Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia

Ricker, W. E.

Nomenclatural Notes on Plecoptera

Spencer, G. J.

32 E N TO MO LOGICA l. SOC I ETY OF BRIT IS H COL U MBIA , PRO C. (1955) . VOL. 52, APRI L 3Ll . 1956 
wh er e they al ighted in such numbers 
on t he suriace of a pai l of water that 
a groundsman was ca rryin g, as to ex-
cit"e hi s a stoni shm ent and curiosity. 
On th e 10th o f May, 1953, I co ll ec ted 
seve ral sco re s of thi s sa m e beet le 
irom th e shady side o f an empty con-
cre te sw imming pool at M iln er in th e 
Fra se r V alley . Moisture was con-
den sing on the side of th e pool and 
the beet les confined th em se lves to th e 
wet a reas: if o ne moved on to a dry 
patch, it soon ca m e back to the wet 
suriace. The sid es of th e pool w e r e 
yertica l ancl, fr om so m ewh e r e, hun-
dreds o f the se in sects a rri ve d, but 
a li g hted only on th e damp areas. I 
am deeply indebted to Hugh B. Leech 
fo r the preceding three id entifi cat io ns. 
Finall y , o n :'1ar ch 4th. 19:;4, a coupl e 
brought m e som e beetles w hi ch . th ey 
sa id , were continuall y :1ppe~\1-ing in 
th eir ba th tub: th ey wond e r ed if th ey 
were o f econo mi c impo r tance . The 
sm a ll beet les are Cryp/ophagm bidel1/a/lIS 
1\Ja k1.. reco rd ed from Alaska. o f which 
] ha ve o ne specim en taken f rom th e 
fur o f a Shre w at Alta Lake: howeve r, 
bide II/a/liS has \'e ry small o mm atid ia ill 
its eyes a nd these spec im en s have 
larger, rat he r projecting o mmati d ia : 
otherwise th ey are very simil a r. 1 
promptl y ask ed the people if they had 
any pu lypo re fun g i in the ho use a nd , 
a " it turned uut, he is a sch oo l teac he r 
wh o co ll ects fungi so th ese beet les 
mu s t ha \'e com e from one u f hi s 
SpeC I111 en s. 
J n th e bath tub was a lso a la rge r 
5c1· mm . bee tl e which k e \"s o ut in 
]~[int o ll' s m unograph t o th e ge nu s 
iHfga/o llla. famil y Dermestidae. Leng 
ca ll s th e genu s Perimega/olllci. but 
Hint on sta t es that the genotype of 
Perimega/oma ca nno t be di st in g ui shed 
fro m the ge no type o f Mega/ollla so th e 
latt e r name has prior ity " Of t hi ,; 
genu s ] have onl y t\Vo spec ies at th e 
L-ni \e r sity: P. cylilldrira Kirby \\'hi ch 
is a sy no nym o f P. falsa H o rn . a nd P. 
t"eJPll lae Mi ll iron which is pro \-in g a 
pe st of t he fir s t mag nitude in the de -
partment s of Zoology and Bo tany at 
thl: Gni ve r sity whe r e it attack s in sect 
m a t e rial in o ur cabin e t s and th e plant,; 
in th e he rbarium. 
SOME RECORDS OF ECTOPARASITES FROM FLYING SQUIRRELS 
G. J. SPE NCE R 
D epartment of Zoology, Universi ty o f Briti sh Columbia. 
From a numbe r o f l-ecords o n hand 
(If ec to parasite s fro m Hy in g squirrels , 
J ha \ie se lected o nl y th(J se in st a nces 
in w hi ch I picked <)ff th e spec im en s 
myself bv a unifo rm svs tem of comb-
ing. bru s-hing and labo-riousl y exa min-
;n g- unde r a lo w po w e r m icro sco pe in 
o rd el- to o bta in the g reatest numhe r 
o f specimens w ith o ut r eso rtin g to th e 
\ Ve rn eck -H o pk in s m e th od of di ssoh "-
ing the fur in hot ca u sti c socia. 
T he qm e procedure is fo ll owed 
\\·he n exa min ing bircl s and maml1lab. 
nam elv . partin~ the fur <In th e neck 
and h ea d und e l- a ste reosc()pic micro -
,;cope to find an egg o r a louse as an 
indi cat ion of infestation. and. if eit he r 
is pr ese n t. combing th e h ead a ncl neck 
fir st and then th e \V hole bo dy \\"ith a 
medium , then a fine - too thed comb a nd 
bru shin g in a ll directions over a larg"e 
"h eet of \\·hit e pape r with a st iff tes t-
tube brush . S hort -haired mamm als or 
hirds \\'i th sho rt feathe r s on ne ck a nd 
h ead are suhj ected also to a rapi d ly 
rot ati ng round brush t w irl ed hy a 
ma chin e. Eve ry anima l is exam in ed 
hoth as so()n as r ece i \-cd a nel ;q~·ain. 
after being held overnight in a r ef rig -
e ra to r ;It 18° F . to e ith e r kill or s ti Hen 
an y lice whi ch would no t re lease their 
hold und e r the flrst treatm ent. 
Th e loca l Il y in g" sq uirre l Gla//(oIllY.r 
sc:brill1ls OIegoJlellJiJ ( I\aehm an) is fai rly 
C()ll1l1l()n in th e \,"ooels o n th e ca mpllS 
E NTOMOLOG ICA L SOCIETY OF BRITISH COL U MBIA , PROC. (1 9 55) , VOL. 52, APRIL 30, 1956 33 
Some records of Ectoparasites from Flying Squirrels 
Sucking lice 
J\f icrophthirtls "/lCillelt liS (Fe rri s) 
l\ 'eoh,lellleltopill llS JCillWpieri (Osborn) 
II lj plople/ll''' IriJpil/ oJe/ Kel l. & Ferr is 
Fleas 
O P;-;;:;;"JY" /'eJperalis (J o rcl an) 
!\ful/O PJ)'IIIIJ cili({tll s prolil/IIJ J o rd an 
Ticks 
h odu pacificlIJ Cool ey 
Mites 
:-;1 '1', 1I11d e lerJnincd 
11 1 t hl' Lilli e aiJ"I'e , ~pcci ll1 e n ~ A ;1 1lc1 
J', \I 'e r e ca ptu r ed 1,.1' th e cat. of ]) r e~ i ­
dC' 1ll 1. 1, \1, I. l d< e n zie Il h ich ch e ll'l' d 
ul'( the hea d (I f ,=, pecilllcn I: i>eillr e t he 
:',qui rr cl co u ld Iw ta k c ll from it. Th e 
jj nd iJ]~ (J il ~<J u i rre l ,\ (If I lI icro jJhlhilllJ 
1I1I01,,;IIIJ (Fe rri s) C<J lbtitul e :" as fa r as 
I can l'j!1(1 o ut fr ll11l li tcrat urc, t. h e 
"cc(Jntl r cco rd f,) r this I"u se \I 'hich 
F e rT' ;" nam ed in 19 19 as t h e ge nt ,typc 
uf a nCII ' m Oll o l y pl C g'e nu s, 'Fe rri ~ 
"a \' s "This is a \'e ry pec uli a r fo rm , 
kn ')II'1l ()nll ' f rom \ !"rth A m e ri cl n 
t1y ill~' S(luir;' e ls ()f th e g e llu s Glall ( OIll ),J, 
kn')\\'Il (J llly f r u m t h e () ri gina l 
r cc( JI- ' I f 1'0 III G lallcolII)'S Jabrill lls at 
y,,"c 11li te '\"a ti o ll a l Pa rk , Ca lifo rni a , 
This i~ u ll e o f th e \'e n ' s l11all est of al l 
suck ing lice, the ma le attaining- a 
le n g t h "f u nly about 0,35 III 111 , Th e 
in sech are su sma ll that a~ see n upon 
t hcir host the v are Yen' li k e h - to he 
Illi " t ake n for y~ >tll1g of () I~ e of tl~ e u th e r 
s pec ies \\'hi ch occ ur 0 11 these sq uir -
r eb" , 
Speci m e n H \\'ould ye ry pru bably 
hale h ac! a st ill hi g he r parasite cuunt 
if it cuuld h a\'e bee n exa mined whil e 
th e h ead \Va ~ attached, A~ it is, t h e 
VANCIOUVER ! Alt a, 
~_B_~ _ D_ I_E_ .....£....-
~~ ,I ~! : .....- -::;-.. : ~ o u 
z .... 
V 
I II c.. 
<e- <~ 15 
<"l ~ ~ [ l"l I- -
~:-< ~:-< ~ 
f~ -1-~~- l l~ 1-16-1- 2~ I 3 
I 70 6 I 3 7 1 8 
j 16111, 4 I 2 
\ 2 ~f. I 
I 10 
l ,ls PJl , 13 
I 
6 I 
1)(ljluiati u ll pre~c ll t \\ ' a ~ th e ul ti m ate, 
:t llll o~t t h e in c r e dilJl e, e\ 'e r re co rd e d 
fr()1ll thi ~ h()st and ce rt ;li n il- in r eco r d 
nUlllh c r ~, A part from' th e huge 
jlojlui;tli() lb of t hree s jlec ie ~ o f lice, 
the nu ml)c r s o f th e Il c~1 Opida.rp l'eJper-
alis (J() r cian ) Ilam e ly 16 Illa l e~ :111([ 2 1 
fc m;ll e s, a b o ,;ee l11 to he a r el'o rd alld 
a l'()Il;;id e rahlc numiJe r 111;1\- Ye fl ' \\'ell 
hal e a;;caped in t h e cOl;rse ;)f the 
rllug' h ha ndlin g' the squirrel gut I>cfo r e 
it fe ll in to 111)' hand s, 
S pel' illl e ll IJ \I'a;; t h e o nl y OIl C (If t h e 
;;ix r ec() rd ed b e r e , to ha \'e Ill) M, IlIIcil/ -
al!ls ()Il i t a lld ~ p ec illl e ll E 1\'as ullu su a l 
in th a i t h c hair ~ of the ba ck ha l f. 
aL)()\'e the hind l eg~ , Ilere pla :s t e r ed 
\\ 'ith I"u se eggs that ha d ha t ch ed hu t 
the young had no t sUl'\' i ved, Thi s was 
a n ullu sua l lucat io n fur lo u se egg';; 
\\hich a r e a lm os t inya ri a bl v attach ed 
()Il t o p of th e h ead o r aro uncl the n ec k , 
Of th e three spec ies o f li ce, H. trispill-
osa ucc urre d al l ove r t h e bodv but the 
other tw o specie s did not" CJ\'e rlap : 
especiall y 0 11 s pec imen R M, ll11CinalllJ 
was e ntire lv do r sa l over the sbo uld e r 
hlad e~ and"N, scillropleri entire ly ven -
tral across the ste rnum , A ll three 
34 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Of BRITISH COLUMBI A, PRO C. (1955) , VOL. 52, APRIL 30. [956 
species of li ce are specific to fl y ing 
squirre ls. 
Specimen F from A lbe rta , is includ-
ed here because it wa s se nt in as a 
whole a nimal, not m e rely as a skin, 
and I was able to work it over Illyse li. 
It s ma in interes t is that it har b~) ured 
F e rri s ' minute species llJlcinalli f ,yh ich 
seem s widespread in m o re nu l' he rn 
Hying squirrel s. 
R e ferenc e s 
Ferris, G. F. Cont ributi ons Towards a ,1L0 l1ograph of tlie S ucki ng Lice, l' a r t I : .l(); F igs. 
31-32. 1919. 
Fe rri s, G. F . The S uck ing L ice, Memo i rs Pac i fi c Coas t E n t. Soc., V o l I, p. 11 5; ['c2" 5ll, 
51. Ca l. Acad. Sc., Sa il Fra ncisco 18, Ca l. 1051. 
LIST OF INSECTS AND MITES ATTACKING TREE FRUITS IN THE 
INTERIOR OF BRITISH COLUMBIAI 
R. S. DOWNING2, C. V. G. MORGAN 3, AND M. D . PROVERBS3 
Entomology labo ratory, Sum merland, B. C. 
Thi s is the fIr s t publi sh ed list of in-
sects and mites t hat attack tree fruit s 
in t he interior of B ri tish Columbi a. 
It includes only th e specie s that have 
1 COll tribu tion )\ 0 . ~3 .1 2 , J ~lltolllnl()).!~· [)i \"j ", io ll, 
Scicl!(,c Scryict', Dcp ar tm c il l of Agr icul tll rc, Utta\\":J, 
l '<l llada. 
2. .-\ ss i .--tan t En t()I1l()I(),!!i~t. 
.) ~\ ssoc iate Ent o mologis t. 
Species 
Acr idi dae. g rassli o ppers , y;tn O ll S s pecies 
Allauicl li ll ed/ellcl Zell ., p cote li t\\ 'ig bo rer 
AlliJclndFIIJ PFi ( I'eek), pe ;tr ],Ii g h t bcet Ie 
AIi/iJopiJila /Nlri(/II{I (C lerck) , ;tppl c and tli o rn 
s keleton ize I' 
Allur(/phis b"keri (CO \\'CIl), c lo \ 'cr apiIid 
/ /II/lrdp/JiJ ( ( lrel!( i (L) , thi s t le ;tph id 
All1lrap/JiJ perJicae,niger ( Smi t Ii), hl ack peach 
a pliid 
AnlirapiJiJ FOJellS B;tk e r, r o:-; :,/ ;tpple ap hid 
AphiJ /J01IIi D eg., appl e ;tphid 
ArciJi/IJ dI',UI'OJPi/'i (W lk r ), f rui t t r ce Ie;t f 
ro llcr 
AniJipJ ceraJi l 'OUI /hl (Fitch) , ug ly ncst 
ca te rp illar 
Archi/}J rOJaceaJl cl (H a rr .) , o bli Cj ue-b;tnded 
leotf ro ll er 
A spidio/II J OJ 1/'eaejo /'II/ i s C url. , Europ ean f rui t 
sc alc 
A ,pidio/IIJ pemicioJlIs Con t,t., C;an J ose scale 
Bryobia prcle/iOJa Koch, clO\'e r mi t e 
Caliroa ce"c/J! (L) , pea r -s lug 
Cdr pocdpJet p01l]o lle//a (L) . codl ing m o t h 
C icadidae, cicadas , va r in 1l s speCI es 
ColeopiJora cerasil 'orella Pack. (= C. occidell/is 
Ze ll .), cig ar casebearer 
Coleo piJora pmniella Clem., c h e r ry casebea rcr 
Cor )'/bucha padi Drake. cho k e chert'v t ing id 
CypiJoderris mons/rosa Utler, a cricket 
Da/ema ministrel (Drmy), y ell o\\'-neckecl 
caterpi llar 
Diptacus giga/ltorhJllciJlls (Na1.) , bi g -beaked 
p lum mite 
Edzl'ardJiaJl{1 1'OJae (U, rose leafhopp e r 
EmpoaJca maligna (Walsll), apple leafh o ppe r 
caused economi c loss . .t\ lthoug' lJ so me 
of the m are but sporadically in ju rious, 
nO ll e a re m erely occasion al or inci -
den ta l fee de rs. A n E in tht: host 
co lu111n s de signa tes the pe s t as nIle of 
majur economic importance aga inst 
" ' hi ch cont ro l mea sures Il1U~ [ be 
frequ ently t ake n ; a n S indica tes t hat 
it is o nl y sporadicall y injuri ous . 
Apple Apricot Peach Pear Plum a l1<i Ch cr ry 
l'run e 
F C; 
E F 
c.; 
S 
:-; 
E 
E 
F 
E 
r E 
S S C; 
E 
E E 
E C; S 
E S S 
S 
S 
E 
S S 
E S 
S 
E 
c' 
J 
S 
S 
E 
S 
E 
C; 
E 
E 
S 
S 
c; C; 
E 
c.; 
:-; 
E 
S E 
E C; 
F F 
E C; 
C; E 
C; S 
E C; 
E 
C; 
C; C; 
C; C; 
E E 
S 


English

Some Records of Ectoparasites from Flying Squirrels

Tropical Rat Mites in a Domestic Sparrow`s Nest

Further Records of Mallophaga from British Columbia Birds

Hardy, George A.

ENTOMOLOGICAL SOC IETY OF BRITISH COL UMBIA, PROC. (1956) , VOL. 53, FEB. 1 5, 1957 2;; 
collecting. Their habit s a re difficult 
to study and have not been well work-
ed out, but as far as known, they 
provision their nests w ith small t o 
medium- sized weevils. 
In the r ecords fo llowing, I have 
taken their con tinen ta l di st ribution 
and records of prey from the Synoptic 
Catalogue of Hymenoptera. 
Cerceris cali/ornica Cresson. Record-
ed from "Southwestern States". We 
have three males f rom Kamloops 
taken during J une and July . No prey 
r ecords g iven. 
Cerceris Iligrescfns Smith. Recorded 
from the northern S tate s and south e rn 
Canada, from the Pacific to the At-
lantic. We have 2S spec im ens of C. 
nigrescens taken from the dry belt , 
from Ke lowna to the Chilcotin and 
from Royal Oak nea r Victoria; they 
w ere captured from May to August. 
Prey is reco rded a s (a) H yperodes de-
Imnbis (Cyll) of which vve have no 
specimens : but a cl ose r elat ive H . illter-
stitialis (Dietz ) occurs in the Nicola 
Valley; (b) Sitona hispid!lla (Fab.) 
which is common a ll over th e dry belt; 
(c) GymllaetroJl sp., o f which genu s we 
have G. tetmm, the mullein weevi l, 
from Kam loops and Chill iwack; (d) G. 
anti1'Yhini Pay k. w hi ch OCC t1l·S i n Va n-
CGuve r . 
Cerceris sextoides Banks. Listed as 
occurring from Washington to Cali-
fornia. No prey is recorded fo r this 
species. Vie have 41 specimen s, a ll 
from Kamloops, collected during the 
summer months. 
Ellcerceris fiavocincta Cresson. Record-
ed from the Rocky Mountains and the 
\Vest at 2000 ft. and above. We have 
14 specimens taken from May to 
J ul y, from Oliver to the Chilco tin and 
two males from nea r Nanaimo on tide-
water. This apparently, is a new and 
unu sual a ltitudinal record. The prey 
is lis ted as Dyslobitls lecontei Casey, of 
whi ch we have only two specimens, 
both from Victoria: but D. vermci/er 
Ca sey occurs a ll ove r the dry belt and 
D. granicollis (Lee.) at Langley, Vic-
to ri a and Cowichan. 
The gift species from Professor 
Scull en are a male and female each of 
Etlcerceris mOlltana Cresson. E. can ali CIliata 
(Say) and E. tricolor Cockc rell , of 
w hi ch none ha s apparent ly been 
r ecorded from Canada. 
D oubtless seve ra l more specie s wi ll 
be recorded fo r th is Provi nce, but at 
pre sent I reco rd only four native ones 
and threc from ou ts ide British Col-
umbia. 
THE LIFE HISTORY OF EUTHY ATIRA SEMICIRCULARIS GRT. 
(LEPIDOPTERA: THYATIRIDAE) 
G EORGE A. H ARDY 
Provincia l Museum , Victoria, B.C. 
The handsome moth Ellthyatira semi-
circularis Crt. turn s up occasionally at 
light in May ;lncI Jun e, bu t is by no 
m eans common on south ern Van-
couver Island, a s far a s m y expe ri ence 
goes. 
It has a wing expanse of 40 to 4S 
mm . It s colour is a blend of various 
shades of grey and brown, w ith a 
series of dark semicir cula r lines cross-
ing the fore-wings, concave t owards 
the wing bases, a characteristic which 
has c\' iclent ly prompted the speci fi c 
nam e. A white basa l patch and a 
light grey area on t he wing tips con-
t rasts with the preva iling sof t greys 
and browns. W hen at r es t , w ith the 
wings closely appli ed to t he body, the 
moth re sembles a piece of dead, 
broken-off twig so closely as to make 
detection difficult even for the prac-
tised eye. 
In British Columbia this moth 
a ppears to be confined to southern 
24 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF BRITISH CoLUMBIA, PRoC. (1956), VOL. 53, FEB. 15, 1957 
Vancouver Island and parts of the 
adjacent mainland, north to Lillooet 
and west to Fraser Mills. 
Ovum. Thirteen white ova were 
found on a leaf of Alnus oregona at 
Deep Cove, Saanich, Vancouver Island, 
on July 3, 1954. They were spaced 
irregularly in a group. L ength 1 by 
.5 mm., elongate, slightly flattened, 
coarsely ribbed and cross- ribbed. 
Hatched on July 6. Larvae did no t eat 
egg-shells. 
Larva. 1st Instar. L ength 2 mm. 
Colour snow-white through out . Rests 
with anterior and posterio r ends of 
body ra ised, head drawn in . F eeds 
on Cornlls occidentalis. A t 7 days the 
colour is white with suffu sed green 
showing throug h body wall ow ing to 
inges ted food. 
2nd Instar. T ul y 16. L eng th 7 mm . 
Colour as before. 
3rd Instar. Aug. 4. L ength 12 mm. 
Head. pale brown with a black pa tch 
on each side of fa ce on which th e eves 
are situated. Body, T. 1 with 4 hlack 
dot s on each side of dorsum . Colour 
off white, broadly suffu sed with 
translucent green. Body slightlv 
ta pe rin g toward s pos te rio r. Grcl\vth 
in early sbges very slow. Hicles in 
folded leaf by day, and comes out to 
feed by night. When disturbed it 
curls up sideways. 
August 18. Length 20 mm.; no 
moult observed. 
4th Instar. Aug. 31. Length 20 mm. 
Head pale pink. Eyes on a black 
backg round. Body, fuscous stippled 
on a white hase, shading into a dull 
white on the underside; a dark ill-
defined dorsa l line. Legs and prolegs 
dull white, m atching the underside. 
5th Instar. Sept. 12. Length 40 mm. 
H ead. Hesh colour, cervical plate dark 
brown. Body, dull white with fuscous 
g r e e n showing through, heavily 
sprinkl ed with white dots. A suffused 
dark g reen dorsal line; spiracles 
o ran ge ringed with black. L a rva 
spun a light cocoon between a lea f 
and th e side of glass container and 
pupated on Sept. 21. 
Pupa. Size 15 by 5 mm. Dull 
black with a purple tinge, pleura light 
brown integum ent finely wrinkled 
and pitted, exce pt the last two seg-
m ents whi ch are shiny. Cremaster a 
stout project ion tipped with two thick 
and seve ral thinn er and shorter hook-
ed spin es. 
Imago. Emerged June 8, 1955. 
THE LIFE HISTORY OF ZENOPHLEPS LlGNICOLORAT A VICTORIA 
TAYL. (LEPIDOPTERA: GEOMETRIDAE) 
GEORGE A. HARDY 
Provincial Museum, Victori a, B.C. 
The dainty little geomete r Z enoph-
leps ligni .. olorata t,ictoria T ay!. has been 
considered somewha t of a ra rity in 
the V ictoria di stri ct, but during the 
past three years the writer has found 
it f req uently in its haun ts, a t the 
right season o f the yea r , in Saanich 
and west to Goldstream, Vancouver 
Is la nd. It is assoc iated with open 
w ooels of mixed deciduous and co nife r-
o us trees. From lack of inform at ion 
on the early stages it was a t fir st 
thought t o feed on tree s, especially 
Gar ry oak, ~s it ",as fr equently found 
res ting o n the g ra ss at th e foot of 
thi s spe cies. It lay with th e wings 
partiallv closed. Hat out , no t held 
e rect ove r the body, and quite con -
spi cuously in the ope n. Only on dull 
days o r ea rly ill th e day was it thu s 
to be found. 
011 ot her occa sions thi s moth was 
found in simil a r situa tion s in fir 
wooel s, resti ng 0 11 moss rather than 
g rass . 
Z. 1. t1ictoria measures 30 mm. ac ros s 
th e expanded wings, the colour o f 


The life history of Euthyatira semicircularis Grt. (Lepidoptera: Thyatiridae)

ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY or BRITISH COLUMBIA, PilOc. (1957), VOL. 54, DEC. 16, 1957 13 
Macropsis virescms var. graminea (Fab.). 
This was first taken by me at Haney 
on poplars in 1954. It is a European 
species now widely distributed in 
North America but is not expected to 
prove of any particular economic Im-
portance. 
Idiocems decimllsqllartus Schr. This 
name now takes precedence in the 
case of this leafhopper which was long 
known as ldiocerus sCflrra. It is another 
denizen of poplar trees and is known 
to have been present on the lower 
mainland since 1922, when I received 
a spec imen collected a t New West-
minster. This is a European species, 
prese nt in North America for a long-
time, which may have come to British 
Columbia in the egg stage in the first 
poplars brought here. Like seve ral 
o ther species it has apparently no t yet 
succeeded in crossing to Vancouver 
J sland. 
Aliyglls mix/lis (Fab.). This large 
handsomely marked European leaf-
hopper was first noticed on Vancouver 
Island in 1948, but probably it had 
arrived some years earlier since it was 
already well distributed over the 
southern districts. It is an active 
flier, so its spread could be quite 
rapid. It now occurs on the mainland, 
breeding on oak and other deciduous 
trees and on snowberry (Symphori-
carpus). So far it has not proved in-
JUrious . 
There are several other species 
which have been edging their way 
acros s the continent for years, but 
cannot be mentioned here. Others 
will, no doubt, cont inue to arrive; it is 
some comfort to know that, in the 
case of Hemiptera, many are harm-
less , and some are definitely beneficial. 
An unusual flight of termites 
Emergence of a late firs t reproductives of 
the mos t commonly occurring termite in the 
lowe r Fraser Valley, Zootermopsis anguslicol/is 
Hagen, may occur during almost any month 
of the year (Jacob, ]. K. The Termites of 
British Columbia, their st ructure, bionomics 
a nd in testi nal fauna. Unpublished Masters' 
Thesis, U nivers ity of Driti sh Columbia, 1938) . 
I have personallv observed them from J anu-
ary to May and from Aug-ust to November. 
Fo r some vears now I have watched the 
a utumn flight along the north slope o f the 
P oint Grey Peninsula any time between the 
e nd of August, through September. These 
termit es abound in old logs that li e half 
huri ed in sand o r gravel in vari ous s tages 
o f decay on both sides o f Durranl inlet. 
Th ey a re in a surpri sing-I y hi gh perce ntage 
of old er home s in the K erri sda le-Kitsilano 
a rea and may occur almos t an ywhere in V an-
CO LIve r where earth is in contact wit h the 
s t LI CCO o r wooden siding of a hOLI se and rot 
sets in . Ga rages ,,·hose fl ooring res ts on 
timbers direc tly in co nta ct \I·ith th e ea rth 
a nd huilding, with damp. dead -a ir spaces 
helow th em, a re particularl y susce ptibl e. 
The autumn flig-ht of termites alon;:!' th e 
Point Grey peninsula ca n be direct ly fol-
lowed hy t he movement s of large /l ocks of 
Bonap;ute's g ull s (LaruJ philadelphia OrcI.) 
w hi ch oluck th e termite s out of the air. 
Professo r CO\\'an (olel me tha t he has shot 
the bird s ciuring t he se manoe uvres a lld ha s 
foulld them packed with termite s. One-
time residents of Gambie r Island have assur-
ed me that they have frequently watched 
this behaviour amongst large gulls also. so 
it is probably genera l along our coasts 
wherever termites swarm. Normally, off 
Point Grey, this fli ght occurs from 300 to 
500 feet above g round and extends inland 
from the sea beaches for possibly one 
quarter of a mile. But in the early evening 
o f Aug-ust I, 1956. an unu sua ll y large t1l1m-
ber of these delicate, black-headed gull s 
hunted termites from the sea shore inland 
and overhead until they passed southwards 
out of sight. The line of diving, twisting 
gulls stretch ed eas t a nd west as far as 
one could sec, at ahout the height of tall, 
old fir trees nearby, which would be between 
150 and 200 feet. Five days later som e 
res ident s of South Burnaby described to 
me this fli ght o f gull s stating that it had 
come from th e no rth and had passed south -
\I'ard s ove r the Frase r River and out ove r 
Lulu I sland . 
In past years, it would seem that the 
supply of winged te rmites gave out within 
a few hundred ya rd s o f the sea sho re hut 
th e flig-ht o f te rmi tes on August I, 1956, 
mu st have exceeded all previous ones to 
have suppli ed the birds with food fo r several 
l1lil es. - G. f. S /J elleer, D e!ll. of Z oology, VII i-
t'ersil y 0/ British CollIll/bi.l. 


An unusual flight of termites

Ruppel, D. H.

32 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF BRITISH COL U MBIA, PROc. (1958), VOL. 55, DEC. 22, 1958 
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LARCH SA WFL Y, 
PRISTIPHORA ERICHSONJI (HTG.), IN BRITISH COLUMBIA) 
D. H. R U PPEL2 
The la rch sa,.,;tl y w as fir st no ted in 
Briti sh Colum bia a t C ra ve Cr eek . 
t ribu tary of the Elk River no r th of 
F e rni e, in 1930, and it s ()ccurrence 
was repo rted to the F o res t In sect La -
bo ra to ry at Vernon in 1933 (H oppin g-, 
et af 1943). S ince 1933 thi s in sec t ha s 
spread ove r th e ra nge of w es t e rn 
la rch, Larix occidentafis N utt ., in south -
ea s t e rn B riti sh Colum bia. ]n 1952 th e 
larch sawfl y wa s fir st obse r ved o n 
ea st e rn la rch, Larix faricilla ( DuR oi) 
K. h ,och, we st o f F o rt N elson . a nd in 
1954 it w a s found un eas t e rn la rch at 
Clucul z L a k e and ot he r scat te red 
]J() int s so u th wes t o f P rin ce Geo rge . 
Thi s in sec t is a n impo na n t defo li -
at() r of larch ea st of t he Rocki es. bu t 
appa rently none o f th e infestat ions re-
fe rred to in t he fo ll uw ing- no tes ca used 
a ny t ree m or ta li ty, T he larch saw fl y 
popula t ion ill B riti sh C() lum bia ha d 
subsided to a ve r v lo w le \'cl in 19'=;7. 
History of Population Trends 
and Infestations3 
1930- T he larch sa ,,'Ay ,,'as fi rs t no t'cd at 
G rave C reck , a tributa ry o f th e E lk 
H ive r, no rth o f Fe rni e, I t probahl y 
\\'a s p resen t befo rc thi s da te. 
193 1- 1932- Info nn a tio n is lackin g fo r th ese 
yea rs. 
1933- 'J' he oocur rcnce o f th e in sect in B rit -
ish Columbia was re po rted to the 
Ve rno n L aho rato ry. Th e ra nge of 
L a rch saw Ay th en extend ed frolll Sa nd 
C reek to F lko and from E lko no rth 
in th e E lk R ive r Valley to vV rig h t 
C reek, a bo ut 30 m il es no rth o f F c rni e, 
In fcs tat io ns we re no ted a t F ern ie a nd 
nearhy H ar t ley a nd Li za rd c rce ks. 
1934- Th e ra ng e o f th e saw fl y was no t ex -
tc nd ed , ln fes ta ti on foci \\'e re at Sa nd 
C rce k, L izard Creek , H osme r , Co rhin , 
:-- lc Gilli vray a nd G rave C reek. 
1935- T h e ra nge o f t he larch saw fl y cxtc ncled 
to Roos vi ll e, lowe r F lat hcad Vall ey, 
Yahk Ri ve r Va ll ey a nd Glinochi Creek 
ha sin imm ed ia tely no r th o f th e ]\ [on -
ta na ho rd er, Gold C rcek, I~ os in La k c, 
I. Cont r ibu tio n No. 466, F o res t B io logy J)i \"is iotl , 
Science Se r v ice, D ep a rt men t of ;\ g r icu ltu re, O tt a wa, 
Ca n a d a. 
2. Fo res t Biology La bo ra to r y, Vernon, H. C. 
3. l n fo r lll a tio n wa s ga th ered fro m th e n:cord s o f 
the F o r t's t Bio log y Laoorator y , Ve r non , B. C. 
B ull Rive r, a nd no rth to F airmont H ot 
S pr in gs w hi ch is th e no rth ern lim it of 
wes te rn la rc h in t he H,ocky M oun ta in 
T rench, 
Th e in scc t wa s a lso fo und a t L um-
ber to n, \\'here it ha d probabl y bee n 
ac t ive s in ce 1932, a nd as fa r w es t as 
K it chene r, ln fes ta tio ns w er e confin-
ed to th e E lk a nd F la th ead Rive r 
a rca s. 
1936-A lt ho ug h th cre \\'as a d cc ided d ec rease 
in ponula tion levels, t he ra nge o f th e 
pest: cx tended as fa r a s Bosw ell on 
Kootenay L a ke . 
1937-N ull1bers o f t he larch s; l\l'fl v d cc reased 
to a ve ry low level, bu t t he ran ge ex -
t cnd cd to S ioca n L a k e, 
1938- Thi s yea r saw a buil d -u p o f th e in-
sec t I\'ith inf es ta ti o ns at S t . M a ry's 
L ak c a nd o n t hc h cad \\'ate rs o f Goat 
Hi vc r nea r Kit r hen er. )/0 exte nsio n o f 
ran ge \\' ,LS no t cd. 
1939- T hc 1938 bui ld -up incrcased over m uch 
o f th e kn o\I'n ra ngc from F erni e to 
S loc; ln La kc. In fes ra t in ns occ ur red 
at h:imher ley. Moy ie Lake, Ya hk, 
I-': it chcncr, Goa t I{i ver. C reston, a nd 
frotll Bos ll e ll to R iondc l. 
19-10-0 nc in fes tation oc cu rred a t Kew Dcn-
\'e r , Th e in sec t d cclin ed co nsid erablv 
o ve r th e relllai ndc r o f t hc areas me tl-
t io ned in 1939, but it s r a ng e ex tend ed 
to \'Vhat sha n La ke. 
194 1- T hc lanch saw fl y s preacl to th e eas te rn 
s lope o f t he i\ fonash cc Range. The 
populatio n lev el was a li tt le hi g he r in 
m os t a reas hut \\'as g enera lly low, 
In fcs ta ti ons \\'C re reco rd ed at N cw 
Den ve r a nd SU llImi t L a kc to th c no rt h 
o f S iocan L a ke. 
1942-The in sec t ",as obser ved fo r th e fi r s t 
tim e in th e O ka naga n Va ll ey in th e 
Ve rn on a rea , th e \I'cs tc rn limit o f 
wes t e rn la rch. I n f es ta tions \\'c re no t-
cd a t G ray C reek, th e Koote nay R ive r 
Vall ey wes t o f Ne lso n, S iocan Vall cy, 
a nd from Na k us p to N eecl les on th e 
Arrow lak es, D efo li at io n was ncg-
lig ibl e f rom C res to n ea s twa rd , 
19 .. U- T hc onl y s tand s o f \I'es te rn larch not 
kn own to have bee n infes ted by th e 
la rch sawfly we rc at S hus \I''' P Lak e a nd 
in a sm all a rea eas t o f Pent icton . 
H ca vy d efoliat io n occ urred be tween 
Nak us p a nd Edgcwood, a lso at E lk o 
and:\fo rri sse y, L ig h t to medium de-
fo li a ti on was no ted ,it in te n 'al s bc twccn 
th esc gene ra l a reas. 
1944-Po tJu la t ion levels \\'e re gen era ll y 10\\' 
with li g ht outbreaks at Trinity V a ll ey 
an d A r row La k es Va ll ey , 
ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, PROC. (1958), VOL. 55, DEC. 22, 1958 33 
ELK &. FLAT HEAD RIVERS 
MOYIE &. YAHK RIVERS • 
UPPER KOOTENAY RIVER 
GOAT RIVER 
KOOTENAY LAKE 
SLOCAN VALLEY 
ARROW LAKES 
MONASHEE PASS B. LUMBY 
KETTLE R.B. CASCADES 
PRINCE GEORGE B. NORTH 
1930 35 40 
• 
I I IT] 
• 
• D IT] 
0 IT] 
• D 
• 
• 
45 
YEAR 
I 
0 
50 55 1957 
o LIGHT POPULATION OR 
KNOWN TO BE PRESENT • 
VAR~OUS DEGREES OF 
INFESTATION 
Fig. I.-Population trcnds and infestations of Prisliphora erichsonii (Htg.), from 
1930 to 1957 in British Columbia. 
1945-The insect was observed in the Pentic-
ton area and Christian Valley. An 
infestation occurred on the Rossland-
Sheep Creek Summit. From Nelson 
eastward the population was "very 
light." 
1946-Lumby and Hall Creek (near Salmo) 
were the only localities where damage 
was recorded. 
1947- An infestation appearcd at Vv'hatshan 
Lake. 
1948 & '49-A li ght infestation ooc urred in 
th e vicinity of Grand Forks, Eholt, 
and Phoenix. Elsewhere th e insec t 
was sca rce. 
1950 & '5 1- The larch sawfly was very sca rce 
in Survey collections and a ll infe sta -
t ions in southeastcrn I3ritish Columbia 
had subsid ed . 
1952-A few Survey collections from points 
west of Creston containcd larch sawfly 
lar vae . They \,ere also found for the 
fir st time on eastern larch III the 
no rthcrn part of the province at 11i ll 
C reek 'vest o f Fort Nelso n. 
1953- La rch saw fl y was pre se nt in small 
n umb ers at scattered poi n ts, m os t lyon 
thc kc ttle IZi\·c r drainagc. 
19.=i4-Thc situati on wa s unchanged ill the 
so ul h bu t ;)n in rcstation developed at 
Clucu lz Lake wcst o f Prince Gco rge 
\I·here th crc arc ,catt c rcll s iand s o f 
ea s tcrll larch. 
1955-The insect was very scarce on westcrn 
larch in all areas. A few larvae wcre 
collected at Pantage Lake southwest 
of Prince Gcorgc, the southern ex-
tremity of thc range of eastern larch 
in I3ritish Columbia. A light infesta-
tion occurred at Cluculz Lake. Pres-
encc of the in sect was indicated by 
curled leaders at Commotion Crcek 
west of Dawson Creek. 
1956-A few la rvae were found in a con-
centrated search in the Phoenix area 
near Grand Forks. One colony was 
found at Cluculz Lake west of Prince 
George. 
1957- The larch sawfly occurred in onc col-
lection made along the Hart Highway 
west of Dawson Crcek, the on ly known 
reco rd of the insect for 1957 in Brit-
ish Columbia. 
The population trends and infesta-
tion s of the larch sawfly since its 
appearance in British Columbi a about 
1930 are depicted in Figure 1. Figure 
2 show s the approximate range of 
western ami eastern larches in the 
prO\·inc e and areas \"h e re infe station s 
of larch sawflv arc kn ow n to have 
occ urred. The- Shu swa p I.ake area is 
the onlv part o f the western larch 
34 EI'<TOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, PROC. (1958) , VOL. 55, DEC. 22 , 1958 
~ RANGE OF EASTER\I L A RCH 
IIlIlill RANGE OF WE ST ERN LA RCH 
~ LAR CH SAWFLY INFEST ATI O NS 
o 25 50 100 15 0 200 
" I-LL!. ' , 
\. -. 
\. 
Fig. 2.- Thc ran ges of Larix occidentalis N utt., and Larix laricin" (DuRoi) K. Koch and 
known areas where inf es tations of Pristiphora erichsonii (Htg.) have occurred since 
1930 in British Columbia. 
ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF BRITISH COL UMB IA , PROC. (1958) , VOL. 55, DEC. 22 , 1958 35 
r a nge where the insect has not been 
fo und. A lpine La rch, Larix fyallij ParI. , 
occ urs at high elevat ion s ove r much 
of the range' of we s tern la rch, but has 
never been recorded as a hos t of la r ch 
saw fl y in B ritish Colum bia. 
References 
),I cLeou, ]. H. 195 1. Kotes o n the populat ion a nd pa ra s it ism of the larch sawfly, Pristi-
phora erich.ronii (Htg.) (Hym e nop tera: Tent hredinida e), in Briti sh Columbia. Ent. Soc. 
D.C. P roc. ( 195 1) , 48 :8 1-85. 
H o ppin g , G. R., H . B. L eech, and C. V. G. 110rgan. 1 9~3. The larch sawfl y, Pristiphora 
erichsonii (Hart ig) in Britis h Columbi a , with spec ia l ref ere nce to the cocoon pa ras ites 
MesoleillJ teli /hrediniJ Morl ey a nu Tritll eptis klli.~ ii (J{at ze ourg). Sc i. Ag ric. 24(2): 53 -63 . 
A Record of a Sand Cricket,. Stenopelmalrnae, from the 
Coastal Wet Belt of British Columbia 
The Ste no pe hn;lti nae co ns titute th e fir s t 
o i five sub-families of th e T e tli goniiu ae o r 
lo ng- horned g rass ho ppers t hat occ ur in Brit -
ish Colu mbia. In sec ts of this suo-fam il y, 
ge nera lly ca ll ed Sand o r ] e ru salem cricket s, 
h ;lve eno rmo us, smooth h eads and hc;tvil y 
spined fro n t legs fo r di ggin g in t he sandy 
soil in w hi ch th ey liye. Th ey arc noct urna l, 
hid in g by day in bu rroll's excavated und er 
sto n es and bits of wood. 
I n hi s li s t o f t he OrtllOpte ra o f Driti sh 
Columbia ( I ), B uckel l r eco rd s three spec ies: 
Stenopel711ct/lIs fl/scIIs Haldeman of w hich h e 
coll ected o ne speci men iro m F",ir view, jus t 
sou t h of O lil'er; S. longispill(t Brunn er, record-
ed from Vancouver by Ca rl B runner ( in 
Ve hr-Zoll -bo t. Gesell sch. ' Vei n XXXVIII, 
p. 26 1, ( 18RR), and Cyphoderris mOIl J/rows 
U h ler, th e Il oc turn:tl w ood c ri cket I"hi ch 
is comm o n in the D r v Delt in the a spen 
groves tha t f ri nge tim lier line. 
S pec im en s o f S/enopellll(//lls ha"e no traces 
o f "' in g,, ; CYl,boderris m ale s h;tl'e sho r t, stub-
by tegmina lI' ith which they s tridulat e, but 
th e femal es arc ent irely lI·in g le ss . 1 11:\\·c 
take n a felV spe cim ens of S. fll sclis from un de r 
boa rd s nca r the in ternation; d bo und:try at 
O SOI'OOS but ha d no r ecord from the CO:1s t 
un ti l I r eceived a full groll" n s pecimen f ro m 
~Irs . Mi nnie Peterson of Semiamu Bay w ho 
sa id it was destroyin g po t:ltoes in he r 
gard en . KolI' thi s bay is g iven, in th e Geo-
gra phica l Gazettee r fo r B.c. as "Georg ia 
S t ra it Eas t of Bou ndary Bay, NelV , .vcs t-
min s te r Di st ri c t" a nd may lVe ll be con sid e red 
t he Vancouver regio n. the refore the spec i-
men I r ecei ved f r0111 }'I r s. Peterson is 
pro bably S/ellopelmatlls IOl1 gispill(/ Brunne r 
a nd it would be th e fi r st t :1 king of th is 
insect s ince 1888, the "eco nd record fo r the 
pro vin ce. 
iml11ediate ly wro te to 11rs. Peterson 
begg in g her to sacr ifice her potato patch 
for th e sake of sc ience and to coll ec t me 
all th e s pecimen s sh e co ul d, bu t the fi rs t 
is th e only o ne r eceived so fa r; M rs. Peter-
son is appare n tly not a scientist, o r th e 
in sect is cx ccss i"ely rare at the coas t . 
Reference : 
( I) Duckel l, E. R. 1930. T he DerJna pte r:l 
:t nd Ort ho ptera o f \ ';lnCOUyer I s land. 
Proc. Lilt. S oc. D.C. 27 : p. 46. 
- G . .f. S/ICII Cfr, L'!1ireni/y () j B,i/iIh Colllmbi(/. 
Jll e!./Ild/)d J/rid/.I Say at Vernon, 
T he OCC UIT(,IlC e o i ,1felcllldnd J/ri(/ /a Sa,' at 
Co urten; ty, n.c.. h:l s been recorded b,' C're-g-
son (Enl. Soc. B.c. . Proc. -11. 36, 19-1-1). Th e 
o nl y ot her H. C. s pec imen, tktt I hayc bee n 
able to locat e arc in the Canadi:tn ?\ati ll nal 
Col lec tion: o n e is from \ ' ic to ria and th e 
o th e r is of do ubtful au t h e n t ic it,· as there is 
B .C. (Coleoptera, Melandryidae) 
no loca lity o n t he label. -
A new record of An/lapbild .trr.rlis 
I took a fi ne s pec imen of AI1I1(/phi/(/ (/r1 'cr/is 
1n Saanich. \ -ancouve r I s land o n :-Iarc h 
10. 1958. Thi s appears, fro m Ill y informa -
ti on, to be th e fir s t reco rd s ince t,yO " 'ere 
taken oy E. 11. Anderso n :1 t Golds tream, 
V. T .. }.Iarch 22, 1903. 
This s pecies fo rm e rl y ma squeraded as 
Brephos fi e/cheri in our Jlubli sherl list s. but 
recen t i l1I'eq-i ga t io ns ha ye sho ll'n it s r c :\ I 
s tatus (sec P ro "in cia l Mu seum R e po r t 1932). 
Some do ubt ha s exi s ted t ha tit "'as pre s-
ent in B. C. since no spec im en s had been 
011 }. ray 16 and 17, 1 9.~ () , I col lec ted lJ 
!:t r,·:,,· . -1. pupae and 5 ca ll o \\" ad ul ts o f titi s 
hcc tlc ir"" 1 , ltI1I1PS of ,,·itite birch Be/ltl(1 
I,.I /'Jri fcrd ~\hr s h. 8 mile s e; ls t o f Vernoll, 
I\ .C. Ti le lan'al Q'a l lcri es \I'e r e traced 10 a 
depth oj ~ ill c ites' it l tit e ro tting Iyood, b\lt 
lite p\lp al cell s lI"en, IlW>1ly " ' ithi\l an 
in c it oi l ite s \lr !:tcc . 
- J. Grdll/ . i'ureJ/ 13iolo.~y Laboret/ory, J T ernOI!, 
B.C. 
Hy. Edw. III British Columbia 
taken fo r so long. Eyidelltlv it is a n 111 -
sect th at c:t lln ot be co ll ec ted del iberately 
o,,-in g to th e !:tct that its habits do no t 
co in ciu e ,,·ith our m e tit od o f a pproac h . It 
seems to oe met ,,·ilh o llly by pure chance 
alld good lu ck. 
Th e C:1 tc rpill ar is kn O,,' n 10 feed o n M ontia 
l'f /f() lia/(/. th e r e fo re it sho uld be looked fo r 
lI·here thi s plant gTOlY 5, hut always I'ery ea rl y 
in the seaSO Il. 
-Geo rge A. H ardy. 


A brief history of the larch sawfly, Pristiphora Erichsonii (Htg.), in British Columbia

Ross, D. A.

Evans, D.

40 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, PROC. (1958), VOL. 55 , DEC. 22, 1958 
The moths, nicknamed "Pink-bordered 
Yellow" by Blackmore, possess none of this 
metallic sheen; and the nickname indicates, 
the colour is yellow with a pinkish-brown 
margin on the front wing. I can find no 
references accounting for metallic gold in 
insects. Other colours, especially yellows, 
are accounted for by pigments and environ-
mental fa ctors, but not gold . The gold in 
these pupae may be pigment, rendered 
meta llic by interference lines, that emerges 
in the adult wing as yellow. 
Finally it is of interest to note that the 
word "Chrysalis" comes from the Greek 
"Khrusallis" meaning "golden thing". Did 
the first entomologist-etymologist to employ 
that word Chrysalis to the obtect pupae of 
Lepidoptera, have before him the metallic 
golden pupa of this insect Sicya macularia? 
- G. J. Spencer, University of British Columbia, 
VaIlCOUVel". 
ANNOTATED LIST OF FOREST INSECTS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA 
PART VIII - SEMIOTHISA SPP. (GEOMETRIDAE)1 
D. A. ROSS2 and D. EVANS3 
The larvae o f Semiolhisa spp. are 
leaf eaters; seven of the fore st species 
feed on conife rs, thre e on deciduous-
leaved hosts. Non e ha s been known 
to occur in de structive numbers in 
British Columbia. The larvae are 
medium-sized loopers: some species 
are green with white stripes, a few 
have two colour phases. All species 
overwinter as naked pupae in the duff. 
S. adonis B. & McD. Pinus ponderosa, 
P. contorta, P. monticola, Pseudotsuga taxi-
folia (3), La r i x occidentalis (1) ; 
southern B.C. ; rather uncommon. 
Larva: Ii inches; head, pale green, 
dull reddish patch above and be-
fore ocelli; body, g:een; cream-
coloured subdorsal stnpes (includes 
abdominal setae ii of Dyar and Forbes) 
continuous onto the head; broader 
cream subspiracular stripe. 
S. granitata Gn. Pseudotsuga taxifolia, 
Picea engelmanni, P. glauca. P. mariana, 
P. sitchensis, Tsuga heterophylla, Abies 
lasiocarpa, A. grandis, A. amabalis, Pinus 
contorta, P. monticola; believed to be 
accidental on P. ponderosa and Larix 
spp. Generally distributed; sometimes 
very numerous over small areas. In 
1949 numerous adults emerged during 
early fall; normally the species over-
winters in the pupal stage. Larva: Ii 
inches; head, greenish, with dark red-
dish-brown blotch or herringbone 
pattern on sides, occasionally also on 
vertex; body, green; middorsal area 
1. Contribution No. 4.19, Fores t Biology Divi s ion, 
Sc ience Se rvice, Department of Agriculture, Otta\v<I, 
Canada. 
2. F o res t Bio logy Laboratory, Vernon, B.C. 
3. Forest Diology Laborato ry, Victori a , D.C. 
dark; 'white subdorsal stripe ventrad 
of setae ii ; whitish "bloom" over 
do rsum ; fine bla ckish lines on dorsum, 
below subdorsal stripe and on suu-
venter (these blackish lines may be 
obscured by the "bloom" ; cream 
spiracular- subspiracular stripe; white 
lines on venter. 
S. perplexa McD. Pseudotsuga taxi· 
folia, Picea engelmalll1i; southern Interior 
with a few records along the southern 
and central Coast. Larva: apparently 
similar to S. granitata. 
S. sexmaculata Pack. Larix occiden-
talis, L. laricina; southern Interior on 
western larch and central Interior 
north into the Yukon on eastern larch; 
frequently numerous. Sometimes this 
species has a partial second brood. 
Larva: length !t inch: green phase -
head and body green; white addorsal 
lines dorsad of seta i; broader white 
subdorsal stripe ventrad of ii, bordered 
below by black line; cream subspir-
acular stripe; white midventral and 
subventral lines; no black lines on 
venter; brown phase - head, off-
white, with brown blotch or herring-
bone pattern on vertex; body, off-
white, overlaid with brown; irregular 
broad anteriorly directed dark brown 
wish-bone mark on the dorsum of 
each abdominal segment. 
S. triviata B. & McD. Junipems 
scopulomm; Australian, Marguerite, 
Alexandria, Williams Lake, Mara 
Meadows, Fort Steele, Hedley. Larva: * inch; head, off-white with irregular 
brown patch through setae ii (Dyar); 
pale herringbone pattern on vertex; 
ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA , PROC. (1958), VOL. 55 , DEC. 22 , 1958 4 1 
fruns black: body brow ni sh ; small 
off-white subdorsal patches at anterior 
margin of each body segment; black 
irregular V patch containing each ab-
dominal spiracle continuous forming 
V's on venter o f abdominal seg-
ments; off-white patch anterior to 
each spiracle. 
S. teucaria Stkr. Quercus garryana; 
southern Vancouver Island. Larva: 
1 inch; dull lime-green, wide pale 
subdorsal stripes; yellow spiracular 
line; ventral and anal prolegs marked 
with crimson. 
S. setonana McD. J1Inipems scapular· 
11m ; southern Interior. Larva: 1 inch; 
greenish head, may have light brown 
herringbone pattern ; white patch on 
either side of frons containing seta ii 
(Dyar); body, green (apparently there 
is also a grey phase); subdo rsal stripe 
broken , irregular: small blackish spot 
at intersegmental area on dorsum ; 
black V patch through spiracles; white 
patch anterior to spiracle and rusty 
patch below: four white lines on 
venter. 
S. neptaria Gn. Salix spp.; so uthern 
and central Int e rior, Va ncouver I sland. 
Larva: 1 inch; head, r eddish brown 
with curved brown band above frons; 
body, yellow-brown ; broken white ad-
dorsal lines; brownish patch under 
abdominal segment 2. 
S. hebetata Hlst. Salix spp.; Canal 
Flats, Connell Creek, Manson Creek, 
LeJ eune Lake and at various points 
in the Yukon between miles 916 and 
1190 on the Alaska Highway. Larva: 
1 inch; head, brownish with black 
transverse lines above and below 
frons ; body, dark purplish-pink with 
banded appearance; broken, off-white 
or yellowish addorsal line and sub-
spiracular stripe; blackish patches 
about spiracle. 
S. continuata Wlk. Tsuga heteraphylla, 
Thllja plicata; southern Coast. Larva: 
-} inch: head , large anel green; boely, 
bright green with cedar-twig-Iike pat-
tern; broken white line s : pale spir-
acular line. 
BOOK REVIEW 
Annual Revie\v of Entomology, Vol. 3. 
(E. A. SteinhatlJ and R. F. Smith, editors). 
1958. Annual Revie\\'s, Inc. Palo Alto, Calif., 
pp. vii - 520. 
A slightly astringent reviewer of entomol-
ogical books for the Quarterl y Review of 
Biology, Prof. George C. Wheeler, com-
plained (Ibid 32 (2): 191» that Vol. 1 of 
thi s series "might have been more appropri -
ately entitled an 'A nnual Heview of Applied 
Entomology' since 70 per cent of its pages 
are devoted to t hat branch". His criti·cism 
is no longer valid; Vol. 2 hac! about 45 
per cent economic content, and Vol. 3 has a 
mere 30 per cent. In this revi ewe r's opinion, 
th e balance is now about rig ht. .\Iuch of 
the support for the parent society a nd the 
Annual Review comes from applied entomolo-
gis ts, entitling them to th eir one-third share, 
even to the section on air-blast sp raying 
which seemed particularly to irritate the 
critic m entioned. Since some of the best 
current work is applied, or at least economic-
ally motivat ed, the editors can scarcely re-
duc e the economic papers below their present 
level and still claim to represent the 
prof ession. 
The volume seems to be top-heavy with 
U.S. contributions in th e proportion of 15 
to 8 fo r the rest of the world. Origins of 
the latter are: the U.K. 3, Canada 3, 
Australia 1, and France 1. The non-English 
s peaking \\'o rld seem s to be poorly repre-
sented. Of the 64 papers in the first 3 
volumes, on ly 2 have come from Contin-
ental Europe, none from Scandinavia, India 
or Russia. W ould not an occasional review 
by region as well as by topic be acce ptable? 
A chapter entitled, for example, Entomology 
in the U.S.S.R. would be ,-ead wit h (Co nsid er -
able interest. 
T wo minor irritants persist in Vol. 3, both 
concerning the citation of lit e rature. In 
soliciting a review, could not the editors 
suggest that the names of authors cited 
be left out of the text, except when dis -
cussing diffe rence s of opinions as in A. J. 
N ich olson' s "Dynamics o f Insect popula-
tion s"? The text is more swiftly read with-
out th em, and the reputation of th e revi ewe r 
him se lf should be the guarantee that only 
the bes t. contributions in the field arc being 
surveyed. The second criticism follows from 
the first. 
In a review, the sources are of prime in-
terest, hence it is no more than courteous 
to list them alph a betically so that they are 
quickly available. Fortunately, only 9 of the 
23 reviews have non-alphabetic references, 
not includll1g the largest list with 28j titles. 
The authors and topics for Vol. 4 have 
been announcecl. It appears that the high 
standards are to be maintained. 
H. R. MacCarthy . 


Annotated list of forest insects of British Columbia Part VIII - Semiothisa spp. (Geometridae)

Leech, Hugh B.

Farris, Sinclair H.

pulse ranged from 90 to 110. She did 
not void during the first 24 hours and 
during this period of time it was nec-
essary to give her one further injec-
tion of 10 cc of 10% calcium gluconate 
and three further inj ections of Mor-
phine gr. 116 and two aspirin and 
Codeine (gr. %) capsules. 
Between the 24th and 48th hour 
after admission her condition im-
proved. She voided freely. A general 
urinalysis was negative. The abdom-
inal pain disappeared, but the ache 
in the feet remained, and the soles of 
her feet were quite sensitive . 
Hyperreflexia was noted at this 
time and she con tin ued to have a 
moderate degree of perspiration with 
chilly sensations but no fever . 
On the third hospital day her 
symptoms disappeared. On the fourth 
day she was discharged asymptomatic. 
Examination at this time revealed a 
soft abdominal wall and normal ten-
don reflexes. 
Final Diagnosis 
Black Widow Spider Bite (AnLCll -
noidism) . 
The Black Widow spider is found in 
the dry regions of the Province usual -
ly in rubble heaps or under rocks. It 
is loca lly common in the Okanaga n 
Valley and extends its range west at 
least as far as Princeton. Some years 
ago it was abundant in the vicinity 
of Trail (see The Black Widow Spider 
by K. Raht, R ept. Provo Mus. for 1943, 
p. 13 and a lso Publication No. 127, by 
Fergus J . O'Rourke, Canada Depart-
ment of Agriculture, Science Service , 
1953) . On Vancouver Island it is rela -
tively common in the Victoria area 
and is found along the east coast a s 
far as Nanaimo. On the mainland it 
has been collected at Powell River 
which seems to be an unusually wet 
place for this species. 
In the southern United States this 
spider is said to be much more ven-
omous yet fatal cases affecting man 
are rare . 
ACHAETONEURA DATANARUM REARED FROM ANTHERAEA 
POLYPHEMUS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA (Diptera: Tachinidae) 
HUGH B . LEECH 
California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco 
and 
SINCLAIR H. FARRIS 
Forest Biology Laboratory, Victori a, B.C. 
11. larva of Antheraea polyphemus 
(Cramer) was observed feeding on 
Betula occidentalis at Vernon, B.C., 
in July, 1945; it spun its cocoon in 
mid-August. The cocoon was brought 
indoors on January 30, 1946, and 
placed in an incubator next day (72 0 
F., 90% relative humidity). On Feb-
ruary 19, sixteen dipterous larvae 
emerged from it and formed puparia. 
From March 4 to 7, seven male and 
nine female flies were recovered . 
They have been identified by Mr. A. 
R. Brooks as Achaetoneura datanar-
um (Townsend , 1892) , a somewhat 
uncommon species. 
A second cocoon, from Trinity Val -
ley, B.C., was incubated frorr M, 'ch 
12 to April 8 inclusive. Fiftee t.!'rJ" ·l' -
ous larvae left it on fI ;Jrll ~ uud 
formed puparia. On AjJi'il 20-:' .~ight 
m ales a nd six females of A .. iutan-
arum f'n wrged (det. Brool{s) ; one 
additiona l specimen was acciden t ally 
destroyed before sexing. 
Both cocoons were rested on a sup-
port which was at a 45 0 angle in the 
rearing ja r. In each case the fly mag-
gots emerged from the valvular end , 
though in on e in stance this end Vv":; 
upward . 


Achaetoneura Datanarum reared from Antheraea Polyphemus in British Columbia (Diptera: Tachinidae)

32 EXTO~roLOGt(,AL SOC'I i':TY OF BUITI S H COLU)lBIA . Puoc. (1 959). VOL. 56 . No\". 4, 1959 
14. Jacks, H., and J. E. Hawkins. Compatibility of spray materials used in New Zealond 
on apricots-1955. Orchardist of New Zealand 28 (3): 32. 1955. 
15. Jacl~s, H., and R. E. Robbins. Compatibility of spray materials in New Zealand on 
pears-1954. Orchardist of New Zealand 28 0 ): 17. 1955. 
16. Jacks, H., and H. W. Rosser. Compatibility of spray materials used in New Zealand 
on peaches-1955. Orchardist of New Zealand 28 (4): 16-17. 1955. 
17. Kagy, J. F. Toxicity of some nitro-phenols as stomach poisons for several species 
of insects. J. Econ. Ent. 29: 397-405. 1936. 
18. Kirby, A. H. M., and W. H. Read. The toxicity of phenyl benzene sulphonate and 
some chlorinated derivatives towards eggs of certain tetra nyc hid mites. J . Sci. 
Food Agr. 7: 323-330. 1954. 
19. Martin, H. The scientific principles of plant protection. 3rd ed . Edward Arnold 
& Co., London. 1940. 
20. Martin, H. Guide to the chemicals used in crop protection. Third edition . Ca nada 
Dept. Agr., Ottawa, Ontario. 1957. 
21. Marshall, J . Trend and practice in control of orchard insects. Ann. Rep. Oregon 
Sta. Hort. Soc. 45: 15-17. 1953. 
22. Marshall, J . What constitutes good concentrate spraying. Ann. Rep. Oregon Sta . 
Hort. Soc. 48: 145-149. 1956. 
23. Marshall, J . Concentrate spraying in deciduous orchards. Canada Dept. Agr. Pub. 
No. 1020. Ottawa, Ontario . 1958. 
24. Marshall, J. (Personal communication). Entomology Laboratory, Summerland, B.C. 
25. McArthur, J. M., and K. Williams. (Personal communication) . Chemistry Labora · 
tory, Summerland, B.C. 
26. Morgan, C. V. G., and J . Marshall. Dinitrophenol derivatives as summer acaricides 
in British Columbia. Sci. Agr. 29: 191-199. 1949. 
27. Morgan, C. V. G. Influence of oil on toxicity of benzene hexachloride. Canadian 
Ent. 79: 109. 1947. 
28. Morgan, C. V. G., and N. H. Anderson. Some aspects of a r yania glyodin spray 
schedule in British Columbla apple orchards 1. Entomological , horticultural 
and economic aspects . Can. J. PL Sci. 37: 423-433. 1957. 
29. Morgan, C. V. G. (Personal communication). Entomology Laboratory, Summerland, 
B.C. 
30. Murphy Chemical Company. Summer ovicides for the control of red spider mites. 
Pamphlet. Wheatham.pstead, England. No date. 
31. Pielou, D. P ., and M. D. Proverbs. Diazinon-a summary of recent work on a new 
orchard insecticide. Proc. Ent. Soc. British Columbia 55: 3-6. 1958. 
32. Pielou, D. P ., and R. S. Downing. Trithion as an orchard insecticide. Proc. Ent. 
Soc. British Columbia 55: 17-23. 1958. 
33. Proverbs, M. D., compiler. Effect of benzene hexachloride on the odour and flavour 
of fruit. Canada, Dept. Agr., Sci. Servo Res. Notes Ser., Ent., No. E-l. 1948. 
34. Proverbs, M. D. Chemical control of aphids in British Columbia orchards. Proc. 
Ent. Soc. British Columbia 51 : 23-30. 1954. 
35. Proverbs, M. D. Chemical control of the peach twig borer, Anarsia lineatella ZeU. 
(Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia . Proc. 
Ent. Soc. British Columbia 51: 31-36. 1954. 
36. Rohm & Haas Company. Triton surface-active agents. Pamphlet. Philadelphia 5, 
Pa. 1951. 
37. Shepard, H. H. The chemistry and action of insecticides. McGraw-Hill, New York. 
1951. 
38. Swales J. E. (Personal communication). British Columbia Dept. Agr., Creston, B.C. 
39. Union Carbide Chemicals Company. Sevin insecticide. Pamphlet. New York. 1958. 
40. Young, P. A. Penetration, distribution and effect of petroleum oils on apple. J. 
Agr. Res. 49: 559-571. 1934. 
A Solpugid in British Columbia 
A couple of specimens of this near rela-
tive of spiders were given me some years 
ago by a student from southern Alberta. In 
these animals the head is distinct from the 
rest of the body and their classification de-
pends upon the teeth in the upper part of 
the mandibles of the males. On February 
14, 1958, Mr. W. Preston, R.R. No.1, Oliver, 
in the South of the Okanagan Valley, 
brought me a s olpugid which he had col-
lected in June 1956 near an irrigation ditch . 
It is a female and so cannot be classified. 
I think this is the second r ecord of a sol-
pugid being taken in British Columbia . Mr. 
Jim Grant of Vernon, informed me that Dr. 
Kurata of the Royal Ontario Museum had 
reported them some years ago. 
-G . ./ . .spencer, Univ ersity of Br it i sh Colum-
lJia. Van couvrr. 


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