Type material of poorly known taxa currently placed under the genera Leptagrion Selys and Telagrion Selys is reviewed, illustrated, and correctly associated with currently known specimens in collections. The following changes are made: Leptagrion beebeanum Calvert and Leptagrion fernandezianum Rácenis are placed and keyed in a new genus, Bromeliagrion De Marmels gen. nov.; Bromeliagrion rehni Garrison sp. nov. is described from Ecuador. The following synonymies are proposed: Leptagrion auriceps St. Quentin is a junior synonym of Leptagrion macrurum (Burmeister); Leptagrion autazensis Sjöstedt is a junior synonym of Aeolagrion flammeum (Selys); Leptagrion? rufum Selys is a junior synonym of Anisagrion inornatum (Selys); and Leptobasis tenax St. Quentin is a junior synonym of Telagrion longum Selys.

Cryptoryctes tricornutussp. nov. from Erldunda (25.13°S, 133.11°E), Northern Territory, Australia, is described and figured. It is compared with a close species, Cryptoryctes trifidus (Blackburn, 1895).

The European pompilid Agenioideus cinctellus (Spinola, 1808) is recorded for the first time from the New World based on material from Ontario. Another recent Nearctic immigrant, Auplopus carbonarius (Scopoli, 1763), is recorded for the first time from Canada, which extends its known range into southern Ontario. The incidence of new introductions and the possible impact on the community of cavity-nesting aculeate wasps is discussed.

The genus Eucatops Portevin, 1903 was previously known by 20 described species, all from South America. In this paper we describe 13 new species from Costa Rica, all in the subgenus Eucatops: Eucatops (Eucatops) andersonisp. nov.; E. (E.) antennatussp. nov.; E. (E.) apterussp. nov.; E. (E.) dentatussp. nov.; E. (E.) femoratussp. nov.; E. (E.) globosussp. nov.; E. (E.) magnussp. nov.; E. (E.) minutussp. nov.; E. (E.) montanussp. nov.; E. (E.) osasp. nov.; E. (E.) paramontanussp. nov.; E. (E.) solisisp. nov.; and E. (E.) tenuisaccussp. nov. Some of the species are also reported from neighboring Nicaragua or Panama.

The amount of dead wood in forests has decreased owing to modern forest practices, and many species associated with this habitat are currently threatened. In Sweden during the last decade, naturally downed logs have been retained and, at clearcuts, high stumps have been artificially created to maintain saproxylic (dead wood dependent) insects. We tested how much these types of dead wood are used by sampling saproxylic beetles in dead wood of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.; Pinaceae) in managed forests in central Sweden. To analyse how surveys should be conducted in these kinds of studies, we compared three methods over an entire growing season. We found that the relationship between the type of dead wood and species richness was statistically significant when we used bark sieving and emergence traps, but not when we used window traps. It is impossible to ascertain whether beetles collected with window traps are related to the type of dead wood on which they are found and, therefore, such traps are less useful in studies of specific substrates. The yield from sieving was highest in spring and autumn, whereas species richness in window trap samples peaked in June and July and that in emergence traps peaked from May to July. With emergence traps we collected, on average, about twice the number of species over the whole season as we did by sieving on a single occasion in the spring. Both emergence trapping and sieving reveal what is present in individual pieces of dead wood, but these methods sample partly different faunas. We found fewer species on artificially created high stumps (on clearcuts); however, these stumps seem to be useful for some red-listed species.

The Melyridae (soft-winged flower beetles) are a diverse, abundant, and widespread family of beetles found throughout the world, with more than 300 genera and 6000 species worldwide (Mayor 2002). Melyrids are particularly abundant in dry, temperate regions of the world. Mayor's (2002) synopsis of the North American fauna includes 58 genera and 520 species. Bright (1991) tabulates 49 species in 14 genera in the Canadian fauna. Only one species, the introduced Palearctic Malachius aeneus (L.), was reported for Atlantic Canada, with records in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland.

Mating is necessary to bring about ovarian maturation in females of Anthocoridae and related taxa (Cimicidae). The objectives of this study were to determine how forced delays in mating affect extent and rate of oocyte development, duration of the preoviposition period, and levels of lipid reserves in three species of Anthocoris. Extent of oocyte development by unmated females differed among the three species. In unmated A. tomentosus, the basal oocyte failed to show any increase in size with increasing female age, whereas oocytes in unmated A. nemoralis and A. whitei exhibited some growth beginning 2 days after eclosion. One consequence of these differences among species is that a forced delay in mating (of 3 or 10 days) had less of an effect on A. whitei and A. nemoralis than on A. tomentosus, in terms of the length of the preoviposition period measured from the time of mating. Mated females of A. nemoralis and A. whitei grew larger oocytes than unmated females within 2 days of mating, whereas the same phenomenon took 4 days in A. tomentosus. Embryos became visible in the eggs of mated A. nemoralis and A. whitei 2–3 days after mating, compared with 5 days after mating for A. tomentosus. Mature eggs with egg caps were visible within 3, 4, and 6 days after mating for A. nemoralis, A. whitei, and A. tomentosus, respectively. In all three species, unmated females 10 days after eclosion had significantly higher levels of lipids allocated to nonreproductive tissues than similarly aged females that had been mated on the day of eclosion, suggesting that there was a trade-off between allocation of resources to eggs and allocation to somatic reserves.

Pitch canker of pines (Pinus spp.) and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirbel) Franco) (Pinaceae) is caused by the fungus Fusarium circinatum Nirenberg et O'Donnell. In California, infections by F. circinatum occur largely through wounds caused by insects. Field experiments were initiated to determine whether the colonization activities of twig beetles, Pityophthorus spp. (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), could explain the incidence of pitch canker on Monterey pine (P. radiata D. Don), Bishop pine (P. muricata D. Don), ponderosa pine (P. ponderosa var. ponderosa Dougl.), knobcone pine (P. attenuata Lemm.), and Douglas-fir. Asymptomatic branches were cut from each of four pairs of tree species (Monterey–Bishop, Monterey–ponderosa, Monterey–knobcone, Monterey–Douglas-fir) at four sites and attached to the lower canopy of both heterospecific and conspecific host trees (total of four combinations per pair). After 10 weeks, branches were collected and placed in rearing tubes in the laboratory. Emerging insects were identified and placed on a Fusarium-selective medium. Monterey, Bishop, and ponderosa pines were more heavily infested by Pityophthorus spp. than Douglas-fir and knobcone pine. Furthermore, more Pityophthorus beetles emerged from Monterey pine branches placed in Monterey pine canopies than from Monterey pine branches placed in Bishop or ponderosa pine canopies, indicating that reduced emergence (colonization) was caused by the hetero specific host. Relatively fewer insects emerged from sites containing either Monterey and knobcone pines or Monterey pine and Douglas-fir. Fusarium circinatum was not isolated from emerging Pityophthorus spp. Susceptibility of the five host species, based on mean lesion lengths resulting from mechanical inoculations, varied significantly. The longest lesions were on Monterey pine and the shortest were on ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir. The low incidence of pitch canker on Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine in nature compared with that on Monterey, Bishop, and knobcone pines may be explained by the low colonization by twig beetles and the greater resistance of Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine to this disease, compared with the other three hosts.

The pink stem borer (PSB) (Sesamia nonagrioides Lefèbvre, 1827; Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is the main insect pest of maize (Zea mays L., Poaceae) in the Mediterranean area. Maize varieties partially resistant to PSB have been identified, but few studies have documented the mechanisms of resistance involved. The objectives of this research were to study the levels of leaf and sheath antibiosis of a maize population, EPS12, and determine whether antibiosis improved over the selection process for less stalk tunneling. A hybrid check and two Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) hybrids were also examined. Several bioassays were carried out in a control chamber to evaluate antibiosis of maize leaves and sheaths against PSB larvae. Leaf antibiosis was significantly higher for EPS12 than for the hybrid check and sheath antibiosis was low for all non-Bt hybrids studied. We conclude that leaf and sheath antibiosis was not significantly improved during the selection process. Future efforts should look for other possible mechanisms of resistance, such as stem rind antibiosis.

Blaesoxipha atlanis (Aldrich) is a common parasite of Melanoplus sanguinipes (Fabr.) in western Canada. We tested the hypothesis that parasitism by B. atlanis reduces food consumption by adult M. sanguinipes. Unparasitized grasshoppers serving as controls and grasshoppers infected with a single parasite larva were fed known quantities of freshly cut wheat (Triticum aestivum L. ‘Katepwa’) (Poaceae) leaves in the laboratory. The median development time in hosts of larvae of both male and female B. atlanis was 5.5 days. Two thirds of parasitized grasshoppers died within 9 days of infection, but all control insects survived. The dry mass of leaves consumed each day did not differ between parasitized insects that died and insects that survived parasitism; both groups fed less than unparasitized controls. The influence of parasitism on food consumption differed between host sexes, with feeding being depressed earlier and more severely in female than in male grasshoppers. The reduction in food consumption was most pronounced on day 6 after infection, when parasitized males and females consumed only 10% and 7%, respectively, of the food consumed by unparasitized controls. Parasite sex did not influence food consumption. Grasshoppers that survived parasitism by B. atlanis resumed feeding, consuming as much as unparasitized counterparts. Reduced food consumption limited the ability of grasshoppers to compensate for the nutritional demands of developing parasite larvae. As a consequence, parasitized grasshoppers lost body mass during the interaction. We propose that the temporary reduction in feeding by grasshoppers parasitized by B. atlanis that survive parasitism is not evidence of host regulation, but is consistent with a stress-induced alteration in host behaviour.

The host-colonization behavior of the red turpentine beetle, Dendroctonus valens LeConte (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), was investigated in stands of ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa P. & C. Lawson (Pinaceae), with black stain root disease in the central Sierra Nevada of California. By felling live trees, we found that trees with pitch tubes produced during the initiation of tunneling by D. valens had a significantly higher incidence of black stain root disease, caused by Leptographium wageneri var. ponderosum (Harrington et Cobb), than trees without pitch tubes. Trees with the most D. valens pitch tubes had the greatest likelihood of being diseased. Additionally, observations over a 3-year period revealed that trees with D. valens pitch tubes had a significantly higher mortality rate than trees without pitch tubes. Infection by L. wageneri was confirmed for most of the trees that died, and death typically did not occur without mass attacks by the western pine beetle, D. brevicomis LeConte, and (or) the mountain pine beetle, D. ponderosae Hopkins. Trees with the most D. valens pitch tubes had the highest mortality rate. An experiment was conducted to compare the attraction of D. valens and other insects to wounded-diseased, wounded-symptomless, and unwounded trees. More D. valens, Spondylis upiformis Mannerheim (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), and Hylastes spp. (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) were attracted to wounded trees than to unwounded trees. Catches of these beetles on wounded-diseased trees were not significantly different from catches on wounded-symptomless trees.

The invasive wood-boring beetle Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) poses a serious threat to deciduous trees in North America and Europe, where it has been introduced in solid wood packing material from China (Haack et al. 1997; Krehan 2003). This beetle attacks and ultimately kills a wide variety of hardwood tree species (Nowak et al. 2001; Lingafelter and Hoebeke 2002); it has infested urban shade trees in Canada (Canadian Food Inspection Agency 2004), the United States (Haack 2003), and Austria (Tomiczek 2003) and has damaged poplar (Populus L.; Salicaceae) plantations in its native China (Luo et al. 2003).