciles (Fig. 2 and 3). It was
described from California by David-
son (1912) who found it on Vinca
major and Convolvulus arvensis. It
was later recorded in California from
Chrysanthemum sp. (Shasta daisy)
and Primula sp. (Essig, 1917), in small
numbers from potato (Swain, 1919),
and from Saxifraga sp. (U.S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture, 1960).

Hille Ris Lambers (1953) records it
in Europe from the Netherlands,
England, Germany, and Switzerland,
giving Bromus sterilis, Potentilla
anserina, Tulipa, and potato as host
plants. He states that it lives on the
subterranean parts of its hosts in the
field, and on potato tubers and tulip
bulbs in storage.

In England, Legowski and Gough
(1953) studied infested potato fields
and found that fairly heavy infesta-

i Contribution No. 59, Research Station, Research
Branch, Canada Department of Agriculture, 6660
N. W. Marine Drive, Vancouver, B.C.

tions caused loss of vigor, premature
yellowing of leaves, and decreased
yield. The aphids occurred only on
the underground parts of the potato;
up to 3,000 were counted on a single
plant. Gair and Cummins (1960) esti-
mated the yield loss on some main
crop potato fields at 2-3 tons per acre.
Agropyron repens, Brassica sinapis,
Solanum nigrum, Tussilago farfara,
and Urtica urens, growing near pota-
toes were recorded as new host plants
(Legowski and Gough, 1953).

R. latysiphon has been reported as
a vector of potato leaf roll virus (Ken-
nedy, Day, and Eastop, 1962), so may
be a threat by spreading disease. Dis-
ease transmission would be particu-
larly serious in storage where the
aphids crawl freely over the seed
trays. In the infestation we examined
the trays as well as the floor and walls
of the building were literally crawling
with aphids.

This aphid then is a serious poten-
tial pest of potato in B.C. Stored tub-
ers should be watched carefully and
any incipient infestations immedi-
ately eradicated. Because of the sub-
terranean habits of the aphid, control
in the field would be very difficult,
but since most infestations seem to
originate in storage (Hille Ris Lam-
bers, 1953; Legowski and Gough,
1953), field infestations may not be
a problem so long as clean tubers are
planted.

References

Davidson, W. M. 1912. Aphid notes from California. J. Econ. Enfomol. 5:404-413.

Essig, E. O. 1917. Aphididae of California. Univ. Calif. Publ. Entomol. 1: 301-346.

Gair, R., and D. E. Cummins 1960. Bulb and potato aphid in Northants. Plant Pathol.
9: 38

Glendenning, R. 1929. Further1 additions to the list of aphids of British Columbia. Proc,
Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia 26: 54-57.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Bbit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

Fig. 1-3 — Rhopalosiphoninus latysiphon (Davidson). 1, Colony on sprout of potato tuber.
2, Close-up of two aphids. 3, Photomicrograph of cornicle.

Proc. Entomol, Soc. Brit. Columbia. Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

Hille His Lambers, D. 1953. Contributions to a monograph of the Aphididae of Europe,
V. Temminckia 9: 1-176.

Kennedy, J. S., M. F. Day, and V. F. Eastop. 1962. A conspectus of aphids as vectors of
plant viruses. Commonwealth Inst. Entomol., London. 114 p.

Legowski, T. J., and H. C Gough. 1953. Observations on the bulb and potato aphid
Rhopalosiphoninus latysiphon (Davidson) in East Anglia. Plant Pathol. 2: 126-
130.

Swain, A. F. 1919. A synopsis of the Aphididae of California. Univ. Calif. Publ. Entomol.
3: 1-221.

U.S. Department of Agriculture. Plant Pest Control Division, Agricultural Research
Service. 1960. Cooperative economic insect report 10: 997.

PRELIMINARY INSECTICIDE TESTS AGAINST THE DOUGLAS-FIR
NEEDLE MIDGES, Contarinia spp., LARKIN, B.C., 1962*

B. A. Ross* and J. Arrands

Introduction

Periodically, Douglas-fir trees in
portions of the southern interior of
British Columbia are severely infest-
ed with needle midges, Contarinia
spp. Needles attacked by larvae of
these tiny gall midges become dis-
torted and discoloured, and dehisce.
Even light infestations can degrade
the market value of Christmas trees
or mar the appearance of shade trees.
Recently the Christmas tree indus-
try, which in 1961 grossed approxi-
mately two million dollars in British
Columbia, has become concerned over
midge damage; also, home owners
have requested advice on use of insec-
ticides to protect Douglas-fir shade
trees.

Life histories and bionomics of the
Douglas-fir needle midges of British
Columbia were investigated by S. F.
Condrashoff (1962a, 1962b). The

adults emerge from the ground in
May as the Douglas-fir buds are open-
ing, and eggs are deposited on the
new needles. Shortly after hatching,
the maggots enter the new needles
and feed there until October, when
they drop to overwinter in the ground.
The life history studies indicated
that insecticides directed at emerg-
ing adults or at newly hatched larvae
should be most effective for control.

s Contribution No 988, Forest Entomology >\nd

Pathology Branch, Department of Forestry,
Ottawa, Canada.

a Forest Entomology Laboratory, Vernon, B.C,

® Asst. Provincial Entomologist, Vernon, B.C

Methods and Results

The test was carried out at Larkin,
B.C. Five trees from five to seven feet
high were used for each treatment
and another five were left unsprayed
as checks. Insecticides were applied
with a hand sprayer until the run-off
point was reached. Thiodan and DDT
emulsions and a lindane suspension
were the insecticides tested. One
imperial gallon of water was added to
each of the following quantities of
commercial concentrates to obtain
the finished formulations:

3 fl. oz. Thiodan emulsifiable concen-
trate containing 2 lb. technical
Thiodan per imperial gallon

2 fl. oz. DDT emulsifiable concentrate
containing 2.5 lb. technical DDT
per imperial gallon

3 teaspoons of 25% lindane wettable

powder

The concentrations of the finished
sprays were: Thiodan— 0.375%; DDT
—0.312%; and lindane— 0.12%.

The midges were first observed in
flight on May 14, and the sprays were
applied during the morning of May
16. At the time of spraying, most of
the buds on the majority of test trees
had opened; none on one of the check
trees had opened. This variation is
common in a natural stand of
Douglas-fir.

Faoc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

Immediately after spraying, five
open buds were picked at random
from each check and each test tree.
Three to eleven eggs were present on
each bud, and two of the fifty buds
contained larvae.

Late in the morning of May 17 the
trees were examined for the presence
of adults. Myriads were present about
the four “check” trees with open
buds, while none was seen among the
foliage of the check tree with un-
opened buds. None to five adults were
observed in flight among individual
sprayed trees.

On May 21, five open buds from
each treatment were examined. Table
1 shows the average number of eggs
and larvae per bud.

TABLE 1 — Average Number of Contarinia
Eggs and Larvae per Bud on Five
Opened Buds from each Treat-
ment Five Days after Spraying.

Treatment

(May 16, 1962) Eggs

Check 18.0

Lindane 5.5

Thiodan 2.7

DDT 1.5

The results shown in Table 1 indi-
cate that more eggs were deposited
on the unspyrayed trees than on the
sprayed trees during the period May
17 to 21. Presumably adults were
killed or repelled by the insecticides.

Final effectiveness of the sprays was
assessed during the last week of Aug-
ust, 1962, when damaged needles
were easily recognized. Percentage
infestation was determined from ten
terminal twigs picked at random at
about breast height from each tree
(Table 2).

TABLE 2 — -Percentage Infestation of Cur-
rent Year's Douglas-fir Needles
by Cepfarinia spp., Larkin, B.C.,
August, 1962.

Treatment

(May 16, 1962) Average Range

Check 17.5 *10-28

Lindane 12.7 4-25

BBT 4.0 3-6

Thiodan 2.0 0.1-5

* Check tree with unopened buds at the time
of spraying.

The control achieved with DDT ©r
Thiodan as indicated in Table 2 would
be adequate for the Christmas tree
industry; the colour and growth of
the current year's foliage was better
than on the lindane-treated or the
untreated trees. It should be noted
that lindane was applied at about
one third the rate of DDT and Thio-
dan which is in general line with
usage of these chemicals against
some pests of ornamentals. The check
tree with the lowest infestation (10%)
had no open buds at the time of treat-
ment. This suggests that much of the
adult flight was over by the time
buds on this tree had opened.

Summary

At Larkin, B.C., in 1962, Thiodan
and DDT applied with a hand sprayer
at the time of bud opening gave satis-
factory control of the Douglas-fir
needle midges., At the concentration
used, lindane did not give adequate
protection. The concentrations of the
finished sprays were Thiodan 0.375%;
DDT 0.312%; and lindane 0.12%.

Larvae

4.0

TE.U ^

1.5 [

0.2 J

most larvae
dead

References

Condrashoff, S. F. 1962a. Bionomics of three closely related species of Contarinia Rond.
(Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) from Douglas-fir needles. Canad. Ent. 94: 376-94.

— — 1962b. Douglas-fir needle midges — pests of Christmas trees in British

Columbia. Canada Dept, of Forestry, Forest Ent, Lab., Vernon, B.C. June, 1962.

Pboc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia. Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

Phidippus AND THE WASP
A. A. Dennys

Walking along a dusty trail on a
sparsely timbered hillside one hot
afternoon in July, 1936, my atten-
tion was attracted by the quick
movements of a dark, iridescent blue
wasp with dusky brown wings. The
wasp seemed to be searching as it
ran and flew amongst the grass roots
and lumps of soil. The lost prey,
when it was regained, was a jumping
spider, Phidippus sp., dark grey with
red and white markings on its hairy
body.

The spider was seemingly lifeless.
It had been paralyzed by the wasp
which had already excavated a cell
in the earth nearby and was stocking
it with several of the spiders. Hav-
ing filled the cell the wasp would lay
an egg beside the spiders and then
fill the entrance. The paralyzed
spiders would provide fresh food for
the wasp larva. If the spiders were
killed they would decompose and dry
before the wasp egg could hatch.

I took the spider home and put it
in a vial on a shelf. It was late Sep-
tember before I remembered it again.
To my surprise it was not a shrivelled
corpse, but looked as fresh as ever.
On examining it with a magnifying
glass I thought there was a slight
trembling of the pedipalps. With a
fine glass tube I placed a drop of
water on its mouth. The mouth parts
moved Slightly and the bead of water
gradually disappeared. I replaced
the water several times with the
same result.

few days later the process was re-
peated. This time the mouthparts
moved visibly. Next I caught a fly,
mashed it in a drop of water, and
placed it upon the spider’s mouth.
For several days this feeding was re-
peated. Each time there was im-
provement, until the spider could
actually sit with its legs in a natural
position and move them slightly.

Two weeks after the first drink I
held a whole fly, partly killed, against
the spider’s jaws, which opened far
enough to clasp it. By early Decem-
ber it could move 6 legs. By Christ-
mas it had begun to web the earth in
the jar. In February, 1937, it could
jump at a fly or a pencil waved near-
by. During the next summer it
moulted once, and in February, 1938,
it was still living in the jar, appar-
ently as healthy as ever.

It is difficult to appreciate the
delicacy of the paralyzing operation.
The spider must be stung exactly in
the thoracic ganglion or the opera-
tion is a failure, in which case the
spider either lives and kills the wasp
larva, or dies and so starves the
larva.

Editor's Note: The foregoing is a con-
densed and revised version of a manuscript
found in 1963 among the papers of the late
A. A. Dennys, Vernon, B.C. It is used here
by permission of Mrs. Dennys. The wasp is
not identified further than as a “Digger.”
Probably it was one of the Psammocharidae.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia. Voi.. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 196:

NOTES ON THE LIFE HISTORIES OF FOUR MOTHS AND ONE
BUTTERFLY FROM VANCOUVER ISLAND (LEPIDOPTERA:
PHALAENIDAE, LASIOCAMPIDAE AND LYCAENIDAE)

George A. Hardy1

Panthea porflandia Grt.

P. portlandia is one of the three
species of the genus listed by Jones
(1951) for British Columbia and the
only one from Vancouver Island so
far as I am aware. It is a fairly large
moth with a wing expanse averaging
45 mm., conspicuously marked on the
forewings with grey and black lines
and bands. It is on the wing from
April to August.

In confinement a female taken in
Saanich laid 200 ova between August
10 and 12, 1962 in single mat-like
layers in several groups.

Ovum

Size 1 mm. by 0.75 mm. A depressed
sphere, smooth, shiny, with about 25
coarse ribs; bright yellow soon turn-
ing to dark brown and finally to lead
grey at maturity. Hatched August 18.

Larva — 1st Instar

Length 3 mm. Head smooth, shiny,
jet black. Body light fuscous blending
into pale lemon on the T. segments
and on A. 6 to 8; tubercles prominent,
shiny and black, bearing a short black
hair; legs and claspers black. Fed on
Douglas fir, eating the stomatic area
on the underside of the needles.

2nd Instar

August 24. Length 8 mm. Head
slightly notched, smooth, shiny, dark
brown with a pale vertical line on
each side connected below by a curved
line of the same shade. Body pale
orange brown, streaked with brown
on the sides especially on the T.
segments and the first few A. seg-

i Provincial Museum, Victoria, B.C. (Rtd.)

ments; a regular hyphenated white
dorsal line; spiracular area indicated
by a suffused greyish band; tubercles
conspicuous bearing one or more
black hairs, those on T. I larger than
the others.

3rd Instar

August 30. Length 15 mm. Head
shiny, light reddish with black hairs,
a curved black line on each side of
the front, the labium black. Body
constricted between the segments,
reddish purple, with a series of
creamy elongated triangles along
dorsum; spiracular band cream col-
oured and wavy; several very thin
whitish lines between this and the
dorsum; the lower side tubercles
largest each with a spray of reddish
hairs directed downward; a pair of
short black tufts on T. I, A. I and A.
7; underside concolorous with the
upper.

4fh Instar

September 3. Length 20 mm. Head
smooth, shiny, pale reddish with an
intricate pattern of black scrolls and
granulations. Body tapering slightly
from the head backward; the ground
colour black almost obscured above
by a series of fine white lines and
flecks, between the dorsal and spir-
acular lines; the dorsal line was a
row of black-bordered white triangles
except on A. 6-8 where they were
replaced by a straight even stripe;
the spiracular line wavy, interrupted,
and creamy; the spiracles white; the
tubercles large and spreading, bright
rust-red bearing a tuft of short hairs;
A. I and A. 8 with a pair of long black
tufts on the dorsum; T. segments

Pkoc. Entgmol. Soo, Brit. Columbia. Yol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

with some red and a whitish band on
T. 2 and 3; the underside dusky. The
larvae rested lying along twigs of
the food plant where the pattern and
colouration rendered them incon-
spicuous.

^th Instar

September 13. Length 40 mm. Head
black to very dark brown, with the
reddish markings much reduced.
Body black with grey mottling, most
evident on the T, segments; the dor-
sal line an interrupted chain of white
bars, wider on the centre of the seg-
ments; spiracular stripe broad, wavy
and white, constricted between the
segments; spiracles white; tubercles
large and red, bearing a few long
red and black hairs, with more of the
red ones on the lower sides; T. I with
a pair of short black tufts; A. I with
a pair of long black pencils; A. 8
with a pair of shorter pencils; the
underside black with dull reddish
bars and bands; claspers pale reddish.

There was some variation in colour
and markings; one larva had white
marbling and dapplings above and
below, and orange claspers.

Pupation took place in a thin, tough,
brown cocoon spun at the bottom of
the cage among the debris, which was
incorporated into it.

Pupa

Size 20 mm. by 8 mm. Rather stout;
wing cases dull due to minute stria-
tions; A. segments smooth, shiny,
strongly constricted between them;
a dark reddish brown; cremaster con-
sisting of many fine closely aggre-
gated hairs of varying length with
recurved tips; the longest in the
centre, all set on a rugose promin-
ence on the tip of the last segment.

Pupation occurred from mid-Sep-
tember to mid-October.

Ufeus electro Sm.

Of the four species of Ufeus listed
by Jones for British Columbia, three

are recorded from Vancouver Island.
They are all uniformly dark brown
with similar habits. They appear in
the autumn, hibernate and reappear
in the early spring. U. electra has an
average wing expanse of 40 mm. and
is usually taken at light.

A pair of this species was taken in
coitu in a light trap on October 10,
1961. They were put in a cardboard
carton provided with pieces of bark
and moss where they successfully
passed the winter. On March 7, 1962
the female commenced to oviposit in
crevices of the bark. The male died a
day or two later. Oviposition con-
tinued intermittently until April 14,
resulting in about 200 ova. These
hatched in ones and twos over a long
period; those laid on March 7 hatch-
ed April 10, and the remainder hatch-
ed at gradually lessening intervals, as
the temperature rose, running well
into May.

Ovum

Size 1.00 mm. by 0.75 mm. A de-
pressed hemisphere with about 40
fine ribs and cross ribs, the latter
slightly indenting the vertical ones
and giving them a beaded look; pale
whitish green, turning in three days
to pale brown with a reddish brown
dot on the micropyle and a faint ring
of the same colour around the shoul-
der; dark brown at maturity.

Larva — 1st Instar

April 10. Length 3 mm. Head large
in proportion, black, shiny, crevical
plate the same. Body pale bluish
fuscous, having a tinge of sienna
brown on the sides; legs dark brown,
claspers concolorous with the body
and dotted with black on the sides.
They crawled actively at first, finally
concealing themselves under bark,
between leaves or in loose material.
They spun loose shelters in which to
hide by day, feeding only at night.
They preferred the leaves of Populus
trichocarpa to any other plant pro-
vided.

Pboc. Eatomol" Soc Beit. Columbia. Yol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 196:

2nd Instar

May 1. Length 8 mm. Head shiny,
jet black, cervical plate the same.
Body a dull glaucous green, with
whitish dorsal and subdorsal lines;
sides mottled with brown; spiracular
line whitish; legs dark brown, clasp-
ers dull brown.

3rd Instar

May 9. Length 12 mm. Head jet
black, not so shiny as before and with
a few white hairs. Body, dorsum with
a wide dark green band bordered by
the bluish white subdorsal lines and
centred by a similar dorsal line; sides
dark brown; spiracular stripe bluish
white; underside green; legs and
claspers as described.

4th Instar

May 18. Length 15 mm. Head very
dark olive green. Body light olive
green with markings as described.

5th Instar

June 2. Length 20 mm. Head
rather large in proportion, dark
brown, mottled and reticulated with
darker brown. Body as described,
with sides dark fuscous brown; spi-
racular stripe having a central cin-
namon line.

6th Instar

June 9. Length 25 mm. Head
brown, heavily mottled and reticulat-
ed with fuscous brown, some of this
colour concentrated to form a dark,
suffused, oblique mark on each side.
Body with a dark olive green band on
the dorsum, centred with a wide
blue-green dorsal stripe and border-
ed by the blue- white subdorsal lines;
the sides darker tinged with brown;
spiracular line a double wavy incon-
spicuous narrow band; spiracles
white, thickly ringed with black and
situated just above the line; under-
side pale grey; claspers grey with a
black dot on the outer side.

The larvae continued to feed until
July 11, 1962 when they measured
30 mm. in length.

At an early stage the larvae were
divided into several lots and placed
in a variety of containers; they ap-
peared to feed well enough but in the
last instar they languished and died
from some unascertained cause.

Syngrapha celsa Hy. Edw.

Of the ten species of Syngrapha
recorded by Jones in British Colum-
bia six are known on Vancouver Is-
land. Most of them are character-
ized by a silvery mark in the centre
of the forewings. In S. celsa the fore-
wings are blue-grey relieved by dark-
er lines and marblings with the dis-
tinctive silver marks in the centre.
The average wing expanse is 35 mm.

A specimen taken at the Forbidden
Plateau Lodge on August 10, 1961
had laid 30 ova by August 15, scat-
tered at random in the container.

Ovum

Size 0.95 mm. by 0.5 mm. nearly
hemispherical, slightly depressed in
the micropylar region, finely and
closely ribbed, pale green, somewhat
shiny due to reflected light from the
ribs, soft and easily put out of shape,
suggesting that under natural condi-
tions it might be squeezed into a
crevice in the bark.

Larva — 1st Instar

August 20. Length 2 mm. Head
very pale brown, almost white. Body
white throughout, slightly translu-
cent with a few scattered long white
hairs. Food plants were Douglas fir
and hemlock, preferably the former.

2nd Instar

September 1. Length 5 mm. Head
smooth, pale brown. Body smooth,
slightly humped on A. 8 and 9; green,
with small black dots in place of the
usual tubercles; lighter green along
the spiracular area; the legs darker;
the underside paler green. Fed on
the soft stomatic zone on the under-
side of the needles; at rest they lay

Pkoci. Extomql. Soc. Bkit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

along the needles and were hardly
noticeable.

3rd ln$tor

September 12. Length 10 mm. Head
small, smooth, shiny, semi-translu-
cent. Body green; a milky- white spi-
racular line; thin, whitish subdorsal
lines with a dark green dorsal line,
which increased the resemblance to
the needles along which they rested
with the head held in a straight line
with the body.

From this date through the winter
months the larvae became semi-
quiescent, feeding very little and in
partial hibernation, but not leaving
the food plant.

On November 10 the brood was
divided into two groups, one was
caged in a sleeve on a fir branch, the
other confined in a large glass jar
with a muslin cover and placed in an
open shed. Those in the sleeve cage
died, but the other group overwinter-
ed in good condition.

4th instar

March 18, 1962. Length 14 mm.
Head quadrate, smooth, shiny, pale
translucent green, faintly mottled
with darker green on the sides; cer-
vical plate similar without the mottl-
ing. Body with a glaucous green
band along the dorsum containing
the dark green dorsal line and the
thin subdorsal lines; below this band
a dark green area just above the
broad glaucous green spiracular
stripe; spiracles black along the up-
per edge of the spiracular stripe;
tubercles indicated by black dots;
underside dark green; legs dark
brown; claspers green.

5th Instar

April 20. Length 18 mm. As de-
scribed; growth was very slow.

6th Instar

May 27. Length 20 mm. Head as
described. Body as described but the
colour contrasts were more intense.
Fed on the buds at the tip of the

Douglas fir sprays and consumed the
young needles.

June 13. Length 35 mm. Head
smooth, shiny, pale translucent
green. Body as described. Now full-
grown.

June 22. Pupated in a dense but
transparent cocoon spun among the
needles at the base of the fir sprays.

Pupa

Size 20 mm. by 5 mm. Somewhat
slender, smooth, shiny, black; legs
and antennae faintly but distinctly
outlined in pale ochre; the pleura be-
tween the A. segments 4-6 dull ochre
on ventrum only, this colour extend-
ing in the form of a broad ochre
saddle containing a central dark
brown dot on to the underside of A. 5
and 6. Cremaster, two fine spines
with recurved tips, on the end of the
broad dorso-ventrally flattened ru-
gose ‘tongue’ at the end of the last
segment.

Imago

Emerged July 16, 1962.

Tolype dayi Blkmre.

Of the two species of Tolype re-
corded by Jones for British Columbia,
T. dayi appears to be the only one
found on Vancouver Island. It is ash
grey with two darker cross bands, the
veins noticeably white, and the white
downy thorax with a dark central
band. It is remarkably well camou-
flaged in all stages. The wing expanse
is 30-35 mm.

A female taken at Royal Oak,
September, 1961 had laid a number
of ova by September 12. These were
scattered on crumpled paper and in
the crevices of bark in the container.

Ovum

Size 2 mm. by 1.5 mm. A slightly
depressed sphere; the chorion very
tough, dull, minutely and closely
punctate; covered with many black
and a few white scales from the tip

Proc. Extomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

of the moth’s abdomen, which ob-
scured the shape and size of the
ovum. Hatched on June 14, 1962. The
larva escaped through a round hole
at one side of the egg which usually
split into equal halves held together
by a small section at the opposite
side.

Larva — Is f instar

Length 5 mm. Head dark brown
almost concealed by dense white
hairs directed forward and curved
downward from the T. segments.
Body pale soon becoming black with
a faint interrupted yellow dorsal line,
most pronounced on A. 1-5; several
thin whitish lines on the sides;
tubercles prominent especially on the
sides of T. 1., each bearing long black
hairs on the dorsum and white, more
abundant hairs on the sides. Ate the
stomatic area on the undersides of
Douglas-fir needles.

2nd Instar

June 22. Length 10 mm. Head dull,
black. Body dark grey; a double thin,
milky- white dorsal line; yellowish
subdorsal lines with three fine whit-
ish lines below these; tufts on the T.
segments, the largest on T. 1 with
forwardly directed white hairs; white
hairs on the lower sides recurved
downwards blending the body into
the twig; dorsal tufts consisting of a
few long black hairs; claspers yellow-
ish with a large dot on the outer
sides.

3rd Insfar

June 30. Length 15 mm. Head as
described. Body light grey, otherwise
as described.

4th Insfar

July 8. Length 20 mm. Appearance
similar to the third instar; the gen-
eral effect black with many fine grey
lines; dorsum of T. 3 black with two
yellow dots close together.

5th Insfar

July 21. Length 40 mm. Head black
with grey pubescence in several fine

vertical lines. Body as described but
with a more contrasting pattern of
light and dark grey; dorsal band
dark, alternately expanded and con-
tracted on the A. segments.

6th Instar

August 1. Length 45 mm. Head as
described. Body more brown than
grey; the segments noticeably con-
stricted where they joined one an-
other; a wavy black line bordering
the ash-grey spiracular area; the
dorsal tubercles with short black
hairs, the lower tubercles with long-
black and white, downward-curving
sprays with scaly expansions along
the lower part of the hairs which end
in spatulate tips; spiracles grey, ring-
ed with black, underside pink with a
central band of orange that connects
with the orange claspers; superim-
posed on this band is a transverse
dark brown bar on the centre of each
segment.

August 18. The larvae spun dense
grey cocoons on the bark that blend-
ed in colour and texture into the sub-
stratum.

Pupa

Size 18 mm. by 7 mm. by 5 mm.
Dorso-ventrally compressed; smooth,
dull, piceous brown; no obvious
cremaster.

Imago

Emerged through the thin end of
the cocoon between September 2 and
October 4.

Remarks

Each stage is characterised by
camouflage; the disruptive pattern
of the imago matches the light and
dark shading of the bark on which it
rests by day; the ovum is well dis-
guised even when it is in full view;
the larva, with its contrasting colours
and hairiness is almost indistin-
guishable among the twigs; and the
cocoon is also nearly invisible by its
close resemblance to the substratum.

Pkoc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

Plebeius aquilo megalo McD.

Nine species of the genus are re-
corded by Jones in British Columbia.
Four are known from Vancouver
Island. P. aquilo is an arctic species,
the form megalo occurring on the Is-
land. It has a wing expanse of 25
mm. Generally it is brownish blue
with a black dot on each of the four
wings.

A specimen observed on Mt.
Becher, NW of Comox Lake on
August 1, 1962, was seen to deposit
an egg on a leaf of Saxifraga bron-
chialis near the tip of a shoot, an-
other was found in a similar situa-
tion nearby.

Ovum

Size 0.9 mm. by 0.3 mm. Shaped
like a flattened turban; the micro-
pylar area deeply indented; closely
pitted with round depressions, other-
wise smooth, colour white. Hatched
on August 13.

Larva — 1st- instar

Length 1.5 mm. Head small, shiny,
dark brown. Body rather short; white
soon becoming honey-coloured then
vinaceous with a fairly dense cover-

ing of very short hairs in four indis-
tinct double rows.

2nd instar

August 30. Length 3 mm. Head as
described. Body slightly onisciform
but the head not retracted; a rich
vinaceous purple; faint, thin, pale
subdorsal lines, with fuscous hairs in
rows as described. The shed cuticle
of the first stage was evident for a
short time as a thin white tissue at
the end of the body. They fed on the
epidermis at the base of the upper
surface of the leaves, where they also
rested, protected by the overlapping
leaves.

September 11. The larvae rested at
the base of a leaf and ceased to feed,
apparently having entered hiberna-
tion.

February 3, 1963. The larvae were
in the same position as on Sept. 11.
They were placed in a glass tube
lightly covered with muslin and kept
in an open shed. Both survived until
late March, 1963, but did not feed on
a garden specimen of Saxifraga
bronchialis.

Attacks on Humans by IXODES ANGUSTUS Neumann, the Coast Squirrel Tick,
and I. SORIC9S Gregson, the Shrew Tick

In his publication on the ticks of Canada
Gregson mentions (p 38) two British Colum-
bia and three United States records of
Ixodes angustus Neumann, attacking hu-
mans. I now add three more records.

On September 17, 1958 a flat adult female
was removed from a 9-year old girl at White
Rock, B.C. The location of the attachment
was not recorded.

On September 26, 1958, a flat adult
female was removed from under the arm of
a Vancouver woman who had been tramping
through the bush at White Rock, five days
before the tick was detected.

On October 23, 1963, an engorged female
was removed by a doctor from the abdomen
of a middle-aged woman in North Surrey.
The doctor reported that the woman was
house-bound with a sick husband and sel-
dom went out, but that she had a cat which
could have brought in a small mammal
which harbored the tick. He was surprised

at the point of attachment because the
woman wore several layers of clothing, in-
cluding what he called “corsets”, so the
tick must have attached at night when the
woman had removed her garments.

The other unusual record is that of a flat
adult female of the shrew tick, Ixodes
soricis Gregson, which was removed from
the outer upper arm of a 14-year-old girl
from North Vancouver, on April 11, 1960.
In this case also the tick may have come
from a shrew brought into the house by a
cat because children and shrews inhabit
rather different strata on the earth’s
surface.

Gregson, John D. The Ixodoidea of Canada.

Pub. 930, Science Service, Entomol-
ogy Division, Can. Dept, of Agric.
Jan., 1956.

— (7. J. Spencer, University of British
Columbia, Vancouver 8, B.C.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

HETEROPTERA STRANDED AT HIGH ALTITUDES IN THE PACIFIC

NORTHWEST

By G. G. E. Scudder

Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver 8

The problem of dispersal is of par-
ticular interest to students of insect
distribution and there has been a
great deal of discussion on the main
modes by which, for example, insects
have colonized oceanic islands (see
Zimmerman, 1948). It is now gen-
erally agreed that aerial dispersal, be
it active flying or passive drift, has
played a significant part in the col-
onization of new areas. The recent
trapping research by the Hawaiian
B. P. Bishop Museum indicates aerial
dispersal of many groups of insects
in remote areas (Gressitt, 1961; Gres-
sitt & Nakata, 1958; Gressitt, Leech
& O’Brien, 1960; Yoshimoto & Gres-
sitt, 1959, 1960; Yoshimoto, Gressitt
& Wolff, 1962; Gressitt, Coatsworth &
Yoshimoto, 1962). Johnson (1953,
1954, 1962) demonstrated that the
dispersal of aphids and many other
insects was by passive drift, and cap-
tures of aphids on snow in Spitzber-
gen (Elton, 1925) shows that they
can be carried long distances. Spread
by active flight is well documented
(Williams, 1958; Rainey, 1962) and
reference to the spread of the spruce
budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana
(Clem.), shows the part played by
prevailing winds in blowing pests in
predictable directions (Henson, 1962) .

Indeed, the evidence for aerial dis-
persal of insects and spiders is now
so great that Bristowe (1958) was able
to write, after mentioning additional
records of spread to Krakatau and
Jan Mayen, that ‘we can now play
havoc with much of the former evi-
dence advanced in support of land-
bridges which were sometimes imag-
ined to explain the distribution of
spiders and other invertebrates’.

In a study of insect (particularly
Heteroptera) distribution in British
Columbia, we are attempting to ob-
tain information on dispersal. Most
of this work is concerned with var-
ious trapping procedures, but it
seemed possible that trapping records
might be supplemented from various
other sources. This paper is concern-
ed with one such source, namely
snowfield and glacier stranded
insects.

Mani (1962) reviewed the occur-
rence of insects stranded on snow-
fields and glaciers and noted that
these forms are distinct from the
nival fauna and characteristically
belong to the fauna of lower eleva-
tions. He noted that insects from low
altitudes often get carried up by ther-
mals and in the upper atmosphere
and currents become chilled and are
blown onto snowfields and glaciers
where they become stranded. Here
they form a source of food for the
foraging nival fauna, but they also
provide valuable records for students
of insect distribution. The process of
getting stranded on such areas might
at first glance seem rather infre-
quent or unimportant and to provide
little information, but familiarity
with the records show this not to
be the case. The famous grasshopper
glacier in Montana (Gurney, 1953;
Williams, 1958) demonstrates the
possible magnitude of the process.

A number of records of insects
stranded on snowfields include Heter-
optera. Caudell (1903) found Penta-
tomids, Coreids, Lygaeids and one
species belonging to each of the
Aradidae and Miridae, on Pike’s Peak
snowfields in central Colorado. Van

Pkoc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

Dyke (1919) reports Pentatomids,
Coreids and Mirids on Mt. Rainier
snowfields in west-central Washing-
ton, and Lygaeids, Coreids and Mirids
on snow in the High Cascades and
Sierra Nevada of eastern California.
Howard (1918) records ‘Coreid’ bugs
on snow at 13,000 ft on Sierra Blanca
in south Colorado, but since these
insects are said to have been bright
green in color, they may have be-
longed to another family. I know of
no published records of Heteroptera
on snowfields in British Columbia,
although other insects are recorded
from such areas, for example in Cur-
rie (1904).

The records reported here are
specimens collected by a group of
energetic students who are moun-
taineers. The captures are detailed
with remarks on each: the Garibaldi
localities are around 5000-6500 ft.
elevation.

Family Acanthosomidae

Elosmostethus cruciatus (Say) B.C.:
Golden Ears, on snow at 4,500-5,800
ft., 19. v. 1963 (I. Stirling). WASH.:
Mt. Sahale, Cascade Pass, 6,000 ft.,
on snow, 31. vii. 1960 (E. Adams).
Widely distributed and taken from
many conifers.

Family Pentatomidae

Bonaso dimidiota (Say). B. C.:
Garibaldi, on glacier, 15. ix. 1961 (J.
B. Foster). WASH.: Mt. Sahale, Cas-
cade Pass, 6,000 ft., on snow, 31. vii.
1960 (E. Adams). The above speci-
mens are identical with material
from Saanich District determined by
H. M. Parshley as dimidiata . The
species is fairly common and widely
distributed in British Columbia.

B. sordido (Uhler). B.C.: Golden

Ears, on snow at 5,500 ft., 12. vi. 1960
(E. Adams). In British Columbia this

species to date has been taken on
Vancouver Island and in the Lower
Fraser Valley. It has been found on
Thuja sp. in British Columbia.

Zicrona caerulea (L.). WASH.: Mt.
Rainier, 5,300 ft., 3. vii. 1960 (E.
Adams). A predaceous species also
found in Europe, Asia, Dutch East
Indies and the United States. Parsh-
ley (1923) reports that this species
occurs occasionally on the summit of
Mt. Washington in New Hampshire
and notes that adventitious speci-
mens have been taken in Connecticut
in boxes of nursery stock imported
from France. In British Columbia
specimens have been studied from
the Kootenays, Fraser Valley and
southern Vancouver Island.

Family Coreidae

Theognis occidentals (Heid.). B.C.:
Garibaldi Neve, 7,000-7,500 ft., 25. ix.
1960 (J. B. Foster) ; Garibaldi, on
snow, 15. ix. 1961 (J. B. Foster).

WASH.: Mt. Sahale, Cascade Pass,

6,000 ft., abundant on snow, 31. vii.
1960 (E. Adams). Widely distributed
in British Columbia.

Family Lygaeidae

Lygaeus kalmi ka!mi(Stal.) . WASH.:
Mt. Sahale, Casade Pass, on snow at

6.000 ft., 31. vii. 1960 (E. Adams) — a
teneral specimen. Common in warm
interior districts of British Columbia,
but scarce at the coast; occasionally
taken on the south-eastern part of
Vancouver Island.

Kleidocerys resedae (Panz.). B.C.:
Golden Ears, very abundant on snow,
4,500-5,800 ft., 19. v. 1963 (I. Stirling).
WASH.: Mt. Sahale, Cascade Pass, on
snow at 6,000 ft., 31. vii. 1960 (E.
Adams) ; Mt. Shuksan, on snow above

7.000 ft., 11. ix. 1960 (E. Adams), A
widely distributed species reported
from many hosts, but most probably

Proo. Extomol. Soc. Brtt. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1. 196;

overwintering ones: usually on

Alnus, Betula or Rhododendron. This
is a species taken by Caudell (1903)
on snow on Pike’s Peak, but recorded
under a synonymic name, Ischnor-
hynchusdidymus Zett.

Of the 30 odd families of Heterop-
tera represented in the Pacific North-
west, these records involve only four.
Caudell (1903) found in Colorado
that the most common families found
on snow were also the Lygaeidae, Pen-
tatomidae and Coreidae: only one
species of Miridae was- found and so
far none of this family have been
obtained in our collecting.

Leston (1957) has ^suggested that
for the Heteroptera at least, each
taxon differs in regard to its spread
potential; it seems that taxa differ
in their intrinsic ability to spread
and colonize. Leston (loc. cit.), after
studying the Heteroptera of four
oceanic island groups, the Azores,
Hawaii, Guam and Samoa, listed fam-
ilies with decreasing spread potential.
The Miridae headed this list, closely
followed by the Lygaeidae and Penta-
tomidae, but the Coreidae were near
the bottom. Analysis of light trap
captures showed much the same pic-
ture. It would appear that in the

Pacific Northwest, the Miridae may
not be such strong migrants as their
representatives in other parts of the
world. Further collecting may clarify
this point.

Westdal et al. (1961) and Medler
(1962) have shown that the six-spot-
ted leafhopper Macrosteles fascifrons
(Stal.) cannot overwinter in the
North as adults, yet every year is car-
ried into northern areas of its range
by winds and here reaches pest pro-
portions. Likewise, Robinson & Hsu
(1963) note that some of the aphids
on cereal grains and grasses in Mani-
toba cannot overwinter in this Prov-
ince and hence appear to invade
Canada each year from the south.
The records of insects stranded on
snow indicate a high spread poten-
tial, and point out a feature which
may be important if they are pests
and need control. Theognis occiden-
talis is a pest of coniferous seed in
the West (Koerber, 1963) and Banasa
dimidiata is a potential serious pest
of blueberries and currants in New
England (DeCoursey, 1963) : the late
W. Downes left notes indicating that
B. dimidiata is sometimes numerous
on raspberry fruit on Vancouver
Island.

References

Bristowe, W. S. 1958. The World of Spiders, Collins, London.

Caudell, A. N. 1903. Some insects from the summit of Pike’s Peak, found on snow,

Proc. ent. Soc. Wash. 5: 74-82.

Currie, R. P. 1904. Hemerobiidae from the Kootenay District of British Columbia, Proc.
enf. Soc. Wash. 6: 81-90.

DeCoursey, R. M. 1963. The life history of Banasa dimidiata and Banasa calva (Hemiptera:
Pentatomidae), Ann. ent. Soc. Amer. 56: 687-693.

Elton, C. S. 1925. The dispersal of inserts to Spitzbergen ice, Trans, ent. Soc. Lond. 1925:
289-299.

Gressitt, J. L. 1961. Problems in the zoogeography of Pacific and Antarctic insects,

Pacif. Ins. Mon. 2: 1-94.

Gressitt, J, L., Coatsworth, J. and Yoshimoto, C. M. 1962. Air-borne insects trapped on
“Monsoon-Expedition”, Pacif. Ins. 4: 319-323.

Gressitt, J. L., Leech, R. E. and O’Brien, C. W. 1960. Trapping of air-borne insects in the
Antarctic area, Pacif. Ins. 2: 245-250.

Gressitt, J. L. and Nakata, S. 1958. Trapping of air-borne insects on ship on the Pacific

Proc. Hawaiian ent, Soc. 16: 363-365,

Gurney, A. B, 1953. Grasshopper Glacier of Montana, Ann. Rpt. Smithson. Inst. 1952:
305-325.

Henson, W. R. 1962. Convective transportation of Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.),
Proc, XI Int. Congr. Enf, 3: 44-46.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

Howard, L. O. 1918. A note on insects found on snow at high elevations, Ent. News 29:
375.

Johnson, C. G. 1953. The aerial dispersal of aphids, Discovery 1953: 19-22.

Johnson, C. G. 1954. Aphid migration in relation to weather, Biol. Rev. 29: 87-118.

Johnson, C. G. 1962. A functional approach to insect migration and dispersal and its
bearing on future study, Proc. XI Int. Congr. Ent. 3 : 50-53.

Koerber, T. W. 1963. Leptoglossus occidentalis (Hemiptera, Coreidae) a newly discovered
pest of coniferous seed, Ann. ent. Soc. Amer. 56: 229-234.

Leston, D. 1957. Spread potential and the colonisation of islands. Syst. Zool. 6: 41-46.

Mani, M .S. 1962. Introduction to High Altitude Entomology. Insect life above timber
line in the Northwest Himalaya. Methuen, London.

Medler, J .T. 1962. Long-range displacement of Homoptera in the Central United States,
Proc. XI Int. Congr. Ent. 3: 30-35.

Parshley, H. M. 1923. Key to Heteropterous families; and the Termatophylidae, Antho-
coridae, Cimicidae, Nabidae, Phymatidae, Enicocephalidae, Piesmidae, Tingidae,
Neididae, Coreidae, Alydidae, Corizidae, Pentatomidae, Cydnidae, and Scutel-
leridae in The Hemiptera of Connecticut, Bull. Conn. Geol. Nat. Hist. Surv. 34:
383-385, 665-674, 692-707, 737-783.

Rainey, R. C. 1962. The mechanisms of Desert Locust Swarm movements and the migra-
tion of insects, Proc. XI Int. Congr. Ent. 3: 47-49.

Robinson, A. G. and Hsu, Sze-Jih. 1963. Host plant records and biology of aphids on
cereal grains and grasses in Manitoba (Homoptera: Aphididae), Canad. Ent.
95: 134-137.

Van Dyke, E. C. 1919. A few observations on the tendency of insects to! collect on ridges
and mountain snow fields, Ent. News 30: 241-244.

Westdal, P H., Barrett, C. F., and Richardson, H. P. 1961. The six-spotted leaf hopper,
Macrosteles fascifrons (Stal.) and aster yellows in Manitoba. Canad. J. PI. Sci.
41: 320-331.

Williams, C. B. 1958. Insect Migration, Collins, London.

Yoshimoto, C. M. and Gressitt, J. L. 1959. Trapping of air-borne insects on ships on the
Pacific. (Part II), Proc. Hawaiian ent. Soc. 17: 150-155.

Yoshimoto, C. M. and Gressitt, J. L. 1960. Trapping of air-borne insects on ships on the
Pacific, (Part 3). Pacif. Ins. 2: 239-243-

Yoshimoto, C. M., Gressitt, J. L. and Wolff, T 1962. Air-borne insects from the Galathea
Expedition, Pacif. Ins. 4: 269-291.

Zimmerman, E. C. 1958. Introduction, Insects of Hawaii 1: 1-206.

The Eastern Larch Beetle, DENDROCTONUS SIMPLEX Lee. In
British Columbia and Yukon Territory

The occurrence of the eastern larch
beetle, Dendroctonus simplex Lee., in Brit-
ish Columbia was established June 1, 1960,
when the writer collected adults and young
larvae from a felled estern larch, Larix
laricina (Du Roi) K. Koch, four miles west
of Chetwynd on the Hart Highway. In mid-
July 1960, adults and larvae were found in
two flood-damaged trees 19 miles south of
Fort Nelson. Dead parent adults, living
pupae, and teneral adults were collected
from these trees on August 18.

Further records were obtained by E.
Fottinger on June 6, 1962, five miles east of
Chetwynd. Adults were collected from two
larch logs averaging 10 inches d.b.h. A
month later an adjacent standing larch that
had been heavily attacked in the spring was
discovered. The foliage was beginning to
fade and adults, large larvae, and teneral
adults were found beneath the bark. On

September 4, teneral adults were already
taking on the dark colour of mature beetles.

The eastern larch beetle was found near
Watson Lake, Yukon Territory in 1962 by
J. V. C. Holms. Adults and larvae were
recovered on July 19 from an 8-inch trap
tree which had been felled on May 26. The
attack had been much heavier on the stump
than on the log.

Judging by the distribution of our rec-
ords, it seems probable that the eastern
larch beetle occurs throughout the range
of its host in northeastern British Columbia
and southeastern Yukon Territory.

Identification of the beetles collected has
been verified by G. R. Hopping of the Cal-
gary Forest Entomology and Pathology
Laboratory.

— T. A. D. Woods, Forest Entomology
Laboratory , Vernon, B.G.

Proc. Entomol. Sor. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

KHAPRA BEETLE, Trogoderma granarium. Everts, INTERCEPTED
AT VANCOUVER, B.C.

A. G. Rudd*

On 26 January, 1963, numerous
Khapra beetle larvae were found dur-
ing a routine examination of the
holds of the M.S. Bengalen, Java
Pacific Line, at Vancouver. Since the
ship had unloaded at Los Angeles,
San Francisco, Portland and Seattle,
the U.S. Department of Agriculture
was notified.

In No. 1 lower hold were some
dried, larval skins of Carpophilus
humeralis (Fab.). There were Khapra
beetle larvae in moderate numbers
in the No. 2 lower tween deck. In No.
4 lower hold were isolated infesta-
tions in fair numbers. No. 6 lower
hold contained the heaviest infesta-
tion. Here bags of coconut were
piled solidly, 8 feet high across the
after end. This is a shallow hold, and
the sides of the shaft are oil tanks.
After the coconut was unloaded the
tops of the tanks were found to be
warm, and this circumstance may
have helped in obtaining a good kill
under the solid piles of bags. There
was a great amount of extensively
riddled wheat residue under the
wooden ceiling in this hold.

Since the Khapra beetle was found
in scattered sections of the ship, it
was decided to fumigate the entire

i Plant Protection Officer

vessel as well as the cargo in holds
2 and 6. The rate was 10 lb. of methyl
bromide per 1000 cu. ft. for 18 hr.,
hence 613,000 cu. ft. took 6,130 lb. gas.
The fumigation was started at 9:30
p.m., 26 January, and the last hold
was cleared at midnight, 27 January.
The starting temperature was 34°F.;
the opening temperature 40 °F. A
complete kill was achieved and the
cargo was undamaged.

This vessel had been in Vancouver
in January, 1962, when No. 6 hold was
‘passed for loading/ It could not be
‘cleared’ because American wheat
was loaded in the lower hold. It is
possible that the Khapra beetle was
present at that time.

The Bengalen trades from the
Persian Gulf and India via Singa-
pore, to the west coast of North
America bringing such cargoes that
infestations might be found at any
time. It was with great difficulty that
larvae were seen in the cargo dis-
charged at Seattle, for Khapra beetle
larvae hide so effectively that they
are difficult to detect unless they are
present in numbers. Cast skins are
usually associated with and buried
under debris, and the adults are not
often seen.

FURTHER RECORDS OF DELAYED EMERGENCE OF Buprestis aurulenta L.
(COLEOPTERA: BUPRESTIDAE)

Go J. Spencer*

Within recent years there has been
an increasing number of records of
delayed emergence of Buprestis aur-
ulenta L. from woodwork. In 1930 (2)
I stated my belief that larvae of this

i University of British Columbia, Vancouver 8,
B.C.

beetle could develop from eggs laid
in timber recently sawn from logs,
without having to feed first on the
cambium layer before entering sap-
wood and later heartwood. Dr. Gor-
ton Linsley, University of California
(1) questioned my view but I think

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

lie inferred that I meant finished
wood as in furniture, rather than
rough sawn timber.

According to the authors in whose
books the statement occurs, the span
of life of an average buprestid is said
to be 3 years, from the egg in a crev-
ice of the bark, through the bark,
cambium, and wood stages, to emerg-
ence. Only by controlled experiments
upon caged trees could this statement
be validated.

When lumber is purchased there is
no way of telling its history of ex-
posure to beetles; how long the
larvae were inside the logs or how
fast the wood has been drying out.
This is borne out by the following
emergence records taken from many
on hand:

24 November, 1942; one adult and
several larvae from a house in the
6000 block, Gladstone Street, Van-
couver dne year after it was built.

January, 1930; one adult from the
woodwork of a corridor in the (then)
Applied Science building of the Uni-
versity of British Columbia, five years
after it was built.

8 June, 1954; one adult from a fir
floor, 2500 block Trinity Street, Van-
couver, five years after it was built.

June, 1953; one beetle from the
badly damaged floor and subfloor of
a house in North Vancouver, eleven
years after it was built.

I have many records of beetles
emerging from 14 to 33 years after
houses were built, one more than 40
years after, and two more than 50
years after. The first of the 50-year
records occurred in February and
March, 1953. Beetles emerged in All
Saints Church, Alberni after doing
considerable damage to joists, tim-
bers, flooring and other parts of the
building. One beetle sent to me had
been dug out of a pew. According to
Mr. G. S. Wright, Chairman of the
building committee, this Church was

started in 1900 and completed in 1904.
(in litt. 23 March, 1953).

The most recent record would seem
to be the ultimate. In November,
1960, I received specimens from Port
Washington, Pender Island, B.C. I
identified these and gave the sender
some details of their life history. His
reply dated 22 November, 1960 states:
“. . . this house which I am now tear-
ing down was built in 1897 and the
flat-headed wood borer I sent you
was taken from a piece of fir flooring
from the second story . . . the grub
was taken from near the middle of
the room away from any upright
beams ... I have seen the green
beetle at different times in the house
and am familiar with it having been
a logger . . . my own observation is
that the green beetle will not go from
one board to another, while one board
is absolutely chewed up the next one
is untouched and I may add that
there has been quite a number that I
have examined.”

These beetles emerged and a ma-
ture larva was found in a floor board
sixty- three years after the house was
built. Either the larva was over 63
years in developing in the extremely
dry wood or the parent beetle had
laid in prepared lumber. While the
second alternative may sometimes
(2) occur it is more likely that these
larvae may, under adverse conditions,
take almost incredibly long periods
to develop.

In a much-perforated verandah
post of a 32 year-old log house on
Bowen Island I watched B. aurulenta
adults running in and out of new and
old emergence holes. One that I at-
tempted to catch ran down a tunnel
and did not reappear. These beetles
may have been laying eggs in the
tunnels. The longicorn, Opsimus
quadrilineatus, which infests the
same house, does so to my knowledge.

If newly emerged beetles lay eggs

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

in tunnels from which they have just
emerged, the eggs should be mature
in their ovaries and ready to be laid
shortly after they emerge. To test this
point, I asked the caretaker of the
log house to drop newly emerged
beetles into a bottle of preservative.
I dissected nine of these and found
that none had mature reproductive
organs; in fact both ovaries and
testes were so small as to be barely
discernible. A specimen from West
Vancouver which had just emerged
from the railing of a small bridge
had almost mature ova in well-
developed ovarioles. It may have
matured before it was caught. Only
by dissecting newly-emerged beetles
and by rearing others can we decide
if this species can mate and lay eggs
shortly after it has emerged. It
seems reasonable that it should re-
quire a flight period and maturation
in the sun before depositing fertile
eggs.

As support for the view that matur-
ation of larvae sometimes takes many
years, I quote from a letter dated 22
August, 1955 from R. L. Furniss,
Chief, Division of Forest Insect Re-

search, U.S.D.A., Portland, Oregon: —
“In 1939 I thought it would be a good
idea to attempt to rear Buprestis
from the egg to the adult stage be-
cause all of the records of prolonged
development up to that time were of
a circumstantial nature. That year
and for several years subsequently
we were able to get B. aurulenta and
B. langi established in blocks of
Douglas-fir. Periodically since then
we have dissected the blocks, mea-
sured the larvae and re-established
the survivors in other blocks of wood.
Quite a number of them are still in
rearing. Some have been in rearing
for 16 years. The most advanced
larvae are about y2 grown. Some of
them have grown only 1 millimeter
since they were introduced into the
blocks 13 to 16 years ago. Conse-
quently I expect that in another 15
or 20 years some of the adults will
begin to emerge. Quite likely the more
retarded individuals will vie with
your 50 -year old stock for longevity.”
This experiment appears to sup-
port the view that the larval develop-
ment of this beetle is sometimes
remarkably protracted.

References

1. Linsley, E. G., 1943. Delayed emergence of Buprestis aurulenta from structural tim-

bers. J. Econ. Ent. 36:348-349.

2. Spencer, G. J., 1930. Insects emerging from prepared timber in buildings. Proc.

Entomol. Soc. of Brit. Columbia 27:6-10.

Adult Insect Collection, Forest Entomology Laboratory, Vernon, B.C.

The writers have prepared this statement
for the benefit of entomologists interested
in obtaining information on host records,
insect distribution, etc., in the interior of
British Columbia and Yukon Territory.

The number of pinned adult specimens
in the collection is estimated at over 25,000.
Much of the material has been identified by
specialists of the Entomology Research
Institute, Ottawa. In all there are over 3,100
designated species distributed as follows in
the major orders:

Order No. of families No. of species

Lepidoptera 43 724

Coleoptera 77 1,749

Hymenoptera .... 33 225

Diptera 33 227

Hemiptera 14 124

Homoptera 7 61

The collection is made up largely of
insects that frequent forest trees and
shrubs, although others such as Carabidae
(245 species) are well represented. Most
lepidopterous specimens were reared from
immature stages taken during the course
of the Forest Insect Survey; the majority
of coleopterous specimens were collected
as adults, a number by early entomologists
such as Ralph Hopping.

Most of the Diptera and over two-thirds
of the Hymenoptera are parasites reared at
Vernon from host material collected for
the Forest Insect Survey.

— ./. K. Harvey and D. A. Ross, Forest

Entomology Laboratory, Vernon. 3.G.

Prqo. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia. Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

HYPERPREDATORS OF THE PEAR PSYLLA, Psylla pyricola Foerster1
(HOMOPTERA: CHERMIDAE)

W. H. A. Wilde2

Torre-Bueno (1950) defines a
hyperparasite as “a form parasitic
upon another parasite.” Hence a
hyperpredator may be defined as a
predator that attacks another pred-
ator. This note concerns hyperpred-
ators in relationship to the pear
psylla, Psylla pyricola Foerster.
Hyperpredators were observed in a
bionomics study of the pear psylla
started in the Kootenay Valley of
British Columbia in 1960 and con-
tinued in the Okanagan Valley in
1961, 1962, and 1963.

In the Kootenay Valley larval and
adult lacewings ( Chrysopa oculata
Say) were found entrapped in spider
webs in the crotches of pear trees and
spiders (Philodromus spp.) were seen
with lacewing adults in their mandi-
bles.

In the Okanagan Valley, hyper-
predation was observed between an-
thocorid nymphs (Anthocorus mel-
anocerus Reut.) and lacewing larvae.
Success in this type of predation was
reversible, and depended on the
relative sizes of the predators. The
larger predator always emerged vic-
tor, e.g., a fifth instar anthocorid
nymph could overcome a first or sec-
ond instar neuropteran larva (Fig.
1A) but a third instar neuropteran

1 Contribution No. 135, Research Station, Re-
search Branch, Canada Department of Agriculture,
Summerland, B.C.

2 Entomologist.

larva could easily overcome a second
third or even a fifth instar anthocorid
nymph (Fig. IB). Spiders were also
observed feeding on anthocorid
nymphs and adults and on lacewing
larvae and adults. As well, anthocor-
ids and lacewings were observed
entrapped in spider webs in tree
canopies.

The role of ants ( Lasius sitkaensis
Pergande) in relation to the pear
psylla is unclear. On two occasions
ants were seen threatening and mol-
esting lacewing larvae that were
feeding on second, third, and fourth
instar psyllid nymph. On three
occasions ants were noted in close
proximity to sluggish or semi-
paralyzed lace wing larvae. Observa-
tions in July and August indicate
that ants protect psyllid nymphs but
in late September and October ants
were observed carrying freshly killed
psyllid nymphs along the limbs and
down the trunks of pear trees.

Raphidians ( Agulla sp.) were ob-
served in six orchards and on test
trees in the laboratory feeding on
anthocorid nymphs and adults. This
was the only predator observed in
four years that caught flying pear
psyllids.

Hyperpredators discussed here
were identified by the Entomology
Research Institute, Canada Depart-
ment of Agriculture, Ottawa, Canada.

Reference

1 Tarre-Bueno, J. R. de la. 1950. A Glossary of Entomology. Brooklyn Ent. Soc., Brook-
lyn, New York, U.S.A.

Figure 1A — Fifth instar anthocorid nymph feeding on a 1st instar lacewing larva. About
20X.

Figure IB — Third instar lacewing larva feeding on a 5th instar anthocorid nymph. About

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

THE DECLINE OF THE PACIFIC TICK (Ixodes pacificus Cooley and Kohls)

AT WEST VANCOUVER

J. D. Gregson*

The Pacific tick, Ixodes pacificus
Cooley and Kohls, is one of three ticks
familiar to man in British Columbia
(1). The adults are relatively small;
the female is about one-eighth of an
inch long, with black legs and head
and a reddish-brown body. The male,
which is usually found with the fe-
male, is about half as long and is
entirely black. Both sexes “quest”
on low vegetation along woodland
paths and at rocky exposures along
the coast of southern British Colum-
bia (2) . They are present throughout
the year but are most numerous dur-
ing the wet winter months and reach
a peak of activity during warm spring
days.

Man and domestic animals are fre-
quently hosts for the adults. The
males, which do not become distend-
ed, feed repeatedly for, short periods
only and leave multiple bites. The
females remain attached 4at one site

i Entomology Laboratory, Research Branch,
Canada Department of Agriculture, Kamloops,
British Columbia.

for a week or more, engorging
slowly and turning dull blue-grey.
During this period the flesh of the
host may swell around the tick’s
mouthparts, giving rise to the fallacy
that the tick burrows in. Because of
its relatively long, barbed hypostome
this tick is very difficult to remove
and if it cannot be induced to release
by irritating it with such fluids as
kerosene, gasoline, or iodine, it usually
has to be cut out. The bites may pro-
duce sudden and extensive swelling
and cause ulcers that persist for many
months (3).

Where the habitat of J. pacificus
was close to urban areas, such as
along the north shore of Burrard
Inlet and English Bay, it was con-
sidered a pest of man and his pets ■
for many years so that in 1940 this i
laboratory considered it advisable to
conduct a survey. Return - stamped
questionnaires were mailed in March
to 210 persons residing at or between
the communities of West Bay and
Horseshoe Bay, their addresses hav-

Yes -

1940

1950

1980

2. Are ticks, in your opinion, becoming
more numerous?

Yes

3. Have you or your family had ticks
attach to you?

1-6 times?

Often

Never

37+

4. Do you possess dogs or cats?

Yes

5. Percentage of pets examined for ticks:
Daily

Occasionally or weekly

Never ...

40+

Pboc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

ing been chosen randomly from a
telephone directory. This survey was
repeated in 1950 and I960, with 700
and 260 questionnaires sent respec-
tively. Many of the addresses in the
last year were deliberately chosen
■from the earlier lists so that the in-
formation gained might be more
relative. The returns were 38, 34, and
50 per cent of the mailings. The
answers are given as percentages of
the respective totals.

Of the residents replying in 1940,
44 per cent had lived at their address
for more than ten years and were
thus in a position to compare the
relative abundance of ticks over the
years. The comparable figures for
1950 and 1960 were 33 and 69 per cent.
Eighteen 4-23 year residents replying
in 1950 stated that the ticks had de-
clined during the last 2-10 years. The
same opinion was echoed in the 1960
returns, although by this time the
pest had so declined that remarks on
its absence were rather casual.

The period of tick activity was
generally stated as being in the spring
and to a lesser extent in the autumn.
Some activity was noted during the
summer but not during mid-winter.

Descriptions of the effects from
the tick bites included: acute swell-
ing of the arm; slow healing and
painful festering sores with fever;
large or hard and painful lumps;
severe local inflammation; soreness
for six months; fever; slight rash and
headache.

Many ticks were removed with the
aid of kerosene, iodine, turpentine,
alcohol, hot needles, fire, and forceps.
A surprising number were ‘‘unscrew-
ed.” One facetious resident removed
his with a pick and shovel and an-
other added that “a friend of ours
had heard about the plague of ticks
in West Vancouver, so she examined
her dog and was horrified to find
several ticks embedded in the ant-
mahs belly. She did not think it very
odd that these lumps were arranged
in two regular columns; it was only
after she had inflicted considerable
suffering on the dog that she ceased
from trying to pry its nipples off!”

It would appear that the Pacific
tick at West Vancouver reached a
peak of activity about 1940 and sub-
sequently declined to its present sta-
tus as a pest of only minor concern.
The reason for its decline is not
known, but is probably related to the
development of the district from
brushland to a well maintained resi-
dential area.

During the last survey question-
naires were also sent to key person-
nel in other areas in the province
suspected of harbouring L pacificus .
Returns have suggested its presence
at Ganges, Nanaimo, Coquitlam,
Agassiz, Wilson Creek, Seehelt, Pen-
der Harbour, and Squamish, but not
at Prince Rupert or Terrace. The
most northerly record is from Ocean
Falls (4).

References

1. Gregson, J. D. Ticks of Medical Importance in British Columbia. British Columbia

Med. Jour. 2: 1-4. 1960.

2. Gregson, J. D. The Coast tick (Ixodes ealifornScus Banks) problem in British Colum-

bia. Canad. Ent. 74: 3-5. 1942.

3. Gregson, J. D. Host poisoning by Ixodes califoraicws Banks Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit.

Columbia 38: 5-6. 1942.

4. Gregson, J. D. The Ixodoidea of Canada. Can. Dept, of Agric. Pub. 930, 92pp. 1955.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Deo. 1, 1963

OBITUARY

F. C. WHITEHOUSE

Francis Cecil Whitehouse was born
in Leamington Spa, Warwick, Eng-
land, in 1879, was educated locally
and left school at 16 to enter a bank.
In 1905 he came to Canada and
continued in banking until he retired
in 1934 after 26 years as a branch
manager in each of the western
provinces. Always an ardent fisher-
man, he fished widely in the Atlantic
and Pacific oceans. It was on his
many fishing trips across Canada
that he became interested in dragon-
flies, first in Alberta and then in
British Columbia. His studies led to
two publications “British Columbia
Dragonflies (Odonata)”, University
Press, Notre Dame, Indiana, 1941, and
“Catalogue of the Odonata of Canada,
Newfoundland and Alaska”, Royal
Canadian Institute, 1948, the latter
a very valuable comprehensive com-
pilation from all publications on this
Order. On a trip to Jamaica, he
collected extensively and produced
“A Guide to the Study of Dragonflies
of Jamaica” which was published by
the Institute of Jamaica in 1943; his
specimens on this trip were identified
by Professor E. M. Walker of the
University of Toronto, the Canadian

authority on Dragonflies with whom
Whitehouse worked in close asso-
ciation. Walker named Somatochlora
whitehousei after him.

When he ceased active field work,
Whitehouse divided his Odonata
collections between the Provincial
Museum, Victoria, the City Museum
in Vancouver and the University
whose share consisted of two care-
fully spread and labelled specimens
of each sex of 61 species of dragon-
flies and 18 species of damselflies,
making 79 out of a total of 89 species
recorded so far for the province.
Most species of damselflies have 6
specimens each.

Whitehouse was a versatile author,
for besides his publications on the
Odonata, he wrote a novel, a book
of poems, many essays on a diversity
of subjects and two books on Sport
Fishing ill Canada. He was a sports-
man to the end, being stricken in
his 80th year while readying for a
game of golf in Phoenix, Arizona,
where he latterly spent the winters
and where his funeral was held on
December 5, 1959.

— G. J. Spencer

The eversible glands of PAPILSO MULTICAUDATUS Kby.

Most lepidopterists are familiar with the
eversible glands on the prothorax of larvae
of the genus Papilio. When extended, these
enhance the grotesque appearance of the
larvae, and emit an odour. The following
observation, made on September 3, 1961,
indicates that these glands may have a
more practical value than is commonly
attributed to them. A larva o£ muftecaudatus
Kby. was observed resting on a silken ham-
mock spun over the leaf of a hop tree,
Ptelea frifoliafa L., at the Forest Entomol-
ogy Laboratory, Vernon. A braconid wasp
2.5 mm. in length was perching on the
larva’s dorsum. Attempting to see if the
wasp was ovipositing, I carefully spread
the foliage apart but the movement aroused
both insects. The wasp flew about three
inches to a nearby leaf and the larva reared
up and extruded its thoracic glands. After

a few moments the wasp flitted back to
the larva and lit on the tip of one of the
glands, where it was instantly enveloped in
a clear, viscid fluid. Several minutes later
when the larva retracted its glands, the
dead wasp slid down the larva’s side and
onto the leaf in a globule of fluid.

Subsequently, larvae of multicaudafus,
irritated by application of live ants held
in forceps, lashed backward, alternately
brushng each side of the body longitudin-
ally with the extruded glands. Contact with
the sticky secretion quickly immobilized
small ants. It seems probable that parasites
not sufficiently light of step would suffer
the same fate.

— J. Grant, Forest Entomology Laboratory,
Vernon, B.G,

Pkoo. Entomol. Soc. Brtt. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

OBITUARY

MRS. M. E. (HIPPESLEY) CLARK

Mrs. Clark was born Marianne E.
Parker on April 2, 1880 in Leeds,
Yorkshire, of Cornish parents, from
whom she inherited an intense inter-
est in Nature; her father was a keen
conchologist and her mother a pencil
sketcher who collected and studied
mosses. A delicate child, Marianne
was educated at home by her parents
until the family moved to Manitoba
in 1891. There she started a collection
of local shells and of moths and
butterflies of the Dauphin district.

The family next moved to Terrace,
B.C., and engaged in ranching and
lumbering. In November 1911 Mari-
anne, now Mrs. Hippesley, lost her
right arm completely in a gun acci-
dent and confined her collecting to
beetles only. In between arduous
duties of housekeeping, gardening
and ranching she made some remark-
able catches and all her material
was identified by her close friend
and helper Mr. C. A. Frost of
Framingham, Mass., and to a lesser
extent, by Mr. H. C. Fall. In 1922 she
published a list of the beetles of
Terrace, B.C. in Vol. 54, No. 3 of The
Canadian Entomologist and in Vols.
44 and 45, 1948 and 1949 respectively,
in the Proceedings of the Entomo-
logical Society of British Columbia,
she published “An Annotated List of
Coleoptera taken at or near Terrace,
B.C. Parts I and II”, (Professor M.
Hatch has informed me by personal
communication 19 July 1963, that
“omitting incompletely named spe-
cies, her three lists from Terrace
number 659 species of beetles, by
over 150 species the longest list of
beetles ever recorded from any local-
ity in the Pacific Northwest”. (By
contrast, the beetle collection of Mr,
K. Auden made in the Midday Valley

near Merritt, B.C. numbered 404
species: Auden donated it to the
University of Illinois.) No one seems
to know what has happened to the
bulk of the specimens mentioned
in these extensive lists. Some years
ago Mrs. Clark sent to me a few small
pinning boxes of beetles saying that
she was distributing her collections
between the University, the Vancou-
ver City Museum and the Provincial
Museum, Victoria; both these mu-
seums inform me that they never
received any specimens from her.

There are large gaps in her perso-
nal history but about 1960 she came
down to the Stave Falls district near
Mission, B.C. on account of ill-health
and died there on 26 September
1962; she is buried in Hatzic ceme-
tery. There are no relatives surviving.

In her will, Mrs. Clark left to the
University a home-made cabinet of
insects and those of her books that
the Mission High School and the
Mission Public Library did not want.
We obtained some useful old standard
works on Entomology but of the
insect collections the butterflies were
destroyed by dermestids and what
beetles remained were covered with
dust and mould. When cleaned off,
there remained nearly two store
boxes of specimens, mostly labelled,
of which twenty are new records for
the Province; since these bear the
identifications of Messrs. Frost and
Fall, they are very valuable speci-
mens.

Mrs. Clarke had astonishingly wide
interests: besides insects, she col-
lected shells, minerals and a large
series of mosses, all, unfortunately
without locality labels. Her choice of
books showed profundity of learning

Pboc. Entomol. Soc. Beit. Columbia, Vol. 6© (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

She was in process of writing a
Natural History for children when

she died.

Note . The details for this life his-
tory were contained in a letter to Mr.
H. B. Leech when he, as Secretary

of our Society, wrote and asked her
for a brief account of herself. The
letter is in the files of our Society
and was lent t© me by our present
Secretary, Mr. Peter Zuk.

— G. J. Spencer

Pboc. Entomol. Soc. Bbxt. Columbia. Yol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

OBITUARY

EDWARD RONALD BUCKELL

Ronald Buekell, son of the late Dr.
Edward and Mrs. Buekell, was born
in Romsey, Hampshire on 8 April
1889 and was educated at Bedales
school, Petersfield, and Caius Col"
lege, Cambridge, where he obtained
a B.A. degree. His family came to
Canada in 1911 and settled at South
Canoe on Shuswap Lake. Ronald
arrived a year later and helped on
his father’s fruit farm until the out-
break of World War I when he
enlisted on 21 September 1914 with
the B.C. Horse, but transferred to the
First Canadian Artillery Brigade at
Yalcartier. He was severely wounded
on the Somme in 1916, sustaining a
split left shoulder blade followed by
ankylosis of the left shoulder from
which he suffered great pain for
several years. He returned from the
war on 7 September 1917 and was
offered a post with the Provincial
Department of Agriculture working
on the control of codling moth at
Walhachin and later, on grasshopper
control in the Chilcotin. After three
years he transferred to the Dominion
Entomological Branch with which he
worked for the next 19 years in
charge of the laboratory at Vernon
and later at Kamloops until he
retired in 1949. In 1936 he was sent as
the Canadian delegate to an Inter-
national Grasshopper Conference at
Cairo, Egypt, where the control pro-
gramme that he had initiated in the
Dry Belt of B.C., was adopted by the
Conference.

When he was at Vernon, he and
his staff of Alec Dennys, A. D. Her-
iot and Peter Venables, discovered
that perennial canker which was
destroying the apple orchards in the
Okanagan, was' caused by wooly

aphis and that control of the aphis
also controlled the canker, thus
saving the apple industry of the
Province.

Ronald himself was inclined to
systematics and he collected extens-
ively and, over a period of years,
published in -the Proceedings of our
Society, distribution records of the
orthopteroid insects, some solitary
wasps, the social wasps, bumble
bees, dragonflies and sarcophagid
flies, of British Columbia. His collec-
tions of all these groups are in the
National Collection in Ottawa and
the Laboratory at Kamloops. At the
University in Vancouver are his
synoptic collection of bumble bees
and his large collection of dragon-
flies in alcohol which the National
collection did not want.

Ronald was a man’s man, passion-
ately fond of the outdoors and adept
at camping, hunting and fly-fishing.
His love of nature began very early
in life. When he was only eight years
old he made detailed notes on each
page of a large book on English
birds, of the species he found and
their nests. His completed collection
of eggs was given to the British
Museum when he moved to Canada.
His eyesight was keen and his per-
ception of objects was truly remark-
able; when driving a car, his eyes
ranged ceaselessly from side to side
and he could spot the head only of
a pheasant in a field of clover in
flower at fifty yards and a deer in
scrub or amongst trees, up to 200
yards away.

His eating habits were irregular
and he never spared himself in the
field; this strenuous life affected his
heart and he retired from govern-
ment life in 1949, to spend three

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Yol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

months of each winter in Victoria
playing eighteen holes of golf every
day, and the summers at Salmon
Arm or on Shuswap Lake at Celista.
In November 1962 he wrote saying
that he felt extremely fit but a month
later he died suddenly from a heart
attack within sight of his house as
he was walking home from Salmon
Arm— just as he always said he
wanted to go. He was buried 21
December 1962 in a peaceful little
cemetery in the woods below Mt. Ida,

BOOK

Wasp Farm. H. S. Evans, New York,
Natural History Press, 1963. Pp viii
and 178. $4.75.

If there were more books like this
there would be more entomologists,
for biology is contagious when it is
presented by an enthusiast like Dr.
Evans. Despite the title the book is
entirely on wasps: spider, digger,

mud, sand, and social wasps. The
farm, an agriculturally unproductive
8 acres in upstate New York, was
kept as a sort of insect refuge and
is really only the point of departure.

Probably none of the information
is appearing for the first time. It is
compiled from the immense litera-
ture and largely from the experience
of the author and his students, as
presented in scientific journals and
in publications such as Natural His-
tory and Nature Magazine. The level
of writing falls somewhere between
these types. It is lucid, factual, un-
sentimental, non-technical, graced
with a deft use of words, and tailored
for swift, effortless reading.

Dr. Evans (b. 1919) earned his Ph.D.
in Insect Taxonomy at Cornell Uni-
versity, and is currently Associate
Curator of Insects at the Museum of
Comparative Zoology at Harvard

near Salmon Arm.

He is survived by one sister and
two nieces to whom are willed his
house just outside Salmon Arm and
his hillside property at Celista; his
books were donated to men friends
and to the Library in Salmon Arm
and his splendid collection of
mounted game heads and skins, to
a museum to be founded in Salmon
Arm, together with two other col-
lections.

— G. J. Spencer

REVIEW

University. He is thus a taxonomist
par excellence and also a student of
live insects. All taxonomists should
follow suit.

He does not experiment with wasps,
believing that experiments often
merely pose situations which wasps
never encounter in nature. “. . . the
urgent need is to know precisely what
wasps and other creatures do . . .
until our understanding of animal
behavior is on a very much higher
plane than it is now . . .”

In discussing the Ammophila,
wasps that use tools to close their
nest holes, much of his own obser-
vation is used to give a reasonable
slant to the much-discussed problem
of instinct, intelligence, and behavior
patterns. He puts the matter neatly
in describing a spider-hunting Prioc-
nemis, which emerges from pupation
“ready to enact a script which is
already largely codified in its nervous
system”. And again in outlining the
vestigial instinctive behavior of
Microbembix, which goes through the
motion of stinging the dead, dried
insect detritus with which it stocks
its nest. This is a recent development
from Bembix. In fact, the evolution-
ary history and arrangement of the

Pkoc. Eatomol. Soo. Bkit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

groups are traced clearly for laymen,
to whom the connection between
evolution and taxonomy may well be
new.

This is a tidy book. The loose ends
are pulled together: nesting habits,
types and numbers of prey, anatomy
of the larvae, methods of stinging
and carrying prey, are all discussed
and arranged in tentative order of
complexity, efficiency and develop-
ment, and with no hint of anthropo-
morphism. Even the scanty fossil
record is brought in and the author
traces the relationships of wasps
with other Hymenoptera and other
orders.

Physically this is a neat little hard
covered book, well presented and
organized. The paper, type, and 16
text figures are good, as they should
be at the price. There are 25 photo-
graphs by the author, with captions,
but no reference to them in the text.
At the end of each of the 15 chapters
is a bibliography of significant
papers and some general texts. At
the ends of 12 chapters are listed
the species described (50 in all),
with Latin or Greek roots translated
and the pronunciation indicated.
Proper names are used throughout
but not italicised. The book is a
natural for the paperback trade.

— H. R. MacCarthy

BOOK REVIEW

The Insect Factor in Wood Decay ,
by Norman E. Hickin. London. Hutch-
inson & Co. Ltd. 1963. Pp. 336, illus., 2
colored plates. £2/10s.

The author regards conservation
of building timber in situ as an im-
portant new technology that becomes
more so as we use up forests and de-
mand longer service from wood
already in use. For pest control oper-
ators, inspectors, builders, lumber-
yard operators, and those in related
work, he has produced a valuable
reference book. It is clearly written
and very well illustrated with numer-
ous line drawings, some photographs
and a spectacular colored fold-out
plate of 9 longicorns. There is an
adequate index. The high quality,
paper, printing, and illustrations may
account for the price.

There is one irritating feature:
certain references, cited normally in
the text by author and date, are
omitted from the list at the end of

each chapter. In a book so carefully
written the omissions are probably
deliberate, but they are not explained
and they are disconcerting. In 33
pages of chapter III alone there are 9.

The book is written with special
reference to Great Britain and the
insects concerned are covered very
thoroughly and mostly keyed. The
coverage of Anobium punctatum de
Geer and Xestobium rufovillosum de
Geer is particularly detailed, since
these anobiids are the most economic-
ally important insects in the field.
The groups dealt with are: Anobiidae,
Lyctidae, Bostrichidae, Buprestidae,
Lymexilidae, Cossoninae, Cerambyci-
dae, Scolytidae, the ambrosia beetles,
termites, and wood-boring wasps and
moths. Other chapters deal with the
nature of wood, direct factors causing
decay, the importance of the various
wood-boring insects, and research on
wood preservation.

— Peter Zuk

Proc. Extomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

BOOK REVIEW

Research Problems in Biology:
Investigations for Students. Series
1 and 2. American Institute of Bio-
logical Sciences. New York, Doubleday
& Co., Inc., 1963. Pp xxxii and 232;
xxviii and 240. 95c each.

Regular readers of Science and the
AIBS Bulletin during the last 5 years
have observed with interest as tang-
ible results came out of the Biological
Sciences Curriculum Study, whose
activities and meetings have been
regularly reported. These two paper
backed books are the most recent
results. The Study has been supported
by the National Science Foundation.

The books have three identical
sections. Dr. Bentley Glass, Chairman
of the BSCS, and Dr. A. B. Grobman,
Director, each contribute a single
page, and Dr. P. F. Brandwein, Chair-
man of the Gifted Student Commit-
tee, contributes four. These are aimed
at high school students. The tables
of contents and lists of contents by
subject categories, confirm that these
books are indeed addressed to gifted
students, preferably having gifted
teachers. The scope of the books is
shown by two tables adapted from
the indexes. The first gives the num-
bers of experiments in each area of
research:

Series
I U

Animal Behavior 4 5

” Physiology 5 6

Ecology 4 6

Genetics 5 4

Growth, Form and Development 7 6

Microbiology 6 6

Plant Physiology 9 7

The second table gives the numbers

of experiments in which various

organisms are used:

Series
I II

Protozoa 5 3

Euglena and Tetrahymena 1

Vclvox 1

Hydra 1

Worms 1 2

Insects 3

Ants 1

Aphids 1

Beetles 1

Damselfly 1

Fruit flies - 2 1

Houseflies 1

Tent caterpillars 1

Termites 2

Spiders 1

Amphibians and Reptiles 1

Frogs 4 1

Salamanders . 1

Fishes - 2

Birds 2 1

Birds’ eggs 1

Bacteria and Virus -S. 3 7

Fungi and Mold 3 1

Moss 1

Pollen jta£__ 1

Flowering Plants 8 11

Seeds and Seedlings 4 4

The authors originate as follows:
State and other colleges and univer-
sities, 55; U.S. Government and State
institutions, 7; industry, 5; private
addresses, 5; high schools, 4; and re-
search foundations and laboratories,
4. In outlining their experiments they
follow no hard and fast format, but
most of them use some of the follow-
ing subheads: Background, Suggested
Problem, Suggested Approach, Pos-
sible Pitfalls, Procedure, Precautions,
Special Considerations, and Refer-
ences, general and specific. The latter
are commendably up-to-date. The
titles of the experiments invite com-
ment, but space will not allow men-
tion of more than a few examples in
which insects are featured.

The experiment on aphids is by
Gert B. Orlob, currently at South
Dakota State College, entitled, Can

Proc. E.vtomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia. Vol. 60 (1963), Dec. 1, 1963

Aphids Find Their Host Plants. This is
one of the simpler examples but is
typical. A good background section of
three paragraphs precedes a clear
statement of the problem: Is there

any food-finding mechanism operat-
ing in apterous aphids by which they
become aware of the host plant before
taste stimuli have been received?
Then follow suggestions: use a host
and a non-host plant, a paper or
plastic dummy plant, sticks or wires,
singly or in groups; release aphids
into equidistant rings around the
plant or object. Pre-experimental
treatment can be varied, as by star-
vation. If a mechanism exists it
should become apparent if 40-50
aphids are used singly. Use mono-
phagous species at first. The tests
must be run under uniform light
intensity, the aphids must be of the
same age, and so on. All quite obvious
perhaps, but sound advice to a teen-
age learner. Orlob offers encourage-
ment by pointing out that the only
equipment needed is a 10X hand
lens, and that aphids are not difficult
to rear. The six references are well
chosen.

The two examples using termites
would need more patience. The
Association of Subterranean Termites
and Fungi: Mutual or Environmental,
by A. E. Lund (Koppers Co., Verona,
Penna.), involves petri dishes con-
taining sterile nutrient agar, inocu-
lated with wood destroying fungi,
later to be occupied by termites, both
in various combinations. A further
study could be on the relationship
between termites and fungi with the
symbiotic protozoa in the termites’
gut. There is a good deal of room for
error and contamination here. The
Problem of Castes and Caste Deter-
mination in Termites, by E. M. Miller
(University of Miami, Coral Gables,
Fla.), might take up to three years.
Colonies should be established in jars

with disproportionate numbers of
soldiers, workers, nymphs or repro-
ductives. Communication by Trail
Laying in Ants, by E. O. Wilson (Har-
vard University), moves from setting
up colonies and simple observations,
through dissection of the abdominal
glands producing pheromones, to im-
aginative behavioral studies with
artificial trails.

A good contribution is Genetic
Aspects of Competition Between
Species, by A. C. Bartlett (U.S.D.A.,
State College, Mass.), who revives the
classic problem of analyzing the
factors that determine competitive
ability in two species of Tribolium.
A more original problem is to sort out
the factors influencing the Rate of
Heartbeat in Nymphs of Damselflies,
by L. Bush (Drew University, Madison,
N.J.) . A genetic approach is advocated
in the Population Dynamics of Tent
Caterpillars, by W. R. Henson (Yale
University) . Using Wellington’s clas-
sification of larvae he suggests estab-
lishing colonies comprising various
proportions of each type of larvae,
and mating adults of maximum and
minimum vigor.

The important thing in these two
books is the fresh approach to teach-
ing high school biology, in which the
student is given an investigative,
experimental attitude and is expected
to acquire background for himself
from standard texts as a supplement
and a means to an end. Lists of gen-
eral references and periodicals are
given for each area of research.

This reviewer’s impression is that
if more than a few per cent of high
school students are capable of at-
tempting these experiments and
carrying them to successful conclu-
sions, there must be less wrong with
the education system than we had
realized.

— H. R. MacCarthy

Printed by The Vernon News

PROCEEDINGS

of the

ENTOMOLOGICAL
SOCIETY of
BRITISH COLUMBIA

Vol. 61

Issued December 1, 1964

ECONOMIC Page

Finlayson and Noble — The efficacy of organocarbamate, organochlorine,
and organophosphate insecticides against turnip maggots and
resistant cabbage maggots in rutabaga in British Columbia . . 3

Finlayson and Noble — The effect of dosage of organophosphate
insecticides on the emergence of radish seedlings and on

damage by cabbage maggots 11

FInlayson et al. — Experiments against carrot rust fly, Psila rosae (F.)

resistant to cyclodiene organochlorine insecticides 13

Ross et al. — Further insecticide tests against the Douglas-fir needle

midges, Contarinia spp . 20

Cram — A portable, power-driven sifter for soil insect studies 23

Arnott and Arrand — A preliminary test with DDT for control of the

wheat midge Sitodiplosis mosellana (Gehin) 26

Cram — Inherent tolerance in larvae of the root weevils Sciopithes
obscurus Horn and Nemocestes incomptus (Horn) to common
soil insecticides 27

GENERAL

Hardy — Notes on the life histories of one butterfly and three moths from
southern Vancouver Island (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae and

Phalaenidae) 31

Sugden — Annotated list of forest insects of British Columbia Part XII.

Boarmiini and Melanolophiini (Geometridae) 36

Cram — Occurrence of the small black root weevil, Trachyphloeus
bifoveolatus (Beck) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), on straw-
berry in British Columbia 39

Spencer — The cigarette beetle in Vancouver (Coleoptera: Anobiidae) ... 40
Wood — Notes on distribution and hosts of the weevils Pissodes schwarzi
Hopk. and Pissodes curriei Hopk. in British Columbia and

Yukon Territory 42

Atkins — Altica tombacina Mannerheim (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), a

serious pest of fireweed 44

Obituary — Gordon Stace Smith ......... 46

Science Notes 10, 22

Book Reviews 48, 49, 60

PROCEEDINGS

of the

ENTOMOLOGICAL
SOCIETY 0f
BRITISH COLUMBIA

Vol. 61.

Issued December 1, 1964

ECONOMIC Page

Finlayson and Noble — The efficacy of organocarbamate, organochlorine,
and organophosphate insecticides against turnip maggots and
resistant cabbage maggots in rutabaga in British Columbia . . 3

Finlayson and Noblf — The effect of dosage of organophosphate
insecticides on the emergence of radish seedlings and on

damage by cabbage maggots 11

FTnlayson et al. — Experiments against carrot rust fly, Psila rosae (F.)

resistant to cyclodiene organochlorine insecticides 13

Ross et al. — Further insecticide tests against the Douglas*fir needle

midges, Contarinia spp 20

Cram — A portable, power-driven sifter for soil insect studies 23

Arnott and Arrand — A preliminary test with DDT for control of the

wheat midge Sitodiplosis mosellana (Gehin) 26

Cram — Inherent tolerance in larvae of the root weevils Sciopithes
obscurus Horn and Nemocestes incomptus (Horn) to common
soil insecticides 27

GENERAL

Hardy — Notes on the life histories of one butterfly and three moths from
southern Vancouver Island (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae and
Phalaenidae) 31

Sugden — Annotated list of forest insects of British Columbia Part XII.

Boarmiini and Melanolophiini (Geometridae) 36

Cram — Occurrence of the small black root weevil, Trachyphloeus
bifoveolatus (Beck) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), on straw-
berry in British Columbia 39

Spencer — The cigarette beetle in Vancouver (Coleoptera: Anobiidae) ... 40

Wood — Notes on distribution and hosts of the weevils Pissodes schwarzi
Hopk. and Pissodes curriei Hopk. in British Columbia and
Yukon Territory 42

Atkins — Altica tombacina Mannerheim (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), a

serious pest of fireweed 44

Obituary — Gordon Stace Smith 46

Science Notes 10, 22

Book Reviews 48, 49, 60

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

TABLE 1. — Chemical definitions of insecticides used for preventing root maggot
damage.*

Aldrin l,2,3,4,10,10-hexachloro-l,4,4a,5,8,8a-hexahydro-l,4-

endo-exo-5,8-dimethanonaphthalene

B.25141 0,0-diethyl 0-p-(methylsulfinyl)phenyl phosphorothioate

B.44646 ....... 4-dimethylamino-m-tolyl methylcarbamate

Calomel mercurous chloride

Carbaryl 1-naphthyl methylcarbamate

Carbophenothion . . S-[(P-chlorophenylthio)methyl] 0,0-diethyl phosphorodithioate
Diazinon ....... 0,0-diethyl Q-(2-isopropyl-4-methyl-6-pyrimidmyl)

phosporothioate

Di-Syston 0,0-diethyl $-[2-(ethylthio)ethyl] phosphorodithioate

E.X.43064** 2-(diethoxyphosphinothioylimino)-l,3-dithiolane

Endosulfan ..... 6,7,8,9,10,10-hexachloro-l,5,5a,6,9,9a-hexahydro-6,=
9-methano-2,4,3-benzodioxathiepin 3-oxide
Ethion ........ 0,0,0/,0/-tetraethyl S,S'-methylenebisphosphorodithioate

Fenthion 0,0-dimethyl 0-r4-(methylthio)-m-tolyl] phosphorothioate

Guthion 0,0-dimethyl S-(4-oxo-l,2,3-benzotriazin-3(4H)-ylmethyl)

phosphorodithioate

Heptachlor l,4,5,6,7,8,8-heptachloro-3a,4,7,7a-tetrahydro-4,7-

methanoindene

Imidan 0,0-dimethyl S-phthalimidomethyl phosphorodithioate

Nemacide 0-(2,4-dichlorophenyl) 0,0-diethyl phosphorothioate

Phorate 0,0-diethyl S-(ethylthio)methylphosphorodithioate

Telodrin ....... l,3,4,5,6,7,8,8-octachloro-3a,4,7,7a-tetrahydro-4,7-

methanophthalan

Tetradifon ...... 4-chlorophenyl 2,4,5-trichlorophenyl sulfone

Trichlorfon ..... dimethyl (2,2,2-trichloro-l-hydroxyethyl)phosphonate

Zectran 4-dimethylamino-3,5-xylyl methylcarbamate

Zinophos . 0,0-diethyl 0-2-pyrazinyl phosphorothioate

*A chemical name occupying two lines separated by an equal (=) sign is joined together
without the equal sign if written on one line.

** Chemical name obtained from company brochure.

In 1961 the investigation was con-
ducted at Prince George and Vic-
toria, at Armstrong in sandy clay
loam, and at Cloverdale in muck
soil. The design was a split-plot
randomized block consisting of 18
treatments and one untreated check,
each replicated five times at each
site. A plot consisted of four 20-foot
rows. Two rows of each plot were
treated by the band method, the
other two were treated by applying
the insecticide with the seed in the
furrow. Seed was sown at 0.33 g per
20 row-feet.

In 1962 at Prince George and
Victoria the experiment was a split-
plot randomized block of six plots
replicated five times. A plot con-
sisted of eight 20 -foot rows; two
rows at each of the following rates:
0, 2.2, 3.3, and 4.4 oz of toxicant per
1,000 feet of row. This rate was
equivalent to 2, 3, and 4 lb of toxi-
cant per acre respectively based on
36-inch spacing between rows. Five
of the six plots were treated with:

diazinon, heptachlor, phorate, Nem-
acide, and Zinophos applied to the
furrow with 0.4 g of seed. The sixth
plot was used for screening eight
candidate materials. One row in
each replicate was treated with
ethion, fenthion, Imidan, Guthion,
B.25141, B.44646, and E.I.43064 ap-
plied in the furrow at 3.3 oz toxicant
per 1,000 feet of row and calomel
applied at 6.6 oz per 1,000 row-feet.

Furrow, band, and spray treat-
ments were made as follows:

Furrow treatments: the insecti-
cides were placed in the V-belt of
the seeder with the seed and applied
in the furrow as the seed was sown.

Band treatment: the insecticides
were applied in 10 -inch bands to
the soil surface with a shaker or
fertilizer cart, raked in to a depth
of about one inch and the seed was
sown down the centre of the bands.

Sub- furrow band treatment: the
heptachlor granules were applied as
a five-inch band, 1.5 inches below

Pboc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

TABLE 2. — Materials, methods, and rates of applications of various treatments against
root maggots attacking rutabaga at several locations in British Columbia in
1960, 1961 and 1962.

Toxicant in ounces per 1,000 row-feet

Treatment

Method
of appli-

1960

1961

1962

cation

All Sites

Pr. Geo.

Armstrong

Cloverdale

Victoria

Pr.Geo. & Victoria

Aldrin

6.0

6.6

8.8

furrow

3.3

4.4

—

B.25141

10G

furrow

—

3.3

B. 44646

10G

furrow

—

3.3

Calomel

furrow

—

6.6

Carbaryl

10G

band

13.2

17.6

—

(Sevin)

10G

furrow

—

6.6

—

8.8

—

Carbophenothion

10G

band

6.0

6.6

8.8

(Trithion)

10G

furrow

3.0

3.3

4.4

—

42% E

spray

4.0

—

Diazinon

10G

band

6.6

8.8

—

10G

furrow

—

3.3

4.4

—

furrow

—

2.2, 3.3, 4.4

Di-Syston

band

6.6

8.8

—

furrow

—

3.3

—

4.4

—

E.I.43064

10G

furrow

—

3.3

Endosulfan

4.6G

band

6.6

8.8

—

(Thiodan)

4.6G

furrow

—

3.3

4.4

—

Ethion

band

6.0

6.6

8.8

furrow

3.0

3.3

4.4

3.3

spray

4.0

—

Fenthion

band

6.6

8.8

(Baytex)

furrow

—

3.3

—

4.4

3.3

Guthion

band

6.6

8.8

furrow

3.3

4.4

—

10G

furrow

—

3.3

Heptachlor

band

—

6.6*

furrow

—

2.2, 3.3

fmidan

25 WP

band

6.6

8.8

25WP

furrow

—

3.3

4 '4

10G

furrow

—

3.3

Nemacide

band

6.0

6.6

8.8

(V-C 13)

furrow

3.0

3.3

4.4

2.2, 5i 4.4

75% E

spray

4.0

—

Phorate

10G

band

6.6

8.8

(Thimet)

10G

furrow

—

3.3

4.4

2.2, 3.3, 4.4

Telodrin

band

6.6

—

8.8

furrow

—

3.3

—

4.4

—

Tetradifon

25 WP

band

6.6

—

8.8

—

(Tedion)

25WP

furrow

—

3.3

—

4.4

—

Trichlorfon

band

6.6

—

8.8

—

(Dylox)

furrow

—

3.3

—

4.4

—

Zectran

band

6.6

8.8

—

furrow

—

3.3

—

4.4

—

Zinophos

10G

band

6.6

8.8

—

10G

furrow

—

3.3

4.4

2.2, 3.3, 4.4

Untreated

—

■“Applied in a sub-furrow band in ridged rows (See “Methods”).

the seed trench in a ridged row. It
was applied with a hand shaker, the
soil was ridged over the band with
a hoe, and the seed sown down the
middle of the ridges with a V-belt
seeder (Read, 1960).

Spray treatment: the insecticides
were applied with a small portable

sprayer at 13 gal per 1,000 row-feet
immediately after thinning and
again four weeks later.

Materials, rates, and methods of
application for 1960, 1961, and 1962
are listed in Table 2.

The efficacy of the insecticides
was assessed in several ways. Their

TABLE 3. Average number of seedlings and percentage damage by root maggots

after various treatments at several locations in British Columbia in 1960.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

Victoria

100

g§s

HHH

§s§

HHH

sss

iH »H

100

N.S.D.

ntage damage
Kelowna

10.4

OON
eo^ t>
WCsICSJ

30.6

28.2

31.4

COCO
iH ID

COHN

29.0

12.1

iverage perce
Kamloops 1

17.0

62.0

36.8

50.8

72.4

44.8

69.2

53.0

17.4

55.6

0’89

26.7

Pr. George 1

0 81

50.6

40.0

60.0

45.4

33.2

61.0

coco ^

CD *H t>
»— ( CO

16.3

ibibS

N.S.D.

Sfc

e «

O 5

01 , I
& X

' t>

i CD

ggg

to qs ^
IO lO CO

ssss

N.S.D.

5 -

*3. g

1/1 p

8 &
w>

! CO

CO COCO

c-oco

(N COIN

P-COO

COi-ICO

N.S.D.

B l
w £

)

> *

Tf CO o

CO ^ CO

iC CO r-(

CO ^ co

OOrftCO

^ coco

Method

application

band

furrow

spray

band

furrow

spray

band

furrow

spray

>,©

(

3 a

Carbophenothion

Ethion

Nemacide

Untreated

Difference necessar
for significance p=

effect on germination was measured
by counting the number of seedlings
which emerged in a given length of
row. Their effect on plant growth
was assessed by periodic examina-
tion of plants and comparing the
growth and vigor of treated plants
with those of untreated plants. Their
effect in preventing damage was
measured by examining and grading
25 roots from each plot and calcu-
lating the damage index (King and
Forbes, 1954). The damage index is
based on the severity of the damage
to each root scored on an arbitrary
grading as: clean, 0; light, 1; mod-
erate, 2; and severe, 4. In this paper
the damage index (maximum
25x4=100) is expressed as percent-
age damage.

Results

1960 Experiment (Table 3). — The
number of emergent seedlings was
reduced considerably in the mineral
soil at Prince George and Kamloops,
but not in organic soils at Victoria
and Kelowna. At Victoria, band,
furrow, and spray treatments of
carbophenothion, ethion, and Nema-
cide did not protect rutabaga from
a resistant strain of cabbage mag-
got. At the other locations, damage
was significantly lowered when
aldrin was applied as a band and
Nemacide was applied with the seed
in the furrow.

1961 Experiment (Table 4). — Fur-
row treatments with carbaryl, tri-
chlorfon, and Zinophos caused a
significant reduction in the number
of emergent seedlings at all loca-
tions regardless of soil or the rate
of application. Of the 9 insecticides
tested, diazinon, phorate, and Zino-
phos applied in the furrow gave
some protection against the resistant
strain both at Victoria in peat soil
and at Cloverdale in muck soil where
a strain of maggots had also de-
veloped resistance to cyclodiene
insecticides.

1962 Experiment (Table 5). — Ex-
tremely dry conditions at the Vic-
toria site after planting reduced

Pboc. Entomol. Soc. Bbit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

I •

O tH

tuocp

>> 3

0>U

§3

05 -
Sp.S

O CO
Q. O

§2
0)
CO >
(V
co

1 «■»

IIP

TJ4

1 S

1 «4

' £

1—4 ! 1

1 1 3

1 “?

1 *?

1 ®

<n i i

1 i °-

1 3

1 8

1 £

1 1 05

8ggggggg35gg£ggggS

*H i-» i-t i-H i-l i-4 i-4 i-I

gggigggslgiiggggi

13 3 13

CO T*
CM i-i

I I s

I 10 1-1

' 1-4 1—4

O f>

cm' 1-4

MI2

r* © cm co

CO 1-1 o o o

h w in m

o i>
c— c—

<M CO
CM CM

o 00
©

CM CM
1 6 ^

CO ©

^ ©

CO CO

co ^4 co © ©

N»«^®2SS3E;2a[i?gg

CM CM ©

O 1

-4->

^ CO
05 <y

o ©

nj U
§0?
CO ^

£- OS
t> t—

CM C— C- „ _ _

t- os 00 r- c- © f

i-4 t"* © i—4 © C—

00 00 00 © © f-

bfi

glSSISfSISI^Sl I I

1-* ! ^ P I ^ CM I I> I tF

I> I l> l> I E> CO It- ! o

I I I I

<35 t>
CO CM

I 3

CM «

O ©
CO CO

S 2

CO CO

CO co

I I I

! co

I CO

©©©©©©©i— lE»©0^t— ^4©i— t—

^i'coco^in^^cocowco ^ cm

CM ©
Tf CO

o co in 00 co t*4

co ^ ^ ^ in

t> CO
CO co CO ©

® * s s ? 8

*f-l

•8

"eO

I— <

S'Sg

♦Statistical analysis made with a \lxTT transformation.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

germination to such a degree that
the experimental area was disked.
Seedling emergence per 20 row-feet
at Prince George ranged from 10
seedlings with Zinophos to 99 when
heptachlor was placed in a band
below the furrow in ridged rows. As
the rate of insecticide was increased
the numbers of emergent seedlings
decreased. With the exceptions of
the ethion furrow and the hepta-
chlor sub-furrow band treatments
all other treatments grew signific-
antly fewer plants than the untreat-
ed check. Damage by the turnip
maggot ranged from 17.6% for the
recommended furrow treatment with
heptachlor to 91.8% for the furrow
treatment with B.44646. The un-
treated plots had 85.7% damage.
Several materials at various rates
gave good protection. However, in
general as the efficacy in protection
increased the number of emergent
seedlings decreased.

Discussion

The results summarized in Tables
3, 4, and 5 show that although fur-
row treatments afford greater pro-
tection from root maggot attack
than band and spray applications,
emergence of seedlings is reduced
by the more effective insecticides. As
in previous work (King et al., 1955)
it was noticed that reductions in the
numbers of emergent seedlings
resulted when the insecticides were

applied in direct contact with the
seed. This was more evident in the
mineral soils than in the organic
soils.

In 1961 when methods of applica-
tion were compared at four loca-
tions with different soil types, there
were no significant differences in
the numbers of emergent seedlings
when insecticides were applied by
the band method. However, marked
differences occurred when some of
the insecticides were applied at half
the rate in direct contact with the
seed. The differences occurred at all
sites with both organocarbamate
and organophosphate insecticides.
One plant survived in 20 feet of row
when Zinophos was placed in the
furrow but 33 plants when it was
applied in a band. Reductions in
stand of 75% were not uncommon.
The organocarbamates, carbaryl and
Zectran and the organophosphates,
trichlorfon and Zinophos, caused the
greatest reduction and to a lesser
degree the phosphates Guthion,
Nemaeide, and phorate.

In 1962 when the effects were
compared of several furrow dosages
of promising insecticides, serious
reductions were again recorded with
Zinophos and less serious with dia-
zinon, Nemaeide, and phorate; as
the rate of application increased the
numbers of emergent seedlings de-
creased. Only furrow treatment with

TABLE 5. — Average number of seedlings and percentage damage by root maggots
after various furrow treatments at Prince George, B.C., 1962.

Treatment

Percentage

damage

Emergent

seedlings

Treatment

Percentage

damage

Emergent

seedlings

Insecticide

Rate

Insecticide

Rate

Heptachlor

3.3

Zinophos

3.3

Heptachlor

2.2

Zinophos

2.2

B.25141

3.3

Heptachlor

6.6*

Phorate

4.4

Imidan

3.3

Nemaeide

3.3

Fenthion

3.3

Phorate

3.3

Guthion

3.3

Diazinon

2.2

Ethion

3.3

Diazinon

4.4

Calomel

6.6

Nemaeide

4.4

E.I.43064

3.3

Diazinon

3.3

B.44646

3.3

Nemaeide

2.2

Untreated

—

Phorate

2.2

Difference necessary

Zinophos

4.4

for signif. P=.05

♦Applied in a sub-furrow band in ridged rows (See “Methods”).

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

ethion had significantly similar
numbers of seedlings when compar-
ed with those of the untreated
checks.

The protection afforded by the
insecticides in 1960 indicated that
the furrow treatment was the best
method for preventing damage so
long as cyclodiene-resistant flies
were not present. However, at Vic-
toria a resistant strain had arisen,
and 100% damage was recorded for
all treatments regardless of method
or material.

In 1961 the degree of protection
varied considerably between loca-
tions. At Prince George, where one
generation of susceptible maggots
must be controlled, the damage was
correspondingly lighter than it was
at Victoria or Cloverdale where three
generations of a resistant strain
occur. At Armstrong, even though
iwo generations and a partial third
occur, the damage was so small that
to compare the amounts statistically
it was necessary to transform the
data using \/X-fl. Of the 17 insec-
ticides tested only diazinon, phorate,
and Zinophos gave any protection
at Victoria. Telodrin, an organo-
chlorine closely allied to aldrin, was
very effective at Prince George, but
allowed 100% damage at Victoria.

Based on results from the work
in 1960 and 1961, the experiment in
1962 was designed to test the effects
of various rates of the promising
insecticides at Prince George and
Victoria. Unfortunately the germin-
ation at Victoria was so poor that
the land was disked and results
could be obtained only from Prince
George. Of the insecticides tested
only diazinon, heptachlor, B.25141,
Nemacide, phorate, and Zinophos
can be considered for further ex-
periments. Heptachlor applied in a
band below the seed furrow in ridg-
ed rows had little effect against the
maggots.

Since none of the soil insecticides
has sufficient residual toxicity to
control resistant strains of maggots,
especially in organic soils, they will
have to be supplemented with sprays

to prevent oviposition by adult flies.
To ensure early protection low rates
in the furrow or in bands should be
applied at seeding in combination
with foliar sprays beginning before
the emergence of second generation
flies.

Summary

Experiments against turnip mag-
gots and resistant cabbage maggots
were conducted at six sites with dif-
ferent soil types in 1960, 1961, and
1962 to determine the insecticides,
methods, and rates of application
for preventing maggot damage in
rutabaga. Three methods were tested
at various rates with several formu-
lations. In 1960 at Victoria band,
furrow, and spray treatments did
not protect rutabaga from a resist-
ant strain of cabbage maggots. At
three other locations the damage
was significantly less when aldrin
was applied in a band at seeding or
when Nemacide was placed in the
furrow. In 1961 only diazinon, phor-
ate, and Zinophos applied in the
furrow gave any protection from
resistant maggots, but phorate and
especially Zinophos caused a marked
reduction in the number of emerg-
ent seedlings. In 1962 the effect of
rates of application on seedling em-
ergence was demonstrated. The
three phosphate materials mention-
ed caused extreme reductions in
numbers even at 2.2 oz toxicant per
1,000 row-feet. Zinophos was espe-
cially harmful. Damage at Prince
George by the susceptible turnip
maggot, Hylemya floralis (Fall.),
ranged from 17.6% with heptachlor
to 91.8% with B.44646 and 85.7% in
untreated plots. Where resistant
strains of maggots are present fur-
row or band treatments at seeding
must be supplemented with foliar
sprays.

Acknowledgements

Grateful acknowledgement is made for
assistance by our colleagues H. R. Mae*
Carthy and A. T. S. Wilkinson; and by J.
Arrand, Assistant Provincial Entomologist;
and for technical assistance by L. Chang,
N. J. Filmer, G. McKee, of the Vancouver
Research Station and I. Bergis, Canada Dept,
of Agriculture, Research Station, Kamloops,
B.C.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

References

Billings, S. C. 1963. Consolidated list of approved common names of insecticides and
certain other pesticides. Bull. Entomol. Soc. America 9(3): 189-197.

Finlayson, D. G., H. H. Crowell, A. J. Howitt, D. R. Scott, and A. J. Walz. 1960. Chemical
control of the onion maggot in onions grown from seed in various types of soil
in northwestern North America in 1955 and 1956. J. Econ. Entomol. 52:851-856.

Forbes, A. R., and D. G. Finlayson. 1957. Species of root maggots (Diptera:Anthomyiidae)
of cruciferous crops in British Columbia. Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia
54:25-28.

Harris, C. R., G. F. Manson, and J. H. Mazurek. 1962. Development of insecticidal resist-
ance by soil insects in Canada. J. Econ. Entomol. 55:777-780.

Howitt, A. J. 1959 Personal communication.

, and S. G. Cole, 1962. Chemical control of Hylemya brassicae in the

Pacific Northwest. J. Econ. Entomol. 55:33-38.

Kenaga, E. E. 1963. Commercial and experimental organic insecticides (1963 Revision)
indexed as to their scientific, common, and trade names, code designations,
uses and manufacturers. Bull. Entomol. Soc. America 9(2):67-103.

King, K. M., and A. R. Forbes. 1954. Control of root maggots in rutabagas. J. Econ.
Entomol. 47:607-615.

, D. G. Finlayson, H. G. Fulton, and A. J. Howitt. 1955. Co-ordinated experi-
ments on chemical control of root maggots in rutabagas in British Columbia
and Washington, 1953. J. Econ. Entomol. 48:470-473.

Read, D. C. 1960. Control of root maggots in rutabagas, cabbages, and related plants in
the Maritime Provinces. Processed Publication No. 1075. Research Branch,
Canada Department of Agriculture.

Chrysophana placida infesting buildings in British Columbia
(Coleoptera: Buprestidae)

In January, 1963, I received an enquiry
from a lodge at McGillivray Falls, Ander-
son Lake, concerning beetles that were
emerging from the walls of a fir log build-
ing. The accompanying specimens were
Chrysophana placida Leconte, a beautiful
golden green beetle with a purple stripe
down each elytron and iridescent green on
the underside. The females are one-half
inch long, males slightly less. I had taken
specimens at Salmon Arm, Kamloops, Chil-
cotin and Victoria, but knew nothing of
their life history. In February owners of
the lodge sent 36 more beetles with the in-
formation that three or four were emerg-
ing every day from the inside of the logs
and actively running around. They came
mainly from two logs on one side and from
one log on the adjoining side of the room.

There is little published information on
this species, but Doane, et al. suggest that
there are evidences that they re-infest tim-
ber from which they have recently emerg-
ed. The lodge was 11 years old so the
beetles had either been slowly developing
during that time or the first ones that
emerged had oviposited in the logs. To the
owner’s recollection it was the third year
that the beetles had appeared. It is thus
likely that with the slow drying of the
logs, the larval development was corre-
spondingly delayed. Emerging only on the

inside of the logs, the larvae would appear
to be attracted to heat before pupating.

This infestation almost parallels one
that was reported in May, 1949, by a resi-
dent in Salmon Arm who claimed that “the
beetles were working throughout the house
. . . which is constructed of squared timbers
with 1-inch strips nailed to the inside of
same and then 2-ply of half-inch lumber
with paper between; on top of that either
gyproc or beaver board: the logs, lumber
and the inside finish is being drilled
throughout. The beetles are even boring
through new gyproc.” One living beetle
was taken from an outside wall which had
apparently been warmed by the sun.

According to Doane et al. the normal
life history of this insect is several years
so that 10 years would seem to be about
the longest delay that can occur in the life
of the larva before it pupates as opposed
to the several-times-reported period of 50
years in the case of Buprestis aurulenta.

Reference

Doane, R. W., R. C. Van Dyke, W. J. Cham-
berlain, and H. E. Burke. Forest In-
sects. McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc.
1936.

— G. J. Spencer, University
of British Columbia,
Vancouver 8, B.C.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

THE EFFECT OF DOSAGE OF ORGANOPHOSPHATE INSECTICIDES ON
THE EMERGENCE OF RADISH SEEDLINGS AND ON DAMAGE BY

CABBAGE MAGGOTS1 * *

D. G. Finlayson and M. D. Noble

Introduction

With the development of a strain
of cabbage maggot (Hylemya bras-
sicae [Bouche7],) resistant to the
cyclodiene group of the organochlor-
ine insecticides in the Pacific North-
west, it once again became virtually
impossible to grow marketable root
and stem brassicas on Vancouver
Island and in the lower Fraser Val-
ley. Work by Howitt and Cole (1962)
and by Finlayson and Noble (1964)
indicated that maggots attacking
root crops might be controlled with

several organophosphates. However,
reduced numbers of emergent seed-
lings when granular formulations
were applied in the furrow indicated
that further work was needed. This
paper reports on the effects of vari-
ous rates of several organophosphate
insecticides in three soil types on
emergence of seedlings and preven-
tion of damage in radish by resistant
strains of cabbage maggots.

Materials and Methods

The insecticides were in granular
formulations as follows:

Diazdnon 0,0-diethyl 0-(2-isopropyl-4-methyl-6-pyrimidinyl)

phosphor othioate; 5% on walnut shell; Fisons (Canada)
Ltd., Toronto, Ont.

Guthion 0.0-dimethyl S-(4-oxo-l,2,3,benzotriazin-3(4H)-ylmethyl

phosphorodithioate; 10% ; Chemagro Corp., Kansas City, Mo.

Heptachlor l,4,5,6,7,8,8-heptachloro-3a,4,7,7a-tetrahydro-4,7-

methanoindene; 5%; Velsicol Chemical Corp., Chicago, 111.

Nemacide (V-C 13) . . 0,0-diethyl 0-2,4-dichlorophenyl phosphorothioate; 5%;

Pennsalt Chemicals Corp., Tacoma, Wash.

Zinophos 0,0-diethyl 0-2-pyrazinyl phosphorothioate; 10%;

American Cyanamid Co., Princeton, N.J.

The Early Scarlet Globe variety of
radish was used.

The investigation was conducted
at three sites: at Essondale in muck
soil; at Victoria in peat soil; and at
the University Farm in Vancouver
in sandy soil. The design, a split-plot
latin square, consisted of five insec-
ticides applied at four rates, 0, 7. 14,
and 28 g of toxicant per 1,000 feet
of row, replicated five times. A plot
consisted of four 20-foot rows, each
row treated at one of the above
rates. The insecticides were applied
with three grams of seed (approxi-
mately 300) sown with a V-belt
seeder. The seedlings were counted

i Contribution No. 77, Research Station, Re-

search Branch, Canada Department of Agricul-

ture, 6660 N.W. Marine Drive, Vancouver 8, B.C.

about 15 days after planting. At
harvest random samples of 50
radishes per sub-plot were collected,
washed, and inspected for maggot
tunnels. A radish was considered
damaged if there was any blemish
caused by maggots. Percentage dam-
age was calculated in terms of the
number of radishes damaged.

Results and Discussion

Counts of emergent seedlings and
percentage damage by root maggots
are given in Table 1. Only Zinophos
caused an appreciable reduction in
emergence and this was more evi-
dent in light sandy loam than in
organic soils. There was no maggot
damage in any treatment nor in the
untreated checks at Vancouver and
Essondale. At Victoria damage rang-

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

TABLE 1.— -Materials and rate of application, average number of seedlings, and percen-
tage damage by root maggots in radish in British Columbia, 1962.

Granular

insecticide

Toxicant in g
per 1000 row-
feet

Emergent seedlings per 20 row-feet

Percentage

damage

Victoria

Essondale

(muck)

Victoria

(peat)

Vancouver

(sandy)

245

250

229

Diazinon

232

252

223

248

257

222

252

253

212

218

249

230

Guthion

10%

211

202

245

262

223

236

233

237

220

225

248

225

Heptachlor

210

218

257

260

232

208

262

214

211

246

239

Nemacide

222

244

233

223

234

220

216

238

221

Zinophos

10%

249

225

218

225

257

237

230

199

227

152

119

Difference necessary
for significance, P=.05

N.S.D.

ed from 4% in plots treated with 28
g of Zinophos to an average of 93%
in treatments with heptachlor and
87% in untreated plots.

Howitt and Cole (1962) reported
that cabbage maggots resistant to
cyclodiene insecticides in Washing-
ton State appeared to be resistant
also to organophosphates. Maggots
of the strain at Victoria were sus-
ceptible however, especially to Zino-
phos. All treatments with organo-
phosphate insecticides reduced the
amount of damage. With the excep-
tion of a slight reversal at the 14
and 28 g rates with diazinon, the
percentage damage decreased as the
dosage increased.

Zinophos was the most effective
insecticide. At 7 g per 1,000 row- feet
only 12% damage was recorded, and
this wa s very minor. Unfortunately,
Zinophos caused some reduction in
the numbers of emergent seedlings
in the light soil. In peat and muck
soils there was no appreciable re-
duction. At Victoria at the 28 g rate

emergent seedlings were reduced
20%. The reduction was not signifi-
cant. At Vancouver on the light soil
even at 7 g per 1,000 feet of row
approximately 30% fewer radishes
emerged; at 14 g about 50%; and at
28 g the emergence was only 27% of
the numbers recorded for the un-
treated plots.

Summary

At Vancouver, Victoria, and Es-
sondale, furrow treatments with
granular formulations of diazinon,
Guthion, heptachlor, Nemacide, and
Zinophos were applied at 0, 7, 14,
and 28 g toxicant per 1,000 row-feet.
No maggot damage was recorded at
Vancouver and Essondale. At Vic-
toria damage ranged from 4% in
plots treated with Zinophos at 28 g
to 93% for heptachlor treatments
and 87% for untreated checks. Only
Zinophos caused any appreciable
reduction in the numbers of emerg-
ent seedlings. This was more evident
in light sandy soil at Vancouver than
in organic soils at Victoria and

Proc. Extomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

Essondale. At Vancouver the average
number of seedlings per 20 row-feet
at 0, 7, 14, and 28 g of Zinophos was
227, 152, 118, and 61 respectively.

Acknowledgements

Grateful acknowledgment is made for
assistance from our colleagues, H. R. Mae-
Carthy and A. T. S. Wilkinson, and for
technical assistance by N. J. Filmer.

References

Finlayson, D. G., and M. D. Noble. 1964. The efficacy of organocarbamate, organoch-
lorine, and organophosphate insecticides against turnip maggots and resistant
cabbage maggots in rutabaga in British Columbia. Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit.
Columbia 61:3-10.

Howitt, A. J., and S. G. Cole. 1962. Chemical control of Hylemya brassicae in the Pa-
cific Northwest. J. Econ. Entomol. 55:33-38.

EXPERIMENTS AGAINST CARROT RUST FLY (Psila rosae (F.) )
RESISTANT TO CYCLODIENE ORGANOCHLORINE INSECTICIDES1

D. G. Finlayson, H. G. Fulton, andM. D. Noble

In July, 1961 reports from the
Provincial Government’s Colony
Farm at Essondale, near Vancouver,
to the effect that aldrin was no
longer protecting carrots from dam-
age by carrot maggots (Psila rosae
[F.D, led to an investigation to de-
termine: if strains of flies resistant
to cyclodiene insecticides were pres-
ent, and if suitable control measures
could be developed.

The first spring seeding of carrots
at Essondale was destroyed because
the damage was so severe. Although
recommended chemicals had been
applied it soon became evident that
the second crop also was heavily
infested. Random samples in mid-
August showed that at least 50% of
the carrots were damaged. Collec-
tions of pupae were made at this
time by sifting the soil for three
inches on each side of the row to a
depth of about six inches. Forty-five
feet of row yielded more than 750
puparia plus an additional 1,200 from
the maggots in the infested carrots.
Samples of these puparia were shipped
to the Entomological Laboratory at
Chatham, Ont., for screening against

i Contribution No. 78, Research Station, Re-
search Branch, Canada Department of Agricul-
ture, 6660 N.W. Marine Drive, Vancouver 8, B.C.

various insecticides. The results of
these tests (Niemczyk and Harris,
1962) showed that the flies were
highly resistant to aldrin but very
susceptible to diazinon. The toxicity
of malathion was about mid-way
between the other two.

Based on results obtained during
investigations to find effective insec-
ticides against resistant strains of
onion maggots (Finlayson, 1959 and
Howitt, 1958) ; cabbage maggots
(Finlayson and Noble, 1964a and b
and Howitt and Cole, 1962) ; and
carrot maggots (Howitt and Cole,
1959) ; experiments were designed to
test the effective insecticides against
the second generation of carrot rust
fly at Essondale. This paper reports
on the experiments in 1961, 1962,
and 1963. A temporary method was
developed for preventing damage
and the effects are shown of several
dosages of chemicals on seedling
emergence in various soil types. In
the lower Fraser Valley commercial
carrots are usually grown in muck
soil.

Materials and Methods

The pesticides used in the investi-
gation are listed in Table 1 and are
identified chemically in accordance
with Billings (1963) and Kenaga

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Bbit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

TABLE 1. — Chemical definitions of pesticides applied against carrot maggots.

A! dr in . l,2,3,4,10,10-hexachloro-l,4,4a,5,8,8a-hexahydro-

l,4-endo-exo-5,8-dimethanonaphthalene

B. 25141 ....... 0,0-diethyl O-p-(methylsulfinyl) phenyl phosphorothioate

B. 37289 0-ethyl 0-2,4,5,-trichlorophenyl ethylphosphonothioate

B. 39007 O-isopropoxyphenyl methylcarbamate

Captan N-(trichloromethylthio)-4-cyclohexene-l. 2-dicar boximide

Carbophenothion . . S-[(p-chlorophenylthio)methyl] 0,0-diethyl

(Trithion) phosphorodithioate

Biazinon 0,0-diethyl 0-(2-isopropyl-4-methyl-6-pyrimidinyl)

phosphorothioate

E.L43064* ..... 2-(diethoxyphosphinothioylimino)-l,3-diihiolane

Ethion . OAO^-tetraethyl S,S'-methylenebisphosphoro dithioate

G.C.4072 2-chloro-l-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)vinyl diethyl phosphate

Gutfoion 0#0-dimethyl S-(4-oxo-l,2,3-benzotriazin-3(4H)-

ylmethyl) phosphorodithioate

N.2790* ...... 0-ethyl S-phenylethylphosphonodithioate

Nemacide (V-C 13) . 0 (2,4-dichlorophenyl) 0,0-diethyl phosphorothioate
Zinophos . 0,0-diethyl 0-2-pyrazinyl phosphorothioate

* Chemical name obtained from company brochure.

(1863) . Formulations and rates of
application are given in Table 2.

The carrot variety Scarlet Nantes
Half-long was used, except at Esson-
dale in 1963 when variety Gold Pak
was grown. One g of seed (approxi-
mately 460), plus the insecticide,

was sown in 20 ft of row with a
V-belt seeder.

In 1961 the experiment was plant-
ed in mid- July on a plot immediate-
ly adjacent to the destroyed field of
carrots. The design was a split-plot
randomized block of 14 treatments,

TABLE 2.— Rate of furrow applications of insecticides against carrot maggot at several
locations in British Columbia in 1961, 1962, and 1963.

Granular Toxicant in grams

insecticide per 1,000 row-feet

1961 1962 1963

Granular Toxicant in grains

insecticide per 1,000 row-feet

1961 1962 1963

Aldrin 5% — 7 —

14 14 —

28 28 28

E.I.43064 10% — — 1

— — 14

— — 28

B.25141 10% — — J

Z Z §8

G.C.4072 10% — — |

Z Z 28

B.37289 10% ” Z 14

— — 28

Guthion** 10% — 7 —

14 14 —

28 28 —

B.39007 10% — — ' !

— — 14

— — 2S

N.2790 10% — — 7

— — 14

— — 28

Carbophenothion 10% — — —

28 — —

Nemacide 5% — 7 —

14 14 —

28 28 ■ —

Biazinon* 5% — 77

14 14 14

28 28 28

Zinophos 10% — 7 7

14 14 14

28 28 28

Ethion 5% — - — —

14 — —

28 — —

Untreated — - — —

* 10% granular was used in 1961.
** 3% dust was used in 1961.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

comprising two rates with each of
seven insecticides, and one untreated
check, replicated five times. Each
plot consisted of two 20-foot rows:
one treated at 14 g of toxicant per
1,000 row-feet, the other at 28 g.

In 1962 the investigation was con-
ducted at three sites: at Essondale
in muck soil; at Victoria in peat
soil; and at the University farm in
Vancouver in sandy soil. The design
was a split-plot latin square of five
insecticides, applied at four rates,
replicated five times< The insecticide
granules were applied at 0, 7, 14,
and 28 g of toxicant per 1,000 row-
feet. Each plot contained four rows
20 feet long, one row at each rate.

In 1963 in muck soils at Essondale
and Colebrook in the lower Fraser
Valley, experiments compared eight
granular insecticides applied to the
furrow at 7, 14, and 28 g of toxicant
per 1,000 row-feet with aldrin gran-
ules at 14 g and an untreated check.
At each site were 25 furrow treat-
ments, an untreated check and two
captan seed treatments each repli-
cated four times. Four captan plots
received 14 g of diazinon to deter-
mine if captan would reduce the
deleterious effects of diazinon on
seedling emergence. For the captan

seed treatment the carrot seed was
dipped in 5% Methocel2 sticker solu-
tion, and stirred with a glass rod in
a beaker while captan was added at
1 oz per 2 lb of seed. Continuous
stirring during the addition of the
captan powder ensured a uniform
coating on the seeds.

In 1961 efficacy of the treatments
was measured by two appraisals of
carrot samples for maggot damage;
for the first, 50 carrots were pulled
at random from each plot 100 days
after seeding; for the second, the
remaining carrots were pulled 30
days later.

In 1962 and 1963 emergent seed-
lings were counted 30 days after
seeding and the foliage was examined
periodically to determine any phyto-
toxic effects from the treatments. In
addition two appraisals for damage
were made. In 1962 they were made
100 days after seeding and at har-
vest 50 days later; in 1963 at 75 and
150 days after seeding.

Damage was assessed by washing
the carrots thoroughly and examin-
ing them individually for signs of
feeding on the main root, A single
tunnel constituted a damaged carrot.

2 Dow Chemical Co., Midland, Michigan.

TABLE 3. — Average percentage damage by carrot maggots after various treatments at
Essondale, B.C., 1961.*

Treatment

Toxicant
per 1,000
row-feet
(g)

Damage
after
100 days

Treatment

Toxicant
per 1,000
row-feet
(g)

Damage
after
130 days

Diazinon

i 4

Zinophos

5 ~

Diazinon

Zinophos

10 J

Diazinon

9 J

Guthion

611

Nemacide

49 1

Nemacide

Guthion

Ethion

54 -h

Guthion

Ethion

641 J

Nemacide

Ethion

70 ^

Carbophenothion

711

Carbophenothion

72-!

Carbophenothion

84 J

Aldrin

86 1

Aldrin

Jjfl

Aldrin

Untreated

—

Untreated

—

m _

♦Values within the same bracket are not significantly different (Duncan, 1955).

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

Results

1961 Experiment (Table 3). — Fur-
row applications with granular dia-
zinon and Zinophos at 14 and 28 g
per 1,000 row-feet significantly re-
duced the amount of damage caused
by resistant carrot maggots. Damage
was less than 10%, whereas in
aldrin-treated and untreated plots
it was more than 90%. No phyto-
toxic symptoms were seen nor was
there any apparent reduction in the
number of seedlings.

1962 Experiment (Table 4). — Mag-
got infestations were negligible at
Vancouver and Victoria so that no
damage was sustained even in the
untreated plots. At Essondale the
infestation was nearly as low. In
September more than 100 days after
seeding, no damage was evident. At
harvest, 150 days after seeding, the
damage was still very light. In the
untreated plots it averaged 32.2%
(range 6 to 50%). In the treated
plots the damage was similar, indi-
cating that the residual effective
period of the organophosphates
tested was shorter than that of the

cyclodiene organochlorines. Granu-
lar formulations in general, regard-
less of soil type, caused a decrease
in the number of emergent seed-
lings which became more significant
as the rate of application increased.
In the light soils Zinophos and
diazinon caused greater decreases
than Guthion and Nemacide. No
other symptoms of phytotoxicity
were seen.

1963 Experiment (Table 5). — There
was no damage by first generation
maggots at either site, nor at Esson-
dale by the second generation. At
Colebrook only B.25141 gave satis-
factory protection from both gener-
ations of maggots, allowing 10, 29,
and 44% damage for the three rates
applied. Untreated and aldrin-treat-
ed plots had 77 and 76% damage
respectively. The numbers of em-
ergent seedlings were significantly
reduced by several treatments: at
Colebrook, B.39007 and Zinophos at
the three rates, diazinon at 28 and
14, and E.I.43064 at 28 g; whereas
at Essondale only B.25141 and diaz-
inon at 28 g caused a reduction.

TABLE 4. — Average number of emergent seedlings and percentage damage by carrot
maggots after various treatments in several soil types in British Columbia,
1962.

Treatment

Toxicant
per 1,000/

Emergent seedlings
per 20 row-feet

Percentage

row-feet

(g)

Essondale

muck

Victoria

peat

Vancouver

sandy

damage at
Essondale

172

259

273

Aldrin

147

275

237

165

279

213

172

285

222

153

274

271

Diazinon

131

266

113

102

235

198

167

302

249

162

301

237

Guthion

167

284

219

167

249

198

160

283

251

156

279

235

Nemacide

152

279

204

140

262

193

165

254

257

138

241

147

Zinophos

127

241

134

120

205

105

Difference necess
for significance

ary

P=05

Pboc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

TABLE 5. — Average number of emergent seedlings and percentage damage by carrot
maggots after various treatments at two sites in British Columbia, 1963.

Granular

insecticides

Toxicant
per 1,000
row-feet
(g)

Emergent seedlings
per 20 row-feet

Percentage
damage (150 days)

Colebrook

Essondale

Colebrook

Essondale

B.25141

263

186

302

214

293

230

B.39007

208

121

282

146

277

Zinophos

196

200

216

199

241

196

Aldrin

337

231

G.C.4072

342

244

348

286

303

244

N.2790

266

221

324

186

319

219

B.37289

349

287

370

313

351

277

E.I.43064

246

217

286

270

346

208

Diazinon

144

222

193

282

204

Untreated

—

340

266

Captan

—

336

207

Cap.-fdiaz.

280

217

Difference necessary
for significance P=.05

—

When the carrot seeds were coated
with captan and sown with 14 g of
diazinon there was little reduction.

Discussion

From experiments conducted in
the lower Fraser Valley and at
Armstrong from 1950 to 1954, recom-
mendations were made for control of
the carrot maggot in British, Colum-
bia (Fulton and Handford, 1955).
These included several methods of
application of aldrin, heptachlor,
chlordane, and lindane, all of which
gave outstanding results.

In the state of Washington (How-
itt and Cole, 1959) and at Essondale,
no indication of resistant carrot rust
fjy was observed during late carrot
cropping of the previous year. The
severe damage inflicted by carrot
maggots in the first planting in 1961
and the large number of pupae col-
lected exemplify the rapid rise in
population when resistance develops.

In 1961 the normal insecticidal ap-
plication for crop protection was
made to both early and late plant-
ings, which probably contributed
further to the selection for resist-
ance.

From the experiments conducted
in 1961 it appeared at first that both
diazinon and Zinophos would protect
carrots (Fig. 1) and would not reduce
the number of seedlings. Since these
tests confirmed work by Howitt and
Cole (1959) methods and rates were
determined for field applications.
Although large numbers of pupae
were present at Essondale in 1961,
few flies were found and light dam-
age only was recorded in the experi-
mental plots in 1962 and again in
1963. These reductions were attrib-
uted in part to the control practices
of the farm management. In both
years the furrow treatment with
diazinon was supplemented with sev-

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

Fig. 1. A. — Carrots, from aldrin-treated and untreated plots, damaged by resistant
carrot maggots. B. — Carrots from diazinon- and Zinophos-treated plots.

Pboc. Entomol. Soc. Beit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

eral total spray treatments which
coincided with the emergence of
flies so that the population was
effectively reduced.

The experiments showed that the
longevity of organophosphate insec-
ticides was not enough to ensure
undamaged carrots when these were
subjected to attack by two genera-
tions of maggots. Indeed, only
B. 25141 appeared to have enough
persistence in soil to afford protec-
tion to carrots sown in late spring
and harvested in late fall, but at the
rate necessary to prevent damage
there was serious reduction in the
numbers of emergent seedlings. Since
the necessary period of protection
extends from mid-May to late Sep-
tember an effective furrow dosage
must be found which not only per-
mits a normal stand of plants but
also protects the young seedlings.
A supplementary spray program must
be initiated to reduce the numbers
of adult flies and thus prevent
oviposition.

Summary

Experiments were conducted in
different soil types in 1961, 1962, and
1963, to determine the efficacy of
organocarbamate, organochlorine, and
organophosphate insecticides against
carrot rust fy ( Psila rosae [F.]) re-
sistant to cyclodiene organochlorine
insecticides. The granular insecti-
cides were applied in the furrow at

7, 14, and 28 g per 1,000 row-feet. In
1961 diazinon and Zinophos allowed
less than 10% damage by one gener-
ation of maggots; whereas the un-
treated and aldrin-treated plots had
more than 90% carrots unmarket-
able. The treatments caused no ap-
parent reduction in the numbers of
emergent seedlings. In 1962 damage
was recorded at harvest 150 days
after seeding in the treated as well
as the untreated plots indicating
that the residual period of the
organophosphates was not long
enough to protect the carrots from
attack by two generations of carrot
maggot. The highest rate of applica-
tion reduced the numbers of emer-
gent seedlings. This was more evi-
dent in light mineral soil than in
the organic soils. In 1963 no damage
was inflicted by first generation
maggots but only B.25141 was able
to protect the crop from damage by
second generation maggots. Several
insecticides, B.39007, diazinon, Zino-
phos, and E.I.43064 causd significant
reductions in numbers of emergent
seedlings. A coating of captan on
seeds sown with diazinon appeared
to counteract the effect of diazinon
on seedling emergence.

Acknowledgement

Grateful acknowledgement is made for
assistance by our colleagues, H. R. Mac-
Carthy and A. T. S. Wilkinson, and for
technical help by L. Chang, N. J. Filmer,
and D. Williams.

References

Billings, S. C. 1963. Consolidated list of approved common names of insecticides and
certain other pesticides. Bull. Entomol. Soc. America 9(3): 189-197.

Duncan, D. B. 1955. Multiple range and multiple F tests. Biometrics 11:1-43.

Finlayson, D. G. 1959. Summary of experiments to determine the effectiveness of three
organophosphates in controlling onion maggots resistant to chlorinated
hydrocarbons. Canada Dept. Agr., Pesticide Tech. Information Office, Insecti-
cide Newsletter 8(10):3-10.

, and M. D. Noble. 1964a. The effect of dosage of organophosphate insecticides

on the emergence of radish seedlings and on damage by cabbage maggots. Proc.
Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia 61:11-13.

. 1964b. The efficacy of organocarbamate, organochlorine, and

organophosphate insecticides against turnip maggots and resisitant cabbage
maggots in rutabaga in British Columbia. Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia
61:3-10.

Fulton, H. G., and R. H. Handford. 1955. The carrot rust fly in British Columbia. Pro-
cessed Publication No. 939, Entomology Division, Canada Department of Agri-
culture.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

Howitt, A. J. 1958. Chemical control of Hylemya artfiqua (Meig.) in the Pacific North-
west. J. Econ. Entomol. 51:883-887.

, and S. G. Cole. 1959. Chemical control of the carrot rust fly, Psila rosae (F.),

in Western Washington. J. Econ. Entomol. 52:963-966.

— . 1962. Chemical control of Hylemya brassicae in the Pacific North-
west. J. Econ. Entomol. 55:33-38.

Niemczyk, H. D., and C. R. Harris. 1962. Evidence of carrot rust fly resistance to
aldrin and heptachlor in Canada. J. Econ. Entomol. 55:560.

FURTHER INSECTICIDE TESTS AGAINST THE DOUGLAS-FIR NEEDLE

MIDGES, Contarinia SPP.1 2 3

D. A. Ross*, J. C. ARRAND3, AND N. J.Geistlinger*

Introduction

In 1962, at Larkin, B.C., endosulfan
(Thiodan) and DDT emulsible con-
centrates diluted to 0.3% and applied
to run-off, when the buds had
flushed, gave satisfactory control of
Contarinia spp. (Ross and Arrand
1963).

In 1963, at Invermere, the effec-
tiveness of lower concentrations of
Thiodan and DDT wettable powders
(WP), and Thiodan emulsible con-
centrate (E) was tested on single
trees. Additional trials at Canal Flats
to measure control in large blocks,
and at Larkin to establish the opti-
mum time for spraying, did not
produce adequate data because of
low numbers of Contarinia spp.

Methods and Results

At Invermere, 10 trees from 5 to
7 ft tall were used for each treat-
ment and 10 were left unsprayed
as checks. Insecticides were applied
with a hand sprayer to run-off.

One Imperial gal of water was
added to each of the following
quantities of commercial concen-
trates to obtain the finished formu-
lations:

1 Contribution No. 1086, Forest Entomology and
Pathology Branch, Department of Forestry, Ot-
tawa, Canada.

2 Forest Entomology Laboratory, Vernon, B.C.

3 Asst. Provincial Entomologist, Vernon, B.C.

1 1/2 tablespoons Thiodan emulsi-
ble concentrate containing 2 lbs
technical Thiodan per Imperial gal
(0.1%); iy2 tablespoons of Thiodan
50% wettable powder (0.2%); iy2
tablespoons of DDT 50% wettable
powder (0.2%).

Sprays were applied under warm
(78 to 81° F.) calm conditions on
May 22 and 23, when an average of
75% of the buds in the upper crown
and 85% in the lower crown were
open. At the time of spraying, midges
were ovipositing on the buds.

Percentage infestation was deter-
mined in October from 10 terminal
twigs picked at random at breast
height from each tree (Table 1).

Wettable powders of Thiodan and
DDT at 0.2% concentration, on the
foliage of individual trees did not
give adequate control, but an appli-
cation of Thiodan emulsion at 0.1%
concentration gave good control.

In October five twigs from each
tree were examined for eggs of the
spruce spider mite, Oligonychus
ununguis (Jacot). Counts were lim-
ited to the basal inch of the under-
side of the terminal twig (Table 2).

There was no apparent difference
between the check and the Thiodan
treatments, but the DDT-treated
samples had almost 100 times more

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

TABLE 1 — Percentage Infestation of Current Year’s Douglas-Fir Needles by Contarinia
spp. Invermere, B.C., October, 1963.

Treatment

(May 22, 23) Concentration

1963 % Average Range

Check — —

Thiodan E 0.1

Thiodan WP 0.2

DDT WP 0.2

mite eggs than the check or Thiodan
treatments.

Two plots of 0.7 and 1.5 acres, at
Canal Flats and Edgewater respec-
tively, were each sprayed using a
gas-powered machine, with Thiodan
wettable powder at the rate of 2 lb
per 100 gal (0.1% concentration) per
acre. The machine had a portable
slip-on tank and an Echo low volume
pump with a 2.25 hp motor. The gun
was a trigger-controlled Spraymiser.

Good data were not obtained at
Canal Flats, because fewer than 2%
of the needles in the check plot were
infested by Contarinia spp. At Edge-
water foliage in the check plot was
62% infested, whereas foliage in the
treated plot was only 2% infested.

Discussion

Control was unsatisfactory with
0.2% concentrations of wettable
powders of Thiodan and DDT at
Invermere, applied with a hand
sprayer. Thiodan emulsion at 0.1%
was superior to the wettable powder
at 0.2%. It seems likely that the
superior control can be explained by
the attributes of an emulsion such as
better adhesion qualities, possibly
greater penetration, or even greater
inherent toxicity. Wetting agents
will be used with wettable powders
in future trials to see if control can
be increased with this formulation.

28.6 16 - 40

5.4 2.9 - 8.6

13.2 4.8 - 31.9

14.5 1.2 - 28.8

In the tests of 1962 there was
some slight ‘burning’ of a fraction of
one per cent of the new foliage
where DDT emulsible concentrate
was used. No burning was apparent
in the 1963 trials.

Better control with Thiodan wet-
table powder was obtained at Edge-
water than at Invermere. This may
be because the ground and all veg-
etation at Edgewater was wetted
with spray whereas at Invermere
only the test trees were sprayed and
there was little drift of poison onto
the ground or vegetation about the
trees.

These tests demonstrated the prac-
ticability of protecting commercially-
grown Douglas-flr Christmas trees
from injurious attack by Contarinia
spp. with early season sprays of
Thiodan.

The DDT-treated samples at In-
vermere, B.C., bore almost 100 times
more mite eggs than did those from
the check or Thiodan treatments.
This confirms reports of infestations
by spruce spider mite following treat-
ment with DDT, the earliest by
Hoffman and Merkel in 1948. It
would obviously be unwise to rec-
ommend DDT because of the pos-
sibility of inducing an epidemic of
this destructive mite.

The importance of determining
the need for chemical control just

TABLE 2 — Average number of Mite Eggs on Basal Lineal Inch of Terminal Douglas-Fir
Twig, 5 Twigs From Each of 10 Trees. Invermere, B.C., October 30, 1963.

Treatment Range between

(May 1963) trees Mean

Check 0- 3.2 0.58

Thiodan E 0- 0.4 0.11

Thiodan WP 0 - 1.0 0.18

DDT WP 12-109.0 52.00

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

before the emergence of midges from
the ground in spring was demon-
strated at Larkin and Canal Flats.
There was moderate to severe foli-
age damage at these localities dur-
ing 1962, but high mortality of
midges occurred, resulting in a popu-
lation collapse by the spring of 1963.

Summary

At Invermere, B.C. in 1963, 0.1%
Thiodan E applied to individual trees
with a hand sprayer at the time of
bud opening gave satisfactory con-
trol of Douglas-fir needle midges. At
the concentrations used, 0.2% Thio-
dan WP and 0.2% DDT WP, gave
inadequate protection.

By October 1963, the number of
mite eggs on the trees with the DDT
treatment was approximately 100

times greater than the number on
those with Thiodan treatments, and
the check.

At .Edgewater, Thiodan WP at 2 lb
per 100 gal applied with a gas-pow-
ered sprayer gave excellent control
of the Douglas-fir needle midges.
Anyone using this control method
should be cautioned that Thiodan is
a chlorinated hydrocarbon and
should not be used where cattle may
graze within 30 days of treatment.

Acknowledgements

The writers are grateful for the assist-
ance of members of the British Columbia
Forest Service in applying the spray on two
of the areas, for the use of equipment, and
for permission to use an experimental
Christmas tree stand at Invermere. Kirks
Ltd. kindly permitted tests to be carried
out on their holdings at Edgewater, B.C.

References

Hoffman, C. H., and E. P. Merkel, 1948. DDT and the arthropod population in forests.
J. Econ. Ent. 41:464-473.

Ross, D. A., and J. C. Arrand, 1963. Preliminary insecticide tests against the Douglas-
fir needle midges, Contarinia spp., Larkin, B.C., 1962. Proc. B.C. Ent. Soc. 60:
32-33.

STAPHYLINIDS DAMAGING BLOSSOMS

In the first week in May, 1964, W. D.
Touzeau, Plant Protection Division, Van-
couver, asked me to go with him to inves-
tigate a serious infestation of rove beetles
on fruit tree blossoms. On May 8, we visit-
ed a West Vancouver home on Shamrock
Place, south of the upper levels highway.
The sloping backyard garden was planted
in fruit trees and bushes. Blossoms of ap-
ple, pear, flowering cherry, red and black
currant were swarming with beetles, as
many as six per blossom. Nearby rock
plants such as Arabis aibida, Aubrefia deS-
toides, and Papaver nudicaule were also at-
tractive. Raspberry and strawberry blos-
soms had no beetles.

The beetles were head down in the co-
rolla of the blossom, with their mouthparts
at the base of the petals. They withdrew
and dropped at the slightest disturbance.
It was likely that they were feeding in the
region of the nectaries. In the process, the
stamens were injured and shortly turned
brown. Fruit set was very light.

The beetles have appeared in this gar-
den at the same time for four consecutive
years. They are present in large numbers

for about two weeks. The beetles were
identified as Pelecomalium festaceum
Mann, by W. J. Brown of the Entomology
Research Institute, Ottawa.

Little appears to be known about the
species which is apparently indigenous to
the Pacific northwest, and is described as
very common in British Columbia, Wash-
ington, Northern Idaho, and Oregon (Hatch,
1957). Mrs. Clark (1949) found a specimen
on skunk cabbage at Terrace, B.C., and
Casey (1893 in Hatch, 1957), states that the
genus occurs on flowers.

References

Clark, M. E. 1949. An annotated list of the
Coleoptera taken at or near Terrace,
B.C. Part 2. Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit.
Columbia 45:21-24.

Hatch, M. H. 1957. The Beetles of the Pa-
cific Northwest. Part II: Staphyiini-
formia. University of Wash. Press.
Seattle, p. 55.

— P Zuk, Research Station,
6660 N.W. Marine Drive,
Vancouver, B.C.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

A PORTABLE, POWER-DRIVEN SIFTER FOR SOIL INSECT STUDIES1 2

W. T. Cram

In root weevil studies it is neces-
sary to sift the soil under many
strawberry plants to obtain a valid
measure of larval abundance. Be-
cause hand sifting is extremely
laborious the sifter described here
was built. As in most models the
rocker principle was used. Lange et
al. (1954) described a large self-
propelled, power-driven sifter and
reviewed the literature.

Dexion angle irons was the prin-
cipal material. It is easily cut with
a special cutter or a hack-saw, and
fastened together with bolts sup-
plied. Sixty linear feet of angle iron
was required. Exact measuremnts
are not given here because the di-
mensions are not critical and a
builder can estimate these or write
to the author. (Figs. 1 and 2.)

The wheelbarrow-type frame on a
10-inch rubber-tired wheel allows
the sifter to be moved by one man
in the field and between rows. The
four legs of the wheelbarrow project
1 % inches below the lower side
braces and sink into the soil to
prevent the machine from creeping.
Above the main frame the legs form
the four corners of the rocker frame,
from which the rocker bed is sus-
pended. With the handles removed
the machine is 74X24X30 inches and
can be loaded into a sedan delivery
vehicle.

The rocker bed has a rocker rod
across each end between the over-
lapping angle irons at the corners
(Fig. 2). Longer steel bolts 1%
inches with lock washers are needed
here. The front end of the rocker
bed is reinforced with two extra
cross pieces of angle iron to

1 Contribution No. 72, Research Station, Can-
ada Department of Agriculture, 6660 N.W. Marine
Drive, Vancouver 8, B.C.

2 Available from FTS Ltd., 1240 Seymour St.,
Vancouver 2, B.C.

strengthen the rocker bracket, which
is mounted in the center. This
bracket is made from two pieces of
angle iron with %-inch, holes drilled
to receive the rocker pin. A cross-
piece of angle iron bolted inside
the bed at the back end keeps the
screens from moving. The bed is
suspended at each corner by an iron
strap.

Plywood spacers placed on the
rocker rods between the bed and
the suspension straps and on the
frame rods between the suspension
straps and the rocker frame, allow
ample clearance between the rocker
bed and frame. The rocker rods are
secured with washers and cotter
pins placed immediately outside the
suspension straps. The frame rods
are inserted into holes drilled in the
rocker frame and secured with
washers and cotter pins placed im-
mediately inside the suspension
straps. Thus, the bed hangs freely
in the angle iron framework and
no special bearings are required.

The frames for the sieves are
made of %-inch, 5-ply plywood. The
corners are reinforced with strips of
plumber’s medium - weight hanger
iron. Wire screens of 14, 4, and 2
meshes per inch are fastened to the
bottom of the frames with screws
driven first through plywood strips.
The middle screen has a plywood
cleat at the center of each end and
side to secure the three screens and
facilitate lifting them off. The coars-
est screen is placed on top.

The crank is driven by a shaft
running through two grease- filled
bearings mounted on the right side
of the main frame and on the ex-
tension of the engine-mount frame
just to the right of the center of
the machine (Fig. 2). A collar is
fastened on the outer end of the
shaft and a 13-inch pulley carrying
a V-belt is mounted between the

Proc. Entomol. Soe. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1864

STEEL BOLT
ROCKER ROD
ROCKER BED

SUSPENSION STRAP

WOODEN SPACER

ROCKER FRAME
WOODEN GUIDE

WOODEN SPACER

FRAME ROD

CLUTCH LEVER

ROCKER BRACKET
ROCKER PIN

CONNECTING
ROD BEARINGS

CRANK PIN
(SHOULDERED)

CRANK

CONNECTING ROD

LOCK NUTS
MAIN BEARINGS

CUTAWAY IN
ENGINE MOUNT
FRAME

Figs. 1-2.— Portable power-driven soil sifter. 1, side view. 2, top view of crank and
rocker assembly with hood and screens removed.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

bearings. A steel spacer is placed on
the shaft between the inside bear-
ing and the crank. The crank of
cold rolled steel is drilled at the
center to fit the shaft snugly and
at 1 y2 inches from center to fit the
threaded end of the shouldered
crank pin. The crank is rigidly
fastened on the inside end of the
shaft with a standard tapered pin.
The crank pin is bolted to the crank
with lock nuts. A washer and babbitt
bearing are placed on the free end
of the crank pin, secured with a
washer and cotter pin and bolted to
one end of the steel connecting rod.
A babbitt bearing for the rocker pin
is bolted to the other end of the
connecting rod after marking the
holes when the crank is vertical and
the rocker bed at rest. The connect-
ing -rod and the crank are centered
and aligned by adjusting the main
bearings on the frame so that the
rocker bed has a 3 -inch stroke when
the large pulley is rotated. Side sway
is prevented by screwing wooden
guides to the inside of the base of
the rocker frame. These well-oiled
guides are adjusted by placing wash-
ers between the guides and the
frame.

The large pulley is aligned with
the 2-inch drive pulley of a % h.p.,
4-cycle, air-cooled engine (Fig. 1),
which is mounted so that the V-belt
is slack. The belt tightener or clutch
(Fig. 1), made from plumber’s med-
ium-weight hanger iron, allows the
sifter to rock at any speed up to
about 300 strokes per minutes. For

safety a sheet metal hood is bolted
to the frame to cover the crank
and large pulley.

Some advantages of this machine
over others are its lightness and
portability, low cost (about $75.00,
without engine and labour), ease of
construction (about 12 hours for two
men) and variable speed control.
As with all machines that sift soil
without using water, the condition
of the soil is of utmost importance.
The machine is most effective in
fairly dry sandy upland soils and is
not recommended for clays.

The machine can sift a soil sam-
ple 12 inches in diameter by 6 inches
deep (678 cu. inches) in one filling.
When the soil is not too wet, a
sample can be sifted in a few sec-
onds. Most of the operator’s time is
spent searching in the lower trays
for larvae. These can best be found
if the machine is operated at low
speed so that the remaining soil is
merely disturbed and the larvae
exposed. In effect, the efficiency of
the operation is dependent on the
searching ability of the operator
especially for small larvae.

This machine has been used for
sifting soil under hundreds of straw-
berry plants and for preparing sifted
soil for pot experiments. No repairs
or changes have been necessary.

Acknowledgement1

I wish to thank Mr. T. L. Theaker, Assist-
ant Technician at the Victoria Fruit Insect
Laboratory where this work was done, for
his assistance and valuable suggestions.

Reference

Lange, W. H., N. B. Akesson, and W. C. Carlson, 1954. A power-driven self-propelled
soil sifter for subterranean insects. J. Econ. Ent. 47:1006-1008.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

A PRELIMINARY TEST WITH DDT FOR CONTROL OF THE WHEAT
MIDGE Sitodiphsis moselkim (GEHIN)

D. A. Arnott' and J. C. Arrandz

In 1957 the wheat midge, Sitodi-
plosis mosellana (Gehin), caused
severe damage to a crop of spring
wheat near Kersley, British Colum-
bia (Arrand, 1959). According to the
farmer this field had been infested
in 1956. The midge is now so well
established in the area that spring
wheat crops can no longer be grown
profitably and farmers are concern-
ed about loss of revenue from what
has been a profitable cash crop.
Previous recommendations for pre-
venting damage, such as early seed-
ing of quickly maturing varieties of
wheat, plowing infested stubble
fields before the midges emerge,
locating new seedings as far as pos-
sible from infested stubble fields or
growing fall wheat, are not applic-
able or not effective in the Kersley
area.

In 1962 a preliminary test was
carried out to determine whether
treatment of spring wheat with DDT
could provide practical control. Mar-
quis wheat seeded during the third
week of May was used. The treat-
ment and a check were replicated

four times using plots 6’ x 40’. The
treatment consisted of spraying the
wheat with DDT 25% emulsion, at
the rate of 1 lb. toxicant in 25 gal.
water per acre. Treatment was
applied on June 12 as the wheat
began to head and when the first
emergence of midges was noted from
infested stubble fields.

The effect on midge infestation
was determined by counting the eggs
and larvae in six heads collected at
random from each plot on July 26.
The effect on yield of seed was
determined by threshing, cleaning
and weighing the seed from plants
in two sample areas per plot, each
one yard square, on September 4
when the crop approached maturity.

Counts of eggs and larvae showed
that on July 26 infestation in the
treated plots was 83.6 per cent less
than that in untreated plots. (Table
1). Weights of clean seed showed
that the yield of clean seed from
treated plots was 78.6 per cent
greater than that in the untreated
(Table 2).

TABLE 1. — Numbers of midge eggs plus larvae in 6 wheat heads per replicate on
July 26, after spraying with DDT on June 12, 1962, Kersley, B.C.

Replicate % Decrease

Treatment

DDT

Check

1 2 3 4 Total

62 19 29 38 148

180 185 184 353 902

Average with DDT
37.0 83.6

225.5

Although the DDT treatment gave
fairly good control of midge infes-
tation and a substantial increase in
yield over that from the untreated
wheat, the yields were only 11.1
bushels per acre in the treated and
6.2 bushels per acre in the untreated.
The low yield from the treated
wheat is attributed in part to phyto-
toxic effects of the spray. On July

1 Associate Entomologist, Research Station,
Canada Department of Agriculture, Kamloops,
B.C.

2 Assistant Provincial Entomologist, Vernon,
B.C.

26 foliage in the treated plots ap-
peared reddish-brown as if burned
compared with the fresh green col-
our in the untreated. On September
4 the average height of plants in the
treated plots was 1.5 to 2.0 inches
less than the average in the un-
treated.

Although results of this prelimin-
ary experiment have not provided
a practical control for the wheat
midge they indicate that further
tests with insecticides are warranted.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

TABLE 2. — Weight in grams of clean wheat seed from one-yard square samples per
replicate harvested on September 4, 1962, Kersley, B.C.

Treatment

Replicate

Average
Total per yd. 2

% Increase
over check

DDT

Sample 1

” 2

80 493 61.6

78.6

Check
Sample 1

” 2

34 276 34.6

Acknowledgments

and D. A. Arnott, Jr., for their efficient help

The authors are indebted

Rome

in collecting samples and counting midges

Brothers, Kersley, for their co-operation in and to the staff of the Range Experimental
providing the stand of wheat, spraying Station, Kamloops, for processing the har-
equipment and application of treatment, vested samples.

Thanks are due to Messrs. R. O. Ramsden

References

Arrand, J. C. 1959. The distribution of the wheat midge, Sited iplosis mo-sell ana (Gehin),
in British Columbia. Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia 56:18.

INHERENT TOLERANCE IN LARVAE OF THE ROOT WEEVILS Stiopithes
®hs€ums HORN AND Nemocestes intomptus (HORN) TO COMMON
SOIL INSECTICIDES1

W. T. Cram

The strawberry root weevil, Bra-
chyrhinus ovatus (L.) and the black
vine weevil, B. sulcatus (F.), are
controlled in strawberry plantings
by the soil insecticides heptachlor,
aldrin, dieldrin, or chlordane (Eide,
1955; Cram and Andison, 1958). But
the indigenous root weevils Sciopi-
thes obscurus Horn and three species
of the genus Nemocestes, which were
previously not of economic import-
ance, seriously damaged commercial
strawberry plantings in 1954 in soil
treated with heptachlor or aldrin
at 5 lb, dieldrin at 3 lb, or chlordane
at 10 lb of toxicant per 6-inch acre.
S. obscurus adults were abundant in
plantings in soil treated with hep-
tachlor at 5 lb, and N. incomptus
(Horn) in soil treated with aldrin
at 5 lb. In a field treated with hep-
tachlor, larvae of S. obscurus caused
such extensive damage before the
first picking season that the planting
was ploughed under. Attacks by N.

i Contribution No. 71, Research Station, Re-
search Branch, Canada Department of Agricul-
ture, 6660 N.W. Marine Drive, Vancouver 8, B.C.
The work was conducted at Saanichton when the
author was stationed at the Fruit Insect Labora-
tory, Victoria, B.C., now closed.

incomptus, N. prob. montanus Van
Dyke and an unnamed species of
Nemocestes were not so rapid, and
severe damage did not usually occur
until the second or third season.

This is a report of experiments in
the greenhouse and field with soil
insecticides for control of larvae of
S. obscurus, and in the greenhouse
alone for larvae of N. incomptus .

Methods

Greenhouse Tests — Coarse, sandy
loam (pH 6.0, 10.1% organic matter)
was passed through a 4-mesh screen,
measured into a box of 0.5 cu ft, then
spread 0.5 inch deep on paper. Each
insecticide was applied evenly on the
soil at a rate equivalent to broad-
casting and mixing dust in the top
6 inches of soil in the field. The
treated soil was mixed uniformly,
then used to pot 9 runner straw-
berry plants, each in a 6-inch clay
pot. When two insecticides were com-
bined one was mixed with the soil
first before the other was applied.
The materials are detailed in Table
1.

Larvae were obtained from eggs
laid by adults collected at night by

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

TABLE 1 — Larvae of S. obscurus and N. incomptus recovered 3 to 4 months after first
instar larvae were placed on the soil of pots containing strawberry plants in
soil treated with insecticide dusts.

Dusts

Toxicant per
6-inch
acre, lb.

Larvae per plant*

5. obscurus N. incomptus

1956 — 25 larvae per pet

Aldrin 2Vz%

19.3 ab

17.0 a

17.3 ab

15.0 a

Dieldrin 2%

21.7 a

17.0 a

17.0 abc

18.7 a

Heptachlor 2Vz%

12.7 cd

14.7 a

”

11.7 cd

17.0 a

DDT 5%

18.3 ab

18.3 a

8.7 d

16.0 a

Untreated

—

19.0 ab

16.3 a

1957 — 50 larvae per pot

Diazinon 5%

20.3 a

not tested

Malathion 4%

16.7 ab

not tested

Toxaphene 5%

18.7 ab

26.7 a

Endrin 1%

16.7 ab

17.0 a

18.0 ab

29.0 a

Lindane 0.5%

0.5

14.3 ab

23.0 a

6.7 b

19.0 a

Untreated

—

12.3 ab

17.7 a

1957 — 50 larvae per pot

Lindane 0.5%

18.7 ab

12.0 b

+ heptachlor 2y2% —

Lindane 0.5%

12.7 b

+ aldrin 2Vfe%

Untreated

—

36.7 a

i Means of 3 replicates. Values followed by the
same letter are not significantly different at
p— .05 (Duncan, 1955).

sweeping the tops of strawberry
plants with a net. S . obscurus were
collected in late June and July, and
N. incomptus in October, March and
April. Wide mouthed jars with screen
lids, each containing 200 adults were
kept in a rearing cabinet at 70° F
and 75 to 85% relative humidity.
The adults were fed fresh straw-
berry foliage twice weekly. Both
species deposited their eggs in rows
at the edges of the leaves, then
folded the edges over and cemented
them down. Eggs were laid in the
same manner on tissue paper. They
were trimmed from the foliage and
paper twice weekly and kept in open
jars in the cabinet where they
hatched in 13 days. Newly emerged
larvae cannot climb glass, so that
fresh larvae could be obtained daily
by merely covering the jars with
14xl8-mesh screen, inverting the
jars, and shaking them over paper.
The unhatched eggs remained in the

trimmings. Larvae were used in
batches of 25 in 1956, and 50 in
1957. Unlike those of B. sulcatus,
these larvae do not harm each other
when confined in large numbers.
The larvae were placed on the pre-
viously loosened soil in each of three
pots per treatment.

In 1956, S. obscurus larvae were
introduced 22 days and N. incomptus
49 days after the soil was treated.
In 1957, S. obscurus larvae were in-
troduced 64 days and N. incomptus
348 days after the soil was treated.
In 1957 with insecticides in combin-
ation using S. obscurus, the larvae
were introduced 15 days after the
soil was treated. After 3 to 4 months,
when the larvae were large enough
to be found easily in the soil, the
pots were emptied and the surviv-
ing larvae counted.

Field Test — In a planting of var.
British Sovereign strawberry plants
on the same soil used for the green-

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

house pot tests, the soil was treated
to test methods of applying insecti-
cides for control of Brachyrhinus
spp. The single-row plots, each 48
feet long, were 3 feet apart and
replicated in 4 blocks. Before plant-
ing in April, 1956, dusts, sprays, or
granules were applied to the soil,
either alone in 10-inch bands, or
combined with an application to the
roots. These treatments are detailed
in Table 2. The soil insecticides were
mixed in the top 6 inches of soil
with a 15-inch rotovator. From Sep-
tember 10 to 12, 1956, 50 newly-
emerged S. obscurus larvae were
placed on the soil around the crown
of the first plant of each plot, and
from September 26 to October 24,
around the second plant of each plot.
The larvae moved into the soil im-
mediately. From May to July of the
following year the plants were dug,
and the soil was sifted in a 12-inch
circle around the plant to a depth
of 6 inches using a mechanical sifter
(Cram, 1964). The larvae were count-
ed. Earlier tests had shown that at
this time of year nearly all the lar-
vae are found in a sample of this
size.

The insecticides were obtained as
follows: aldrin, dieldrin, and endrin
from Shell Chemical Co., Vancouver,
B.C.; heptachlor from Velsicol Corp.,
Chicago, 111.; toxaphene from Stauf-
fer Chemical Co., Portland, Ore.;
DDT from Buckerfield’s Ltd., Van-
couver, B.C.; lindane from Commer-
cial Chemicals, Vancouver, B.C.;
malathion from American Cyanamid,
New York, N.Y.; and diazinon from
Geigy Agricultural Chemicals, New
York, N.Y.

Results and Discussion

Greenhouse Tests — None of the
insecticides tested in 1956 gave ade-
quate control (Table 1). The fewest
larvae of S. obscurus were recovered
from soil treated with DDT or hep-
tachlor at 10 lb per acre, but the
reduction was not adequate since 37
and 47%, respectively, survived. The
toxicity to B. sulcatus of these ma-

terials was verified when larvae
failed to survive in any of the treat-
ed soils, but in the untreated soil
29% survived. This is a high average
survival rate for the species. An
exception was DDT, which does not
affect larvae of B. sulcatus even at
10 lb per 6-inch acre (unpublished
data) .

In 1957, none of the insecticides
adequately reduced the survival of
larvae below that of the untreated
soil for either species (Table 1).
With S. obscurus, lindane at 1 lb per
acre was significantly better than
diazinon at 5 pounds, but the reduc-
tion was inadequate. Larvae of N.
incomptus were not affected by any
of the treatments (Table 1), and
with a single exception the lowest
survival of larvae was in the un-
treated soil. Some biological control
factor may have been more active
here in untreated than in treated
soil.

Earlier field observations indicat-
ed that strawberries on soil treated
with lindane at 1 lb of toxicant per
6-inch acre were not attacked by N.
incomptus. Since introduced larvae
in pot tests were not affected it may
be that the flightless adults are
repelled from, or inhibited from ovi-
positing on, strawberries in soil
treated with lindane. Aldrin or hep-
tachlor at 5 lb combined with lin-
dane at 1 lb per acre significantly
reduced the numbers of S. obscurus
larvae (Table 1), but still 34%
survived.

Field Tests — Significantly fewer
larvae of S. obscurus were recovered
from the first plant of untreated
rows than from many of the treat-
ed rows (Table 2). S. obscurus ap-
peared to survive better in treated
soil (33% average survival) than in
untreated soil (13%). There were no
significant differences between treat-
ments of the second plant in each
row, which was infested later. In
1957 a natural population of B. sul-
catus infested the untreated but not
the treated rows.

30 Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

TABLE 2 — Larvae of S. obscurus recovered in 1957, 8 months after 50 first instar larvae
per plant were placed on the soil around strawberry plants in field plots
treated with soil insecticides.

Soib and/or
roots treatments

Number of larvae®
First Second

plant plant

Heptachlor EC -f root

25.0 a

15.8 a

2 %% gran

22.5 ab

13.8 a

Dieldrin EC

20.8 abc

14.2 a

” EC -f- root4

20.2 abed

17.0 a

Heptachlor EC

19.8 abed

14.2 a

Aldrin D+root

18.8 abed

11.2 a

” 2yz% d

16.8 abed

22.5 a

Heptachlor 2%% G+root ..

16.5 abed

8.5 a

Dieldrin 2% G

16.0 abed

14.8 a

” 2% G+root

14.5 bede

19.2 a

Heptachlor root only

14.5 bede

11.5 a

” 2V2% D

12.8 bede

18.8 a

Aldrin root only

11.0 ede

10.2 a

Heptachlor 2y2% D+root ...

10.8 de

16.0 a

Untreated

5.0 e

8.0 a

s Dusts, sprays, and granules were applied to
the soil in a 10-inch band to rows 3 ft. apart at
1.4 lb toxicant per acre for all treatments except
heptachlor granules at 2.1 lb and rotovated to a
depth of 6 inches.

2 Roots treated with 5 lb or appropriate dust

per 10,000 plants.

3 Means of 4 replicates. Means followed by the
same letter are not significantly different at
p— .05 (Duncan, 1955).

4 Dieldrin 2% dust.

There were no apparent phyto-
toxic symptoms from the insecticides
tested in the greenhouse or field. The
plants infested with larvae of either
S. obscurus or N. incomptus were
severely damaged.

Summery

The root weevils Sciopithes ob-
scurus Horn and Nemocestes in-
comptus (Horn) are indigenous to
the Pacific Northwest. Both are
serious pests of strawberries but
cannot be controlled with organ© -
chlorine soil insecticides at ordinary
dosages on southern Vancouver
Island or in the lower Fraser Valley.
In commercial fields, populations
were not reduced by treatment with
aldrin or heptachlor at 5 lb, dieldrin
at 3 lb, or chlordane at 18 lb of
toxicant per 6-inch acre. In potted
soil treated with insecticide dusts
and artificially infested, first instar
larvae survived treatment with hep-
tachlor, aldrin, dieldrin, or DDT
each at 5 or 10 lb toxicant per 6-inch

acre, toxaphene at 10 lb, endrin at
1 or 2 lb, or lindane at 0.5 or 1 lb.
S . obscurus survived in soil treated
with the organophosphates diazinon
or malathion at 5 lb, but a combin-
ation of 1 lb of lindane with aldrin
or heptachlor at 5 lb reduced the
numbers of larvae by 66%.

When introduced into field plots,
from 2 to 5 times more larvae of S.
obscurus were recovered in the
treated than in the control plots
where the treatments were: 1.4 lb
toxicant per 6 -inch acre of aldrin or
heptachlor dust, dieldrin or hepta-
chlor spray, or dieldrin granules.
These were applied either alone in
a 10-inch band to rows 3 ft apart, or
combined with 5 lb of appropriate
dust per 18,000 plants. Heptachlor
granules at 2.1 lb were ineffective.

Acknowledgements

The author is indebted to Messrs. H. An-
dison, Superintendent, T. L.. Theaker, As-
sistant Technician, and S. Arrow smith, Farm
Foreman, all of the Experimental Farm,
Saanichton, B.C., for valuable assistance.

References

Cram, W. T., and H. Andison. 1958. Soil insecticides for control of root weevils in straw-
berries in British Columbia. Canadian J. Plant Sci. 39:86-91.

Cram, W. T. 1964. A portable, power-driven sifter for soil insect studies. Proc. Ent. Soc.
Brit. Columbia 61:23-25.

Duncan, D. B. 1955. Multiple range and multiple F tests. Biometrics 11:1-42.

Eide, P. M. 1955. Soil treatments for Brachyrhinus control in strawberries. J. Econ.
Ent. 48:287-306.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Yol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

NOTES ON THE LIFE HISTORIES OF ONE BUTTERFLY AND THREE
MOTHS FROM SOUTHERN VANCOUVER ISLAND
(LEPIDOPTERA: NYMPHALIDAE AND PHALAENIDAE)

George A. Hardy*

Phyciodes myliffro Edw.

This species was first recorded
from Vancouver Island at Gold-
stream in 1961 (Hardy, 1962). It has
occurred since in the same general
area, thus indicating a permanent
addition to the fauna of Vancouver
Island. P. mylitta is a small butter-
fly with a wing span of 30 to 33 mm
for the female and 25 to 28 mm for
the male. The upper surface of the
wings has a yellow-fulvous base on
which is imposed an intricate pat-
tern of dark brown lines and dots,
closer together and darker in the
female than in the male.

Its flight is gliding with little
vertical wing movement, though it
can be swift and erratic, when the
insect seems to vanish in mid-air. It
haunts low sun-lit meadows and
moist places with thistles, which are
the food plants.

P. mylitta has a long period of
flight; my earliest record is April 23,
and the last September 18. It is most
often seen in July and August. There
are two generations. Larvae of the
second brood appear in July, over-
winter in the penultimate stage, and
give rise to the first brood next April.
In confinement there was an incip-
ient third brood. A larva hatched on
Angust 7, pupated on September 1
and emerged on September 22.

The eggs are laid near the tips of
thistle leaves, Carduus arvense, on
the upper or lower surface, in
batches of 80 to 180, in a single or
double layer. These notes start with
ova laid on May 13, 1963.

Ovum

Size 0.50 mm by 0.50 mm. A
smooth truncated cone with rounded
sides, summit depressed, the upper
part with 25 ribs, the lower third

i Provincial Museum, Victoria, B.C. (Rtd.)

reticulate; the colour a paie pastel
green, very inconspicuous, even in
masses, on the surface of the leaf,
changing through light to dark grey
at maturity. Hatched May 25.

Larva — 1st Instar

Length 1 mm. Head shiny, black
with a few scattered short hairs.
Body translucent, pale whitish, soon
becoming a sordid grey, with minute
black setae on the tubercles. Escaped
through the top of the ovum, con-
sumed the chorion, and fed gregari-
ously on the epidermis of the
underside of leaves.

2nd insfar

June 8. Length 3 mm. Head, as
described. Body, with prominent
hairy spines arising from the tuber-
cles; colour black with a faint darker
dorsal line.

3rd Insfar

June 14. Length 7 mm. Head as
described. Body black with a subdued
greyish marbling on the lower sides.

4th Insfar

June 20. Length 12 mm. Head as
described. Body dull, black, faintly
speckled with biege, with a dark
dorsal line and white dots on the
anterior base of spines along the
subdorsal line; the spines on the
spiracular band tinged with lemon
yellow. The spiracular band consist-
ing of two thin parallel lemon yellow
lines, the spiracles black, ringed with
bluish black; the under side pale
grey. They readily dropped from the
food-plant when disturbed, curling
into a ring and remaining so for a
time. At maturity they were 20 mm
long. Just before pupation they sus-
pended themselves from silken mats
on the sides or top of the container,
to remain for two or three days
before pupating on June 29.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

Pupa

Size 12 mm by 4 mm. Dull; the
fore part abruptly square, A.3 to A.6
with conspicuous transverse ridges
on the dorsal side, the antennal
sheaths brown with a row of white
dots indicating the segments; the
wing-cases brown with two short
rows of whitish dots near the hind
margins. The ground colour of the
pupa was biege thickly flecked and
vermiculated with brown; cremaster
a group of very fine setae with re-
curved tips on a short cylindrical
base at the tip of the last segment.

Imago

Emerged July 15, 1963.

Remarks

Having failed hitherto to bring
larvae through the winter, two lar-
vae were placed in a jar indoors
with a few leaves of the food plant
on December 7, 1963. They fed spor-
adically but were less sluggish than
those outside. One moulted on
December 13, continued to feed and
grew to a length of 20 mm. It pupat-
ed on January 5, 1964. The other
moulted on January 5, pupating on
January 26.

Normally the last moult would
have taken place in the spring when
the thistle was making new growth.
In confinement only the two kepi
indoors ate C. lanceolata, which was
the only thistle leaf available at this
time of year. The summer brood
completed the cycle in four instars,
whereas the fall generation had five.

Xylomiges perlubens Sm.

Ten species of this genus are list-
ed for British Columbia, of which
seven are known to occur on Van-
couver Island. It has a wing span of
38 to 40 mm. The primaries are pat-
terned with contrasting browns and
greys and the secondaries are white.
It is attracted to artificial light from
April to June.

Ova were laid on May 6 and 7,
1961, in a heap of several layers to
the number of 400. Another lot was
laid on April 30, 1962. These notes

were made from observations on
both groups.

Ovum

Size 0.95 mm to 0.50 mm. A flat-
tened sphere, with about 40 fine ribs
and cross-ribs; pale green at first,
soon developing a thin ring of tiny
brown dots on the upper part and a
brown dot on the micropyle. At
maturity the ovum was a dark lead
grey. Hatched May 15.

Larva — 1st Instar

Length 2 mm. Head pale honey
colour with a few large black dots.
Body translucent, whitish, coarsely
hairy from prominent black tuber-
cles. They were very active, moving
fast in looper fashion, making use
of a silk thread if dislodged. They
fed on Cornus occidentalis, Prunus
demissa, and were reared on Amel-
anchier florida.

2nd Instar

May 22. Length 6 mm. Head shiny,
pale whitish brown dotted with
black. Body dark olive green, the
dorsal and subdorsal lines thin blu-
ish white, the spiracular line broader
and of the same colour; tubercles
black, larger on A. 9; the underside
concolorous with the upper; the legs
pale brown and claspers semi-trans-
lucent.

3rd Instar

May 28. Length 10 mm. Head
smooth, shiny, opaque, whitish,
sparsely dotted with black. Body
fuscous with an olive tinge; the
dorsal and subdorsal lines milky-
white; the spiracular band white
threaded with rust brown; venter
and sides of the claspers dotted with
black.

4th Instar

June 12. Length 20 mm. Head
whitish brown with sides reticulated
with darker brown and a pair of
short vertical bars on the vertex.
Body as described, with the venter
sordid grey-green, the legs and
claspers semi-translucent, the clasp-
ers having three black dots on the
outer side.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

5th Instar

June 25. Length 25 mm. Head light
brown with four large and many
small black dots on the front, reticu-
late on the sides. Body brownish
grey due to fine, close mottling of
brown on a light grey background,
the dorsal and subdorsal lines thin
and whitish, cervical plate brown
with three white lines as extensions
of the dorsal and subdorsal lines.
The spiracular band white threaded
with rust brown and a short trans-
verse brown bar on A.9. The spira-
cles black, tubercles small, black on
the inner, white on the outer sides;
venter, legs, and claspers sordid.

6th Instar

July 5. Length 30 mm. Appearance
as described, the colour more con-
centrated into bands with the dor-
sum red -brown, the sides darker
with a fuscous tinge, the dorsal line
brown and broken; the spiracular
band greyish threaded with sienna
brown, the tubercles indicated by
white dots. Individuals varied in
shade and intensity of pattern. The
length of full growth was 40 mm.
When disturbed they would curl into
a ring. Just before pupation they
constructed hard - walled cocoons
with earth and small stones incor-
porated outside but very smooth
within. Pupated about the end of
July.

Pupa

Size 16 mm by 5 mm. The wing
cases smooth, shiny, fuscous, almost
black. The A. segments finely punc-
tate anteriorly, dark brown; cremas-
ter two closely approximated short
hairs with recurved tips having a
few much smaller ones at the base,
set directly on the rounded tip of
the last segment.

Imago

Emerged April 14 to 29, 1963.

Plerama cinerea Sm.

Four species of Pleroma are re-
corded for British Columbia, three
of which occur on Vancouver Island

(Jones, 1951). However, two of these
have been shown to be forms of a
single species (Hardy, 1962).

With an average wing expanse of
33 mm, the moth is light grey with
an oblique dash of darker grey ex-
tending from the apex to near the
inner margin. In Saanich it comes
occasionally to light during Septem-
ber and October and may do so
wherever the food plant, Symphori-
carpos racemosa, grows.

A specimen caught on September
23,1962 laid about 30 ova scattered
irregularly in a chip box.

Ovum

Size 1 mm by 0.90 mm. A depress-
ed, rounded cone, flat at the base,
with 30 coarse ribs, cream coloured,
soon changing to a duller shade and
irregularly marked with reddish lines
and dots. These increased in inten-
sity as development proceeded and
the background took on a leaden hue
towards maturity. Hatched February
16, 1963.

Larva — 1st Instar

Length 4 mm. Head smooth, shiny,
obscurely mottled light and dark
brown. Body smooth, lead grey, with
a few scattered hairs. They readily
used suspensory threads when dis-
turbed, and fed on newly opened
buds of Symphoricarpos racemosa.
By February 22 the length was 7 mm
with a hump on A.8 and the colour
was a very pale brown; the dorsal
and subdorsal lines white; the hair-
bearing tubercles black.

2nd Instar

February 25. Length 8 mm. Head
ash grey, lightly dotted with black.
Body slender with a slight hump on
A.8 and a black band along the dor-
sum containing the white dorsal
line which is interrupted on A.l to
A. 3. The sides grey with a white line
between the white spiracular line
and the dorsal area and having a
wider area of grey between A.l and
A.7; the venter dusky, legs and
claspers dusky with a bluish tinge.
They rested along the twig with the
head stretched out in line with the

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

body, when they were very incon-
spicuous; the head resembles an
unopened bud of the food plant.

3rd Instar

March 2. Length 12 mm. Head
quadrate, smooth, light grey, with
a vertical suffused bar of light
brown; this was darker above and in
the centre, on each side of the front
close to the sutures; the sutures
indicated by dark lines; sides of the
head dotted with black. Body taper-
ing towards the head, with a decided
hump on A.8; T. segments and A.8
and 9 dark velvet-brown connected
by a broad dorsal band of the same
colour; the sides of A.l to A.7 light
grey; a conspicuous white dorsal
line interrupted on A.l and 2, more
evident on A.7 and 8; spiracular line
white, more evident on T. segments
and A.7 to A.9; venter dark brown;
the claspers grey with a large round
spot on the outer side.

4th Instar

March 9. Length 25 mm. Head as
described. Body smooth; the laterally
compressed hump on A.8 becoming
more prominent as growth continu-
ed; colour and markings as describ-
ed, but with many additional fine,
suffused dark lines along the sides;
the spiracular line white, very faint
on A. 3 to A. 6; the spiracles small,
white, ringed with black; venter pale
with a dark central line.

5th Instar

March 15. Length 35 mm. Head as
described. Body generally brown,
lighter on the sides; the dorsal line
white threaded with reddish on T.
segments and A.7 and 8; the spir-
acular line cream; venter grey with
a dark central line.

March 20. Length 40 mm. Colour
in general lighter, with less con-
trast between the T. segments and
A.7 and 8; the dorsum of A.l to
A.7 with a band of light grey-brown
constricted between the segments.
The larvae rested stretched out along
the stem by day and fed by night.
Length just before pupation 45 mm.
They spun tough cocoons among the
twigs, pupating about March 25.

Pupa

Size 16 mm by 4 mm. Smooth, dull,
fuscous, with wing-cases minutely
and closely vermiculated with im-
pressed lines. A. segments fuscous
with anterior margins encircled by
a row of short longitudinal ridges;
cremaster a rugose, truncate, dor-
soventrally flattened process on the
dorsal side of the last segment hav-
ing 3 pairs of minute spines in
series from base to summit.

Imago

2 emerged August 28, 1963. One on
September 14.

Remarks

There is close resemblance between
the larvae and pupae of P. cinerea
and P. conserta. The pupae, with
rows of short ridges, are character-
istic. Most pupae of the family are
punctate on the A. segments.. It
would be of interest to know if P.
bonuscula, a mainland species, has
the same larval and pupal resemb-
lance.

Dryotype opina Grt.

This species seems to be the only
North American member of the
genus, and is recorded only from the
western part of the continent. Orig-
inally it was dsecribed by Grote in
1878 from California under the
generic name of Valeria.

The alar expanse is 33 to 35 mm.
The primaries are dark fuscous-
brown relieved by lighter lines and
bands, with a small, conspicuous and
characteristic vertical, slightly curv-
ed white reniform line; the second-
aries are whitish shading to grey on
the hind margins, and containing a
dark dot in the centre, with a curved
dark line parallel to the margin. It
occurs frequently in light and sugar
traps in the Royal Oak district in
September.

A batch of about 60 ova were laid
on September 21, 1956, and again in
September, 1962; about 270 were laid
September 29, 1963. They were de-
posited in clustered masses or scat-
tered indiscriminately on the sides
or bottom of the containers and in

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

crevices. The ova were kept in an
open shed. In each case the larvae
emerged in late December or early
January. They were overlooked at
first and the 1962 batch were nearly
missed also but one was reared to
maturity in Vicia species. The 1963
batch were taken in time and two
were brought to the pupal stage,
feeding at first on Vicia and on a
garden mint, Mentha rotundifolia,
in the later stages.

The following notes are combined
from the 1962 and 1963 groups, the
dates referring to the last-named.
Ovum

Laid September 29. Size 0.75 mm
by 0.50 mm. A squat connate sphere
with about 24 coarse ribs connected
by cross-ribs; cream coloured, soon
becoming blotched and streaked with
light red-brown, including a patch
on the micropyle. By November 1 it
was very dark fuscous with the black
head showing through the top.
Hatched December 24, 1963.

Larva — 1st Instar

Length 2 mm. Head large,
smooth, dark brown. Body, cervical
plate similar, rest of body semi-
translucent, pale brown or green
with short, light brown hairs on
prominent black tubercles.

2nd Instar

January 3, 1964. Length 5 mm.
Head apple green. Body green; the
dorsal and subdorsal lines thin,
milk-white; the spiracular band
broad and white, with an irregular
fine white line between the dorsal,
subdorsal and spiracular lines; tub-
ercles small, black, white - ringed,
each bearing a short hair.

3rd Instar

January 12. Length 12 mm. Head
and cervical plate smooth, shiny,
light green. Body green, darker
above the spiracular line, minutely
freckled with whitish dots, the dor-
sal and subdorsal lines doubled and
dark green; spiracular line white,
sharply dividing the dark green sides
from the lighter apple green below;
legs and claspers green; tubercles as
described.

4th Instar

January 18. Length 18 mm. Head
green with a brownish tinge. Body
purple-brown above, thickly freckled
with lighter specks, venter apple
green; spiracles very small, black
and ringed with white, otherwise as
described. Some larvae remained
green in later instars.

5th Instar

January 26. Length 25 mm. Head
smooth, dull green faintly tinged
with brown, having a few short
hairs on front. Body, cervical plate
greenish, the rest smooth and cylin-
drical; dorsum pale sienna brown
due to minute white and brown
freckles on a green base, the brown
predominating; dorsal and subdor-
sal lines dark brown threaded with
white; spiracular line thin and
white; venter apple green thickly
freckled with minute white dots,
otherwise as described. Hid by day,
fed by night.

6th Instar

January 30. Appearance as des-
cribed, the upper side dark brown,
sometimes with a greenish suffusion
on the T. segments; the dorsal line
solid dark brown; subdorsal lines
very thin on the middle of the seg-
ments but thicker in the inter-seg-
mental areas; the same feature was
on a line bordering the dorsal side of
the white spiracular line.

At maturity the length was 35
mm. Pupated on February 18, 1964,
.in a slight cocoon spun among the
debris at the bottom of the jar.

Pupa

Size 15 mm by 5 mm. Smooth,
shiny, dark brown, with wing-cases
minutely vermiculated; the anterior
borders of the A. segments finely
and closely punctuate; cremaster
two fine spines with slightly recurved
tips set on a dorso-ventrally flat-
tened rugose base at the tip of the
last segment.

Imago

Emerged September.

Pboc. Entomol. Soc. Beit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

Remarks

From the evidence it would appear
that ova laid in September hatch in
late December or early January; the
larvae feed or become dormant ac-

cording to the state of the weather.
A larva taken at large in June
pupated June 6 and emerged Sep-
tember 17.

References

Hardy, G. A. 1962. Phyciodes mylitta Edw. on Vancouver Island. Proc. Entomol. Soc.
Brit. Columbia. 59:14.

Hardy, G. A. 1962. Pleroma obliquata Sm. and P. conserta Grt. from ova laid by obliquata
(Lepidoptera: Phalaenidae). Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia. 59:24.

Jones, J. R. J. Llewellyn. 1951. An Annotated Check List of The Macrolepidoptera of
British Columbia. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia. Occas. Paper No. 1.

ANNOTATED LIST OF FOREST INSECTS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
PART XII, BOARMIINI AND MELANOLOPHIINI (GEOMETRIDAE)1

B. A. SUGDEN2

Larvae of these tribes are often
twig-like, marked with shades of
grey, red or brown with prominent
tubercles or humps; some are green
with no prominences. They are de-
foliators of coniferous trees and
broad-leaved trees or shrubs. Infes-
tations of two species have been
recorded, however the other British
Columbia members of these tribes
have not been considered as econ-
omically important. Some species
overwinter as naked pupae in the
duff while others overwinter as small
larvae.

Four species of Stenoporpia, occur-
ring in British Columbia will be
dealt with in a later paper.

Boarmiini

Hesperumia sulphuraria Pack. —
Salix spp., Prunus spp., Pseudotsuga
menziesii (Mirb.) Franco, Betula
papyrifera Marsh. (4 records), Alnus
sp. (1), Populus trichocarpa Torr.
and Gray (1), Larix occidentalis
Nutt. (1), Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.)
Sarg. (1). Distributed generally
throughout British Columbia south
of latitude 54°. LARVA: 13/8 inches;

1 Contribution No. 1133, Forest Entomology and
Pathology Branch, Department of Forestry, Ot-
tawa, Canada.

2 Forest Entomology Laboratory, Vernon, B.C.

head, pale pinkish buff marked with
brown or reddish-brown except along
cleavage lines; body, yellowish -green,
orange or brown; broad reddish-
brown or dark brown subdorsal
stripe, darkest on thoracic segments;
reddish-brown or brown middorsal
stripe finely outlined with yellow or
pale buff, somewhat obscure on thor-
acic segments and occasionally on
the abdominal segments of paler
specimens; prominent subdorsal
tubercles on second abdominal seg-
ment dark brown, particolored dark
brown and yellow or dark brown and
orange; spiracles outlined with
black; pale yellow or buff ventral
stripe.

Anavitrinella pampinaria Gn. — P.

menziesii, Salix spp., L. occidentalis
(4 records), Picea glauca (Moench)
Voss (4), Populus tremuloides Michx.
(3) , Pinus ponder osa Laws. (2) , Thuja
plicata Donn (2). Throughout the
Interior of British Columbia south
of latitude 54°. LARVA: 1% inches;
head moderately bilobed, pale cream
or buff marked with reddish-brown
or dark brown; body, pale reddish-
brown or pale grey with dark red-
dish-brown or dark brown and black
markings; dark brown addorsal
lines on thoracic segments and at the
posterior margin of the first, second

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

and third abdominal segments;
prominent dark brown or black sub-
dorsal tubercles on the second ab-
dominal segment, and addorsal
tubercles on the eighth abdominal
segment; spiracles, pale yellow out-
lined with black; indistinct reddish-
brown or pale grey ventral stripe.

Glena nigricaria B. & McD. — P.
ponderosa, P. menziesii, Pinus con -
torta Dougl. Throughout the south-
ern Interior south of 51° latitude;
common. LARVA: 1V4 inches; head,
medium green with dark reddish-
brown blotches on sides, white mark-
ings above frons bordered on inside
by reddish-brown; body medium
green with white addorsal lines;
reddish-brown subdorsal blotches on
first thoracic segment; fine reddish-
brown supra-spiraeular lines, white
subspiracular lines; reddish-brown
blotches below the subspiracular line
on thoracic and first abdominal seg-
ments; venter marked with series of
small, reddish-brown dots.

Anacamptodes emasculata Dyar —
Alnus rubra Bong., Salix spp., Alnus
tenuifolia Nutt. (4 records), Acer
circinatum Pursh (4), Shepherdia
canadensis Nutt. (4) and occasion-
ally on other broad-leaved trees and
shrubs. South of 55° latitude in Brit-
ish Columbia; common. LARVA: 1V8
inches; head, pale yellow or buff,
heavily marked on the sides to the
vertex with bright reddish-brown
and a reddish-brown triangle on
frons; body color variable, yellowish-
green, yellow or orange, dorsum
blotched with orange or reddish-
brown and marked with a diamond
pattern on abdominal segments two
to five, dark brown lateral tubercles
on second abdominal segment, dark
brown to black addorsal tubercles
on eighth abdominal segment; spir-
acles pale yellow outlined with pale
orange; venter pale yellow or pale
orange.

Aethalura anticaria Wlk. — Betula
spp., Alnus spp., Salix sp. (1 record).
Central to southern British Colum-
bia, common in the Interior. LARVA:

1 inch; head, purplish-brown with
pale buff markings, or pale green
marked by light tan; two color
phases, pale green or purplish-
brown, narrow white addorsal and
subdorsal lines; dark phase broadly
banded with dark purplish-brown
fading towards the venter; some
green specimens marked by a brok-
en subdorsal stripe of dark purplish-
brown; venter immaculate on green
phase, narrow pale buff central line
on dark phase.

Ectropis crepusculario Schiff. — T.
heterophylla, P. menziesii , T. plicata,
P. glauca, Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.)
Nutt., Picea engelmdnni Parry, L.
occidental is, Picea mariana (Mill.)
BSP., Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.,
Salix spp., Alnus spp., P. tremuloides;
also feeds less frequently on other
species of trees and shrubs. Common
south of latitude 56°; infestations
recorded in 1952 at Blue River and
Kidd, and in 1960 near Kitimat.
LARVA: 1% inches; head, pale yel-
lowish buff marked with dark brown
or reddish-brown, black inverted
“V” on frons; second thoracic seg-
ment swollen; body, pale yellowish-
buff or buff; color of markings on
dorsum variable, pale yellow or buff
middorsal stripe outlined with in-
distinct brown lines and obscured
by a diamond pattern on second to
sixth abdominal segments; pale
orange or dark brown inverted “V”
on dorsum of second abdominal seg-
ment occasionally extending below
spiracle on darker specimens; orange
or brown supraspiracular stripes
excepting first thoracic segment;
two oval, dark brown subdorsal spots
on second thoracic segment united
on heavily marked individuals to
form a dorsal band; dark reddish-
brown or dark brown oblique blotch
on abdominal segments two to five,
caudad of spiracles, extending to
venter; spiracles, pale yellow en-
closed by a fine black line.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

MeSdnolophsini

Melcmolophici imitates Wlk.— F. men-
ziesii, T. heterophylla, F. sitchensis,
P. engelmanni, P. glauca, T . plicata,
Pinus monticola Dougl., Abies ama-
bilis (Dougl.) Forb., Abies graxndis
(Dougl.) Lindl., A. lasiocarpa, L.
occidental is, Alnus spp., Salix spp.;
feeds less frequently on many other
trees and shrubs. Central and south-
ern British Columbia, Vancouver
Island, and Queen Charlotte Islands;
common. Infestations occurred in
1952 and 1960 on Vancouver Island,
at Mile 7 north of Revelstoke and
near Downie Creek in 1952 and on
the Queen Charlotte Islands in 1963.
LARVA: 1% inches; head, green;

body, green, broad white addorsal
and subspiracular stripes; spiracles,
pale tan each enclosed by a fine
brown line; narrow white ventral
and subventral lines.

Protoboormia porcelaria indicafaria

Wlk. — F. menziesii, T. heterophylla,
T. plicata , A. lasiocarpa , F. engel-
manniy L. occidental is, F. glauca, P.
mariana, P. sitchensis, Juniperus
scopulorum Sarg., F. ponderosa,
Salix spp.; feeds, less frequently, on
the foliage of other trees and shrubs.
Throughout British Columbia, Van-
couver Island and Queen Charlotte
Islands; common. LARVA: 1 y4

inches; head, pinkish-buff, marked
with dark brown; body, pale buff
suffused with pinkish-buff on dor-
sum, dark brown “Y” shaped mark-
ings on dorsum of thoracic segments
and a diamond pattern bordered by
dark brown on dorsum of abdominal
segments; prominent dark brown
tubercles caudad of spiracles on each
abdominal segment; spiracles, buff
outlined with black in a pale buff
patch, venter pale buff suffused with
pinkish - brown, banded by dark
brown between the third thoracic
and first abdominal segments and
first to fifth abdominal segments.

Neoalcis californiaria Pack. — F.
menziesii, T. heterophylla, T. plicata,
A . grandis and less frequently on
other western conifers. South of 55°
latitude on the Coast and Vancou-
ver Island and rarely in the extreme
southwestern Interior. LARVA: iy4
inches; head, brown or pale reddish-
brown marked with dark brown or
reddish-brown, venter banded by
dark brown or reddish-brown, frons
with two small, irregular, dull white
spots; body, pale buff or pinkish-
buff; pale dorsal line bordered by
thin dark brown or reddish-brown
lines on thoracic segments, dark
brown or reddish “V” markings on
thoracic segments two and three;
pale inverted “V” pattern separated
by dark brown or reddish-brown
bands on abdominal segments one
to six; indistinct diamond pattern
on abdominal segments seven and
eight; prominent dark brown or red-
dish-brown dorsal tubercles on ab-
dominal segments one to six, less
prominent on segments seven and
eight; subspiracular tubercles, par-
ticularly prominent on second ab-
dominal segments; spiracular area
blotched with dark brown and red-
dish-brown; venter with a diamond
pattern on abdominal segments one
to five.

Hypagyrtis nuhecularia G n. — 3.

papyrifera, Salix spp., Prunus vir-
giniana L. (3 records), Corylus sp.
(2), F. tremuloides (2), Amelan -
chier sp. (2). Central and southern
Interior; uncommon. LARVA: ll/4

inches; head, pale brown marked
with dark brown; body, reddish-
brown; broken pale buff dorsal line
on third thoracic and abdominal
segments, indistinct on first two
thoracic segments; two pale buff
spots bordering dorsal line on ab-
dominal segments one to six;
indistinct diamond pattern bordered
by dark brown on dorsum, pattern
obscured on abdominal segments
four and five by dark brown bands
separated by a yellowish buff band
extending to venter; small irregular

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

yellowish buff patch above and cau-
dad of spiracle on first abdominal
segment; spiracles yellowish buff out-
lined in black; venter, pale buff
marked with dark brown, venter of
fourth abdominal segment broadly
banded with dark brown.

Hypagyrfis piniata Pack. — P. men-
ziesii, T. heterophylla , L. occidentals,
P. contorta , P. engelmanni , T. pli-
cata , A. lasiocarpa (3 records), P.
ponder osa (3). Central to southern
Interior; common. LARVA: l1 2/®

inches; head, bright reddish-brown
with transverse dark brown bands;
body light reddish-brown, pale yel-
low or buff, diamond pattern on
dorsum except on first thoracic and
ninth abdominal segments; dark
brown “V” markings on dorsum ex-
tending diagonally to the venter;
spiracles, pale reddish-brown out-

lined with black, located centrally
in the dark brown diagonal band;
venter marked by irregular bands of
dark brown.

Eufidonia notataria Wlk. — P. con-
torta, A. lasiocarpa (1 record), Larix
laricina (Du Roi) K. Koch (1). Cen-
tral Interior; rare. LARVA: 1 inch;
head, green with grey dots forming a
herringbone pattern on vertex and
sides; body, yellowish-green, fine
grey green dorsal, addorsal and sub-
dorsal lines; white spiracular stripe;
thin red subspiracular line; spiracles
pale yellow outlined with red; venter
pale green with yellowish-green mid
ventral line.

iufidonia discospiSafa Wlk. — Salix
spp.; Alnus sp. (1 record). Central
Interior and central coastal regions;
rare. LARVA: similar to E. notataria.

OCCURRENCE OF THE SMALL BLACK ROOT WEEVIL, Tndiyphloeus bifoveolatas
(BECK) (COLEOPTERA: CURCULION1DAE) # ON STRAWBERRY IN

BRITISH COLUMBIA11

W. T. Cram

In mid- June 1964, a large adult
population of a European root weevil,
Trachyphloeus Mfoveolatus (Beck) 2,
was discovered3 near Abbotsford in
the Fraser Valley, feeding voracious-
ly on the foliage of a newly set, 24-
acre planting of strawberry (var.
Northwest) . This soil received a pre-
planting treatment with insecticide
at the recommended rate for the
control of Brachyrhinus root wee-
vils (Cram, 1962). The adults of T.
hifoveolatus were found in groups of
up to 50 on the surface of the dry,
light soil, usually beneath leaves but
sometimes fully exposed to the sun

1 Contribution No. 75, Research Station, Re-
search Branch, Canada Department of Agricul-
ture, 8660 N.W. Marine Drive, Vancouver 8, B.C.

2 Determined by W. J. Brown, Entomology Re-
search Institute, Ottawa.

3 Thanks to the vigilance of I. C. Carne, Hor-
ticulturist, British Columbia Department of Ag-
riculture, Abbotsford, B.C.

and drying wind. Some adults were
feeding on the leaflets during the
daytime which indicates that they
can tolerate desiccating conditions.
The foliage was so damaged that
often only the mid-ribs of trifoliate
leaves remained. Feeding notches
were also noted in leaves of clovers,
narrow leaf plantain and sheep sor-
rel or sour grass. Many adults were
taken beneath these other plants.
The evidence suggests that this
introduced weevil has become estab-
lished in old pastures and attacks
strawberry when the pastures are
broken up and planted. The field in
question had been in oats for the
two previous years and in pasture
for many years before that. This
occurrence is the first record of the
species as a pest of strawberry in
British Columbia.

Rosenstiel (1963) reported that in
recent years this weevil, which he

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia. Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

calls the small black or grass weevil,
has become increasingly abundant
as a pest of strawberry and some
nursery crops in the Willamette
Valley and coastal counties of Ore-
gon. In Canada, the species has been
observed as numerous but not a pest
in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick,
Prince Edward Island and Ontario;
a single specimen was taken in Fer-
nie, British Columbia (Brown, 1940,
1950).

In the Fraser Valley, adults have
been taken in abundance in recent
years at windows in homes during
the fall and spring. Their occurrence
here is fortuitous, for like other root
weevil adults they have the annoy-

ing habit of entering homes in late
summer and fall.

The extent of damage to roots by
the larvae is not known, but Rosen-
stiel (1963) considers that control is
necessary and recommends a spray
of Guthion in July. At Abbotsford, a
satisfactory kill of adults was ob-
tained using malathion with DDT
applied in mid- June at field rates.
In preliminary laboratory tests
adults were readily killed with field
rates of Guthion and malathion but
not with diazinon or DDT.

The adults are not easy to find.
They are only 3 mm long and usually
are so coated with soil as to be vir-
tually indistinguishable from small
soil particles.

References

Brown, W. J. 1940. Notes on the American distribution of some species of Coleoptera
common to the European and North American continents. Canad. Ent. 72:65-78.
Brown W. J. 1950. The extralimital distribution of some species of Coleoptera. Canad.
Ent. 82:197-205.

Cram, W. T. 1962. Control of root weevils in strawberries. Can. Dept. Agric. Pub. 1110.
Rosenstiel, R. G. 1963. Root weevils and their control in strawberry fields. Oregon State
Univ. Ext. Cir. 717.

THE CIGARETTE BEETLE IN VANCOUVER (Coleoptera: Anobiidae)

G. J. Spencer1

In 1961, the dried, partly cleaned
skeleton of a small monkey was sent
from Malaya in a heavy plastic bag,
to the university department of
Zoology. More than six months later
small beetles emerged from the hard,
dried flesh on the bones. From the
carcass I obtained a good series of
Lasioderma serricorne (Fabr.) (Ano-
biidae) the cigarette beetle. This
was the first time I had recorded
the insect in the province.

In October, 1962 I received an
enquiry and soon after some speci-
mens of cigarette beetles from a
medical doctor in New Westminster
who reported “insects in numbers
all over the house.” The breeding
place was in a 2 lb. bag of bran

i Professor Emeritus, University of British Co-
lumbia, Vancouver 8, B.C.

from which the infestation had
spread to a contiguous bag of corn
meal. Both materials had come from
the food section of a large depart-
ment store to whose manager I
reported the seriousness of the situ-
ation; the man was furious, taking
it to be a slight upon his depart-
ment. I reported it to the owner A
the store who appreciated the mat-
ter and apparently took steps to
remedy it because there have been
no further complaints.

The beetles are slightly larger and
about one-and-a-half times as broad
as the drug store beetle with the
same cowl-shaped prothorax which
nearly conceals the hypognathous
head. The elytra are smooth and not
grooved lengthwise as are those of
the drug store beetle. When disturb-

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

ed, the adults feign death but quick-
ly become active and fly very readily.

I cultured them on various foods:
pipe tobacco alone; powdered, pel-
letted, small-animal food containing
many ingredients reported to con-
stitute a balanced ration; a mixture
of pipe tobacco and pellet-powder;
and a brand-name cat food, dried
and powdered. Each culture formed
a flourishing colony, the weakest
being that on tobacco alone and the
strongest, that on the mixture of
tobacco and pellet powder.

The third record of this beetle
occurred in February 1963 in the
catch-basins of proprietary electric
light traps which had electrocuted
a considerable number of flies on
whose dried bodies the beetles were
developing. The traps had been in-
stalled around a paper mill where
they functioned more to attract
insects, especially moths, into the
buildings, than to keep the buildings
free from them.

The fourth record was in April,
1963, in the roots of Adenophora
verticillata (Campanulaceae) . The
fleshy, white roots of this plant are
used medicinally and in soups by
Chinese, who import the material
from Hong Kong; so this infestation
may have come from the Orient.
These adults were larger on the
average than those from other

sources. It is likely that the insects
had spread to other commodities in
the shop from which the roots came.

The fifth record came from a
house in Abbotsford, in October,
1963. These specimens were the
smallest of any and were reported to
be emerging in numbers every day
from one article of a two-piece ches-
terfield set which the owner had
acquired two years before.

This beetle has been recorded
breeding in tobacco, cigars, and cig-
arettes with a high sugar content, in
furniture upholstered with flax, tow
or straw, in seeds and other dried
plant products and in black and red
pepper (1). To these must be added
my records of dried meat and insect
bodies.

Metcalf et al. (1) recommend heat
of 130° to 135°F for at least six hours
to allow the heat to penetrate up-
holstering. In the cases recorded
here I have recommended placing
the breeding material overnight in
deep-freeze compartments and for
the upholstered chair, leaving it in
a deep-freeze food locker for 24
hours.

It appears that the insect finds
the climate of this part of the
Province suitable for its develop-
ment. I see no reason why it should
not become another widespread
household pest.

Reference

1. Metcalf, C. L., W. P. Flint, and R. L. Metcalf. Destructive and Useful Insects 3rd.
Ed. McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc. 1951.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

NOTES ON DISTRIBUTION AND HOSTS OF THE WEEVILS Pissodes schwarzi
HOPK. AND Pissodes turriei HOPK. IN BRITISH COLUMBIA AND
YUKON TERRITORY1

R. O. Wood2

Several species of the genus
Pissodes are commonly found in
British Columbia; interest in two of
these, Pissodes schwarzi Hopk. and
P. curriei Hopk., was heightened
after new host records were estab-
lished recently.

On August 19, 1960, nine teneral
adults of P. curriei were obtained
from pupal cells in the root collar
of a two-inch dbh lodgepole pine,
Pinus contorta Engelm., growing at
2,500 feet elevation 30 miles north
of Grand Forks. This tree had sus-
tained previous mechanical damage.
Teneral adults of P. schwarzi were
found in the root collars of blue
spruce, Picea pungens Engelm., in
1960, at a nursery near Creston. The
weevils apparently had caused some
tree mortality. Identifications were
obtained through Dr. S. G. Smith of
the Cytology and Genetics Section,
Forest Insect Laboratory, Sault Ste.
Marie, Ontario.

In 1962, 59 dead or dying saplings
of western white pine, Pinus monti -
cola Dougl., (up to two inches basal
diameter) were examined at eleva-
tions ranging from 1,500 to 3,800 feet
at 13 locations in the Upper Arrow
Lake and Columbia River water-
sheds. All these trees had been in-
fected with blister rust or root rot;
18 contained weevil larvae, pupae,
or teneral adults in or about the
root collar. These were identified as
P. schwarzi and P. curriei. In some
instances, both species were inhabit-
ing the same root collar.

To determine the distribution of
the two species, the locations of For-
est Insect and Disease Survey collec-
tions were mapped. Figure 1 shows
that P. curriei occurs north to the
Skeena River, and from Vancouver
Island to the Alberta border; P.
schwarzi has been recorded from the
U.S. border to Mile 932, Alaska High-
way, Yukon Territory, but not on

TABLE 1 — Perching records of Pissodes curriei and P. schwarzi from conifers in Brit-
ish Columbia and Yukon Territory.

No. collections

Tree species

P. curriei

P. schwarzi

Western white pine

Lodgepole pine

Ponderosa pine

Whitebark pine

Engelmann spruce

Black spruce

White spruce

Sitka spruce

Douglas fir

Western larch

Totals

1 Contribution No. 1092, Forest Entomology and
Pathology Branch, Department of Forestry, Ot-
tawa, Canada.

2 Forest Entomology Laboratory, Vernon, B.C.

the Coast. Adult weevils from
random beating collections were
identified by W. J. Brown, of the

Pboc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

R CURRIEI
R SCHWARZI

Fig. 1. — Location points of collections of Pissodes spp. in British Columbia and Yukon
Territory.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

Entomology Research Institute, De-
partment of Agriculture, Ottawa.
Perching records from these collec-
tions are shown in Table 1.

The presence of larvae and pupae
of P. schwarzi and P. curriei in
the root collars of western white and
lodgepole pine, and teneral adults of

P. schwarzi in the root collars of
blue spruce establishes new host rec-
ords for both species. The perching
records indicate that the weevils are
active over a large part of British
Columbia and may have more hosts
than has yet been determined.

Mm tombadiM MANNERHE1M (COLEOPTERA : CH RYSOMELIDAE) ,
A SERIOUS PEST OF FIREWEED

M. D. Atkins1

Fireweed, Epilobium angustifolium
L., provides the main honey crop for
apiarists who move their bees from
spring to summar foraging areas.
This practice of migratory beekeep-
ing is common among both large and
small beekeepers on Vancouver
Island. The colonies are overwinter-
ed in areas where the climate is
moderate and where early blooming
plants provide the necessary nectar
and pollen for early and rapid build-
up of the hives. Later, the bees are
transported to logged areas where
dandelion, Taraxacum sp., and fire-
weed, bloom in profusion throughout
the summer and early fall. Profitable
honey production depends largely
upon the health of the fireweed and
if conditions are suitable crops in
excess of 200 pounds per hive are
common.

In July, 1964, a local apiarist noti-
fied me of an area where the fire-
weed was suffering heavy damage as
a result of a high population of
small black larvae. These were iden-
tified as the immature stages of a
flea beetle, Altica tombacina Man-
nerheim. Eggs and several larval
instars were present on the plants
at this time. Warm weather during
the third week of July which would
normally have resulted in an excel-
lent honey flow, accelerated the
development and feeding of the
beetle larvae. Within a few days the

j Forest Entomology and Pathology Laboratory,
Victoria, B.C.

fireweed was severely defoliated.
Approximately two thirds of the
plants over an area of about ten
square miles were damaged, many to
the extent illustrated in Figure 1.

All of the larvae brought into the
laboratory in July pupated during
the first week of August so the in-
festation was revisited on August 10.
At that time the number of larvae
feeding had declined noticeably, but
was still from 70 to 200 per stalk. No
other species of plant was heavily
damaged, but evidence of light feed-
ing and a few larvae were found on
young roadside alders.

During the August 10 visit, an
examination of representative hives
among the 200 distributed through-
out the infested area revealed that
almost no excess nectar had been
gathered and most of the foraging
bees were visiting dandelion. Sub-
normal weather had also affected
honey production, but sufficient
suitable flight weather had occurred
to produce some capped honey. An
area of the size infested could nor-
mally support 1,000 colonies on a
commercial basis. In 1964, the 200
hives present produced much less
honey than could be expected. The
loss of revenue to the beekeeper that
could result from such an infesta-
tion is difficult to evaluate, but
there is little doubt that as the com-
petition for fireweed areas grows
more acute, Altica could be an im-
portant factor in commercial honey
production.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

Fig. 1. — A healthy stalk of fireweed and one damaged by larvae of the flea beetle
Altica tombac ina Mannerheim.

EDITOR'S NOTE

A newly set and bound second
edition of the Style Manual for Bio-
logical Journals appeared in 1964,
published by the American Institute
of Biological Sciences. The 1960
edition ran through two printings.
Since this society voted to adopt the
AIBS Style Manual at the 63rd
annual meeting at Kamloops, in
March, 1964, it is fitting that the
new edition be drawn to the atten-
tion of contributors.

In the new preface the committee
points out that the most extensive

changes are in the abbreviations of
words used in literature citations.
These are in line with the policy
proposed by the American Standards
Association. Their adoption repre-
sents another step forward and away
from the maddening diversity of
styles that formerly wasted the time
of authors and editors.

Contributors with access to the
Manual should by all means use it.
For those to whom it is not avail-
able, the Manual is an unequivocal
reference and arbiter for editors and
reviewers.

Pboc. Entomol. Soc. Bbit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

GORDON STACE SMITH
(1886-1962)*

“An Insect-Chaser and a Sonnet-Weaver”

Gordon Stace Smith, coleopterist
of Creston, British Columbia, was
born in Beausejour, Manitoba, Octo-
ber 10, 1886, the eldest child of John
Stace Smith (1862-1921) and Jean
Horsburgh Grant (1861-1939). His
family moved to Salmon Arm in
1890, where Gordon passed his boy-
hood and where he finished his for-
mal education at the age of 14 in
1901. There followed twenty years of
wandering at numerous occupations
in many places — stone-quarryman,
lumberman, hard rock miner, pros-
pector, mining foreman — a rough,
hard, and varied life that gave a
wealth of experience but resulted
in few worldly goods.

Gordon married Elizabeth Ann
Martin (1876-1960) in April 1914 at
Phoenix, B.C. His connection with
Creston dated from 1921, but he was
not continuously resident there until
late 1944 or 1945. His interests were
varied — literature, postage stamps,
Indian artifacts, birds, butterflies —
but his most creative work centered
in writing verses and in collecting
and studying beetles. His verses
were collected in three choice vol-
umes: In the Kootenay s and Other
Verses (London, 1930), Poems and a
Reverie (Toronto, 1940), and Far
West and Book of Sonnets (London,
1960).

Gordon’s interest in beetles dated
from the early or middle 1920’s. At
first, his son tells me, he was com-
pelled to keep his specimens in
tobacco tins, cutting out discs of
corrugated cardboard to press into
the tins to receive the insect pins,
and it was a great and happy event
when he was able to buy regulation
double insect boxes from London.

* For assistance in preparing this note I
am indebted to Mr. Stace-Smith’s son, Mr. J.
Gordon Stace-Smith of Alberni, B.C. It is
condensed from a longer manuscript that
may be published elsewhere.

From 1927 to 1930 Stace Smith
worked at Copper Mountain, B.C., in
the eastern Cascade Mountains a
little south of Princeton. The result
of his collecting at Copper Moun-
tain was Gordon’s most important
publication, a list of 323 species of
beetles that appeared in two num-
bers of Museum and Art Notes (4,
1929: 69-74; 5, 1930: 22-25), pub-
lished by the Art, Historical and
Scientific Association of Vancouver,
B.C. By nearly a hundred species
this was the longest list of beetles
from a single locality that had been
published from the Pacific North-
west up to this time. Gordon’s other
publications consisted mostly of 17
notes in the Proceedings of the
Entomological Society of British Co-
lumbia appearing between 1945 and
1957.

The years from 1934 to 1944 Stace
Smith spent in mining at Duparquet,
Quebec, between 48° and 49° north
latitude, near Abitibi Lake and only
a few miles from the Ontario line.
He had by 1934 been pretty much
committed to forming a specialized
collection of British Columbia
beetles. He applied himself vigor-
ously, however, to the Abitibi fauna
and eventually gathered a collection
of over 16,000 specimens in 45 insect
boxes, which he sold to the Cali-
fornia Academy of Sciences about
1951.

Mr. Stace Smith organized his col-
lections in the most approved man-
ner, each specimen carefully mount-
ed with full locality and frequently
with host plant or other ecological
data. Moreover each specimen that
had been named by a correspondent
bore the name of the identifier and
the name or Leng Catalogue number
of the beetle, and frequently the
same specimen would come to carry
several different names. He had a
binocular microscope and studied his
specimens closely, but most of his

Proc. Entomol. So( . Brit. Coi.itmbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

identifications were based on a skill-
ful comparison with specimens nam-
ed for him by others. His library was
insufficient to allow him to go very
far on his own.

Gordon was a tireless collector,
mostly on foot. He processed his
specimens immediately upon return-
ing from the field — mounting or
papering or discarding, labeling and
identifying and incorporating in his
collection the same evening. When
he found he had taken something
new or rare, he would be back at the
very same spot the next day and the
day after that and so on, or at the
same spot the following year, so that
he was frequently able to build up
extensive suites of specimens of rare
species. Specimens taken in copula-
tion were so marked and in a group
like the flea beetles he did not col-
lect specimens unless he could
ascertain the host. His collection of
British Columbia beetles came to
number about 2,800 species in 145
insect boxes. He restricted his series
of a species to 20 or 25 specimens,
sufficient, however, to allow for
specimens illustrating variation and
distribution within the Province.

He corresponded widely. In his
Copper Mountain list (1930) Ralph
Hopping (1868-1941), W. J. Brown,
G. A. Hardy, Alan S. Nicolay (d.
1950), and Karl E. Schedl helped
with identifications. In 1934 the fol-
lowing additional coleopterists were
assisting him: J. B. Wallis (1877-
1962), Charles A. Ballon, Kenneth W.
Cooper, Frank E. Blaisdell (1862-
1946), R. E. Barrett, and John W.
Angell (1885-1946). Among other
correspondents may be mentioned
C. A. Frost (1872-1962), Hugh B.
Leech, George Ball, and Carl Lind-
roth.

The present writer visited Mr.
Stace Smith 10 times between 1948
and 1960. His home was modest,
even humble — a mile north of Cres-
ton overlooking the flood plain of
che Kootenay River and the Nelson

Range beyond. By the middle 1940’s
Gordon’s collection of British Co-
lumbia beetles was the most import-
ant collection in the Province and it
behooved anyone interested in
beetles from this corner of the con-
tinent to see what it contained.
Among coleopterists known to me to
have visited Creston at this time
were Hugh B. Leech, W. J. Brown,
Mont A. Cazier, M. C. Lane, George
Ball, Henry and Anne Howden, Jim
Grant, and Carl Lindroth.

Desiring to keep his collection in
the Province, early in 1960 Stace
Smith sold his collection to the Uni-
versity of British Columbia in Van-
couver for $6,000 and was in the
process of transferring it at the time
of his death. It was said to number
2,800 species in 1959 (Spencer, Proc.
Ent. Soc. B.C. 56, 1959: 12). Especial-
ly noteworthy was his collection
from the vicinity of Creston, which,
if my memory serves me correctly,
numbered 1,200 or 1,500 species; and
it is hoped that the list of these
species may be assembled and pub-
lished.

Mrs. Stace Smith was laid low by
paralysis in November 1957 and Gor-
don’s life became troubled. She was
taken by air to the home of a daugh-
ter in Penticton, B.C. in 1958, where
she died March 19, 1960. Gordon
continued on in Creston, but seems
to have neglected himself. Returning
to Creston from a visit on Vancou-
ver Island with two daughters and
a son in December 1961 and January
1962, he developed a cold. Entering
the Creston Valley Hospital on Feb-
ruary 10 in extreme cyanosis, he
died on February 19 with a diagnosis
of chronic myocarditis, arterio-
sclerosis, and chronic bronchitis. He
was in his 76th year.

— Melville H. Hatch

* For assistance in preparing this note I
am indebted to Mr. Stace Smith’s son, Mr. J.
Gordon Stace Smith of Alberni, B.C. It is
condensed from a longer manuscript that
may be published elsewhere.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

BOOK REVIEW

Insects in Colour , edited by N. B.
Riley. Blandford Press Ltd., London.
1963. Pp. 116. 10c 6d or $2.25.

In reviewing this undeniably at-
tractive little hard-backed book,
comparison is inevitable with the
paper-backed ‘ Insects’ in the Golden
Nature Guide series. In my view
‘Insects’ comes out best on the bases
of background, coverage, organiza-
tion and presentation of the subject,
size and detail of the illustrations,
format, and price.

‘Insects in Colour * strikes me as an
attempt to cash in on a book already
produced for one smallish market by
altering it for another. The results
are probably better in other books of
the same series, covering larger
organisms such as: fungi, flowers,
shrubs and trees, economic plants,
indoor plants, dogs, roses, and wild
animals. Here and there the book
reveals its international origin. It
was first published in Sweden, then
in Denmark, then in England and
printed in Holland. Although not
unidiomatic the writing suffers
from inconsistencies and neglect of
critical proof reading. There is men-
tion of Ternites and Sconeflies and
errors such as accept for except,
secret for secrete, and figurus for
figures. In descriptions most of the
insects are named normally, as
aphid, fly, wasp or moth, but some-
times capitals creep in to give Click-
beetle and Soldier-beetle, Caddis Fly,
Water Boatman, Aphid or even Aphis
used not in the generic sense. In
host plants stinging nettles appear
with and without capitals on the
same page. There is hop, currant,
willow; but Tussock Grass, Sorrel,
Potato, Cabbage, and Giant Water
Dock.

The scales of measurement are
hybrid. Length, or ‘length from head
to tail’ is in mm except for Lepidop-
tera, Diptera and some Hymenoptera,
in which the expanse, or sometimes
‘wingspread’ or even ‘wing spread’

is in inches. Even the type face is
sometimes non-uniform; The Cloud-
ed Border Brindle has an expanse
of iy2 - 1 9/10 inches (sic) which is
untidy and no clearer than 38-50
mm. It is necessary to turn from the
picture to the description each time
to find the size of an insect.

There are 64 full pages in color
and these are very fine, covering
260 species. The printing is adequate
and the quality of the colors par-
ticularly good. But up to 11 species
are on a single page which means
that the reduction is so great that
detail is lost from wings, tarsi and
antennae.

The English names of Lepidop-
tera are intriguing, perhaps because
of the lack of uniformity. The article
is placed before some names but not
others, and the term moth or butter-
fly is often missing. Thus names such
as Broom Moth, Winter Moth, or
Codling Moth hardly rate a second
look, but The Dunbar, The Feath-
ered Gothic, The Shark, and The
Claddagh certainly do. Then there
is something called a Great Brocade
(expanse 2l/2 inches), a Heart and
Dart, and best of all, a Setaceous
Hebrew Character.

A good deal of information is
packed into the short and somewhat
telegraphic descriptions of each
Species. Surprisingly, controls are
given for two or three pest species
but not for major ones.

The representation is good, even
though large forms are emphasized,
and includes: 84 Lepidoptera, 81

Coleoptera (13 longicorns), 31 Hy-
menoptera, 26 Diptera, 12 Hemiptera-
Homoptera, 6 Orthoptera, and one
or two each of 10 other Orders. This
is said to be about 1.3% of the 20,-
000 known species in the U.K. Pro-
tective resemblance and mimicry are
illustrated with five examples, and
migrants and casual visitors with
six. No less than 202 of the species
were named by Linnaeus. A quarter

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

of them are found only in southern
England or are listed as rare in
northern England and Scotland,
which must limit the usefulness of
the book as a reference.

The introduction, on p. 69, consists
of four full pages of close and for-
biddingly unbroken print, since the
paragraphs are not indented. There

is an index and a bibliography of 16
good English titles. It is hard to
know for whom the book is intend-
ed, however. The dust jacket says
it is a handy reference and a useful
introduction, but it strikes me as too
elementary for a reference and too
pedantic for an introduction.

— H. R. MacCwrthy

BOOK REVIEW

The Skippers of the Genus Hes-
peria in Westetn North America,
With Special Reference to California
(Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) by C. Don
MacNeill. University of California
Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles,
1964. Pp. 221. $5.00.

This work, Volume 35 of the Uni-
versity of California publications in
Entomology, presents a meticulous
taxonomic treatment of the western
members of North American Hes-
peria besides lucid discussions on
some phases of their biology based

on “ intimate observation for a

limited time upon a limited portion
of the fauna.” Although the book is
chiefly of interest to certain special-
ists in taxonomy, ecologists and
others concerned with biogeographic
distribution (11 pp.) and behaviour
of adult insects (18 pp.) will find
good meat within the section on
Biology.

The taxonomy is based on exam-
ination of more than 500 ova and
200 larvae and pupae of nine west-
ern and two eastern species. Over
7,500 adult specimens were studied
representing all known North Ameri-
can species. Details and data on
specimens, techniques and methods
are fully documented. There are 9

range maps; 28 pages of good dia-
gramatic drawings of larval setal
patterns, pupae, antennae, and
genitalia; a coloured frontispiece of
adults of one species and three sub-
species not previously illustrated;
and 8 plates of photographs. All
these are satisfactory but some of
the black and white photographs do
not measure up to the general high
standard of the book. The writing
is polished; the single error noted is
that insidious old acquaintance ‘data
was’ used once.

Proof reading was excellent al-
though there are minor errors in the
spelling of a couple of British Co-
lumbia place names. Faulty labels
and failure to consult a gazetteer
are sand traps for uncounted tax-
onomists.

At the end of the book are 258
references by 170 authors dating
from 1793 to 1962. Greatly increas-
ing the value of this list is a brief
summary of each reference.

The only major disappointment is
that there is no indication that
material was submitted to a cyto-
geneticist for examination; apart
from this single omission, the book
is a model for emulation.

— D. A. Ross

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Bbit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

BOOK REVIEW

Pocket Guide to Trees and Shrubs
in British Columbia, by E. H. Gar-
man. British Columbia Forest Serv-
ice Publ. B. 28, 3rd. (revised) edition.
Queen’s Printer, Victoria, B.C. 1963.
Pp. 137. $1.00.

Botany has its taxonomic quick-
sands, but botanists live in a more
manageable world than entomolo-
gists, witness the short simple keys
in this booklet. A stapled, single-
folded paperback, 5x7 y2 inches, this
updates an already useful publica-
tion, originally appearing in offset
30 years ago. The first printed edi-
tion by Dr. B. G. Griffith was dated
1937. Exhausted and revised in 1953
and 1963, it has reappeared printed
in 1964. The work deserves to last
and shows every sign of doing so.

The author sidesteps the problem
of too -small and hence poorly print-
ed range maps, by inserting a map
of the province on the middle page
carefully printed on glossy paper. It
shows forest type boundaries over-
printed with the broad groups of
trees found. Latitude and longitude
are shown, from which it is easy to
locate obscure places, the coordinates
for which are given in the text in
brackets, where the figures are
easily ignored in reading but are
indispensable if needed. Also in the
middle section are 12 glossy colored
photographs on 6 pages, showing
some needles, pollen flowers and
cones, mature and immature.

The text is firmly tied to older
and more ambitious works, with 44
references and a system of abbrevi-
ations that saves space in citing
illustrations, e.g. NT 54 is p. 54 of
Native Trees of Canada. The system
is satisfactory but there should be a

table of abbreviations; they are hard
to identify from mention in one of
the prefaces or buried in the text.

There is a good glossary and an
index giving common and systematic
names in 4 different type faces, a
method simpler in use than it
sounds. The keys are dichotomous,
indented but not numbered. The
descriptions are well planned and
written. Some interesting historical
notes are included, with individual
records and locations of exception-
ally old or tall or large trees. Heights
of tall trees and their diameters are
given in feet or inches. This choice
probably bothered the author, for
the measurements of smaller forms
are given in meters and millimeters.
Nevertheless it is a good and work-
able compromise.

Engelmann and white spruce are
rescued from the splitters and re-
grouped by Prof. T. M. C. Taylor as
subspecies of P. glauca. The longest
key, to 34 different willows, is adapt-
ed from a key to northern species by
Dr. H. M. Raup of Harvard. There
are a few exotics. American and
English elm are included because
they have been widely planted not-
ably on Vancouver Island and at
Agassiz. The Himalayan blackberry,
gorse, Scotch broom and rowan
appear. A useful inclusion is a key
for winter identification to genus of
angiosperm trees.

This is a really pocket-sized guide
book for the layman that is well-
printed, authoritative and easily
read. Since it also is sensibly priced
it is a must for hikers, campers,
assorted nature lovers and especial-
ly for ecologically- minded entomolo-
gists.

— H. R. MacCarthy

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 61 (1964), Dec. 1, 1964

NOTICE TO CONTRIBUTORS

Papers for the Proceedings need
not have been presented at meetings
of the Entomological Society of
British Columbia, nor is it man-
datory, although preferable, that
authors be members of the society.
The chief condition for publication
is that the paper have some region-
al origin, interest, or application.

Manuscripts should be typed
double-spaced on one side of white,
line-numbered paper if possible,
leaving generous margins. The orig-
inal and two copies, mailed flat, are
required for economic papers, which
are sent out for review. For general
and taxonomic papers two copies
only are required; these are scrut-
inized by the editorial board but
may be sent out. Tables should be

on separate, numbered sheets, with
the caption on the sheet. Captions
for illustrations should also be on
separate numbered sheets, but more
than one caption may be on a sheet.
Photographs should be glossy prints
of good size, clarity and contrast.
Line drawings should be in black
ink on good quality white paper.

The style, abbreviations and cita-
tions should conform to the Style
Manual for Biological Journals pub-
lished by the American Institute of
Biological Sciences.

Charges for reprints follow the
schedule of The Canadian Entomol-
ogist, i.e. reprints are sold in even
hundreds only and at the following
prices:

Number of pages 1-4 5-8 9-12 13-16 17-20 21-24

First hundred copies $22 $31 $42 $55 $70 $87

Additional hundreds $ 6 $ 8 $10 $12 $14 $16

Authors are restricted to 12 pages, be supplied free to contributors
but are allowed more if they defray unsupported by an institution, on a
the cost of printing, which is about minimum order of 100, i.e. 100 re-
$12.00 per page. prints at half-price.

If so requested, 50 reprints will

PRINTED BY THE VERNON NEWS LTD.

PROCEEDINGS

of the

ENTOMOLOGICAL
SOCIETY o /
BRITISH COLUMBIA

ECONOMIC Page

Finlayson — Efficacy of several organophosphorus compounds against

cyclodiene-resistant onion maggots 3

Ross — Control of mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopk,

brood in logs with lindane emulsion 8

Wilkinson- — Releases of cinnabar moth, Hypocrita jacabaeae (L,),

(Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) on tansy ragwort in British Columbia 10

GENERAL

Cram — A note on the acceptability of leaf macerates on filter paper of
plants from peat bogs by adult black vine weevils, Brachyrhinus
sulcatus (F.) .... 14

Nijholt — Moisture and fat content in the ambrosia beetle Trypodendron

lineatum (Oliv.) 16

Hardy — Notes on the life histories of three moths from southern Vancou-
ver Island (Lepidoptera :Fhalaenidae and Geometridae) ...... 18

Spencer — Some records of Lyctidae in Vancouver 21

Cram and Pearson — Fecundity of the black vine weevil, Brachyrhinus
sulcatus (F.), fed on foliage of blueberry, cranberry and weeds
from peat bogs ... ............. ............... 25

Wilkinson — A first record of paralysis of a deer by Dermacentor
andersoni Stiles and notes on the “host-potential” of deer in
British Columbia 28

Farris — Repositories of symbiotic fungus in the ambrosia beetle

Monarthrum scutellare Lee. (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) .......... 30

TAXONOMIC

Scudder — Neacoryphus Scudder, a new genus of Lygaeinae (Hemiptera:

Lygaeidae) 34

Scudder— The Notonectidae (Hemiptera) of British Columbia .......... 38

Science Note ........................................................ IS

PROCEEDINGS

of the

ENTOMOLOGICAL
SOCIETY of
BRITISH COLUMBIA

ECONOMIC Page

Finlayson — Efficacy of several organophosphorus compounds against

cyclodiene-resistant onion maggots .................. 3

Ross — Control of mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopk.

brood in logs with lindane emulsion .......................... 8

Wilkinson — Releases of cinnabar moth, Hypocrita jaco\baeae (L.),

(Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) on tansy ragwort in British Columbia 10

GENERAL

Cram — A note on the acceptability of leaf macerates on filter paper of
plants from peat bogs by adult black vine weevils, BracJiyrhinus
sulcatus (F.) 14

Nijholt-— Moisture and fat content in the ambrosia beetle Trypodendron

lineatum (Oliv.) . , , . 16

Hardy — Notes on the life histories of three moths from southern Vancou-
ver Island (Lepidoptera tPhalaenidae and Geometridae) ...... 18

Spencer-— Some records of Lyctidae in Vancouver ...................... 21

Cram and Pearson — Fecundity of the black vine weevil, BrachyrMnus
sulcatus (F.), fed on foliage of blueberry, cranberry and weeds
from peat bogs 25

Wilkinson — A first record of paralysis of a deer by Dermacentor
andersoni Stiles and notes on the “host-potential” of deer in
British Columbia 28

FARRis-“Repositories of symbiotic fungus in the ambrosia beetle

Monarthrum scutellare Lee. (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) 30

TAXONOMIC

Scudder — Neacoryphus Scudder, a new genus of Lygaeinae (Hemiptera:

Lygaeidae) ............................ 34

Scudder — The Notonectidae (Hemiptera) of British Columbia 38

Science Note ........................................................ 13

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

DIRECTORS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF
BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR 1965-1966

Honorary President
Honorable Frank Richter
Minister of Agriculture, Victoria

President
J. C. Arrand
Court House, Vernon

President-Elect
G. G. E. Scudder

Dept, of Zoology, University of B.C.
Vancouver 8

Vice-President
F. L. Banham

Research Station, Canada Agriculture,
Summerland

Secretary- Treasurer
Peter Zuk

Research Station, 6660 N.W. Marine Dr.,
Vancouver 8

Honorary Auditor
D. G. Finlayson

Research Station, 6660 N.W. Marine Dr.,
Vancouver 8

Editorial Committee

H. R. MacCarthy, Chairman

J. A. Marshall

W. G. Mathers

R. R. Lejeune
D. A. Ross

Directors,

G. J. Spencer, Vancouver
K. Graham, Vancouver

L. C. Curtis, Kamloops
W. D. Touzeau, Vancouver

J. M. Kinghorn, Victoria

Proc. Extomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

EFFICACY OF SEVERAL ORGANOPHOSPHORUS COMPOUNDS AGAINST
CYCLODIENE-RESISTANT ONION MAGGOTS1

D. G. Finlayson

Introduction

Investigations in 1955 and 1956
(Finlayson et al., 1959) demonstrated
that some degree of resistance had
developed which allowed the onion
maggot, Hylemya antiqua (Meig.), to
inflict serious damage in Washington
and Idaho. Crops in Oregon and Brit-
ish Columbia were not affected. By
1957, however, the condition had be-
come general across the continent.
Laboratory experiments showed that
strains of the onion maggot resistant
to cyclodiene organochlorine insecti-
cides had developed independently
in almost all areas of its economic
distribution in North America (El-
mosa et al., 1959; McClanahan et al.,
1959; Howitt, 1958; and Crowell and
Terriere, 1959).

Preliminary experiments in 1958
indicated that certain organophos-
phorus compounds would control re-
sistant strains in British Columbia.
However, some formulations of these
insecticides caused severe phytotox-
icity. The following experiment was
designed to compare the effectiveness
of the organophosphorus compounds,
carbophenothion (Trithion) , diazin-
on, and ethion, with that of endrin,
the recommended insecticide (Finlay-
son et al., 1959).

Materials and Methods

The experiment was conducted at
4 localities in British Columbia; on
sandy clay loam at Kamloops, North
Kamloops, and Kelowna and on peat
at Kelowna. The design was a 5 x 5
latin square. Each plot was split into
3 sub-plots consisting of seed treat-
ments with wettable powders at 1 oz
of toxicant per lb of seed and furrow
treatments with granular formula-

i Contribution No. 90, Research Station, Re-
search Branch, Canada Department of Agriculture,
6660 N.W. Marine Drive, Vancouver 8, B.C.
from a thesis submitted to the University of
Western Ontario in partial fulfilment of the re-
quirements for the Ph.D. degree.

tions at 1 and 2 lb of insecticide per
acre. Half of each sub-plot received
additional treatments with the fungi-
cide captan. The materials, methods
and rates of application are given in
Table 1. The untreated plots con-
sisted of 6 rows: 2 untreated, 2 in
which the seed was treated with cap-
tan at 2 oz per lb of seed, and 2 in
which captan was applied to the
furrow at 2 lb per acre. Furrow treat-
ments were applied by placing the
chemicals in the V-belt of the seeder
in contact with the seed; seed treat-
ments were applied after the seed
had been moistened with 5 per cent
Methocel solution for a sticker. Seed
of the variety Yellow Globe Danvers
was sown at 6 lb per acre with 16-
inch spacing between rows.

The effects of the insecticides were
measured in three ways: by counting
the number of seedlings which em-
erged, by assessing at weekly inter-
vals the percentage of emerged
plants that were damaged, and by
weighing the yields of undamaged
bulbs at harvest. Data were collected
from 20 feet of row of each treatment
for each of the 5 replicates at all
locations.

Results

Effect on plants — A 1 1 h o u g h the

organophosphorus (OP) insecticides
did not appear to affect the onion
seedlings once they were above
ground, some treatments significant-
ly reduced the numbers which
emerged (Table 2). This was more
noticeable in loam soils than in peat
and especially in plots treated with
diazinon. Even in peat both diazinon
seed treatments resulted in signific-
antly fewer seedlings than the un-
treated check. In the loam soils, 17
of the 18 treatments with diazinon
resulted in considerable reduction.
Carbophenothion furrow treatments
in particular, applied at 1 and 2 lb

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

TABLE 1— Materials, methods and dosage used to assess organophosphorus insecticides
at Kamloops, North Kamloops and Kelowna, B.C., 1959.

Formulation ratei

Treatment

Application

Per lb

seed

Per

1000 row-feet

Insecticide Captan

Carbo-

4.0

—

phenothion

4.0

—

• — -

—

10.0

—

10.0

2.0

—

20.0

—

20.0

2.0

Diazinon

4.0

—

2.5

—

19.5

2.5

—

19.5

2.0

2.5

—

39.0

—

2.5

—

39.0

2.0

Endrin

4.0

—

24.5

—

24.5

2.0

—

49.0

—

49.0

2.0

Ethion

2.0

4.0

—

10.0

—

10.0

2.0

—

20.0

—

20.0

2.0

Captan

4.0

—

2.0

Untreated

1 Based on 16-inch rows.

2 Captan applied at 2.0 oz/lb with seed, or 2.0 Ib/acre in the furrow.

3 Figures = percent toxicant; WP— wettable powder; G=granules.

4 S=seed treatment; F— furrow treatment.

per acre with the fungicide captan,
resulted in much better seedling
emergence than that in the checks.
In general, seed treatments reduced
the number of seedlings.

Effect on damage— The rounded
averages of percentage damage where
no chemicals were applied show that
the populations were heavy. These
were as follows: Kelowna (clay

loam), 67; Kelowna (peat), 79; Kam-
loops (sandy clay loam), 88; and
North Kamloops (clay loam), 98 per
cent. These contrast with reductions
to very low levels with OP chemicals
(Table 3).

Although the insecticdal treat-
ments at all the sites allowed sig-
nificantly less damage than the
untreated checks, there were still
considerable variations between
treatments. The relative ineffective-
ness of endrin is marked.

The average percentage damage
allowed by the various treatments at
all sites, regardless of method and
rate of application was as follows:
diazinon, 1.2; ethion, 3.2; carbophen-
othion, 3.7; endrin, 20.8; captan alone
on the seed, 56.3; captan alone in the
furrow, 61.7; and the untreated
checks, 83.2.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

TABLE 2. — Average number of emergent seedlings in 20 row-feet of onions from seed
after various treatments against the onion maggot, Hylemya antiqua (Meig.), at several
locations in British Columbia, 1959.

Treatment Average emergent seedlings

oz tox./lb seed
or

Application i

North

Kamloops

Kelowna

lb tox./A

(loam)

(peat)

Carbophenothion

154

163

157

189

S & C

145

167

143

315

230

212

265

299

F & C

243

299

321

315

204

212

285

320

F & C

269

277

311

329

Diazinon

147

121

217

S & C

117

198

110

119

292

F & C

141

161

318

100

254

F & C

270

Endrin

150

165

188

232

S & C

176

146

199

247

178

182

147

308

F & C

184

170

186

333

139

149

110

295

F & C

158

166

141

315

Ethion

151

196

129

260

S & C

145

170

122

260

212

227

252

303

F & C

222

296

255

323

179

184

170

315

F & C

213

240

221

309

Captan

160

211

247

257

Captan

233

246

326

317

Untreated

212

235

288

301

Diff. necessary for

significance at 5%

1 S = seed treatment; F = furrow treatment;

C = captan,

at 2 oz/lb seed

or 2 lb/A

in furrow.

Effect on yield — Onion seed is
normally sown at 4 lb per acre. In
these experiments the seed was sown
at 6 lb because diazinon had already
been shown to reduce germination.
The distance between rows remained
16 inches. The increased numbers of
seedlings which emerged made it
necessary to thin the rows. Thus, al-
though diazinon may have reduced
the emergent seedlings by 25 to 50
per cent, the stands remaining had
heavy yields of (marketable onions.

The untreated checks produced
very low yields. There was little dif-
ference in yield between the various
organophosphorous treatments. In
the peat soil at Kelowna 14 out of 18

treatments resulted in significantly
higher yields of onions than the un-
treated checks. There were no sig-
nificant differences in yield between
any of the treatments at this site.

Discussion

The OP insecticide diazinon reduc-
ed the number of emergent onion
seedlings significantly and more
than any other insecticide used. On
peat soil, however, the difference was
not great. Howitt (1958) reported
that the stand was reduced only
when diazinon was applied in the
furrow at rates in excess of 1 lb per
acre. Although the numbers of em-
ergent seedlings were clearly reduced

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

in our experiments, the severe phyto-
toxic symptoms with lindane reported
previously (Finlayson, 1952, 1957)

were never observed. Greenhouse
experiments and petri-dish tests with
diazinon have since shown that ger-
mination is not reduced directly by
seed treatment. It may be, therefore,
that under the field conditions pre-
vailing in the mineral soils, there
was some reaction that inhibited
germination.

The field experiments with OP in-
secticides took place in a season of
great and continuing abundance of
H. antiqua. The first generation pro-
duced at least 2 additional destruc-

tive generations despite being
reduced in June by a fungus disease
(probably Empusa muscae Cohn;
Miller and McClanahan, 1959; Perron
and Crete, 1960). Nevertheless, the 3
organophosphorus insecticides, car-
bophenothion, diazinon, and ethion,
gave economic control of the onion
maggot regardless of method and
rate of application.

Compensating for the reduction in
stand known to occur with diazinon
by sowing more seed made it neces-
sary to thin large numbers of seed-
lings to allow proper sizing of the
bulbs, but treatments having many

TABLE 3. — Average percentage damage in 20 row-foot of onions from seed after various
treatments against the onion maggot, Hylemya antiqua (Meig.), at several locations in

British Columbia, 1959.

Treatment Percentage damage

oz tox./lb seed
or

Application’

North

Kamloops

Kelowna

lb tox./A

(loam)

(peat)

Carbophenothion

6.4

1.0

0.1

1.9

S & C

5.8

2.6

0.0

6.6

6.9

1.4

0.7

9.3

F & C

14.0

1.2

0.7

6.7

6.0

1.0

0.3

3.2

F & C

5.5

1.2

0.6

3.6

Diazinon

2.2

0.7

0.9

0.8

S & C

5.0

1.4

2.2

1.0

3.1

0.4

0.0

0.8

F & C

0.5

0.1

0.0

0.5

1.1

1.9

1.8

0.5

F & C

0.8

0.7

1.0

1.2

Endrin

78.5

62.5

34.0

38.6

S & C

62.7

43.7

14.4

35.0

41.2

29.6

4.9

11.1

F & C

37.6

23.8

4.8

9.1

24.0

14.2

3.6

7.2

F & C

33.1

20.6

1.7

7.9

Ethion

5.8

1.0

1.3

3.2

S & C

6.8

2.6

1.3

11.9

5.1

1.3

1.0

2.3

F & C

7.1

1.0

2.7

4.2

2.9

0.8

1.9

F & C

2.1

1.0

0.4

2.3

Captan

83.7

65.9

25.9

49.8

Captan

95.4

62.4

29.3

69.9

Untreated

98.3

87.7

67.2

79.0

Diff. necessary for

significance at 5%

11.0

17.3

5.1

15.7

1 S=seed treatment; F= furrow

treatment;

C= captan at 2

oz/lb seed

or 2 lb/ A

in furrow.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Deo. 1, 1965

TABLE 4. — Average marketable yield of 20 row-feet of onions from seed after various
treatments against the onion maggot, Hylemya antiqua (Meig.), at several locations in

British Columbia, 1959.

Treatment Yield, lb

oz tox./lb seed
or

Application*

North

Kamloops

Kelowna

lb tox./A

(loam)

(peat)

Carbophenothion

19.9

11.3

10.8

12.9

S & C

20.5

12.3

10.8

13.9

18.7

13.8

10.5

14.5

F & C

18.3

15.8

11.0

11.3

18.8

11.6

11.3

15.5

F & C

21.9

14.9

10.6

15.9

Diazinon

24.0

14.5

6.4

14.3

S & C

20.9

9.2

7.8

16.9

25.0

16.1

9.6

15.0

F & C

24.2

17.6

10.4

15.7

20.3

6.7

5.5

13.3

F & C

19.0

9.6

6.5

14.4

Endrin

8.9

4.2

11.5

10.5

S & C

12.9

6.1

13.6

11.7

20.0

10.9

11.4

13.7

F & C

21.5

8.8

9.8

15.0

21.5

12.1

9.8

16.2

F & C

20.7

12.3

10.8

14.3

Ethion

19.0

13.9

11.3

13.5

S & C

20.9

14.2

10.6

14.6

19.6

14.2

12.3

15.3

F & C

20.5

12.7

12.6

13.0

17.4

14.7

11.7

12.4

F & C

18.8

12.6

12.9

14.0

Captan

6.0

3.8

12.0

8.2

Captan

2.2

5.4

11.0

7.1

Untreated

1.1

2.1

3.7

3.8

Diff. necessary for

significance at 5%

5.7

6.9

4.3

9.4

i S = seed treatment; F = furrow treatment; C = captan at 2 oz/lb seed or 2 lb/A

in furrow.

emergent seedlings produced no
greater yields than those with fewer.
Inhibition of germination and emerg-
ence is still a factor to be reckoned
with in using diazinon.

Endrin was comparatively ineffec-
tive allowing damage as high as 78.5
per cent at 1 oz per lb of seed. This
was the calendar recommendation in
British Columbia and the treatment
had reduced damage to less than 1
per cent in experiments only 3 years
previously (Finlayson et al., 1959).
The maggots have been shown to be

resistant to all the cyclodiene insec-
ticides.

The degree of resistance shown by
strains from British Columbia cor-
responds closely to that from Wash-
ington, Oregon and Idaho (personal
communications), Michigan (Elmosa
et al., 1959), and Ontario (McClana-
han et al., 1959). Strains resistant to
these insecticides are reported from
all onion-growing areas of North
America. Each strain appears to have
developed independently.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

Summary

In the interior of British Columbia,
carbophenothion, diazinon, endrin,
and ethion were tested for control
of onion maggot, Hylemya antiqua
(Meig.). They were applied as granu-
lar formulations to the furrow at 1
or 2 lb toxicant per acre or as wet-
table powder to the seed at 1 oz per
lb of seed. Captan was added to half
of each plot for smut control. The
three organophosphate insecticides
gave good to excellent control in

mineral and peat soil. Endrin, to
which resistance had arisen, allowed
various amounts of damage up to
78.5 per cent. Diazinon caused con-
siderable reduction in the number of
emergent seedlings, especially in
sandy loam. The other treatments
had little or no effect on emergence,
nor were other phytotoxic symptoms
noted. Average yield in lb of market-
able onions from 20 row-feet were:
ethion, 14.7; carbophenothion, 14.5;
diazinon, 14.4; endrin, 12.9; and
untreated, 2.7.

References

Crowell, H. H. and L. C. Terriere. 1959. Personal communication.

Elmosa, H. M., H. L. King, and G. E. Guyer. 1959. A modified microburet for tropical
applications of insecticides to the onion maggot, Hylemya antiqua (Meig.). J.
Econ. Entomol. 52: 683-684.

Finlayson, D. G. 1952. The effect of certain insecticides on the germination and growth
Qf onions. II Insecticides applied to the seed. Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit.
Columbia, 48: 70-76.

Finlayson, D. G. 1957. Further experiments on the control of the onion maggot, Hylemya
antiqua (Mg.), in the interior of British Columbia. Can. J. Agr. Sci. 37: 252-258.

Finlayson, D. G., H. H. Crowell, A. J. Howitt, D. R. Scott, and A. J. Walz. 1959. Chemical
control of the onion maggot in onions grown from seed in various types of soil
in northwestern North America in 1955 and 1956. J. Econ. Entomol. 52: 851-856.

Howitt, A. J. 1958. Chemical control of Hylemya antiqua (Meig.) in the Pacific North-
west. J. Econ. Entomol. 51: 883-887.

McClanahan, R. J., C. R. Harris, and L. A. Miller. 1959. Resistance to aldrin, dieldrin,
and heptachlor in the onion maggot, Hylemya antiqua (Meig.), in Ontario. 89th
Ann. Rept. Entomol. Soc. Ontario, 55-58.

Miller, L. A. and R. J. McClanaran. 1959. Note on the occurrence of the fungus Empusa
muscae Cohn on adults of the onion maggot, Hylemya antiqua (Meig.), Diptera:
Anthomyiidae). Canadian Entomologist, 91: 525-526.

Perron, J. P. and R. Crete. 1960. Premieres observations sur le champignon, Empusa
muscae Cohn. (Phycomycetes: Entomophthoraceae) parasitant la mouche de
Toignon, Hylemya antiqua (Meig.), (Dipteres: Anthomyiidae) dans le Quebec.
Ann. Entomol. Soc. Quebec, 5: 52-56.

CONTROL OF MOUNTAIN PINE BEETLE, Dendroctonus ponderosa®
HOPK. BROOD IN LOGS WITH LINDANE EMULSION

D. A. Ross1

Introduction

In the southwestern United States,
lindane in oil, to a great extent has
replaced other chemicals in the con-
trol of Dendroctonus spp. in logs and
slash. In British Columbia, Kinghorn
(1955) demonstrated that ethylene
dibromide or lindane in oil-in-water
emulsion was effective against the
mountain pine beetle in lodgepole
pine. Nevertheless, ethylene dibro-
mide, without exception, has been
recommended and used as the bark

t Department of Forestry of Canada, Forest
Entomology Laboratory, Vernon, B.C.

beetle control insecticide in the in-
terior of British Columbia. Ethylene
dibromide in oil-in-water emulsion
has proved inconvenient to handle
and recently the insecticide has
become difficult to obtain. There-
fore, the following test was carried
out in order to assess the effective-
ness of lindane emulsion against
mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus
ponderosae Hopk., in white pine,
Pinus monticola Dough, under con-
ditions in the interior of British
Columbia.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Yol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

Methods and Results

On 4 May 1964 at Trinity Valley, a
white pine tree infested by D. pon-
derosae in 1963 was felled and cut
into 14 three- foot-long bolts.

On 25 May every second bolt from
the tree bole was sprayed with one
per cent emulsion*. The emulsion
was applied with a hand sprayer to
all sides of the test bolts at the rate
of one gallon per 100 square feet.
The alternate bolts were left un-
sprayed as a check.

A two-foot-long section of each
bolt was caged individually at Ver-
non on 15 July, and adult emergence
was recorded daily until the test was
discontinued on 24 August. A one-
foot-long section of each bolt was
peeled and the numbers of living and
dead D. ponderosae were recorded.

The number of emerged adults and
the numbers of living larvae, pupae
and unemerged adults per square
foot are shown for each bolt in Table
1. Data from paired adjacent treated
and untreated bolts are given begin-
ning with the basal pair “A” to the
uppermost pair “G.”

Total emergence was 1,268 adults.
The adults were segregated by date
of emergence in screen-topped jelly
jars in the insectary and the date of
death of each individual was noted.
Fifty per cent mortality of adults
occurred 2.5 days after emergence
from the lindane treatment bolts and
6.8 days after emergence from the
check bolts. The beetles emerging
from the treated logs died with their
elytra open and wings extended;
almost all beetles from untreated
logs died with elytra closed.

TABLE 1 — Number of Dendroctonus ponderosae larvae, pupae and adults, per square
foot of white pine bolt, 24 August, 1964.

Lindane

Emerged

Living

Total

Bolt

adults

L.P.A.

living

1.2

14.2

11.0

5.8

11.8

1.0

15.0

2.0

1.0

Discussion

The total number of adults emerg-
ing from the treated bolts was only
about five per cent of the number
that emerged (from the untreated
bolts. The former lived for a shorter
time after emergence than did the
adults from untreated bolts. All
adults that emerged from the spray-
ed bolts died with elytra open. Lyon
and Wickman (1960) observed that
Dendroctonus “ — had their elytra
locked open, which is the most con-
spicuous symptom of lindane poison-
ing.” Probably sufficient poison was
picked up to produce a debilitating
effect making them incapable of
reproducing during their shortened
lifetime.

* 8 fl. oz. of Lintox (an emulsible concentrate
containing 20% lindane) per Imp. gal. of water.

Check

Emerged

Living

Total

% Survival

adults

L.P.A.

living

treated

32.4

39.4

56.8

58.8

12.9

37.9

27.0

31.0

16.5

31.5

0.3

35.3

2.4

60.4

Adults

were

removed

from the

cages only once daily and therefore
those from the treated logs may have
been exposed to poison on the bark
longer than they would have been
under normal field conditions. How-
ever it is believed that the most
critical period of exposure to the
poison may have occurred as the
adults chewed their way out through
the bark, particularly since dead
adults were more numerous in the
exit galleries of the treated than the
untreated bolts.

The test was adequate but not
complete since a number of living
adults and larvae were still in the
bolts on 27 August. Living larvae and
pupae in the check bolts were more
numerous in the sections from the
upper bole, whereas they were more

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

numerous in the sections from the
lower bole in the lindane treatment.
Possibly control may have been more
effective against the larvae in the
thinner-barked upper sections.

This trial indicates that more ex-
perimental work should be done with
lindane, preferably under varied
environmental conditions. Air tem-
perature at the: time of spraying was
70° F; temperature rose to the high
70 ’s daily for the following week,
during which time there was no rain-

fall. Possibly an oil carrier might
have been desirable had inclement
weather followed treatment or if
treatment had been carried out in
the winter.

Summary

A one per cent emulsion of lindane
applied on 24 May, 1964 controlled
Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopk. in a
freshly-felled Pinus monticola Dougl.
tree at Trinity Valley in the interior
of British Columbia.

Acknowledgements

The writer is indebted to J. C. Arrand and J. M. Kinghorn for suggestions in pre-
paring the manuscript, and to John Downton for collecting the data.

References

Kinghorn, J. M. 1955. Chemical control of the mountain pine beetle and Douglas-fir
beetle. J. Econ. Ent. 48:501-504.

Lyon, R. L. and B. E. Wickman. 1960. Mortality of the western pine beetle and California
five-spined ips in a field trial of lindane. Forest Service USDA Research Note
No. 166, 7 pp.

Wickman, B. E. and R. L. Lyon, 1962. Experimental control of the mountain pine beetle
in lodgepole pine with lindane. J. of Forestry. 60:395-399.

RELEASES OF CINNABAR MOTH, Hypocrite jacobeeae <L.), (LEPIDOPTERA:
ARCTIIDAE) ON TANSY RAGWORT IN BRITISH COLUMBIA'

A. T. S. Wilkinson

Introduction

Tansy ragwort, Senecio jacobaea L.,
a noxious weed native to Eurasia,
has been introduced into New Zea-
land (Cameron, 1935) Tasmania,
Australia, South Africa, and North
and South America (Harper and
Wood, 1957). In Canada it is estab-
lished in Nova Scotia and has been
in British Columbia at least since
1950 (Harris, 1964, Hughes, 1951). It
is well established in, pastures in the
lower Fraser Valley near Abbotsford
and on Vancouver Island near
Nanaimo. Regular spraying with
herbicides or cutting before flower-
ing is needed to keep it in check.

i Contribution No. 92, Research Station, Re-
search Branch, Canada Department of Agricul-
ture, 6660 N.W. Marine Dr., Vancouver 8, B.C.

In British Columbia only three in-
sects have been found feeding on
tansy ragwort during four years:
caterpillars of Phragmatobia fuli-
ginosa L.; Aphis lugentis Williams;
and the dipterous leaf miner Phyto-
myza atricornis Meigen. Only a few
of the caterpillars have been found
and the aphids appear to have little
effect on the plant. The leaf miner
becomes effective only in the labor-
atory. In Washington, Oregon and
California, 15 endemic insects were
reared to maturity on tansy ragwort
but many of these were of minor
importance and some were rare
(Frick, 1964). None of the endemic
insects appears to be effective in
impeding the growth and spread of
this weed.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 82 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

The cinnabar moth, Hypocrita
jacobaeae (L.) , is one of the primary
natural controls of the weed. It was
introduced into New Zealand from
England (Cameron, 1935) following
host-specificity studies. The first
successful releases in North America
were made in California in 1959
(Frick and Holloway, 1964) after
further host - specificity studies
(Parker, 1960). In Canada releases
were made in Nova Scotia in 1961
and a year later in British Columbia
(Harris, 1964). The cinnabar moths
were brought into Canada from
Switzerland and were bred at the
Entomology Research Institute for
Biological Control, Belleville, Ontario
until they were free of parasites and
disease. Further host-specificity tests
were made at this time (Bucher and
Harris, 1961).

Releases at Abbotsford

In summer 1962, 856 first- and
second-instar larvae were released
by transferring them with a camel’s
hair brush onto ragwort plants in
small fenced areas in a pasture near
Abbotsford. Fifteen larvae were also
placed in each of five lumite field
cages (Nicholls, 1960) over tansy
ragwort. Healthy mature larvae were
observed in the cages as late as July
27, 1962 but no pupae were found
and no adults emerged in the cages
in 1963. So far as could be determined
none emerged in the field. Sixty
mature larvae had been collected in
the field and were kept in an outdoor
insectary over winter. No parasites
emerged from the mature larvae or
the pupae and all but a few survived
the winter.

In 1963, 5000 larvae, one-half of
which were reared at the Vancouver
Station and the other half at Belle-
ville, were released in the same area.
The larvae again did well, both in
cages and in the open, but pupae
could not be found. No disease was
observed in the field and none of
100 mature larvae collected from the
field was parasitized.

In 1963, 2nd- and 3rd-instar larvae
were transferred to marked plants in
two locations. In the first, two hours

after releasing 230 larvae on 23
plants, 168 were counted; nine days
later there were still 162. In the
second location, two hours after
releasing 250 larvae on 25 plants,
162 were counted but nine days later
only 85 remained. The missing 77
larvae could have moved to the
ground to pupate, since the surviving
larvae were mature. The greatest loss
usually occurred within 2 hours after
transfer of the young larvae to the
plant.

It was evident by this time that
something other than weather, dis-
ease or parasitism was responsible
for the failure of this insect to be-
come established. Predation by small
mammals seemed to be a possible
reason. There was little cover such
as stones or wood and the silt loam
soil was too packed for the larvae
to burrow into it, hence they prob-
ably would pupate on the surface
where mice and shrews could readily
find them. Sixty mouse traps, baited
with raisins and walnuts or bacon,
were set out in late August and early
September in the release area. In
nearly one month of trapping the
catch was 2 mice, 1 shrew, and a
sparrow. This very low population
was unlikely to have caused, the rapid
and complete disappearance of the
entire cinnabar moth colony. More-
over, mice or shrews were clearly not
the reason for the simultaneous ab-
sence of pupae in the cages.

In 1964 50 larvae were found in
the release area and one moth was
seen by a resident about 0.8 km
(Vfc-mile) south of the release area.
No further releases were made at
Abbotsford and no larvae or moths
were observed in 1965. It is very
doubtful that the cinnabar moth has
become established in the Abbotsford
area.

Releases at Nanaimo

In 1964 the release site was a 35-
acre, newly-cleared pasture near
Nanaimo. The land was rough, the
soil was light, and there was cover
and debris under which the larvae
could pupate. Between June 29 and
July 11, 2800 2nd- and 3rd-instar

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

larvae were released. The larvae
showed no signs of disease or para-
sitism in the field nor was there any
parasitism in 300 pupae obtained
from mature larvae collected from
the release area.

In 1965 about 200 larvae from the
overwintering population were ob-
served in this pasture. No moths were
seen but larvae in all instars were
found in 15 different locations. In
one instance, Ist-instar larvae were
present and in another only heavy
and characteristic feeding damage
was observed indicating that the
period of emergence was about 1
month extending from late May to
late June. A further 6200 2nd-, 3rd-,
and 4th-instar larvae were released
at the Nanaimo site in 1965.

Relation of Establishment to
Carabidae

We reasoned that the cinnabar
moth must have been eradicated at

Abbotsford during the period when
the mature larvae were wandering in
search of a place to pupate or else
during the pupal stage. It was evi-
dent that mice were not responsible
and no moles were active near the
release site. In 1964, a single ground
beetle, Pterostichus melanarius 111.,
which came into the laboratory on a
tansy ragwort plant from Abbotsford,
was seen to destroy eight pupae.
These and other ground beetles were
readily found in the release area at
Abbotsford. To sample and compare
the populations of carabids, 30 pit-
fall traps were set out at the release
sites at Abbotsford and Nanaimo at
10-meter (33 feet) intervals. The
traps were new preserving cans 3.5
cm in diameter by 11.5 cm deep (3*4
x 41/2 inches) placed in the soil with
the opening at ground level. Counts
were made on three consecutive days.
The species and numbers caught are
shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1. — Ground beetles collected by pitfall traps at cinnabar moth release sites in

British Columbia, 1965

Abbotsford Nanaimo

July 17-19 Aug. 11-13 July 22-24

Agonum mulleri Hbst.

Amara obesa Say

Amara sp.

Anisodactylus sp.

Calathus fuscipes Goeze

Calosoma tepidum LeC.

Carabus granulatus L.

Carabus nemoralis Miill.

Harpalus affinis Schrk.

Pterostichus melanarius 111.

Total

—

. —

— -

—

101

— .

—

177

132

287

In laboratory studies larvae of the
cinnabar moth were fed to those
species of ground beetles that occur-
red in large numbers. P. melanarius
and Calanthus fuscipes were ex-
tremely predacious and were far
more abundant in Abbotsford than
Nanaimo. Harpalus affinis were fairly
abundant in Nanaimo but showed no
interest in cinnabar moth larvae. Six
larvae of the cinnabar moth were
placed on tansy ragwort in each of
two cages. In one cage two C. fuscipes
were included and in the other, two
P. melanarius. All the larvae were

destroyed except one which pupated
between the stems of, the tansy rag-
wort plant about 10 cm (4 inches)
above the soil surface.

C. fuscipes was twice seen in the
branching upper part of the plant in
the laboratory but this was never
observed in the field. Both of these
species could destroy newly-formed
pupae and sometimes more mature
pupae. Usually they were unable to
break through into old pupae. Holes
were often seen in the soil at the
base of ragwort plants at Abbotsford
and as many as five ground beetles

Pkoc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

were found in these burrows. Since
the larvae of cinnabar moth wander
considerably when mature and look-
ing for a site to pupate they un-
doubtedly fall prey to ground beetles;
but when these holes are located
right at the base of the plant the
possibility of their being caught is
very much greater.

The ground beetles had voracious
appetites, feeding until their abdo-
mens were distended far beyond their
elytra. They ate everything put in
their cages except a wooly-bear
caterpillar (probably Phragmatobia
fuliginosa) and a few hard -shelled
pupae including some of H. jaco-
baeae. Prey fed to them included the
larvae and sometimes the pupae of
the following: the variegated cut-
worm, Peridroma margaritosa
(Haw.) ; the alfalfa looper, Auto -
grapha calif ornica (Speyer) ; the
imported cabbage worm, Pieris rapae
(L.) ; the onion maggot, Hylemya
antiqua (Meig.) ; the wireworm,
Ctenicera lobata (Esch.) ; the leath-
er] acket, Tipula paludosa Mg.; the

larvae and adults of the black vine
weevil, Brachyrhinus sulcatus (F.) ;
the confused flour beetle, Tribolium
confusum Duval.; a mature larva of
a large June beetle; and earthworms.
They were also cannibalistic, and
would eat meat or fish scraps. Cara-
bus granulatus and C. nemoralis
were also extremely predacious but
were in small numbers.

The ground beetle population was
very probably responsible for the
failure of H. jacobaeae to become
established in the Abbotsford area.
If other sites near Abbotsford have a
lower population of carabids, it may
be possible for the cinnabar moth, to
become established. Once established
nearby it may provide control at the
original site by annual migration of
adults.

Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to Dr. P. Harris, Ento-
mology Research Institute for Biological
Control, Belleville, Ontario for advice and
help; to Mr. W. Zomar of Abbotsford and
Mr. J. Garner of Nanaimo for the use of
their land.

References

Bucher, G. E., and P. Harris. 1961. Food-plant spectrum and elimination of disease of
cinnabar moth larvae Hypocrita jacobaeae (L.) (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) Canad.
Ent. 93: 931-936.

Cameron, E. 1935. A study of the natural control of ragwort (Senecio jacobaea L.). J.
Ecol. 23: 265-322.

Frick, K. E. 1964. Some endemic insects that feed upon introduced tansy ragwort
(Senecio jacobaea) in western United States. Ann. Ent. Soc. Amer. 57: 707-710.

Frick, K. E., and J. K. Holloway. 1964. Establishment of the cinnabar moth. Tyria jaco-
baeae, on tansy ragwort in Western United States. J. Econ. Ent. 57: 152-154.

Harper, J. L., and W. A. Wood. 1957. Biological flora of The British Isles, Senecio jaco-
baea L. J. Ecol. 45 (2): 617-637.

Harris, P. 1964. Biological control of weeds. Canad.Ent. 96: 113-114.

Hughes, E. C. 1951. Report of new weed infestations. Report of B.C. Agronomists’
Association Conference. Pg. 24.

Nicholls, C. F. 1960. A roll-up field cage for insects. Canad. Ent. 92: 177-178.

Parker, H. L. 1960. Starvation tests with larvae of the cinnabar moth. J. Econ. Ent. 53:
472-473.

A Second British Columbia Record of
Silpha surinamensis F. (Coleoptera:
Silphidae)

On May 23, 1962, at Vernon, one specimen
of Silpha surinamensis F. was taken in a
black light trap between 2100 and 2300
hours P.S.T. The only previous British Co-
lumbia record of this species was from east
of the Rocky Mountains in the northeast

section of the Province near Pouce Coupe
(Hatch 1957).

Reference

Hatch, M. H. 1957. The Beetles of the Pacific
Northwest. Part II: Staphyliniformia.
Umv. of Wash. Press, Seattle, p. 11.

J. K. Harvey,

Forest Entomology Laboratory,
Vernon, B.C.

April 2, 1965.

Proc. Entomol. Soe. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

A NOTE ON THE ACCEPTABILITY OF LEAF MACERATES ON FILTER
PAPER OF PLANTS FROM PEAT BOGS BY ADULT BLACK VINE WEEVILS,

Brachyrhinus sulcatus (F.)

W. T. Cram

Foliage of Himalaya blackberry
and salal, common weeds in and
around blueberry and cranberry bogs,
when fed to adults of the black vine
weevil, Brachyrhinus sulcatus (F.),
significantly shortened the preovi-
position periods and produced greater
numbers of total and viable eggs than
the other common weeds: labrador
tea, fireweed, and sheep sorrel, or
even the crop plants blueberry and
cranberry (Cram and Pearson, 1965).

To test the preference of adult
weevils for these hosts, 750 mg of
fresh leaves were ground in 2 ml of
water with sand to destroy the physi-
cal characteristics of the leaf and the
resulting macerate was assessed by
two methods. In the first, macerate
was immediately spotted on the edge
of a narrow strip of Whatman No. 1
filter paper (2.7 by 55 cm). Each of
the seven hosts mentioned was spot-
ted six times at random. The strip
was suspended in a vertical glass
tube (3.5 by 58 cm) containing water-
saturated cotton wool at the lower
end (Fig. 1A). Twenty adults were
introduced and the upper end of the
tube was sealed with a rubber stop-
per. The tube was placed in the dark
at room temperature. After 20 hours

i Contribution No. 94, Research Station, Re-
search Branch, Canada Department of Agricul-
ture, 6660 N.W. Marine Drive, Vancouver 8, B.C.

the strip was removed and the
amount of feeding at the spots was
rated (Table 1). Himalaya blackberry
was clearly the preferred host fol-
lowed by salal land labrador tea.
Blueberry and cranberry were low in
acceptability followed by fireweed
and lastly sheep sorrel.

In the second method using stack-
ed 4.5 cm filter paper disks (Fig. IB)
closely similar feeding ratings were
recorded except that salal was rated
below blueberry (Table 1). In this
test a spot of macerate was placed
in the centre of each disk, and was
contained by a separating glass ring.
Distilled water (.1 ml) was added to
each spot so that only plant solubles
reached the outer area of the filter
paper where the adults fed. The stack
was covered by an inverted glass jar
to maintain high humidity and keep
the papers from drying out. Results
are from 20 weevils run concurrently
with the strip test.

These observations correlate with
results obtained at the same time by
Cram and Pearson (1965) on the re-
productive behaviour of this weevil.
Labrador tea appears to be pre-
ferred as a macerate more than
would be expected from the amount
of damage seen in the field. Possibly
the physical nature of this rather
tough and densely hairy foliage is a
deterrent to feeding.

TABLE 1 — Rating of the amount of feeding by the black vine weevil, B. sulcatus, on
filter paper spotted with leaf macerates of plants from peat bogs.

Strip test

Disk test

Plant

Replicates

Sum

Himalaya blackberry

+ +

+ + +

+ + + +

Salal

+ +

— ■

+ +

Labrador tea

+ + +

Blueberry

—

+ + +

Cranberry

—

+ +

Fireweed

—

— -

—

Sheep sorrel

—

Untreated

—

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Beit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

References

Cram, W. T. and W. D. Pearson, 1965. Fecundity of the black vine weevil, Brachryhinus
sulcatus (F.), fed on foliage of blueberry, cranberry and weeds from peat bogs.
Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia 62: 25-27.

Fig. 1 — Apparatus for appraising the acceptability of leaf macerates of various plants
on filter paper to the adult black vine weevil, B. sulcatus. A. Strip test. B. Disk test.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

MOISTURE AND FAT CONTENT IN THE AMBROSIA BEETLE
Trypodendron lineatum (OLIV.)1

W. W. Nijholt2

Little is known about the metabolic
changes that take place during the
life cycle of the ambrosia beetle,
Trypodendron lineatum (Oliv.)
(Chapman, 1956) . An understanding
of the changes in the amount of fat
in relation to certain physiological
conditions and behaviour would be
of fundamental value (Lees, 1955).
Subjective ratings of the size of the
fat body have been tried but were
found to be inadequate as a means of
studying changes in fat content. To
increase our knowledge of the
amount of water, fat, and dried mat-
ter in these beetles and to lay the
basis for further studies of this sub-
ject a method was needed which
would make it possible to determine
these factors in individual beetles
(Bursell, 1959). The small size of the
beetles (2.5 - 4.5 mg.) makes this
difficult, but we devised a simple
method for making these determin-
ations with sufficient accuracy and
in a relatively short time.

Most of the data were secured in
March 1964, with beetles collected
from overwintering sites in bark dur-
ing January and March 1964. After
removal from the bark, the beetles
were stored in moist bark flakes in a
refrigerator until they were used.
Some collected in the spring of 1963
and stored in a refrigerator were also
used.

The first objective was to establish
average values for fat, moisture, and
dry weights for male and female
beetles. Beetles used for the experi-
ments were given a walking test to
exclude those that were injured or
did not appear to be normal. Groups
of 25 beetles were killed with ethyl

i Contribution No. 1157, Forest Entomology and
Pathology Branch, Department of Forestry, Ot-
tawa, Canada.

z Forest Research Laboratory, Victoria, B.C.

acetate fumes and weighed in a
previously dried thimble (folded
Whatman glass paper -GF/A- 9 cm.).
They were then dried for 16 hours in
an oven at 70° C with forced air
circulation, cooled over anhydrous
calcium sulfate and weighed. Addi-
tional drying did not cause any fur-
ther change in weight. The thimble
was put into a micro-soxhlet appar-
atus and extracted continuously with
petroleum ether for six hours. An
additional 6 hrs. extraction did not
significantly alter the results. Next
the thimble was air dried until the
excess ether had evaporated and
after oven drying overnight at 70° C
it was placed in a desiccator over
anhydrous calcium sulfate prior to
weighing. Glass paper was used be-
cause it was non-hygroscopic. As
the beetle remains did not absorb
an appreciable amount of moisture,
accurate and reproducible weighings
were possible to within 0.01 mg.

It was first thought that the well
developed sclerotization of these
beetles would be an obstacle to effi-
cient fat extraction from intact
insects. However, crushing the beetles
and repeated extraction did not
result in significant change in
weight.

The results of the determinations
presented in Table I show that the
female beetles were approximately
0.5 mg. heavier than the males, and
that the fat content of females was
usually greater. The average total
weights of beetles that were stored
since spring 1963 were about the
same as those of the freshly collected
beetles, but the weights of fat in the
former were very small.

After making determinations using
groups of beetles the same method
was used for individuals. Small gela-
tin capsules perforated at both ends
were used as in a recent study on

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

TABLE I — Average Values in mg. of Moisture, Dry Weight, and Fat Content of
Trypodendron ambrosia beetles in groups of 25.

Fat/

% fat

Total

beetle

/dry

Collection

wt/

Moisture

Dry wt.

after

Date

Sex

beetle

/beetle

3 hrs.

6 hrs.

7/l/’64

3.65

2.01

1.64

.52

3.80

2.04

1.75

.57

3.71

2.05

1.66

.49

.54

32.6

3.81

2.08

1.73

.51

3.22

1.87

1.34

.36

3.24

1.83

1.41

.38

3.27

1.81

1.46

.37

.40

27.7

25/3/’64

3.70

2.04

1.66

.54

.56

34.1

3.70

2.04

1.66

.57

34.1

3.27

1.84

1.43

.39

.42

29.2

3.11

1.76

1.35

.37

27.2

Spring ’63

3.68

2.40

1.29

.14

11.1

3.19

2.08

1.11

.07

6.1

uptake of water by Trypodendron
(Nijholt and Chapman, 1964). These
capsules stood the heat used for dry-
ing fairly well and were not affected
by warm petroleum ether. Each
beetle was weighed separately after
it had been killed with ethyl acetate
fumes, and placed inside a capsule
with a numbered piece of paper.
After drying overnight the capsules
were cooled in a desiccator. Then
the beetles were removed, weighed
individually with as little exposure
to the air as possible and returned
to their capsules. Ten to twelve
beetles in their capsules were then

placed in a micro-soxhlet extractor
with a glass wool plug to hold them
in position. After 6 hrs. of continuous
extraction in petroleum ether the
capsules were blotted with filter
paper and dried overnight at 70° C,
The beetles were then taken from
their capsules and weighed so that
the fat content could be calculated
on the basis of dry weight.

The data for individual beetles
(Table II) show that females varied
more than males. Three females
appeared normal but had extraordin-
arily low fat contents of 8.3%, 7.0%
and 10.6%. These influenced the
average value.

TABLE II — Moisture, Dry Weight, and Fat Content in mg. of 20 male and 20 female
Trypodendron ambrosia beetles determined individually.

MALES

Total

fresh

Moisture

Dry

Total fat
after
6 hrs*

% fat/
dry wt

Range

3.90-2.42

2.16-1.36

1.93-1.05

0.62-0.17

33.3-15.6

Average

3.26

1.87

1.40

0.35

24.6

Standard deviation
FEMALES

0.369

0.186

0.243

0.127

4.937

Range

4.43-2.76

3.03-1.56

2.16-0.86

0.88-0.06

40.7- 7.0

Average

3.59

2.06

1.25

0.45

26.9

Standard deviation

0.552

0.332

0.380

0.813

10.494

* After extraction over an additional period of 6 hours the average total fat for males
was 0.36 mg. and for females 0.47 mg.

Summary

A method is described to determine
the amount of moisture, fat, and dry
matter in groups and individuals of
adult ambrosia beetles, Trypodendron
lineatum (Oliv.), using standard lab
oratory equipment. Average and

individual values for fat extracted by
petroleum ether are given for beetles
of both sexes taken during over-
wintering. The results show that
females have a greater variability in
weight and a larger percentage fat
based on dried weight.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

References

Bursell, E. 1959. The water balance of tsetse flies. Trans. R. Ent. Soc. Lond. 111(9): 205-
235.

Chapman, J. A. 1958. Studies on the physiology of the ambrosia beetle Trypodendron
in relation to its ecology. Proceedings Tenth International Congress of Entomo-
logy, Montreal, 1956. Vol. 4: 375-380.

Lees, A. D. 1955. The physiology of diapause in arthropods. Cambridge University Press.

Nijholt, W. W. and Chapman, J. A. 1964. Uptake of water by the ambrosia beetle Try-
podendron following desiccation. Can. Dept. For., For. Ent. and Path. Branch,
Bi-Mon. Prog. Rept. 20(6): 3-4.

NOTES ON THE LIFE HISTORIES OF THREE MOTHS FROM SOUTHERN
VANCOUVER ISLAND (LEPIDOPTERA: PHALAENIDAE AND

GEOMETRIDAE)

G. A. Hardy*

Orfhosia ferrigera Sm.

Eight species of the genus Orthosia
are recorded for British Columbia, all
of which occur on Vancouver Island.

O. ferrigera has a wingspread
averaging 35 mm and is of a general
rusty colour with the veins on the
primaries indicated by a darker
colour. It is scarce in my experience,
being taken about once a year.

A specimen taken by day on a
grass stem in April, 1963 laid 60 ova
on the sides of the box in small
groups of from 1 to 25, in a single
layer. The resultant caterpillars died
because I did not know the correct
food plant. Another one taken at
light in late March, 1964 laid 47 ova.
It was found that Garry Oak ( Quer -
cus garryana ) was avidly eaten, but
to get the caterpillars started it was
necessary to cut open the swelling
buds for the trees were not in leaf
at the time.

Ovum

Size 1 mm by 0.75 mm. Hemispher-
ic, finely ribbed with about 40 ribs
and cross-ribbed, having the effect
of quadrangular reticulations since
the height of the ribs and cross-ribs
is equal; white slightly tinged with
green, soon acquiring a pale orange
dot on the micropyle and a ring of
orange on the shoulder. A light lead
grey at maturity. Hatched April 19.

i Provincial Museum, Victoria, B.C. (Rtd.)

Larva — 1st Instar

Length 4 mm. Head smooth, trans-
lucent, with a pale brownish tinge.
Body translucent with, a bluish cast;
both head and body heavily dotted
with black; a short hair on each dot.

2nd Instar

April 25. Length 7 mm. Head as
described. Body somewhat translu-
cent, pale greenish with white dorsal,
subdorsal and spiraeular lines, the
last-named being the widest; con-
spicuous black tubercles.

3rd Instar

May 1. Length 10 mm. Head
smooth, semi - transparent, sordid
white with a faint bluish tinge, con-
spicuously dotted with widely spaced
black dots. Body smooth, yellowish
green tinged with fuscous on sides
and venter, with thin yellow dorsal,
subdorsal and supraspiracular lines,
the spiraeular band yellow, inter-
ruptedly threaded with broad fuscous
dashes on the centre of each seg-
ment; tubercles conspicuous and
black, each bearing a minute black
hair; a short, thin, slightly raised
transverse bar on dorsum of A. 9;
legs and claspers sordid.

4th Instar

May 8. Length 15 mm. Head a pale
sordid flesh colour, sparsely dotted
with black; plate tinged with blue,
with three white lines as extensions
of the dorsal and subdorsal lines.
Body smooth, general colour russet,

Peoc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

dorsal and subdorsal lines yellowish,
spiracular band luiteous threaded
with interrupted fuscous dashes; A.
1 to 8 with fuscous V marks on the
dorsum of each; A. 9 humped and
topped with a conspicuous transverse
white bar; tubercles black on pale
cream bases, most noticeable on the
anterior segments, the whole body
minutely dotted with fuscous; spir-
acles small, white ringed with black;
legs and claspers sordid with black
dots on the bases, venter sordid along
the centre.

5th Instar

May 12. Length 30 mm. Head as
described. Body similar to 4th instar
but dorsal, subdorsal and spiracular
lines indistinct; the dorsum of A.9
dark with conspicuous transverse
white bar; the dorsal V marks and
yellow bases of the outer dorsal
tubercles more pronounced.

Full-fed by May 21, the larva was
45 mm long, and considerably duller
in colour. Pupation was in an earthen
cocoon on May 24.

Pupa

Size 17 mm by 6 mm. Smooth,
shiny, wing cases finely vermiculated,
anterior border of A. segments finely
and closely punctate; colour a bright
mahogany brown; cremaster set on
the rounded tip of the last segment,
and consisting of two short, fine,
close-set spines with outwardly re-
curving tips and four minute similar
hairs at the base.

Remarks

When not feeding the larva retired
amongst the bud scales at the base
of the leaf clumps where the russet
colour rendered the caterpillar very
inconspicuous. If disturbed it curled
into a ring.

Mesothea viridipennata Hulst

M. viridipennata is the only species
of the genus recorded for British
Columbia. It has a wingspread of 20
mm and is coloured uniformly light
green, soon fading to a thin washed-
out brownish yellow. It commonly
flies by day in open brush land.

A specimen taken in the Malahat
district on May 15, 1964, had laid 30
ova by May 20, scattered irregularly
over an alder leaf in the container.

Ovum

Size 0.8 by 0.5 by 0.3, a broad oval,
laid broad side down, depressed in
the centre of the upper surface,
smooth, shiny, without reticulations;
pale green. Hatched May 29.

Larva — Isfr Instar

Length 2 mm. Head large in pro-
portion, smooth, dull, honey-colour.
Body slender, smooth, creamy with
the dark line of the alimentary canal
showing through.

The june-berry or service berry,
Amelanchier florida, was the pre-
ferred food plant, but Geum macro -
phyllum was readily consumed.

2nd Instar

June 6. Length 6 mm. Head mark-
edly bi-lobed, dull, honey-colour.
Body, T.l with two fleshy projections
directed forward, A.9 with one fleshy
process directed backward; a light
dun colour; faint whitish subdorsal,
supraspiracular and spiracular lines,
resulting in part from aggregation of
many minute, rough, slightly raised
white dots which thickly cover the
body; spiracles small, black.

3rd Instar

June 10. Length 8 mm. Head
strongly bi-lobed, rough, dull honey-
colour. Body a light reddish fuscous,
with a thin dark dorsal line, and very
thin whitish subdorsal, supraspiracu-
lar and spiracular lines; venter, legs
and claspers concolorous with upper
parts.

4th Instar

June 14. Length 15 mm. As des-
cribed with the general colour a
light orange or rusty brown; the
sides with very faint irregular lines.

5th Instar

June 24. Length 20 mm. Head
strongly bi-lobed, the lobes pointed,
rough, dark brown with crimson
tinge. Body rough, rusty brown with
a tinge of green, dorsal line dark
crimson or purplish brown, lower

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

sides, below the black spiracles, with
faint, dark, suffused, widely spaced
dashes on A.l to 5; venter concol-
orous with the upper parts; legs dark
crimson below, claspers with a tinge
of crimson which extends to the ad-
jacent body.

July 5. Length 30 mm. Full grown.
Pupated in a very loose cocoon of
brownish silk among the debris on
the bottom of the container.

Pupa

Size 10 mm by 3.5 mm. Dull, wing
cases with prominent veins, choco-
late; abdomen beige with a black
dorsal line flanked by two black dots
on each segment; venter with two
black dashes on the sides, the lower
one much the thicker, black dots
between the dashes; cremaster a
shiny, tapering projection with a
pair of minute setae near the base
and another pair near the tip, which
is finely pointed.

Remarks

There was considerable individual
variation in larval colour ranging
from a greenish to brownish cast. The
dorsal line was often broken and in
some a thin dark subdorsal line was
evident. The markings were always
subdued.

When at rest the body was held
rigidly at an angle to the substrate
and the legs tightly appressed to-
wards the head which was folded
along the venter. The projections on
T.l were prominent so that the head
looked like a bud at the end of a
twig. The general effect was of a
leaf stalk from which the blade had
been removed.

Plagodis approximaria Dyar

Only one species of this genus is
recorded for British Columbia where
it occurs in the south including
Vancouver Island.

P. approximaria has a wingspread
of 32 mm. The primaries are luteus
with a purple suffusion from a large
purple blotch on the outer angle;
the secondaries are similar, and the
general effect is responsible for the
popular name “The Scorched Wing.”

A female taken in a light trap on
June 8, 1964 laid 30 ova by June 11.
These were in rows or heaps at the
edges of alder leaves or on stems.

Ovum

Size 1 mm by 0.5 mm by 0.3 mm
Oval, slightly broader at one end, a
little depressed in the centre of the
upper side, smooth, shiny, showing
very faint reticulations. Pale yellow
becoming orange towards maturity.
Hatched on June 20.

Larva — 1st Instar

Length 2 mm. Head large in pro-
portion, honey-colour. Body slender,
honey- colour, very active. Fed on
Alnus rubra.

2nd Instar

June 30. Length 8 mm. Head
honey-coloured with a darker feath-
ered spot on each side of the vertex.
Body very slender. A variously shaded
bluish fuscous band on the dorsum, a
light lemon band on the sides and
dark brown band on the venter. Legs
dark brown.

3rd Instar

July 7. Length 18, mm. Head pink-
ish, mottled with light and dark
brown, more marked on the vertex.
Body mostly fuscous purple with
whitish streaks on T. and A. seg-
ments, less evident posteriorly; a
small hump on T. 3, and a larger
black hump on A.6 having a trans-
verse white dash on top.

July 10. Some larvae with a green
base colour with brown blotches on
the sides adjacent to the humps.

4th Instar

July 15. Length 30 mm. Head dull,
smooth, beige, closely mottled with
pale purple. Body, general colour a
dull purple streaked with white
especially on the sides of T. seg-
ments, white patches on the sides of
A.l - 4; T.2 and 3 with continuous
dorsal humps, larger on T.l, bordered
in front with a transverse white line,
as also on T.l; a hump on A.5,
darker, divided by a white cross-bar;
venter ashy with black W lines on
the centre of segments A.l - 5, most
evident on A.l - 3.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

One pupated on July 28 in a silken
cocoon spun in a fold of paper.

Pupa

Size 15 mm by 4 mm. Slender,
wriggled actively when touched;
wing-cases dull, fuscous; A. segments
smooth, shiny, sparsely punctate on
anterior borders, medium brown;
cremaster two larger hairs with re-
curved tips and about six smaller

similar ones at the base, all set on a
rugose projection at the tip of the
last segment.

Remarks

This larva is an excellent example
of twig simulation in form, colour,
and attitude, especially when resting
with its body held out at an angle
of about 45° to the twig.

SOME RECORDS OF LYCTIDAE IN VANCOUVER

G. J. Spencer’

In the Proceedings, Vol. 4, pages
129-148, of the Seventh Pacific
Science Congress held in New Zea-
land, February 1949, under the head-
ing Regional Pest Faunas, is an arti-
cle “The more important Insect Pests
of British Columbia” assembled by
K. M. King from contributions by H.
Andison, E. R. Buckell, R. Glenden-
ning, J. D. Gregson, K. M. King, J.
Marshall and H. A. Richmond, all of
the Federal Entomological Labora-
tories in British Columbia.

On page 147 of this paper is the
statement “structural timber is not,
on the whole, subject to any exten-
sive damage by insects. However, on
the coast, powderpost beetles, Lyctus
species, have in a number of in-
stances heavily attacked house tim-
bers, occasionally necessitating the
replacement of cellar beams.”

I have been interested in house-
hold insects in this Province for many
years especially those attacking
structural timbers and have not yet
come across an instance of this sort
since all our wooden buildings are
of native soft woods; also in the past
20 years I have inspected many
buildings suffering from insect attack
and have found that if a species of
Lyctus was present, it occurred only
in timber imported into the Province
as flooring, veneer, panelling or
carved ornaments and that building
timbers were attacked NOT by lyctids

t Professor Emeritus, University of British Co-
lumbia, Vancouver 8, B.C.

but by native and introduced anobiid
beetles, termites and carpenter ants;
the emergence holes of lyctids and
anobiids are very similar, hence the
mistake.

The family; Lyctidae2 is tropical or
semi-tropical containing only 66
species known so far, included in 12
genera of which 10 occur in the New
World. The genus Lyctus contains 25
species; other genera, 41 species. So
far in Vancouver I have taken five
species of Lyctus and one of Tro-
goxylon, making six in all. However,
according to distribution lists in
Gerber’s monograph and in Hatch’s
Vol. Ill of the Beetles of the Pacific
Northwest, seven species have so far
been found in this Province, one
being a single record.

Considering these species alpha-
betically, we have: —

Lyctus africanus Lesne

In June 1963 an importer of medi-
cinal herbs brought in a pint of
orris roots in which a few holes were
showing; in a few days some beetles
emerged which traced out to L.
africanus Lesne which is very similar
to L. brunneus except that the
fourth abdominal sternite of the
female has a dense conspicuous
fringe of hairs. The insects are still
actively breeding in the orris
rhizomes in about equal numbers of
males and females (March 1965),

2 Gerber, Eugene J. The New World Species of
Powder-post beetles belonging to the Family
Lyctidae. U.S.D.A. Technical Bulletin No. 1157,
Wash., D.C. April, 1957.

Pkch . Eatomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

and have reduced much of the roots
to dust. Orris or orrice roots are the
rhizomes of three varieties of Iris,
cultivated in France, Italy and Mor-
occo and are imported into North
America for making a hair tonic and
into Vancouver as one of 14 flavors
used in making London Dry Gin and
therefore this beetle can definitely
be considered a hostile species and
a menace to our conviviality. It is
the most active of four species of
lyctids that I have reared out in
captivity and if the lid is removed
from the container it flies out readily
instead of crawling out as other
species do.

Other record of L. africanus: — four
specimens emerged on 5 May 1953
from a child’s toy made of liquorice
wood, Glycyrrhiza lepidota (Nutt.)
Pursh, imported from California; one,
on 9 October 1955, from a figurine
from Kenya and 18 specimens from
one panel only of an insect spreading
board purchased from a supply com-
pany. The board lay around in the
laboratory for three years before
beetles started to emerge from it and
the latest one emerged on 14 March

1964. Both halves of the board are
made of “obeche” wood Triplochiton
schleroxylon imported from west
Africa, identified for me by Professor
R. W. Wellwood of this University
who stated that the wood is well
known to have a high sugar content
(a necessity for lyctid attack) .

Also from this same side of the
board there emerged from 28 Janu-
ary to 15 March 1965, 34 specimens
of Lyctus brunneus (Stephens) and
from 26 November 1963 to 8 October

1965, 8 specimens of Trogoxylon
prostomoides Gorham, all from one
strip of wood 12 ins by 2 ins by %
inch thick. Just when this strip was
infested by each species is anybody’s
guess.

Lyctus brunneus Stephens, the Old
World Powder Post beetle.

This species ranges in color from
medium to dark brown and is only
slightly smaller than L. planicollis,

the largest lyctid to occur in the
Province.

The first specimen was obtained in
spring 1934 from thin bamboo rods
from Japan. The next three, obtained
3 January 1955 and 9 on 14 April
1955, came from a window blind of
thin round bamboo strips of not
much greater diameter than the
beetles themselves. In April 1958,
18 were obtained from mahogany
panelling that had been installed in
a house for one year; in 1963, 10
from orris root and the last group
of 34 from the obeche wood spread-
ing board as recorded for L. afri-
canus, making 79 in all.

Lyctus cavicollis Le Conte, the West-
ern Powder Post beetle.

On 20 July 1955, a druggist brought
in a handful of bamboo cigarette
holders (source unknown but prob-
ably from China) which were heavily
perforated by tunnels; from these
emerged only two beetles which key
out to cavicollis in Hatch’s key3,
having a narrow prosternal process
between the pro-coxal cavities in-
stead of a broad one as in planicollis.

Lyctus fuscus Linn. 1758 (Lyctus
linearis Goeze 1777) the Europ-
ean Powder Post beetle.

This species was my first record
of Lyctus in Vancouver, obtained on
14 May 1926 from a hickory axe
handle imported from Arkansas; the
importer said he had a bushel of
handles from which beetles were
emerging but he brought up only one
which I placed on a radiator and in
short order, six beetles emerged.
These were identified for me by the
late Ralph Hopping who returned me
only one specimen. It is amazing that
any beetles can develop in hickory
which is almost as hard as ivory but
close examination shows that the
tracheae are quite large and where
these occur in any hardwood, the
females insert their astonishingly
long ovipositors and deposit eggs. If

3 Hatch, M. H. Beetles of the Pacific North-
west, Vol. in. University of Washington Press,
Seattle, Wash.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia. Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

the tubes are slit open, the beetles
press the elongated eggs lengthways
into the grooves. Close-grained wood
like maple is consequently free from
attack by lyctids as is any wood
which is varnished or painted to close
the tracheae.

Lycfus planicollis Le Conte, the
Southern Powder Post beetle.

This is the largest lyctid to come
into this Province and the darkest,
some being nearly black; females
may measure 5.5 mm in length. This
is the chief species attacking oak and
was a problem during the second
World War when oak for flooring
was either improperly kiln-dried or
not dried at all. I have 17 records of
this beetle in oak flooring dating
from 1950 to 1960 involving ship-
ments from Cookeville, Tenn. and
Calico Rock, Arkansas. One firm
alone in Vancouver averaged impor-
tations of 13 acres per year of oak
flooring, mostly from Arkansas and
within one or two years of being laid,
the floors produced beetles. The oak
came in two forms, as 16-foot planks
which were sawn locally into 3-inch
wide strips for first flooring, and
bundles of tongue-and-groove short
ends 3A inch thick for bedrooms;
these short ends 2 or 3 inches wide
and 12 to 16 inches long were most
heavily infested, sometimes neces-
sitating the entire re-laying of a
bedroom floor.

I conducted many experiments
with fresh non-infested wood and
varying numbers of beetles, under
varying conditions of humidity and
temperature but was never able to
get a fresh infestation started: the
last of these experiments was dis-
carded in 1963 having allowed four
years for a new generation to
develop.

Apart from 72 pinned specimens,
I have a good reserve of this species
in alcohol.

Lyctus opoculus Le Conte

In the Stace Smith addition to our
collections is one specimen collected
in Vancouver on 9 July 1939, identi-
fied in 1944 or 1946 by H. B. Leech as

L. opaculus, in 1957 by M. Hatch as
L. planicollis and in 1964 by Spencer
as L. hrunneus; definitely it is not
opaculus and contains characteristics
of all three species.

Also in the Stace Smith collection
is one specimen collected 21 July 1934
by W. Mathers from “seasoned Afri-
can wood” in Vancouver and identi-
fied by H. B. Leech as Minthea stich-
othrix Reit. without further details.

Finally is the species Trogoxylon
prostomoides Gorham, the smooth-
est-looking of the species on hand,
with only traces of elytral ridges and
confused silky pubescence on the
elytra. My first record was 4 speci-
mens (identified by Hatch) from a
Mexican bamboo basket, on 27 Janu-
ary 1947. On 21 July 1981, 8 speci-
mens emerged from Monkeypod
( Samanea saman Jacq.) wood bowls
brought in from Hawaii; on 5 Dec.

1961, 2 were sent in from a bamboo
basket in Vancouver and on 20 Nov.

1962, 3 were sent in from a North
Vancouver home where the owner
could not find the source of the
beetles.

On 2 Nov. 1962 a citizen brought
in a Mexican bamboo basket which
showed a few emergence holes; in
the laboratory it produced a steady
stream of beetles which averaged 10
per week from Dec. 1963 to March
1964, when it was discarded. On 22
April 1963 a man brought in one
beetle which had emerged from a
% inch oak strip from a floor. From
4 April to 9 May 1963, 13 beetles
emerged in the laboratory from a
carved Mexican figurine of unknown
wood. On 26 November 1963, 6 were
obtained from the insect spreading
board of west African obeche wood,
previously noted. On 3 March 1964,
one specimen was sent down from
Powell River in a mass of termite
frass; the beetle must have come
from a bamboo basket and was acci-
dentally included in the frass. On
17 March 1964, 20 specimens were
sent in from Coquitlam which were
in process of emerging from the half-
inch thick panelling of American ash

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

in a large living room. Emergence of
this brood from the ash started pre-
cisely 2i/2 years after the house was
built and had continued up to the
time the beetles were first sent in
for identification. The emergence
from the panelling became so gen-
eral by the end of September 1965
that the owners had it all ripped off,
the area behind it thoroughly spray-
ed with a 1 per cent solution of
lindane in oil and the panelling
replaced by plywood of a different
species of wood. The danger from
this infestation lies in the fact that
several beetles have emerged from
the polished oak flooring nearest to
the infested panels, one from the
next room and one from a room
beyond that. Apparently the beetles
spread under the subfloor and the
extent of their infestation from the
underside of the oak flooring may
not become apparent for several
years.

Now it has long been known that
beetles of the family Lyctidae are
attracted to wood of a high sugar
content, so T. prostomoides in a con-
tainer were given grains of cane
sugar upon which they fed for per-
iods up to one hour, apparently by
licking it.

To test the possible selectivity of
this species, one small block each of
fine grain, hard, eastern European
oak, Arkansas oak flooring, coarse-
grain northeastern American oak
possibly from Ontario, 40-year old
hickory and chips of the same ash
were placed into a can and some 16
adults of both sexes were carefully
dropped on to the blocks. A few

grains of sugar were then placed on
the block of hickory and wetted with
a drop of water which sank into the
wood as if it was blotting paper. The
beetles remained longer on the sur-
face of this sugared hickory than on
any of the other blocks. In 12 days
all the beetles had died so 18 new
living ones were dropped on to the
blocks. It may be several years before
the results of this test are known.

On 8 February 1965, six specimens
were sent in from Keremeos where
they were emerging from Bongo
drums purchased in Mexico; identioy
of the wood in the drums was
unknown.

This species, Trogoxylon prosto-
moides, has occurred in Vancouver in
more species of wood than any other
— in bamboo from China or Japan,
in monkeypod wood, heavily in bam-
boo from Mexico, in oak, in Mexican
hardwood, in African obeche wood
and in eastern American ash. It
seems to be the one species of Lyctid
beetle that may become acclimatized
and capable of developing in hard-
wood in British Columbia.

To my knowledge, NO softwood
has ever been attacked by Lyctus
beetles in British Columbia.

Finally, a ninth species is emerg-
ing (November 1965) from boards of
a packing case recently received from
south India. It closely resembles L.
brunneus in elytral and leg charac-
ters but the front and vertex are
different. It is being cultured out in
the same way as T. prostomoides to
see if it will attack hardwoods other
than the so-far unidentified wood
from which it is emerging.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

FECUNDITY OF THE BLACK VINE WEEVIL, Brathyrhinus suicatus (F.>,
FED ON FOLIAGE OF BLUEBERRY, CRANBERRY AND WEEDS
FROM PEAT BOGS1 2

W. T. Cram and W. D, Pearsons

Introduction

Larvae of the black vine weevil,
Brachyrhinus suicatus (F.), severely
damaged roots of blueberry (Cram,
1963), and cranberry grown on well-
drained peat bogs on Lulu Island and
at Pitt Meadows. Adult weevils were
observed feeding, or their feeding
damage was seen on these plants and
on several weeds of peat bogs. A
laboratory study was conducted to
determine the suitability of the
weeds and the economic plants as
hosts of this flightless, partheno-
genetic weevil, using as criteria
weight gain, preoviposition period,
rate of egg laying, and egg viability.

Methods

Newly- emerged adults were col-
lected from the duff under blueberry
bushes on Lulu Island in mid- June.
Only soft, incompletely hardened
weevils were used. Single adults were
confined at 20° C with 16 hours of
shaded fluorescent light in closed
plastic snap-cap vials (Anglo 2.5 by

9 cm) each with a leaf from a par-
ticular plant. Thirteen replicates of
seven plant species were started.
Foliage was changed at weekly in-
tervals. The amount consumed by
each weevil was judged by a rating
scheme. Weevils were weighed when
captured, three weeks later, and on
the day of first oviposition. Weekly
records of total and viable eggs were
kept for each weevil. Viability was
determined by holding the eggs for
four days before counting, by which
time the viable eggs had darkened.
Counts were discontinued in mid-
September when oviposition normally
ceases in the field (Cram, 1965a).
The data presented are from the first

10 weevils to oviposit in each treat-
ment.

1 Contribution No. 93 Research Station, Re-
search Branch, Canada Department of Agriculture,
6660 N.W. Marine Drive, Vancouver 8, B.C.

2 Summer student.

The plants chosen for study were:
Himalaya blackberry, Rubus thyrsan-
thus Focke; salal, Gaultheria shallon
Pursh; labrador tea, Ledum groen -
landicum Oeder.; cranberry, Vaccin-
ium macro carbon Ait. var. MacFar-
lane; highbush blueberry, Vaccinium
corymbosum (Aust.) var. Rancoccus;
fireweed, Epilobium angustifolium
(L.); sheep sorrel, Rumex acetosclla
L. Selected undamaged current-sea-
son foliage from all but cranberry
was collected periodically at the same
blueberry plantation on Lulu Island
and stored in air-tight plastic bags
at 0° C until needed. Cranberry was
collected from a nearby plantation.

Results

Blackberry and salal produced
similar and significantly greater
mean weight gains than the other
plants after three weeks but none
gave significantly different weight
gains at the time of first oviposition
(Table 1). Blackberry induced a
significantly shorter mean preovi-
position period than the other plants.
Salal and cranberry gave the next
shortest followed by labrador tea,
fireweed and blueberry; no weevils
survived to oviposit when fed sheep
sorrel. There appeared to be exces-
sive moisture in the closed vials con-
taining sheep sorrel. The addition of
strips of filter paper absorbed the
excess moisture but did not halt
mortality on this host.

Blackberry produced a significant-
ly greater mean number of total and
viable eggs than other plants (Table
1). Weevils fed blackberry laid more
than 2.5 times as many eggs as those
fed cranberry and 4 times as many
as those fed blueberry. Salal pro-
duced significantly more eggs than
blueberry or fireweed. There was a
significant positive correlation be-
tween the number of eggs laid and
the viability of the eggs, and a

1 Means within the same column which have the same letter are not signif icantly different at the
5% level, Duncan's New Multiple Range Test.

26 Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

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Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

significant negative correlation be-
tween weight gain in the first three
weeks and the length of the preovi-
position period. The amounts of the
various plants consumed were not
judged to differ significantly.

Discussion

Observations on host selection by
adult B. sulcatus indicated that they
wander randomly at night and en-
counter hosts fortuitously. They
become negatively geotropic at dusk
and appear to climb any plant en-
countered and feed on the foliage,
hence the wide range of plants show-
ing leaf notches. It is not certain
that weevils reject unsuitable plants
after initial feeding but there is an
indication that this might be the
case with labrador tea which suf-
fered least from feeding in the field
(Cram, 1965b).

Since no significant differences
occurred between plants in the
amounts of leaf consumed but signi-
ficant differences did occur between
plants in initial weight gain, preovi-
position period and egg production,
certain hosts appear to be nutrition-
ally superior to others for weevil
increase. The best-suited hosts, in-
dicated by this laboratory study,

appear to be Himalaya blackberry
and salal, both serious weeds of blue-
berry plantations and the headlands
of cranberry bogs. Reduction of these
weeds in and around commercial
plantations might help appreciably
to keep the numbers of the black
vine weevil below damaging levels.

Summary

The roots of blueberry and cran-
berry grown in well-drained peat
bogs are severely damaged by larvae
of the black vine weevil, Brachyr-
hinus sulcatus (F.). The adults feed
on the foliage of these commercial
plants and several weed plants. A
laboratory experiment using excised
foliage from seven common plants as
food for the adults revealed that
Himalaya blackberry and salal were
significantly superior hosts, on the
evidence of shorter preoviposition
periods and higher egg production.
Inferior hosts in descending order
were: labrador tea, cranberry, blue-
berry, fireweed and finally sheep
sorrel. Adults did not survive to ovi-
post when fed sheep sorrel. Removing
blackberry and salal in and around
commercial plantations of blueberry
and cranberry might help appreciably
in reducing damage by this pest.

References

Cram, W. T. 1963. Granular aldrin for control of the black vine weevil, Brachyrhinus
sulcatus (F.), in established blueberry plantings on peat in British Columbia.
Pesticide Progress 1: 185-187.

Cram, W. T. 1965a. Fecundity of the root weevils Brachyrhinus sulcatus and Sciopithes
obscurus on strawberry in the laboratory and outdoors. Can. J. Plant Sci. 45
(2): 169-176.

Cram, W. T. 1965b. A note on the acceptability of leaf macerates on filter paper of plants
from peat bogs by adult black vine weevils, Brachyrhinus sulcatus (F.). Proc.
Entomol. Brit. Columbia 62: 14-15.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

A FIRST RECORD OF PARALYSIS OF A DEER BY Dermacentor andersoni
(STILES) AND NOTES ON THE "HOST-POTENTIAL"

OF DEER IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

P. R. Wilkinson*

Despite the large numbers of rec-
ords of paralysis of domestic animals
and man by Dermacentor andersoni
Stiles in the northwestern part of its
range, the only record of paralysis of
native ungulates concerns Bison
bison (Linnaeus) in Montana (Greg-
son, 1958). In winter and spring
mule deer, Odocoileus hemionus
hemionus (Rafinesque) , frequent
lightly timbered or open south-facing
slopes, attracted by freedom from
snow and presence of browse shrubs
(e.g. Amelanchier, Mahonia) (Kleb-
enow, 1965). This shrub - growth,
which is often associated with rocky
or coarse soils, provides food and
refuge to rodent hosts of the imma-
ture stages of D. andersoni , and soil-
temperatures on these warm slopes
are favourable to the development of
the free-living stages (Wilkinson,
1964) . Fresh deer signs are frequently
seen on heavily infested tick foci, so
deer presumably pick up many ticks.
As spring is not the hunting season,
there are fewer records of D. ander-
soni on deer than might be expected,
and it is still unknown whether the
tick engorges readily on deer.

Of about 190 records of ticks on
mule deer at the Kamloops laboratory
only seventeen concern D. andersoni ,
and of these only four of the original
specimens are still available for
examination. Only one of these (four
females and one male from Creston,
B.C., 15 April, 1941) contains fully
engorged andersoni with a note that
it was taken from a deer ‘nearly dead
and covered with ticks/ Cowan
(1944), after describing heavy infes-
tations with Dermacentor albipictus
Packard on deer in Banff and Jasper
National Parks, noted that D. ander -

i Research Station, Canada Department of Ag-
riculture, Box 210, Kamloops, B.C.

soni was ‘of regular occurrence on
the deer range’ but ‘in its present
numbers is not known to be detri-
mental to game.’ Bishopp and Trem-
bley (1945) recorded four lots of D.
andersoni from mule deer of which
three lots contained five females
ranging from unfed to fully engorged.
Cooley (1938) summarising the work
of several authors gives O. hemionus
as a host of D. andersoni but does not
state the degree of engorgement
observed.

Milne (1949), in his studies of
Ixodes ricinus introduced the term
‘host-potential’, defining it as the
number of the host animals in the
study area multiplied by the average
number of ticks infesting each ani-
mal. This should be qualified by a
term to cover the proportion of these
ticks maturing to the next instar,
or the number of eggs layed by adult
female ticks maturing on this host
species, since some hosts develop
hypersensitive reactions which pre-
vent ticks engorging (Trager, 1939,
Riek, 1962, Wilkinson, 1962), or they
remove ticks by scratching, rubbing,
licking or biting. Where the range of
the host animal is considerably
greater than the size of the tick
focus, a term covering the proportion
of engorged ticks returned to the
focus would be needed.

Considering situations in North
America without domestic animals,
if ticks are picked up by deer and
fail to engorge, the presence of deer
would tend to reduce tick popula-
tions. If ticks maturing on deer
produce more eggs than if the same
ticks had been dependant on alter-
native hosts such as porcupines, the
presence of deer would tend to in-
crease the number of ticks, unless
the wide range of the deer caused
a large proportion of the engorged

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

ticks to fall in places with unsuitable
microclimate, or without suitable
rodent hosts for the next generation
of immature stages.

As part of a program to obtain
more information on the ‘host-
potential’ of deer, a bottle-fed male
fawn about one month old was
infested with 20 male and 20 female
D. andersoni on 3 July, 1964. The
ticks had been taken on 18 March,
1964 by ‘flagging’ vegetation and had
since been kept at 6-10 O over water.
The ticks were shaken into a girdle
covering the underneath and sides
of the belly, and the deer was exam-
ined daily between 7 and 11 July. At
9 AM on 9 July there were three
females on the head, one on the neck
and seven on the side of the chest; a
female nearing repletion and weigh-
ing 476 mg was removed, so that it
would not be lost. At 9 PM paralysis
of the hind quarters had developed
and female ticks weighing 338, 253
and 150 mg were removed to assist
the deer’s recovery. On 10 July the
paralysis involved the forelegs as
well as the rear legs, and a pair of
ticks was removed from the neck, the
female weighing 470 mg. At 1 PM a
movie of the paralysis symptoms was
taken and the remaining female
ticks, which were in the partly
engorged ‘tan-coloured’ stage, were
removed and preserved. On 11 July
the deer had recovered.

From this it appeared that if the
ticks had not been removed and the
deer had not succumbed to paralysis,
the majority of ticks would have
matured and oviposited. Two engorg-
ed ticks placed in an incubator at 25
C produced viable larvae, with a
normal percentage of eggs hatching.
Tests with ticks fed on sheep have
shown that the number of eggs laid
is approximately related to the
weight of the female (W.F., in mg) by
the expression N=10.5 (W.F. - 12.5),
for ticks weighing between 420 - 750
mg.

To test the ability of ticks to

engorge on older animals, and to
obtain more information while the
fawn was available, it was reinfested
on 11 December with 31 male and
24 female ticks taken from vegetation
in the spring of 1964, and stored as
before. On 20 December an almost
replete female weighing 645 mg was
removed from the back of the neck.
Another female engorged slowly, and
a further eight males were added on
21 December in case this was due to
a shortage of males. This female tick
was removed tightly distended on
31 December, but weighed only 390
mg. The smaller proportion of ticks
maturing may be accounted for by
the long storage of the ticks and the
loss of some of them during the
struggles of the deer. An infestation
with 10 males and 10 females obtain-
ed by sweeping vegetation on 13
March, 1965, and placed on the deer
on 25 March yielded a female of 668
mg on 2 April. The fawn did not
become paralysed during the Decem-
ber and March infestations.

Considering the repeated observa-
tion of engorgement of ticks on the
fawn, and the marked paralysis pro-
duced by the first infestation, the
scarcity of records of paralysis and
tick engorgement is surprising. Pos-
sibly most fawns are born too late
to encounter many ticks, because
ticks are commencing aestivation
and because deer are migrating to
summer feeding grounds, while adult
deer in spring may be resistant.
Gregson (personal communication)
has suggested that immune reactions
to D. albipictus, with which most B.C.
deer are infested from fall to spring,
may cause a cross-resistance to the
engorgement of D. andersoni. The
possibility of this cross-resistance
should be amenable to investigation
on tethered deer and stalled cattle,
meanwhile further information is
needed on tick infestations of deer
in spring.

Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to Mr. R. Ritcey, Game
Biologist, Kamloops for providing the fawn.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

References

Bishopp, F. C. and Trembley, H. L. (1945). Distribution and hosts of certain North
American ticks. J. Parasitology 31: 1-54.

Cooley, R. A. (1938). The genera Dermacentor and Otocentor (Ixodidae) in the United
States, with studies in variation. U.S. Nat. Inst. Health Bull. 171: 89 pp.

Cowan, I. McTaggart (1944). Parasites, Diseases and Injuries of Game Animals in Banff,
Jasper, and Kootenay National Parks. Canada Dept, of Mines and Resources.
Gregson, J. D. (1958). Host susceptibility to paralysis by the tick Dermacentor andersoni
Stiles (Acarina: Ixodidae). Canad. Ent. 90 (7): 421-424.

Klebenow, D. A. (1965). A montane forest winter deer habitat in Western Montana. J.
Wildl. Mgmt. 29: 27-33.

Milne, A. (1949). The ecology of the sheep tick, Ixodes ricinus L. Host relationships of
the tick. Parasitology 39: 167-172.

Riek, R. F. (1962). Studies on the reactions of animals to infestations with ticks. Aust. J.
Agric. Res. 13: 532-550.

Trager, W. (1939). Acquired immunity in ticks. J. Parasitology 25: 57-81.

Wilkinson, P. R. (1962). Selection of cattle for tick resistance, and the effects of herds
of different susceptibility on Boophilus populations. Aust. J. Agric. Res. 13:
974-983.

Wilkinson, P. R. (1964). Factors affecting distribution of the Rocky Mountain wood tick
(Dermacentor andersoni Stiles) in British Columbia. (Abstract). Bull. Ecol. Soc.
America 45: 53.

REPOSITORIES OF SYMBIOTIC FUNGUS IN THE AMBROSIA BEETLE
Monarthrum scu tellare LEC. (COLEOPTERA:SCOLYTIDAE)

By S. H. Farris

Department of Forestry of Canada
Forest Research Laboratory, Victoria, B.C.

Introduction

Specialized structures or mycangia
that contain symbiotic fungi have
been identified by several workers in
a number of scolytid ambrosia
beetles. Since Francke - Grosmann
(1956a) first described structures
with this function in Trypodendron
lineatum Oliv., workers have report-
ed mycangia in other species
(Francke - Grosmann, 1956b, 1958;

Fernando, 1960; Schedl, 1962; Finne-
gan, 1963; Farris, 1963; Batra, 1963).
Only females of most species possess
these structures but in Corthylus
punctatissimus Zimm. (Finnegan,
1963), Gnathotrichus retusus Lee.,
and G. sulcatus Lee. (Farris, 1963)
only males have mycangia.

Batra (1963), working with Monar-
thrum faciatum Say and M. mail
Fitch found mycangia to be enlarge-
ments of the forecoxal cavities in the
female beetles. Because of this and
the previous work of Francke-Gros-
mann and Batra (Francke-Gros-

mann, 1963) with these two species
of Monarthrum it seemed reasonable
to suspect that Monarthrum scutel-
lare Lee. would possess mycangia in
a similar position. This insect attacks
logs or weakened trees of the genus
Quercus from British Columbia south
to California (Chamberlin, 1958), its
host on Vancouver Island being Q.
garryana Dougl.

Materials and Methods

Adult beetles were excavated from
their host and either kill- fixed in
alcoholic Bouin’s solution for section-
ing or stored alive in a refrigerator
for dissecting and culturing later.
Specimens for sectioning were de-
hydrated with tertiary butyl alcohol
(Johansen, 1940), embedded with
Fisher’s “Tissuemat,” and serial sag-
ittal sections were cut at 15 and 20
microns on a rotary microtome. The
sections were treated with a modified
Gram-Weigert stain (Leach, 1940)
and counter stained with eosin Y,
previously used by Fernando (1960),

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

Illustrations

Fig. 1. — Sagittal section, 15 microns, of a whole 2 M. scutellare stained with a modified
Gram-Weigert stain, showing the location (cc) of the mycangia. 22X.

Fig. 2. — Sagittal section, 20 microns, of the enlarged 2 forecoxal cavity (cc), stained with
a modified Gram-Weigert stain to show the fungous cells (fc), glandular tissue
(gc), brush (b) and coxal indentation (ci). 180X.

Fig. 3. — Sagittal section, 15 microns, of a $ coxal cavity (cc). 180X.

Fig. 4. — Ventral view of $ and 2 M. scutellare adults with forecoxae removed to show
whitish fungous layer (fl) and complete median ridge in 2 (mr), and the lack of
same in $ . 20X.

Symbol Legend

cc — Coxal cavity ci — Coxal indentation

fl — Fungous layer fc — Fungous cells

gc —Gland cells mr — Median ridge

b — Brush fcx — Forecoxae

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

Farris (1963) and Farris and Funk
(1965), to differentiate fungous de-
posits from other tissue in beetle
sections.

To corroborate findings in the
stained sections, the forecoxae were
removed from refrigerated beetles of
both sexes and the coxal cavities
examined under a dissecting micro-
scope. Cultures were made from the
cavity contents and the fungus iden-
tified as Monilia brunnea Verrall
(Funk, 1965).

Results and Discussion

Stained sagittal sections of female
beetles showed enlargements of the
forecoxal cavities (Figs. 1 and 2)
containing blue and pink coloured
fungous material consisting of glob-
ose cells and short hyphal filaments
(Fig. 2). The male forecoxal cav-
ities were not enlarged (Fig. 3) and
did not contain fungous material. The
mesocoxal and metacoxal cavities of
both sexes were not enlarged and
likewise contained no fungous ma-
terial, A whitish layer of fungous
material was visible when the fore-
coxae of the female were removed
from their sockets. This was absent
in the male (Fig. 4).

After staining with the modified
Gram-Weigert stain and eosin Y,
some of the globose fungal cells
found in the forecoxal cavities show-
ed a Gram-positive reaction by re-
taining the blue stain, and others
showed a Gram-negative reaction by
turning pink. When these cells were
viewed under polarized light, a por-
tion of the walls of the Gram-positive
cells was birefringent but no bire-
fringence was seen in the Gram-
negative cells. The significance of
the birefringence is unknown. Fresh
fungous material taken from the
coxal cavities showed no birefring-
ence.

The median ridge between the
forecoxal cavities of the female is
complete, forming part of the my-

cangial wall (Fig. 4) separating the
two cavities. This ridge is incom-
plete in the male (Fig. 4).

The fungous cells are not contained
in a structure with a separate spe-
cialized opening as in T. llneatum,
but lie in a loosely compressed hemis-
pherical cake in the cavity (Fig. 2).

Within the anterior wall of the
cavity in the female there is a series
of gland cells which appear to lead
into the cavity (Fig. 2), but these are
absent or greatly reduced in the
male. In her work with several
species of ambrosia beetles Francke-
Grosmann suggested that secretions
from similar cells are beneficial to
the fungous spores. Possibly the gland
cells serve a similar function in M.
scutellare.

Not only are the female cavities
enlarged, making a place for fungus
transport, but the forecoxae have a
slight indentation which makes the
cavity even larger (Fig. 2). At the
anterior edge of this indentation,
opposite the glandular tissue, there
arises a sclerotized group of bristles
forming a brush (Fig. 2). The bristles
are pointed or bent away from the
main body of fungous cells. The
orientation of the brush on the coxae
indicates that it could move the
fungous cells forward and out of the
cavity when the beetle walks about
in its gallery, thus inoculating the
host with the fungus.

Schedl (1962) has described simi-
lar myeangia and methods of host
inoculation in the ambrosia beetles
Pterocyclon brasiliensis Schedl and
P. nudum Schedl, both from Brazil.

Summary

Adult female beetles of Monar -
thrum scutellare Lee. carry symbiotic
fungi in myeangia. These are en-
largements of the forecoxal cavities
similar to those described by Batra
(1963) for other members of the
genus. Male beetles do not have
these structures.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

Acknowledgements

I gratefully acknowledge the advice
received from Dr. J. A. Chapman during
this investigation and his assistance in
collecting the insect material. Mr. G. R.
Hopping, formerly' of the Forest Entomol-

ogy and Pathology Laboratory, Calgary,
Alberta, kindly identified the beetles. I
also wish to thank Dr. A. Funk for cultur-
ing the coxal cavity contents; Mr. A. Hedlin
and Mr. E. D. A. Dyer for reviewing the
manuscript, and Mr. A. Craigmyle for the
photographic work.

References

Batra, Lekh R. 1963. Ecology of ambrosia fungi and their dissemination by beetles.
Trans. Kans. Acad. Sci. 66: 213-236.

Chamberlin, W. J. 1958. The Scolytoidea of the Northwest* Oregon, Washington, Idaho
and British Columbia. Oregon State Monogr. Corvallis (blud. Ent.) 2: 205 pp.

Farris, S. H. 1963. Ambrosia fungus storage in two species of Gnathotrichus Eichhoff
(Coleoptera: Scolytidae). Canad. Ent. 95: 257-259.

Farris, S. H. and A. Funk. 1965. Repositories of symbiotic fungus in the ambrosia beetle
Platypus wilsoni Swaine (Coleoptera: Platypodidae). Canad. Ent. 97: 527-532.

Fernando, E. F. W. 1960. Storage and transmission of ambrosia fungus in the adult
Xyleborus fornicatus Eich. (Coleoptera: Scolytidae). Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. Ser.
13 (2): 475-480.

Finnegan, R. J. 1963. The storage of ambrosia fungus spores by the Pitted Ambrosia
Beetle, Corthylus punctatissimus Zimm. (Coleoptera: Scolytidae). Canad. Ent.
95: 137-139.

Francke-Grosmann, H. 1956a. Zur Ubertrangung der Nahrpilze bei Ambrosiakafern.
Naturwissenchaften 43 (12): 286-287.

Francke-Grosmann, H. 1956b. Hautdriisen als trager der Pilzsy'mbiose bei Ambrosia-
kafern. Z. Morph u. Okol Tiere, 45: 275-308.

Francke-Grosmann, H. 1958. Uber die Ambrosiazucht holzbriitender Ipiden im Hinblick
auf das System. 14. Verhand. der Deutschen Gesell. f. angewandte Ent. 1957.
139-144.

Francke-Grosmann, H. 1963. Some new aspects in forest entomology. Ann. Rev. Ent. 8:
415-483.

Funk, A. 1965. The symbiotic fungi of certain ambrosia beetles in British Columbia. Can.
J. Bot. In press.

Johansen, D. A. 1940. Plant Microtechnique. First Ed. McGraw-Hill Book Company Inc.
New York and London.

Leach, J. G. 1940. Insect transmission of plant diseases. First Ed. McGraw-Hill Book Co.,
Inc., New York and London.

Schedl, Wolfgang. 1962. Ein Beitrag zur Kenntnis de Pilzubertragungsweise bei
xylomycetophagen Scolytiden (Coleoptera). Sitzungsberichten der Osterr.
Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathem. - Naturw. Kl., Abt. 1. 171 Bd., 8. bis 10.
Heft.: 363-387. Springer-Verlag, Wien.

4 Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

Neatoryphus SCUDDER, A NEW GENUS OF LYGAEINAE
(HEMIPTERA :LYGAEIDAE)

G. G. E. SCUDDER

Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver

A study of Old World and New
World species of Lygaeinae at present
placed in the genus Melanocoryphus
Stal 1872, has shown that they can-
not be considered as all belonging
to one genus. The New World species
must be placed in a new genus, which
is described below.

Genus Neacoryphus Scudder gen.nov .

Red - orange and black bugs; dor-
sum more or less glabrous.

Head triangular and black; eyes
adjacent to antero-lateral angles of
pronotum and not stylate; antennae
black, with typical ratio 10:22:18:21;
bucculae elevated and gently convex
throughout, extending to posterior
part of head; rostrum variable in
length, reaching middle or hind
coxae, or just beyond.

Pronotum ecarinate; posterior
margin more or less straight or
slightly convex, and without caudad
extensions of humeral angles; disc
of pronotum somewhat punctate,
especially near calli; thoracic pleura
if contrasting black and ochraceous,
then fuscous half anteriorly; pleura
rather punctate, especially poster-
iorly; posterior margin of metapleura
distinctly convex; ostiolar peritreme
present, black and auriculate. Scu-
tellum not tumid and swollen, but
with a shallow excavation on each
side of mid-line.

Hemielytra usually macropterous;
corium and clavus variously coloured,
but never red with a central round
black spot; membrane black, black
with pale margin, or pale with black
veins — never black with one or two
white spots in central area; veins of
hemielytra prominent.

Legs black; femora unarmed.

Abdomen pale or dark; if venter
bicoloured, then usually black in
centre with lateral margins of sterna

only pale— venter never red with only
sternum VII completely black.

Spermatheca with distal portion
relatively short and with distinct
bulb — not complexly coiled (ftes
1-2).

Type species: Lygaeus bicrucis
Say 1825

This genus is erected to contain
the New World species which have
until the present been placed in the
genus Melanocoryphus Stal 1872: the
latter is a genus confined to the Old
World. Neacoryphus can be separated
from neighbouring genera of the
Melanocoryphus- complex, by the fol-
lowing key, and the spermathecae
shown in figs. 3-6.

Characters of Melanocoryphus-
complex: head generally black (at
least black at base and without red
or pale spot or streak in centre) ; legs
and ostiolar peritreme black; postero-
dorsal corner of metapleura non-
angulate; eyes adjacent to antero-
lateral angles of pronotum; scutellum
somewhat excavate on each side of
midline.

Key to genera of

Melanocoryphus-complex

1. Corium red with a distinct discoidal

black spot in middle; membrane black
with a central discoidal pale spot and
apically with a pale spot or a pale mar-
gin (never all black or black with only
a pale margin); thoracic pleura if
partly black, then black part poster-
iorly; spermatheca as in figs. 1-2; Old
World Melanocoryphus Stal

— Corium not red with a central discoid-
al black spot; membrane black, or
marked with white, but never with
white markings as above; thoracic
pleura if partly pale, then pale mark-
ings posteriorly; New World 2

2. Membrane with a median white dis-

coidal spot or variegated with white;
species small and pilose ....

Lygaeospilus Barber

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol, 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

Figs. 1-6 — Spermathecae. 1. Melanocoryphus albomaculatus (Goeze) [Florence]; 2. M.

superbus (Poll.) [Channel Is., Jersey, St. Catherine’s Bay, 22. iv. 1957, G. G.
E. Scudder]; 3. Neacoryphus bicrucis (Say) [B.C., Victoria, 26. vi. 1923, K. F,
Auden]; 4. N. lateralis (Dallas) [Wyo., Buffalo, 13. ix. 1963, G. G. E. Scudder];
5. N. circumlitus (Stal) [Mexico, Jalisco, Puerto Vallarta, 7-12. vii. 1961, P,
R. Grant]; 6. N, admirabilis (Uhler) [Ore., Steens Mts., Fish Lake, 7000 ft.,
10. vii. 1927, H. A. Scullen]. Scale lines = 0.25 mm. Figs. 1-2 to scale c,
figs. 3-4 to scale b, and figs. 5-6 to scale a.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

— Membrane without a median white dis-
coidal spot, entirely fuscous, black
with pale margin, or pale with fuscous
veins; larger species, not conspicuously
pilose Neacoryphus Scudder

In the genus Neacoryphus should be
placed the following species:

V3U Neacoryphus admirabilis (Uhler 1872)
comb. nov.

Lygaeus admirabilis Uhler 1872, in
Hayden, Rept. U.S. Geol. Surv.
Mont.: 405 [O.D.]

Melanocoryphus admirabilis Slater
1964, Cat. Lyg. 1:120 [Bibliogr.]

2. Neacoryphus albonotatus (Barber 1923)

comb. nov.

Lygaeus (Melanocoryphus) albonotatus

Barber 1923, Amer. Mus. Novit.
75:1 [O.D.]

Melanocoryphus albonotatus Slater
1964, Cat. Lyg. 1:125 [Bibliogr.]

3. Neacoryphus bicrucis (Say 1825)

comb. nov.

Lygaeus bicrucis Say 1825, J. Acad,
Nat. Sci. Phil. 4:322 [O.D.]
Melanocoryphus bicrucis Slater 1964,
Cat. Lyg. 1:126 [Bibliogr.]

4. Neacoryphus circumlinitus (Distant

1882) comb. nov.

Lygaeus (Melanocoryphus) circumlini-
tus Distant 1882, Biol. Centr. Amer.
Hem. Het. 1:186 [O.D.]
Melanocoryphus circumlinitus Slater
1964, Cat. Lyg. 1:129 [Bibliogr.]

5. Neacoryphus circumlitus (Stal 1862)

comb. nov.

Lygaeus circumlitus Stal 1862, Stett.

ent. Zeit. 23:309 [O.D.]
Melanocoryphus circumlitus Slater
1964, Cat. Lyg. 1:129 [Bibliogr.]

6. Neacoryphus circumplicatus (Distant

1882) comb. nov.

Lygaeus (Melanocoryphus) circumplica-
tus Distant 1882, Biol. Centr. Amer.
Hem. Het. 1:186 [Bibliogr.]
Melanocoryphus circumplicatus Slater
1964, Cat. Lyg. 1:129 [Bibliogr.]

7. Neacoryphus circumseptus (Stal 1867)

comb. nov.

Lygaeus circumseptus Stal 1867, Berl.

ent. Zeit. 10:162 [O.D.]
Melanocoryphus circumseptus Slater
1964, Cat. Lyg. 1:129 [Bibliogr.]

8. Neacoryphus consanguinitas (Distant

1882) comb. nov.

Lygaeus (Melanocoryphus) consanguin-
itas Distant 1882, Biol. Centr.
Amer. Hem. Het. 1:187 [O.D.]
Melanocoryphus consanguinitas Slater
Slater 1964, Cat. Lyg. 1:130 [Bib-
liogr.]

9. Neacoryphus facetus (Say 1831) comb,
nov.

Lygaeus facetus Say 1831, Desc. Het.
Hem. N. Amer. (Fitch Rep.) :773
[O.D.]

Melanocoryphus facetus Slater 1964,
Cat. Lyg. 1:131 [Bibliogr.]

10. Neacoryphus lateralis (Dallas 1852)

comb. nov.

Lygaeus lateralis Dallas 1852, List Hem.
B.M. 2:550 [O.D.]

Melanocoryphus lateralis Slater 1964,
Cat. Lyg. 1:134 [Bibliogr.]

11. Neacoryphus nigriguttulus (Stal 1874)

comb. nov.

Melanocoryphus nigriguttulus Stal 1874,
K. Vet. Akad. Handl. 12(1): 113
[O.D.]

Melanocoryphus nigriguttulus Slater
1964, Cat. Lyg. 1:136 [Bibliogr.]

12. Neacoryphus nigrinervis (Stal 1874)

comb. nov.

Melanocoryphus nigrinervis Stal 1874,
K. Vet. Akad. Handl. 12(1): 112
[O.D.]

Melanocoryphus nigrinervis Slater 1964,
Cat. Lyg. 1:136 [Bibliogr.]

13. Neacoryphus rubicollis (Uhler 1894)

comb. nov.

Melanocoryphus rubicollis Uhler 1894,
Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. (2)4: 244
[O.D.]

Melanocoryphus rubicollis Slater 1964,
Cat. Lyg. 1:136 [Bibliogr.]

14. Neacoryphus rubriger (Stal 1862) comb.

nov.

Lygaeus rubriger Stal 1862, Stett. ent.
Zeit. 23:309 [O.D.]

Melanocoryphus rubriger Slater 1964.
Cat. Lyg. 1:137 [Bibliogr.]

15. Neacoryphus variegatus (DeGeer 1773)

comb. nov.

Cimex variagatus DeGeer 1773, Mem.

Serv. Hist. Ins. 3:342 [O.D.]
Melanocoryphus variegatus Slater 1964,
Cat. Lyg. 1:145 [Bibliogr.]

It is also possible that Lygaeus
aureus Distant 1882 (Biol. Centr.
Amer. Hem. Het. 1:188) belongs in
Neacoryphus, but I have not seen the
type of this species.

Acknowledgements

Research for this paper was supported by
grants from the National Research Council
of Canada and the University of British
Columbia.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

THE NOTON ECTI DAE (HEMIPTERA) OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

G. G. E. Scudder

Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver

A study of the Notonectidae in
British Columbia has shown, that six
species are present in the Province.
Distribution, habitat notes and a
key to species is given below.

Subfamily Notonectfnae

Notonecta borealis Bueno & Hus-
sey. — Cariboo, Springhouse, 15. vii.
1962, 18. viii. 1962, 31. viii. 1962, 26.
v. 1963 (G. G. E. Scudder); Chilcotin,
21. ix. 1963 (G. G. E. S.) [U.B.C.].
Hungerford (1933) records N. borealis
from Michigan, Minnesota, Quebec
and Bearfoot Mountains, B.C.: the
latter record was repeated by Downes
(1927). I have been unable to locate
the Bearfoot Mountains locality, and
so it is possible that this record
refers to some neighbouring state or
province.

To the above distribution, also can
be added the Northwest Territories
and Alberta. Material examined in-
cludes:- N.W.T., M. 37, Yellowknife,
21. vii. 1961 (T. G. Northcote) ;

N.W.T., M. 10. 5, Yellowknife, 21. vii.
1961 (T. G. N.); N.W.T., trib. to

Birch Lake, 4 mi. E. Birch Lake at
mi. 74 E. of Fort Providence, on Ft.
Providence — Fort Rae Hwy., 31. vii.
1961 (C. C. Lindsey). ALTA., Hay
River, 8 mi. N. of Meander River, 20.
vii. 1961 (T. G. N.) [U.B.C.].

The specimens from near Birch
Lake, N.W.T. and Hay River, Alta,
were taken in slow flowing rivers. At
the former the river was 10 feet wide,

4 feet deep and with a weed bed at
margin; at the latter, the river was
80 feet wide, 2 feet deep and the
bottom was mud with small stones
and some Potamogeton. In contrast
to this, the B.C. specimens were
taken in small ponds.

The captures of N. borealis in the
Interior of British Columbia, indi-
cate that in this area, the species

overwinters in the adult instar:
Hungerford (1933) states that un-
published records of the species in
Michigan, indicate that there it
overwinters in the egg stage. The
B.C. specimens were captured in
small freshwater ponds, of less than
an acre in extent and with a profuse
growth of submerged and emergent
vegetation. These ponds had a pH of
8.03 - 8.35, and a water conductivity
of 300 - 1050 microhmos/cm. (equiv-
alent to 0.0135 - 0.0525 % NaCl).

N. kirbyi Hungerf. — Comox, vii
(J. L. Jones); Forbidden Plateau,
vii; Malahat, viii (W. Downes); Met-
chosin; Saturna Is., v (J. Boone);
20 mis. S. Port Clements, iii (A. B.
Acton) ; Hope, ii (G. H. Asche) ; Mil-
ner, v (K. Graham) ; Nancy Lake,
Mt. Seymour, ix (R. E. Leech) ;
Stanley Park, Vancouver, iv (G. G.
E. Scudder) ; Vancouver, vii (H. B.
Leech) ; Oliver, ix ( J. Boone) ; Kere-
meos, ix (W. Downes) ; Olalla, viii
(G. G. E. S.); Westbank, ix (W. D.) ;
Enderby, vi (W. D.) ; Vernon, 29. iv.
1918, in flight on road (M. Ruh-
mann); Vernon, ix (H. B. L.), x
(W. D.); Salmon Arm, v (H. B. L.) ;
Quick, viii (G. J. Spencer) ; Nicola,
vi (G. J. S.); Kamloops, vii-viii (G.
J. S.) ; Edith Lake, viii; Savona, vii;
Clinton, 6 mis. S., ix (G. G. E. S.) ;
13 ml. Lake, Dog Creek Rd, N. Clin-
ton, x (H. B. L. & C. V. Morgan) ; 149
mile, Cariboo Hwy., ix (G. G. E. S.) ;
Chilcotin, v-ix (G. G. E. S.) ; Mc-
Intyre Lake, Chilcotin, x (G. G. E.
S.) ; Boitano Lake, Cariboo, v (G. G.
E. S.); Westwick Lake, Cariboo, iv-ix
(G. G. E. S.) ; Springhouse, Cariboo,
iv-x (G. G. E. S.) ; Kootenay (Horse-
shoe Lake, New Lake), x (H. Spar-
row) ; Fort St. John, vi (A. B. Acton)
[U.B.C.]. Oliver, v (J. E. H. Martin);
Peachland, x (A. N. Gartrell) ; Sum-
merland, ix (A. N. G.) ; Westbank, v
(A. Thrupp) ; Kaleden, xii (A. N. G.) ;

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Beit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

Kelowna, xi (A. N. G.) ; Creston, vii
(A. A. Dennys) ; Princeton, v (P. N.
Vroom) ; Lavington, vi. (A. Thrupp) ;
Copper Mt., ix (G. Stace Smith) ;
Minnie Lake, vii (N. Griddle) ; Clin-
ton, v (R. Hopping) ; 134 mile, viii
(R. Hopping) ; Barkerville, ix (G.
Stace Smith) ; Revelstoke, 6000 ft.,
vii (E. R. Buckell) ; Courtenay, vii
(J. G. Gregson) [C.N.C.].

Hungerford (1933) notes material
in the C.N.C. from Mt. Cheam, iii;
Rolla, viii (P. N. Vroom), Aspen
Grove, v (P. N. Vroom), and reports
the species as being confined to the
western United States and Canada.
Previous to 1933 N. kirbyi was con-
fused with N. insulata Kirby.

In the B.C. Interior, N. kirbyi has
been taken in a wide variety of
lakes, with pH 7.03 - 9.23 and con-
ductivity 60 - 6,800 microhmos/cm.,
but has not so far been taken in
waters above 7000 microhmos/cm.
(about 0.4% NaCl). Some prelimin-
ary measurements have been made
on the haemolymph of this species:
the results are tabulated below.

Lake Osmolarity Osmolarity

of lake of insect

water haemolymph
(osmoles) (osmoles)

A 0.005 0.30

B 0.135 0.36

C 0.270 0.37

In Lake B there was 47 meq. Na/L
and in the insect haemolymph 153
meq. Na/L (based on five insects
pooled) .

N. undulata Say. — Comox, vii (J.
Ii. Jones) ; Colwood, x (W. Downes) ;
Courtenay; Forbidden Plateau, 3000
ft., vii (Jones) ; Goldstream, vii (K.
F. Auden) ; Lower Quinsam Lake, iv
(in cop. 30. iv. 1960) (J. Lanko) ;

Malahat, viii (W. D.) ; Metchosin,
viii (W. D.) ; Nanaimo, v (G. J. Spen-
cer) ; Saanich Distr., viii-ix (W. D.) ;
Tofino, vi-viii (G. J. S.) ; Victoria, vi
(K. F. A.) ; Agassiz, vii; Haney, ix
(W. D.) ; Prince Rupert, muskeg pool

(N. Carter) ; Nr. Squamish, viii (G.
G. E. Scudder) ; Steelhead, ix (G. G.
E. S.) ; Vancouver, x (D. C. Buck-
land) ; Oliver, viii (W. D.) ; Vaseaux
Lake, viii (W. D.) ; Westbank, ix (W.
D.) ; Keremeos, ix (W. D.) ; Kamloops,
viii (G. J. S.) ; Sheridan Lake, ix;
Williams Lake Distr., v (G. G. E. S.) ;
Chilcotin, v-x (G. G. E. S.) ; Mc-
Intyre Lake, Chilcotin, x (G. G. E.
S.) ; Green Timbers Plateau, vi-x
(G. G. E. S.) ; Beaverdam Lake,
Cariboo, x (G. G. E. S.) ; Spring-
house, Cariboo, v-x (G. G. E. S.) ;
Batholemew Lake, S. of Kimberley,
v (I. Stirling) ; Kootenay (Horseshoe
Lake, Jim Smith Lake, Enid Lake,
Lillian Lake, Hiawatha Lake, Bed-
norski Lake, New Lake), x (H. Spar-
row) [U.B.C.l. 134 Mile (R. Hopping) ;
Vernon (R. Hopping) [F.I.S., Vernon].
Matson Lake, V.I., x (Downes &
Hardy) ; Wellington, iii [Prov. Mus.
Victoria], Peachland, x (A. N. Gar-
trell) ; Salmon Arm, ix (A. Thrupp);
Summerland, x (A. N. G.) ; Oliver, x
(A. N. G.) ; Victoria, vi (K. F. A.)
[C.N.C.]. Hungerford (1933) also gives
Chilliwack, ix; Mt. Cheam, ix, and
notes that N. undulata has a wide
range, extending from coast to coast
in North America and from Canada
to the Gulf of Mexico.

In British Columbia, undulata
seems to be relatively more abundant
in the south than in the central in-
terior, and is more common in the
south-east, than is kirbyi. In the
Cariboo and Chilcotin undulata and
kirbyi frequently occur in the same
lake. They have a similar range of
salinity tolerance and haemolymph
values appear identical.

N. spinosa Hungerf. — Oliver, 15.
viii. 1937 (W. Downes) ; Vernon, 4. x.
1921 (W. D.), 13. ix. 1930 (H. Leech)
[U.B.C.]. Kelowna, xi (A. N. Gartrell)
[C.N.C.]. Downes (in litt.) reports this
from slow flowing streams. It appears
to be confined to the Okanagan Val-
ley in B.C. Hungerford (1933) re-
cords the species from B.C., Oregon,
Montana, Nevada and Utah.

Proc, Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia, Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

N. unifasciata andersoni Hunger!'.
— Osoyoos, 29. iii. 1941 (H. B. Leech) ;
Westbank, 12. ix. 1954 (W. Downes)
[U.B.C.]. Oliver, v (A. N. Gartrell) ;
Peachland, x (A. N. G.) ; Penticton, x
(A. N. G.) ; Summerland, iv (A. N.
G.) ; Vernon, vi (R. Hopping) [C.N.C.].
Like spinosa, apparently confined to
the Okanagan Valley in B.C. This
subspecies extends from B.C. through
the Western United States to Mexico,
the type locality being Oliver, B.C.

Subfamily Anisopinae

Buenoa confusa Truxal — Duncan,
4. ix. 1926 (W. Downes) ; Beaver

Lake, Saanich Dist., 9. viii. 1919 (W.
D.); Malahat, 30. viii. 1939 (W. D.) ;
Sooke,19. viii. 1923 (K. F. Auden) ;
Nr. Squamish, 25. viii. 1961 (G. G. E.
Scudder) ; Oliver, 15. viii. 1957 (W.
D.) ; Premier Lake, Kootenay, 4. ix.
1963 (I. Stirling). These constitute
the first definite records of this
species in the Province: material

from Vancouver Island was recorded
under B. elegans (Fieb). by Downes
(1927). Truxal (1953) has shown
that the North American specimens
referred to elegans are incorrectly
named, most of them being confusa.

B. confusa has a very interesting
distribution in that it occurs only in
the southern drier and warmer areas

Key to Notonectidae of
British Columbia

1. Hemielytral commissure with definite

hair-lined pit on anterior end; hemiely-
tra hyaline; fore tarsi of male with two
tarsomeres; male fore femora widened
at apex and with stridulatory area on
inner surface; greatest width of head
at least 7x width of vertex; pronotum
tricarinate, the median carina distinct;
synthlipsis narrow, less than half an-
terior width of vertex.

Buenoa confusa Trux

— Hemielytral commissure without defin-

ite hair-lined pit on anterior end;
hemielytra opaque 2

2. Keel of fourth abdominal sternum bare,

hairs confined to sides. 3

— Keel of fourth abdominal sternum not

bare 4

3. Insects pale and more or less uniform
ochraceous; anterior margin of corium
sometimes narrowly fuscous; mem-

of the Province: it does not appar-
ently penetrate far into the Interior,
but also it is not confined to the
Okanagan. The locality near Squam-
ish is a very small road-side pond,
with floating logs and a little vegeta-
tion. In August 1961 the species was
abundant and both adults and larvae
were captured. Truxal (1953) reports
confusa from Alberta, Manitoba,
eastern and southern United States
and the West Indies. In the northern
part of its range, specimens are
larger than those to the south and
the species seems to show a elinal
type variation. Further, Truxal (loc.
cit.) reports a variation in flight
wing development in different popu-
lations. In Manitoba and Alberta 32%
were short-winged, while those from
Connecticut, Michigan, New York,
New Jersey and Kansas were all short
winged. Other states had varying
percentages of short-winged indiv-
iduals and the sample from the
Grand Cayman Island was all long-
winged. All specimens so far studied
from British Columbia are short-
winged and thus the reduced wing
condition seems not to have a geo-
graphical basis. Perhaps it is related
to habitat stability, similar to the
conditions in Corixidae and other
Notonectidae (Young, 1961, 1965;

Scudder, 1964).

brane and scutellum flavo-ochraceous;
male genital capsule with distinct ven-
tral finger-like process

Notonecta borealis B. & H.

— Insects usually distinctly marked with
black; membrane fuscous in basal half;
scutellum completely black; male
genital capsule with slight ventral
conical projection N. kirbyi Hung.

4. Mesotrochanter angulate or spinose 5

— Mesotrochanter rounded

N. undulata Say1

5. Mesotrochanter produced into a long

spine ... N. spinosa Hung.

— Mesotrochanter angulate

N. unifasciata andersoni Hung.

Acknowledgements

This paper results from research on the
aquatic insects of British Columbia, re-
search supported by grants from the
National Research Council of Canada and
University of British Columbia.

Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia. Vol. 62 (1965), Dec. 1, 1965

References

Downes, W. 1927. A preliminary list of the Heteroptera and Homoptera of British
Columbia. Proc. Ent. Soc. B.C 23: 1-22.

Hungerford, H. B. 1933. The genus Notonecta of the World. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 21:
5-195.

Scudder, G. G. E. 1964. Wing muscle polymorphism in Cenocorixa. Amer. Zool. 4: 248.
Truxal, F. S. 1953. A revision of the genus Buenoa (Hemiptera, Notonecitidae.) Univ.
Kansas Sci. Bull. 35: 1351-1523.

Young, E. C. 1961. Degeneration of flight-musculature in the Corixidae and Notonectidae.
Nature, Lond. 189: 328-329.

Young, E. C. 1965. Flight muscle polymorphism in British Corixidae: ecological observa-
tions. J. Anim. Ecol. 34: 353-390.

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