Examination of nonmarginal scales of anterior wings of Lepidoptera showed that those of the butterflies were auriculate basally and those of moths were cuneate.

Adding an experimental sticker did not markedly reduce the toxicity of either Furadan® (carbofuran) or Penncap-M® (a microencapsulated formulation of methyl parathion) to honey bees. When sprayed on flowering alfalfa, these insecticidal formulations killed large numbers of bees in colonies located on the borders of the sprayed fields.

In a related study, Penncap-M, without the sticker, killed colonies placed adjacent to the treated field 5 hr after this spray was applied. In contrast, colonies placed next to a field 5 hr after it was sprayed with a combination of both the experimental sticker and Penncap-M lost only 11% as many bees as the colonies placed next to the field that was sprayed with only Penncap-M.

In the Furadan-treated fields, the alfalfa foliage had 873 times more carbofuran residue per gram than the honey samples. Freshly collected pollen from pollen traps had 15 times more carbofuran, and dead bees had 6 times more carbofuran than the honey samples.

In the Penncap-M-treated fields, the alfalfa foliage had 356 times more methyl parathion than the dead bee samples. Pollen contained 21 times more parathion per gram than the dead bees. Honey from the Penncap-M-treated fields was not analyzed.

Larvae from a laboratory strain of tufted apple bud moth, Platynota idaeusali (Walker), were reared on semisynthetic diet and excised apple leaves while exposed to naturally-decreasing daylengths. Leaf-reared larvae showed a higher incidence of diapause than larvae reared on diet. The critical daylength for diapause induction in leaf- and diet-reared larvae occurred at ca. 14.8 and 14.3 h, respectively. Larvae reared on semisynthetic diet and exposed to naturally-decreasing daylengths were subjected to different levels of crowding. As the number of individuals reared together in the same container increased, the incidence of diapause increased. Separation of the effects of larval crowding from any possible effects of the quality of the semisynthetic diet on diapause induction was not attempted.

The new species Amyrsidea (Cracimenopon) steineri and Oxylipeurus spangleri are described and illustrated for material taken from the Black Curassow, Crax alector, in Venezuela.

Twenty-two cycloalkane and two aryl esters of mandelic acid (α-hydroxybenzeneacetic acid) were tested for repellency against adult confused flour beetles, Tribolium confusum Jacquelin du Val. High levels of repellency were found only with the cycloalkane esters. Among these esters, repellency increased as size of the ring increased to the cyclooctyl analog. When the cycloalkyl moiety also contained a straight-chain alkyl group, repellency generally increased over that of the parent cycloalkyl ester. When the alkyl group contained branching at the 1-position, the level of repellency was markedly below that of their straight-chain isomers. The 2-cyclohexylethyl and 3-cyclohexylpropyl mandelates were the most effective repellents in this study with average repellencies of 83.8 and 82.6%, respectively.

Residues of abamectin (avermectin, Avid), 15 ppm; abamectin + Leaf Act 80, 15 + 25 ppm; abamectin + Sunspray oil, 15 + 25 ppm, and a water control were evaluated for length of control of twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, on 3 host species: azalea, Rhododendron × ‘Red Ruffle’; lima bean, Phaseolus limensis var. limenus L. H. Bailey cv. ‘Henderson’ bush; and peach, Prunus persica L. Batsch cv. ‘Nemaguard’; and under sunlight and fluorescent light regimes.

Abamectin alone or in combination with the surfactants, 21 days post treatment, resulted in 42.6 – 91.8% and 88 – 93% mite mortality under sunlight and fluorescent light, respectively. No treatments on azalea or peach under sunlight caused > 37% mortality. Treatments caused similar mite mortality 1 day posttreatment under fluorescent light, but after day 1 treatments on peach caused < 62 % mortality while treatments on azalea caused < 46% mortality. The addition of oil increased mite mortality significantly on beans under sunlight at 14 days. At 21 days both Leaf Act 80 and oil increased mite mortality on bean compared to abamectin alone.

The seasonal incidence of Meteorus autographae Muesebeck (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) on larvae of the soybean looper, Pseudoplusia includens (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), in soybean fields in South Carolina was monitored at two locations during 1981, 1982, and 1983. In most instances, parasitism of soybean looper larvae by M. autographae was detected 7 to 14 days after soybean looper larvae were first found in the fields. During this three-year study, maximum parasitism of soybean looper larvae by M. autographae within a season ranged from 4.6 to 19.8%. In the laboratory, numbers of hosts parasitized per 24 hours by M. autographae increased with each successive increase in host density. At a host density of 40 larvae per 1.75-liter cylindrical container, an average of 26 hosts were parasitized by one M. autographae during 24 hours. Percent parasitism remained about the same (64 – 70%) at all host densities.

Electrophysiological responses of worker honey bees were recorded to a series of six to eleven carbon saturated aldehydes (100 μg dosage) including nonanal and undecanal, components of the sex attractant pheromone of the greater wax moth. Peak responsiveness occurred to heptanal, octanal, and nonanal. Dosage response curves to serial dilutions of nonanal and undecanal revealed both greater sensitivity and a larger population of acceptors responsive to nonanal. The results are discussed with regard to honey bee/greater wax moth ecology.

Pecan, Carya illinoensis (Wang.) K. Koch, foliage from 60-year-old ‘Stuart’ trees infested by phloem feeding pecan aphids experienced a reduction in net photosynthesis (Pn) as the population density of Monellia caryella (Fitch), Monelliopsis pecanis Bissell, or Mellanocallis caryaefoliae (Davis) increased. The increase was curvilinear for M. caryella and M. pecanis, but linear for M. caryaefoliae.The degree of reduction by an individual aphid was similar for M. caryella and M. pecanis, but M. caryaefoliae was far more detrimental. When the densities of the three aphid species are within the currently recommended spray threshold levels, there is very little adverse influence on Pn.

Susceptibility between chrysanthemum varieties to the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hubner) was evaluated in both field and laboratory studies. Field studies showed significant differences with the varieties Debonair and West Point being the most heavily infested, and Grenadine, Patriot, Baby Tears, and Revere showing no larval feeding. Laboratory methods utilizing unrooted cuttings yielded inconsistent results. Laboratory screening with the use of stem sections was relatively consistent with Debonair and West Point being the most heavily infested while Revere and Pancho the least infested. A positive correlation between infestation levels and stem diameters indicated stem thickness may be a factor in expression of susceptibility. Debonair and West Point, the most susceptible varieties, had significantly larger stem diameters than the less susceptible varieties, Revere and Pancho.

A female Dasymutilla occidentalis occidentalis (Linnaeus) was collected which differed in color from typical females of this species. The female appeared to be freshly emerged, and was collected exiting a burrow of Sphex ichneumoneus ichneumoneus (Linnaeus). This would appear to be a new host record for this species.

Natural infestations of the maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais (Motschulsky) were monitored in selected corn fields located in each of five major climatic or edaphic environments of Georgia. The population density and sex ratio of each population was recorded on a monthly basis during the fall and winters of 1982–83–84. Females suffered higher winter mortality than males, resulting in increasingly male-skewed sex ratios (from 0.8/1.0 to 1.6/1.0) as winter progressed. The degree of male-skewedness was positively correlated with the amount of subzero weather experienced by each population. Surviving weevil populations decreased in size as winter progressed, with the greatest reductions at the higher latitudes. No weevils survived through spring north of 33° 57′N where winter weather extremes of −15°C occurred. No true diapausing stage was found; however, cold tolerance tests indicated that winter-collected weevils were significantly more cold hardy than laboratory-reared weevils.