Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia

Sugden, B. A.

Ross, D. A.

PROC. ENTOMOL. Soc. BRI T . COLU MBI A, VOL. 60 (1963), DEC. 1, 1963 17 
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. Emer gence 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 Nor thwest (Elateridae). J . 
Econ. Ent. 18: 90-98. 
Lane, M. C. 1935. Recent pr ogress in the control of wireworms. Proc. World's Grain 
. Exhib. and Conf. 1933. 2: 529-534. 
Lane, M.C. 1952. List of Elater idae of Br itish 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. BioI. 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. 
ANNOTATE D LIST OF FOREST INSECTS OF BRITISH COLU MBIA 
PART XI Papilio spp. (PA Pl lI ON IDA E) 1 
B. A. SUGDEN AND D. A. R OSS2 
Six species of the genus Papil io 
common ly occur in British Columbia. 
The larvae of four species feed on the 
fOliage of broad-leaved t rees and 
shrubs but are not sufficiently n um-
erous to be of economic importance. 
FUll-grown forest Papilio larvae 
are velvet green, about 1 Y2 to 2 inches 
long, widest a t the metathoracic seg-
ment and tJapering gradually to the 
last abdominal segment. The h ead 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 thoIlacic 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-
ilia 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. 
1 Contribution No. 989, Forest Entomology and 
Pathology Branch, Department of Forestry, 
Ottawa, Canada. 
zForest Entomology Laboratory, Vernon, B.C. 
P. gla ucus ca nadensis R. & J. -
Populus t r emuloides Michx., Alnus sp. 
(3 records) , Betula sp . (3) , Populus 
t r i chocarpa Torr. & Gray (1), Salix 
sp. (1) . Throughout the interior of 
Brit ish Columbia, commonest in th e 
cen tral and nor thern Int erior. 
LARVA: easily separated from ot her 
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. 
PI"" '. j'; ."''''' ''fll.. SO('. nl;1'I '. Cnl.' ·""" , V(II .. 60 ( 1!l63), DE(,. I , 1!l63 
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 a re similar, 
but the blue centre of the eye spot on 
P . rutulus measures a bout 1 mm. 
while that of P . euryrnedon is a p-
proximately Y2 mm. 
P. multicaudatus Kby . - Prunus 
spp ., Sali::c sp . (1), Southern interior 
of British Columbia; co mmon . LAR-
V A: 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 ou t-
lined in black . The black transverse 
band , three or four times wider than 
the an terior yellowish band , extends 
below the spiracular line. Many 
individua ls have a narrow black line 
on the dors um of the anterior mar-
gin on some of the a bdominal seg-
ments. 
Reference 
Br ower, Lincoln P. 1959. Sp '~c i at i o n in Butterfl ies of th e Papilio glaucus Group. 1. Mor· 
phological relationships and hybrirJizat ion. Evolution 13: 40·63 . 
HOLOPLEURA MARGINATA Lee. reared from Douglas for (Coleoptera:Cerambycidae) 
On October 5, 1961 , I noticed small pil es 
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 subseq uent· 
ly had tun nne lied into the centre of the 
branch. One branch conta ining a cerambycid 
pupa was opened ; the ot her was kept at 
room temperature and on J anuary 20, 1962, 
an ad ult Holopleura marginata Lec . emerged 
through the sa me elliptical hol e by which 
th e lan 'a had entered th e wood. A li ving 
la rva in a second gall ery was preserved. 
Ad ults have bee n co ll ected on onl y three 
occasion ~ in t. he Forest Insect Survey in 
ln te" ior Briti sh Columbia : Arrowhead, (H. 
B. Leech, Proc . En t. Soe_ B.C. 42:18); Silver-
ton , June 24 , 1953 ; and Texas Creek, May 25, 
19fi l. In all cases, specimens were obtain-
ed by bea t ing the branc hes of Dougas fir 
trees. 
- .t . (;, '1//11. I··u)'(' sl /-.',,/uliI(,7'j{/ !} 1.0/'01'0/01'.11. 
' ·f'J'Jl flll . I:'( ' . 
Termites in the Queen Charlotte Islands 
In September , 1962 I received fi ve speci-
mens of Zootermopsis termites from Mr . J . 
1". Munro of the British Co lumbia Forest 
Service which he had take n in Queen Cha r· 
lotte City ; this was the first record I had 
of th ese insects on the Quee n Chadotte 
Islands. 
In the autumn of 1962, I was given one 
workel- termite by Mr. Bristol Foster, a 
grad uate stud ent, which he took at Rose 
Harbour, Q.C. Islands, on 16 August 1960. 
These t\\'o records increase the known 
range of termites in this Province. Since 
the spec imens were workers and so can-
not be determined to species, one can only 
guess tha t 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 .nea rly so fa r north as the Queen Char-
lotte Islands . 
- u . ,T. ~P(,II l' CI ' , UnivCT:>ity of British 
C,,/ui/, /,ifl , I 'QI/.Couvcr 8. IJ.I ·. 


English

Annotated list of forest insects of British Columbia Part XI Papilio spp. (Papilionidae)

Spencer, G. J.

40 P""c. 8 ."TO:.lOr.. SI)". Bun . COLL\l HI.\ . VO l. , 60 (l963), 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 
wing·s. 
A specimen observed on Mt. 
Becher, NW of Comox Lake on 
August I, 1962 , was seen to deposit 
an egg on a leaf of Saxijraga bron-
chia lis 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 fta ttened turban ; the micro-
pylar area deeply inden ted; closely 
pitted with round depressions , other-
wise smooth , colour white. Hatched 
on August 13 . 
Larva-l st Instar 
Length l.5 mm. Head small, shiny, 
dark brown. Bod y 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 
lea ves . 
September 11. The larvae rested at 
th e base of a leaf and ceased to feed, 
apparently h avin g entered hiberna-
tion . 
Febn,ary 3, 1963. The larvae were 
in the sa m e 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 Saxijraga 
bronchialis. 
Attacks on Humans by IXODES ANGU5TUS Neumann, the Coast Squirrel Tick, 
and I. SORICIS Gregson, the Shrew Tick 
in his publication on th e tick s of Canada 
Gregson mention s (p 38) two Br itis h Co lum· 
hi a and three United Sl J tes record s of 
Ixodes angustus N e umann , a tt ac kin g hu -
m a ns. r no w add three m or e r eco rds. 
On Se ptember 17, 1958 a flat a dult fema le 
II ' a~ r e move d from a 9-yea r o ld g irl at White 
Rock. B. C. The location of th p attachment 
II'as not r ecorded . 
On Septembe r 26. 1958, a fl at adult 
fe male I\'a s r emoved fr o m unde r th e a rm of 
a Vancouver \\'oman I\'ho had been tra mping 
throu g h the bu s h a t White Roc k. five da.v ~ 
helore the tick \I'a s d e t ec ted. 
On October 23, 1963, a n e ngo rged fe mal e 
\I 'as r e moved hy a doctor [rom th e abdomen 
of a middle-aged \I 'oman in North Surrey . 
Th e doctor r eported tha t the 1V0man I\' a s 
house- bound with a s ick hu s band and se l-
dom we nt out, but that s h e had a ca t which 
cOlild have brou ght in a s m all m a mm al. 
w hic h ha l'hored t he tick . He lVas s urpri sed 
at the point of a ttachment beca use the 
I\'oman 1V0re :;evera l layers of clothing, in-
cluding what he ca ll ed "cor sets", so the 
tick mll st hav e attac h ed at nig ht Ivhen the 
II'Om3n ha d r emoved her garments . 
Th e othe r unllsual r ecord is that of a flat 
adult fe m a lp of the shrew tick, Ixodes 
soricis Gregson , wh ich was removed fro m 
the out er uppe r arm of a 14-year-old g irl 
from :'-Io rth Vancouver, on April 11 , 1960. 
In thi s case a lso the tick ma y have com e 
frolll a s hrew brou g ht into the house by a 
cat beca u se childre n and s hrews inha bit 
r a t he r dill e r e nt strata on the ea rth's 
s urface . 
G regso n, John D. Th e Ixodoid ea of Ca nada . 
Pub. 930, Scie nce Service , Entolllol-
ogy Division , Can. De pt. of Ag ric. 
Jan ., 1D56. 
- I: . I , ,-.: ,,' II' (' 1' . 1 'II i I""-"i 1./1 "/ /I /'ili,,/, 
1',,1, 1 fi l,I". 1 "( .' l l f "I ) I!I" ' , . ;". H . ( '. 


Attacks on humans by Ixodes angustus Neumann, the coast squirrel tick, and I. soricis Gregson, the shrew tick

Harvey, J. K.

PROC. E N TOMOL. Soc. BRIT. COLU M BIA, V OL. 60 (1963), DEC. 1, 1963 47 
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 . auruZenta and 
B. Zangi 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 
lart ae are about % 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 writel'ls have prepared this statement The collection is made up largely of 
~-or the . Ib~nefi.t of ent?mologists interes,ted insects that frequent iore'sttrees and 
~n QbtaI~m~ m!ormatlOn. on ho~t r~ords, shrubs · althougth others such as Carabidae 
msect dIstnbutlOn, etc., In t he mterIor of , '. 
British Columbia and Yukon Territory. \245 speCIes) are well r epresented. Most 
The number of pinned adult specimens lepidopterous specimens were reared from 
in the collection is .estimated at . over. 25,000. immature sta-ges taken during the course 
Muc~ ~f the materIal has been Idenhfied by of t he Forest Insect Survey' the majority 
spemalIsts of the Entomology Research . ' 
Institute, Ottawa. In aH there are over 3,100 of coleopterous speCImens were collected 
designated species distribut ed as follows in a's adults, a number 'by early entomologists 
t-he major orders: such as Ralph Hoppin'g. 
Order No. of families No. of species Most of the Diptera and over two-thirds 
LepIdoptera ------ 43 724 of the Hymenoptera are parasites reared at 
ColeopteI'a -------- 77 1,749 Vernon from host material collected for 
Hrmenopt~ra ---- 33 225 the Forest Insect Survey. 
Diptera ____ __ ____ ____ 33 227 
Hemiptera 14 124 - --I . K. H arvey and D . A. Ross, Fores t 
Homoptera __ ______ 7 61 E ntomology L aboratory. V er non. B .O. 


Adult Insect Collection, Forest Entomology Laboratory, Vernon, B.C.

Grant, J.

The eversible glands of Papilio multicaudatus Kby.

Paoc. ENTOMOL. Soc. BRIT. COLU M BI A. VOL. 60 (1963), DEC. I , 1963 55 
OBITUARY 
EDWARD RONALD BUCKELL 
Ronald Buckell, son of the late Dr. 
Edward and Mrs. Buckell, 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 
Valcartier. 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 Vena;bles, discovered 
that peren.nial 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 3.iPple 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 
ol'thopteroid 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-
a;ble; 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 
56 P HOC. E !n O:\ I(l f.. Sor. BHlT. Cl) r~l L\rnL\ , VOL. 60 (1963 ), D EC. 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 , 
nea r 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 dona ted to men friends 
and to the Library in Salmon Arm 
and his splendid collection of 
mou n t ed game heads and skins, to 
a mUSEum to be founded in Salmon 
Arm, together with two other col-
lec tions . 
- G . J . SPENCER 
BOOK REVIEW 
Wasp Farm . H. S. Evans, New York, 
Natural History Press, 1963. Pp viii 
a nd 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 a t Harvard 
University. He is thus a taxonomist 
par excellence and also a student of 
live insects. All taxonomists should 
follow s uit. 
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 
alr~ady largely codified in its nervous 
system". And again in outlining the 
vestigial instincti ve beha vior 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 


Edward Ronald Buckell

Non., A.

P RO( ' . E "TO~rOI.. SoC'. BRIT. C OL U MAIA , V OL. 61 (1964 ), D EC. 1, 1964 46 
Fig. I.-A healthy stalk of fireweed and one damaged by larvae of the flea beetle 
Altic:a 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. 


Editor's note

50 PROC. ENTO~IOL. Soc. BRIT. COLUMBIA. VOL. 61 (1964), DEC. I, 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 Western 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 
spellin g 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. R088 


Book Review: The Skippers of the Genus Hesperia in Western North America, With Special Reference to California (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae), by D. Don MacNeill

Wilkinson, A. T. S.

Releases of cinnabar moth, Hypocrita jacobaeae (L.), (Lepidoptcra: Arctiidae) on tansy ragwort in British Columbia

Cram, W. T.

Pearson, W. D.

PROC. Ei'lTO:\1OL. Soc . BRIT. C OLUJ\lllIA . VOL. 62 (1965), DEC. 1, 1965 25 
FECUNDITY OF THE BLACK VINE WEEVIL, Brachyrhinus sulcatus (F.), 
FED ON FOLIAGE OF BLUEBERRY, CRANBERRY AND WEEDS 
FROM PEAT BOGS' 
W. T. CRAM AND W. D. PEARSON2 
Introduction 
Larvae of the black vine weevil, 
Brachyrhinus sulcatus (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, preoviposi'tion 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 ill-
tervals. The amount consumed by 
each weevil was judged by a ra ti ng 
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. 
I 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 macrocarpon Ait. var. MacFar-
lane; highbush blueberry, Vaccinium 
corymbosum (Aust.) var. Rancoccus; 
fireweed, Epilobium angustijolium 
(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 
coUectedfrom a nearby plantation. 
Results 
Blackberry and salal produced 
similar and significan tly grea ter 
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 hoS't. 
Blackberry produced a significant-
ly greater mean number of total '1nd 
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> 
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PHOC. E"TOMOL. Soc . BlIll'. C OLU MIliA. VOL. 62 (1965), DEC. 1, 1965 27 
significant negative correlation be-
tween weight gain in the first three 
weeks and the length of the preovi-
position period. The amounts of ~he 
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. Trl '::'Y 
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 
t,hat 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 fi~ld 
(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, bl'Je-
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.l, in establishe d blue berry plantings on p eat 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. 
Entomo!. Brit. Columbia 62: 14·15. 


Fecundity of the black vine weevil, Brachyrhinus sulcatus (F.), fed on foliage of blueberry, cranberry and weeds from peat bogs

Scudder, G. G. E.

38 PIWC. E:\TmLOL. Soc. BruT. C OL1JMllIA, VOL. 62 (19 65) , D EC. 1, 1965 
THE NOTONECTIDA.E (HEMIPTERA) OF BRITISH COLUMBIA 
G. G. E. SCUDDER 
Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver 
A study of the NO'tonectidae in 
British Columbia has shown that. six 
species are present in the Province . 
Distribution, habitat notes and a 
key to species is given below. 
Subfam i Iy Notonectinae 
Notonecta borealis Bueno & Hus-
sey. - Cariboo, Springhouse, 15. ;I ii. 
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.I. 
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. 'Iii. 
1961 (T. G. N.); N.W.T ., trib. to 
Birch Lake, 4 mi. E. Birch Lake ?t 
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.l 
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 instal': 
Hungerford (1933) states that tln-
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 
a n 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 mls. 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 mls. S ., ix (G. G. E. S.) ~ 
13 ml. Lake, Dog Creek Rd, N. Clin-
ton , x (H. B. L. & C. V. Morgan); 14:9 
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 La ke, 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.l Oliver, v (J. E. H. Ma rtin); 
Peachland, x (A. N. Gartrell); Sum-
merland, ix (A. N. G.) ; Westba nk, v 
(A. Thrupp); Kaleden, xii (A. ~. G.); 
PUOC.,ENTOMOr.. Soc. B nIT. COLU;I[BIA. VOL . 62 (196 5 ), DEC. 1, 1965 39 
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. Criddle); 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.J. 
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 mi'crohmos/ 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 O . :~O 
B -- --_.---_. _- - 0.135 0.36 
C -----_. _--- --- 0.270 0.37 
In Lake B there was 47 meq. Nai L 
and in the insect haemolymph 153 
meq. Na/ L (based on five insects 
pooled) . 
N. undulata Say.-Comox, vii (J. 
L. 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.J. 134 Mile (R. Hopping) ; 
Vernon (R. Hopping) [F.I.S., Vernonl 
Matson Lake, V.I., x (Downps & 
Hardy); Wellington, iii [Provo \1us. 
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.l 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 
val ues appear identical. 
N. spinosa Hungerf. - Oliver, 15. 
viii. 1937 (W. Downes); Vernon, 4. X. 
1921 (W. D.), 13. ix. 1930 (H. Leech) 
m.B.c.l Kelowna, xi (A. N. Gartrell) 
[C.N.C,J. Downes (in litt.) reports this 
from slow flowing streams. It appea rs 
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. 
40 Pnoc . ENTO.MOL. Soc . BRIT. COLUlIIBIA, V OL. 62 (1965) , DEC. 1, 1965 
N. unifasciata andersoni !lungerf. 
- Osoyoos, 29 . iii. 1941 (H. B . Leech) ; 
Westbank, 12. ix. 1954 (W. Downes ) 
[U.B.C.l 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.l 
Like spinosa, apparently confined to 
the Okanagan Va lley in B.C. This 
subspecies extends from B .C. through 
the W estern United States to Mexico, 
the type locality being Oliv e;:, B.C. 
Subfamily Anisopinae 
Buenoa confusa Truxal - Duncan, 
4. ix. 1926 (W. Downes) ; Beaver 
Lake, Saanich Dist., 9. viii. 2919 (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 (1. Stirling ) . These constitute 
the first definite records of this 
species in the Province: material 
from Vancouver Island was recorded 
under B. eZegans (Fieb). by Downes 
(1927) . Truxal (1953) has shown 
that the North American specimens 
referred to eZegans are incorrectly 
named, most of them being con/usa. 
B. con/usa h as 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 a ppar-
ently p enetrate far into the Interior, 
but a lso it is not confined to the 
Oka nagan . The locality nea r Squam-
ish is a very s mall road-side pond, 
with floating logs and a little vegeta-
tion . In August 1961 the species ,vas 
a bundant and both adults and larvae 
were captured. Truxal (1953) r eports 
con/usa from Alberta, Manitoba, 
eastern and southern United States 
and the West Indies. In the northern 
part of its range, spec:mens are 
larger than those to the south a nd 
the s pecies seems to show a clinal 
type variation . Further, Truxa l (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-
idua ls and the sample from the 
Grand Cayman Island was all long-
winged. All specimens so far studi.ed 
from British Columbia are short-
winged and thus the reduced wing 
condition seems not to have a geo-
graphical bas is. Perhaps it is r elated 
to habitat stability, similar to the 
conditions in Corixidae ar,d other 
Notonectidae (Young, 1961, 1965; 
S cudder, 1964). 
brane and scutellum fla vo·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 Say' 
5. Mesotrochanter produced into a long 
spine .. _. ... ....... '.' ... . N. spinosa Hung. 
- Mesotrochanter angulate ........................ .. 
N. unifasciata andersoni Hung. 
Acknowledgements 
This paper r esults from research on the 
aquatic insects of British Columbia, re-
search supported by grants fro m the 
National Research Council of Canada and 
University of British Columbia. 


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