NEW DESCRIPTIONS OF LARVAE OF FOREST INSECTS. INTRODUCTION; I. PANTHEA (LEPIDOPTERA, PHALAENIDAE)

1942 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. W. A. Brown ◽  
W. C. McGuffin
Keyword(s):  
Larval Stage ◽  
Considerable Proportion ◽  
Forest Insect ◽  
The Past ◽  
Forest Insects ◽  
Insect Survey

During the past five years several thousand samples of lepidopterous larvae have been collected from spruce in the course of the Canadian Forest Insect Survey (1). It was found that a considerable proportion of the species had been hitherto unknown in the larval stage, and that many others had been only briefly or superficially described. In this paper, and in subsequent instalments, descriptions will be presented for those species whose larvae, to the author's knowledge, have never been described before.

Storage of Preserved Insect Specimens

1958 ◽  
Vol 90 (8) ◽  
pp. 461-463
Author(s):  
David Evans
Keyword(s):  
Hypodermic Needle ◽  
Air Bubbles ◽  
Forest Insect ◽  
The Past ◽  
Insect Survey ◽  
Forest Biology ◽  
Biology Laboratory ◽  
Small Shell ◽  
Outside Diameter

Several methods of storing insect specimens in liquid preservatives have been used at the Forest Biology Laboratory at Victoria, all of them unsatisfactory to a varying degree. The method described herein was devised by the author and has proved successful during the past year.Homeopathic vials approximately 62 mm. overall outside length × 15 mm. greatest outside diameter × 11 mm. inside neck measurement, with 000 rubber stoppers, are the most suitable size for insect specimens. The different stages of nearly any of the species of insects encountered by the Forest Insect Survey can be easily accommodated in a single vial of this size. Small shell vials may be used for double mounts when tiny insects are involved which might otherwise be lost in the larger vials. For material too large for the 11 mm. neck of the homeopathic vial, shell vials 65 mm. × 15 mm. can be used with serum sleeve-type stoppers. All but mass collections and a few of the larvae can be preserved in these sizes. Both types of rubber stoppers are satisfactory, although the sleeve type requires more effort to put on and seal, and also conceals the top of the vial. Air bubbles can be removed from the latter by inserting a hypodermic needle through the top of the stopper.

NEW DESCRIPTIONS OF LARVAE OF FOREST INSECTS: LARVAE OF THE GENUS EUPITHECIA (LEPIDOPTERA, GEOMETRIDAE)

1945 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 53-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. C. McGuffin
Keyword(s):  
Forest Insect ◽  
Forest Insects ◽  
Insect Survey

During the last seven years, larvae representing more than a dozen species of the genus Eupithecia have been received by the Forest Insect Survey of Canada. With the hope that some of these larvae may be recognized more readily, two species are described herewith; additional notes are given on three species already described, and a key for the separation of mature larvae of these five species is presented at the end of this article.

Some Larvae of the Genus Itame Hübner (Lepidoptera: Geometridae)

1956 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. C. McGuffin
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
The Other ◽  
External Morphology ◽  
Boreal Zone ◽  
Forest Insect ◽  
Forest Insects ◽  
Insect Survey ◽  
Reservoir Hosts

Although many forest insects feed in or on trees, a larger number live on the shrubs and herbs of the forest floor. The shrub and herb feeders should not be overlooked since they comprise an important part of the fauna and may serve as reservoir hosts of parasites of the more destructive forest insects. Some larvae of the genus Itame are tree feeders but many of them feed on shrubs. These larvae are frequently collected within the Boreal Zone of Canada. As no means for the identification of the larvae could be found in the literature this paper was written. It consists of an account of the life history and external morphology of the larvae of the genus, a key to separate the mature larvae and descriptions of ten species. These species are: I. ribearia (Fitch), I. evagaria (Hlst.), I. brunneata (Thunb.), I. andersoni Swett, I. occiduaria (Pack.), I. anataria (Swett), I. exauspicata (Wlk.), I. bitactata (Wlk.), I. denticulodes (Hlst.), and I. decorata (Hlst.). Studies of the first four species are based on material obtained on loans and studies of the other species were made on material reared by the Forest Insect Survey of the Forest Zoology Laboratory, Calgary, Alberta.

An Outbreak of the Larch Sawfly (Pristiphora erichsonii (Htg.)) in the Maritime Provinces (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae) and the Role of Parasites in its Control

1954 ◽  
Vol 86 (10) ◽  
pp. 471-480 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. A. Reeks
Keyword(s):  
Prince Edward Island ◽  
Ecological Study ◽  
Maritime Provinces ◽  
Forest Insect ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
The Past ◽  
Pristiphora Erichsonii ◽  
Larch Sawfly ◽  
Insect Survey

At least four outbreaks of the larch sawfly, Pristiphora erichsonii (Htg.), have occurred in the Maritime Provinces within the past 70 years. The first (1) occurred from about 1883 to 1885, the second from about 1906 to 1909 (1), and the third from 1919 to 1927. The last outbreak started in 1933 and ended in 1942. Despite extensive sampling by the Forest Insect Survey from 1943 to 1953, only six samples have been taken during this period in the three Maritime Provinces, and each was an isolated colony. Although an ecological study of the insect was not attempted during the latest outbreak, general observations were made by the writer and other staff members of the Survey. These observations are summarized in the present paper to record the outbreak and some of the factors that contributed to its termination. Another outbreak has persisted in Newfoundland from 1942 and perhaps earlier, but the present discussion is largely confined to events in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.

The Bionomics of the Aspen Blotch Miner, Lithocolletis salicifoliella Cham. (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae)

1956 ◽  
Vol 88 (4) ◽  
pp. 155-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Lynton Martin
Keyword(s):  
Populus Tremuloides ◽  
Trembling Aspen ◽  
Forest Insect ◽  
The Past ◽  
Central Canada ◽  
Insect Survey

The aspen blotch miner, Lithocolletis salicifoliella, Cham., has been abundant on trembling aspen, Populus tremuloides Michx., throughout central Canada for the past few years. The mines of this species are found on the underside of the leaves, and are often abundant enough to cause premature browning of the foliage. This insect first came to the attention of the Forest Insect Survey of Ontario in the vicinity of Lake Nipigon in 1944. By 1950, the infestation covered all but the southern part of Ontario, and was reported in most aspen stands in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The intensity of the infestation in the northern part of Ontario began to decline by 1952, and in 1954 damage was negligible.

NEW DESCRIPTIONS OF LARVAE OF FOREST INSECTS, V, EUPITHECIA, HYDRIOMENA (LEPIDOPTERA, GEOMETRIDAE)

1942 ◽  
Vol 74 (8) ◽  
pp. 150-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. C. McGuffin
Keyword(s):  
Forest Insect ◽  
Forest Insects ◽  
Insect Survey

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

Estimation of Parasitism of Larch Sawfly Cocoons by Bessa harveyi Tnsd. in Survey Collections

1959 ◽  
Vol 91 (8) ◽  
pp. 496-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. G. H. Ives ◽  
R. M. Prentice
Keyword(s):  
Forest Insect ◽  
Small Areas ◽  
Pristiphora Erichsonii ◽  
Larch Sawfly ◽  
Insect Survey ◽  
Forest Biology ◽  
Biology Laboratory ◽  
Total Parasitism

The Forest Insect Survey at the Forest Biology Laboratory, Winnipeg, has been compiling records for a number of years on the percentage of cocoons of the larch sawfly, Pristiphora erichsonii (Htg.), parasitized by the tachinid Bessa harveyi Tnsd. Sawfly cocoons were collected each fall from the soil in infested stands, and those containing living larvae were dissected to determine the percentage of parasitism by B. harveyi. These estimates have been used to provide an index of parasitism (Lejeune and Hildahl, 1954), but are of limited value for a number of reasons: (1) estimates can be expressed only as percentage of sound cocoons parasitized; (2) total parasitism cannot be estimated because a portion of the parasites emerge from the cocoons before collection; and (3) estimates of parasitism may not be representative of the stand because there is a tendency to collect cocoons where they are easiest to find; hence all the cocoons in a collection may be from one or two small areas. If the proportion of cocoons containing B. harveyi varies within a stand such collections may give unreliable estimates of parasitism.

The Life History and Dispersal of the Bruce Spanworm, Operophtera bruceata (Hulst), (Lepidoptera: Geometridae)

1962 ◽  
Vol 94 (10) ◽  
pp. 1103-1107 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. E. Brown
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Life History ◽  
The United States ◽  
American Continent ◽  
Forest Insect ◽  
North American Continent ◽  
The Third ◽  
The North ◽  
Insect Survey ◽  
Bruce Spanworm

The Bruce spanworrn, Operophtera bruceata (Hulst), is most common in the mid latitudes of the North American Continent; in Canada it occurs from Newfoundland to the interior of British Columbia (Prentice, In Press) and has been reported from Vermont and Wisconsin in the United States (Craighead, 1950.) Three outbreaks of this insect have been recorded in Alberta. The first occurred in 1903 (de Gryse, 1925) and was apparently of short duration. The second reported by Wolley Dod (1913) occurred in 1913 and denuded hundreds of acres of aspen poplar. Heavy defoliation in the third outbreak became evident in 1957 (Brown, 1957) but an examination of Forest Insect Survey records revealed that population buildup began about 1951. The outbreak continued to expand until 1958 and began to decline in 1959; by 1961 populations were again low except for one or two isolated areas where moderate to low populations persisted. At the peak of the outbreak in 1958 approximately 50,000 square miies were moderately or heavily infested and many more lightly infested.

BESSA SELECTA (MEIGEN) (DIPTERA: TACHINIDAE) AS A PARASITE OF GILPINIA HERCYNIAE (HARTIG) (HYMENOPTERA: DIPRIONIDAE)

1947 ◽  
Vol 79 (5) ◽  
pp. 84-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. S. Hawboldt
Keyword(s):  
High Mortality ◽  
Great Difficulty ◽  
Control Factor ◽  
Forest Insect ◽  
Larch Sawfly ◽  
Insect Survey

This project arose out of studies of the European spruce sawfly, Gilpinia hercyniae (Htg.), in connection with the Canadian Forest Insect Survey at the Dominion Entomological Laboratories, Fredericton, N.B. Bessa selecta (Mg.) had been observed as a parasite of the larch sawfly, Pristiphora erichsoni (Htg.), but particular interest was aroused in it as a parasite occurring on the European spruce sawfly. The latter host was frequently found to bear the eggs and integumental funnels of B. selecta. The object was to study its biology and effectivness as a possible control factor of the spruce sawfly. However, great difficulty was experienced in rearing the host due to high mortality caused by disease. Hence the original aims were not attained to the entire satisfaction of the author.

Artificially Disseminated Virus as a Factor Controlling the European Spruce Sawfly, Diprion hercyniae (Htg.) in the Absence of Introduced Parasites

1961 ◽  
Vol 93 (3) ◽  
pp. 228-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. T. Bird ◽  
J. M. Burk
Keyword(s):  
Virus Disease ◽  
Population Trends ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Forest Insect ◽  
Insect Survey ◽  
Forest Biology ◽  
Biology Laboratory ◽  
Disease Free

An outbreak of the European spruce sawfly, Diprion hercyniae (Htg.), occurring in Eastern Canada between 1930 and 1942, was controlled by a virus disease (Balch and Bird, 1944). The sawfly has been kept at a low level by the disease and by parasitic insects introduced from Europe (Bird and Elgee, 1957).An infestation of the sawfly was discovered in 1947 near Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, by the Forest Insect Survey Section of the Forest Biology Laboratory at Sault Ste. Marie. This infestation was about 100 miles beyond the previously known western distribution of the insect. Intensive larval sampling in 1949 showed that it was free from virus and practically free from introduced parasites. Thus, an excellent opportunity was provided to introduce the virus into a disease-free population, to study its establishment and spread, and to compare the long term effects of virus alone on population trends with the effects that virus plus introduced parasites were shown to have on population trends in New Brunswick (Bird and Elgee, 1957). The virus was introduced into the infestation in 1950 and studies were carried out each year from 1950 to 1959.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document