Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia

Harvey, J. K.

i':~ Tf)"0I.1H I It \1 , ::--;04 I r , l'I Il l· H I~ III S II ( ' I)I.1 ' \ I RI\' P}HIf ', (l!-H)! t) . VnL. 50 , No\-. 4 . 1!) 5 ~J 1!l 
AN IMPROVED TECHNIQUE FOR PINNING, SPREADING AND 
MOUNTING MINUTE LEPIDOPTERA' 
J. K . HARVEY 
Fores t Biology Laboratory, Vernon , B.C. 
Methods of spreading min ute Lepi-
doptera vary greatly, and r esults are 
frequently poor. There is no satisfac-
tory board manufactured for spread-
ing their wings, therefore one has 
been designed by the writer. This 
paper describes the spreadin g board 
a nd how it is used. 
Construction of Spreading Board 
Glue a strip of 2 x 14 X 1/ 4 inch cork 
to a strip of plywood of the same 
dimensions . Cut a 1 x 14 inch strip of 
1 32 inch thick patent leather length-
wise down the centre, usin g a stra ight-
edge and a sharp knife. Glue the two 
strips of patent leather 1 32 of an 
inch apart along th e centre of the 
cork strip, smooth side up. (Fig. 1). It 
is convenient to make up three or 
more boards, varying the width of the 
groove for different sized moths. 
Pinning and Spreading the Moths 
The following equipment is used by 
the writer when preparing microlepi-
doptera specimens : spreading board , 
forceps, dental loop, minuten pins, 
glassine pa per in 3 / 16 x % inch strips, 
h a rd balsa wood pieces 1/8 x % x % 
inches, number 3 insect pins and a 
sta ndard mounting block . 
1. Specimens to be spread must be 
thoroughly relaxed. 
2. Place th e moth venter side down 
on a ba lsa boa rd. Grasp a minuten 
pin with a pai r of forceps and insert 
th e point perpendicula rly through the 
centre of the thorax, until it pen e-
trates 3 16 of an inch throug·h the 
venter. The author wears a dental 
loop to expedite this work . 
3. Grasp the top of th e minuten pin 
with th e fo rceps and push it vertical-
ly into the groove (which should be 
just wide eno ugh to 11 t th e insect's 
body) so tha t th e body res ts in th e 
1 Cu~trilJ u li u n [\0 . 5:37 , VorC:!'It H i u l ug~ lJi viSiul1 , 
Sc ience Service, i) ('pclr t m c nt Of .'\ g ricul turc
J 
Ot -
ta wa. Ca nada , 
groove, a nd the wings rest on the 
board . 
4. Very lightly blow the wings for-
ward, separating the fore-wings from 
the hind-wings. Sometimes they can 
be blown into the desired pOSition and 
will remain there without having to 
be anchored by a minuten pin . 
5. Grasp a minuten pin with the 
forceps and, catching the forewing 
just behind the longitudinal main 
vein , close to the thorax, pull the wing 
forward over the surface of the board 
until the posterior margin of the hind 
fringe is at right angles to the body. 
Anchor it with the pin . 
6. Bring the hind wing forward in 
the same manner until the fringe of 
the anterior margin is nearly touch-
ing the forewing fringe and anchor it. 
7. Gently lay a strip of glassine 
paper lengthwise over the anchored 
wings, taking care not to disturb any 
wing scales. With the forceps, secure 
the strip of glassine paper with four 
minuten pins, two pins just forward 
and to the outside of the front wing 
and two pins just behind and to the 
outside of the hind wing. Repeat the 
procedure for the wings on the oppo-
site side . 
8. Gently remove the temporary an-
choring pins. 
9. Using a curved pOinted 00 pin in 
a holder , ease the antennae into the 
desired position . 
10 . When the specimen is dry (usu-
a lly two or three days under room 
conditions), remove the minuten pins 
while holding the glassine paper down 
with a pair of fine forceps . 
11. When all anchor pins have been 
removed, lift the strips of glassine 
paper with forceps. 
12 . Using forceps, lift the spread 
moths from the spreading board . 
Mounting the Moths 
Hard ba lsa wood strips may be ob -
20 
tained in Va x Va x 18 inch strips. Cut 
these into % inch lengths for mounts. 
Insert a number 3 insect pin vertically 
through the balsa mount 1/ 16 of an 
inch from one end. Press the mount 
to a height of % inch on the pin, using 
the appropriate step on the "pinning 
block." With forceps, grasp the pin 
holding the moth and press the point 
1 16 of an inch vertically in to the 
balsa mount Va of an inch from the 
end. The mounted specimen is then 
ready for labelling. (Fig. 2) . 
Fig. 1. Moth on spreading board. 
Fig. 2. Muunted and labell ed moth. 
Pine Siskins Killing Forest Tent Caterpillars 
In June 1954 the trembling aspen wood-
lands along the Fraser River Valley south 
of Quesnel, British Columbia, were denuded 
by an outbreak of the forest tent caterpil-
lar, Malacosoma disstria Hbn. On June 22 
in the semi-open country about Castle Rock, 
flocks of pine siskins, Spiinus pinus (Wilson), 
were numerous and two instances of preda-
tion upon the fully-grown larvae were ob-
served. The bird carried a larva to a su it-
able branch, then standing on the insect's 
body, grasped the head in its bill and pulled 
until the viscera were removed . These were 
laid along the branch and a small portion of 
the body contents were selected and eaten. 
One siskin killed three larvae in this man-
ner in a few minutes. 
- .1 . Or(ll/t. rnrcs l Rio/OflY [ ,oboralory. VeT-
I/on. R. C. 


English

An improved technique for pinning, spreading and mounting minute Lepidoptera

Chapman, J. A.

PROC. ENTOMO r.. Soc . BllI T. e(1! l".\ I IHA . VO L. 57 (1960)' DEC. 1, 1960 3 
THE DISTRIBUTION OF OVERWINTERING TRYPODENDRON 
(COLEOPTERA, SCOLYTIDAE) AROUND A SINGLE TREE IN 
RELATION TO FOREST LITTER VARIABILITY' 
J. A. CHAPMAN2 
I ntrod uction 
The occurrence of overwintering 
Trypodendron Zineatum (Oliv.) in 
forest litter was first reported and 
studied by Radom (1933) . Later in-
vestigations on the hibernating sites 
of this ambrosia beetle were made by 
Kinghorn and Chapman (1959) . 
One of their findings was that the 
beetles tended to concentrate around 
the bases of trees. 
Examinations of litter in British 
Columbia have shown that there is 
often considerable difference in num-
bers of beetles from similar or adj a-
cent samples. An example of this is 
given by Chapman (1959). There are 
many factors which may contribute 
to forest litter variability; for exam-
ple, amount of rotten wood or moss, 
relative contribution from various 
tree species, moisture, and n a ture of 
ground cover. The purpose of the 
present study was to secure informa-
tion, within a small sample area, on 
obvious differences in groun d cover 
and nature of litter in relation to 
numbers of overwintering beetles. 
Method 
It was believed that the informa-
tion desired could best be secured by 
sampling in such small units that the 
approximate location of individuals 
could be determined, in relation to 
litter variability. Accordingly, in 1959, 
near Parksville, B.C., some time was 
spent sampling the litter surrounding 
a single tree within a stand of timber. 
The seasonal activity of Trypoden-
dron had been studied earlier in ad-
jacent logging settings (Chapman and 
---;-contribution No. 680, Forest Bio logy Division, 
Resear ch Branch, Department of Agriculture, Ot-
tawa, Canada. 
2 Forest Biology Laboratory, Victoria. 
Dyer, 1960) and the location of a 
fairly large population of overwinter-
ing beetles was known from studies 
by E. D. A. Dyer and J. M. Kinghorn 
of this Laboratory. The work was 
done in November and December, 
after the beetles were all in their over-
wintering quarters. The area to be 
sampled was marked out in 6 by 6 
inch squares and, including some 
smaller units next to the tree, 287 
samples were taken. In each square 
the litter and organic material which 
could easily be removed by hand from 
above the mineral soil was taken. 
Previous work (Kinghorn and Chap-
man, l.c.) had shown that most if not 
a ll of the overwintering population is 
located above the mineral soil. The 
portion of the surface covered by 
lea ves of salal (Gaultheria ShaZZon 
Pursh), the common under-growth 
plant of the coast forest, was noted, 
and the amount of moss estimated for 
each sample. Other obvious features 
of the litter, as presence of bark flakes 
in large amounts, or surface roots or 
fallen branches were also noted and 
the volume of each sample was mea-
sured after examining it for beetles. 
Immediately upon collection the 
samples were placed in individual 
plastic bags and kept at outdoor tem-
peratures in a shaded location until 
they were examined, within two 
mon ths. This was done by spreading 
the litter thinly on a warm surface 
under a light (Radom's method) and 
watching it for a period of time judg-
ed entirely sufficient to activate all 
beetles. With this method they are 
seen easily when they begin to crawl 
about and at this stage of their life 
they seldom fly from the warmed 
Puoe . E],;TO~LOr.. Soc. BUl'r. COLlB I III A , VOL 57 (19110), DEC. 1, 1960 
litter. The litter was redistributed on 
the warm surface at intervals during 
the examination period, to increase 
search effectiveness. Twelve of the 
samples which had been stored long-
est and from which a total of 37 
beetles had been taken using the 
above procedure, were next examined 
by a wet method which reveals dead 
insects also (Kinghorn and Dyer, 
1960). Only three more beetles were 
found, giving a recovery of 92 per 
cent for the warm pan method. This 
agrees well with previous tests of 
beetle recovery (Kinghorn and Chap-
man, l.c.) and is good evidence that 
few had died in the interval between 
collection and examination of litter, 
or were missed by the warm pan 
method. 
Results 
The data from this study are best 
given as a beetle distribution map of 
the area sampled (Figure 1). In (A) 
each beetle is represented by a dot. 
Within any given sample unit the 
dots have been arranged uniformly. 
The two squares adjacent to the tree 
represent 12 x 12 inch samples taken 
previous to this study. It is obvious 
that the positions of the beetles are 
only approximately shown. While 
most of them are closer, the maxi-
mum distance they could be recorded 
from their true position is SY2 inches 
(the length of a diagonal of a 6 by 6 
inch square). The portion of ground 
surface covered by salal leaves is 
shown by the diagonal lines. No dis-
tinction was made between low, dense 
cover and higher, more diffuse cover. 
The position of a small dead tree 
which lay across the sample area is 
also shown, the interrupted lines in-
dicating contact with earth or litter, 
the solid-lined portion being 2 to 4 
inches above the surface. 
In (B) the relative abundance of 
surface moss is indicated by from 2 to 
49 dots per sample unit, correspond-
ing to a range of trace amount to 2/ 3 
of the litter sample volume, in S steps. 
The relative volume of litter per sam-
ple is also indicated; the range 25-35 
cubic inches, to 100-150 cubic inches 
per sample being shown by use of 0 to 
S horizontal lines per sample square, 
with five categories. No obviOUS rela-
tionships between numbers of beetles 
and presence of dead salal leaves, 
small twigs, shallow roots or other 
miscellaneous features of the litter 
were noted. 
Discussion 
Certain inferences or tentative con-
clusions may be based on this study. 
First, t.here appears to be no direct 
relationship between moss or litter 
volume and numbers of beetles. Sec-
ondly, although the beetles concen-
trate next to trees, as earlier reported 
by Kinghorn and Chapman, a consid-
erable proportion occur over a foot 
away. Thirdly, two features of the 
data suggest that surface cover is a 
significant factor in determining the 
fin a 1 position of overwintering 
beetles : 1) the apparent effect of that 
part of the small fallen tree lying 
above the surface in concentrating 
beetles beneath and close to it (note 
Fig. I-A), and 2) the quite marked 
association between high density of 
beetles and salal cover on the south-
east side of the tree. It is possible that 
a concentration of large trees 15-20 
feet to the southeast resulted in a 
shading effect which contributed 
somewhat to the heavier population 
on that side of the tree. It appears, 
however, that the primary factor was 
the salal cover, which in this section 
of the sample area formed a dense 
well defined zone, contrasting with an 
adjacent open space. It should be said 
that the area of felled logs from 
which, presumably, most of the 
beetles came, lies to the north through 
about 200 feet of timber. Finally, it 
can be noted that the distribution of 
PRoc. ENTO:\fOL. Soc. BrllT. COL lI MBL\. VOL. 57 (1960), DEc. 1. 1960 
A 
. . . 
. '.' ....... @, . . . .. ::. . 
Fig. l.-(A) Distribution of beetles (dots) around a tree in relation to salal (Gaultheria) 
undergrowth. (B) Relative amounts of moss (dots) and litter in the same area (see text). 
5 
6 PI(OC. E:'\TGMO L. SOl". £l InT . CU I.l' .II""'. VOL. 57 (1960), DEC. 1, 1960 
beetles, while not random, is cer-
tainly variable enough so that a single 
sample anywhere around the tree 
would give only a rough idea of the 
actual population there. 
Kinghorn and Dyer (1960) report-
ed considerable numbers of T. line-
atum overwintering in tree bark. 
Beetles were found not only in thick, 
heavily fissured bark, but also in 
niches bored into the relatively thin , 
smooth bark of smaller trees. This, 
together with earlier findings con-
cerning location of overwintering 
beetles, suggests that it is the physical 
nature of a location in offering small, 
protected crevices within a certain 
general setting which influences a 
beetle to select its specific hibernating 
quarters. If this is so, then one would 
not expect differences in litter com-
pOSition or appearance, even at the 
surface, to have much influence apart 
from the fact that most litter offers, 
at almost any point, relatively dark, 
moist, easily entered hiding places in 
abundance. The results of the present 
study are in agreement with this view 
and also indicate that it is factors 
other than those associated with 
obvious variations in litter itself 
which are of primary importance in 
determining location of overwinter-
ing beetles. 
References 
1. Chapman, J. A. 1959. Autumn-winter mortality in the ambrosia beetle. Canada Dept. 
Agric., For. BioI. Div., Bi-Monthly Progress Report 15(3). 
2. Chapman, J. A. and E. D. A. Dyer. 1960. Seasonal flight activity of the ambrosia 
beetle Trypodendron lineatum (Oliv. ), for 1959 near Parksville, B.C. Proc. Ent. 
Soc. B.C. 57: 30-33. 
3. Hadorn, C. 1933. Recherches sur la morphol ogie, les stades evolutifs et l'hivernage 
du bostryche lisere (Xyloterus lineatus Oli v.). Suopl. aux org. de la Soc. forest. 
Suisse No. 11. Buchler and Co., Bern. -
4. Kinghorn, J. M. and J. A. Chapman. 1959. The overwintering of the ambrosia 
beetle Trypodendron lineatum (Oliv.) . Forest Science 5: 81-92. 
5. Kinghorn, J. M. and E. D. A. Dyer. 1960. Overwintering of ambrosia beetles . 
Canada Dept. Agric., For. BioI. Div., Bi-Monthly Progress Report 16(1). 
ADDITIONS TO THE CHECK LIST OF MACROLEPIDOPTERA 
OF BRITISH COLUMBIA' 
DAVID A . ARNOTT 
While investigating the cutworm 
species present in southern British 
Columbia the author used light traps 
at two localities to supplement data 
from field surveys. A trap was operat-
ed at Kamloops for 5 esasons from 
1955 to 1959 and at Summerland for 
one season, 1956. Among the macro-
lepidoptera captured were thirty-two 
species not recorded for the Province 
by Llewellyn-Jones (1951), including 
,Contribution No. ,Entomology Labo r ator y, 
Research Branch, Canada Depar tn,en t of Agricul-
ture, Kamloops, British Columbia . 
Laphygma exigua Hbn., the beet 
armyworm, not previously known to 
occur in Canada. A single new record 
was obtained from Summerland, that 
of a geometrid, Cheteoscelis bistriaria 
Pack. Thirty species were recorded 
only a t Kamloops. Adults of L. exigua 
were r ecorded at Kamlops in 1956 
a nd 1958 a nd an adult recorded from 
southern Vancouver Island in 1958. 
The larvae of this species were also 
found during 1958 infesting crops of 
table beets and tomato at Ladner and 
tomato at Pavilion . 


The distribution of overwintering Trypodendron (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) around a single tree in relation to forest litter variability

Fulton, H. G.

Banham, F. L.

P1<(), · .E"T()~I() L. So .. . BHIT . e P IX \ , J:J..\ . Vpl. :'7 0%0). D~; ... 1. 1960 47 
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE TUBER FLEA BEETLE, EPITRIX TUBERIS 
GENT., IN BRITISH COLUMBIA ' 
H . G . FULTON 2 AND F . L. BANHAM 3 
The tuber flea beetle was first noted 
in British Columbia in 1940. Damaged 
potato tubers from Rosedale and Lulu 
Island on the lower mainland were 
received by the Entomology Labora-
tory at Agassiz for diagnosis . These 
tubers were found to have pimpling 
injuries in the skin leading to brown 
worm-tracks immediately below. Sim-
ilar damage was reported by Cowan 
(1) in 1927 and described by Webster 
and Baker (5) in 1929 in Washington. 
They attributed the injury to feeding 
by la rvae of the eastern potato flea 
beetle, Epitrix cucumeris Harris. 
In 1941 , flea beetles were collected 
from areas where the damaged tubers 
had been grown. Two species were 
present ; one, the western potato flea 
beetle, Epitrix subcrinita (Lec.), was 
a minor pest of potatoes that had 
been present for more than 20 years. 
This species damaged foliage by feed-
ing but was not known to damage 
tubers . Later observations (4) indi-
cated that larval damage could occur 
to tubers when large numbers were 
present. The second species was rea d-
ily distinguished from E. subcrinita, 
and was assumed to be E. cucumeris 
until specimens sent to the System-
atics Unit in Ottawa, were shown to 
be undescribed. Finally, in 1944, the 
insect was described by L. G. Gentner 
(2). 
The first published record of this 
insect was made in Colorado in 1904 
(2) where it caused heavy loss. The 
insect was first recorded in Oregon, 
,Cont-ibuti(\n No. 24, Researc h Statio n , Re-
s~a-ch Bra nCh , Caneda Department of Agric ul-
ture, V ancouver, B.C. 
2 t:nt ,)lr ology Sub-Station , Chilliwack, B.C. 
3 Entomology Laboratory , Kamloops , B.C . 
Washington, and Nebraska before 
] 928. 
From 1941 to 1943, E. tuberis spread 
throughout the lower Fraser Valley. 
Heavy damage occurred at Agassiz, 
Chilliwack, Langley, and Sumas but 
the damage diminish ed towards the 
coast. The Delta region remained 
virtually free until 1948. 
In the southern interior h eavy in-
festations were general in 1951 and 
1952. At several places in the Lillooet 
district in the upper Fraser Valley 
and at Kamloops, heavy adult popu-
lations severely damaged the foliage 
of tomato, bean , beet, rhubarb and 
potato plantings. 
In 1953, E. tuberis was taken at 
Gilpin 7 miles east of Grand Forks. 
New locality r ecords were also m ade 
at Fauquier and Burton on the Arrow 
Lakes about 70 miles north of Grand 
Forks. Both localities were completely 
isolated from previously known in-
festations. 
By 1958, E. tuberis had appeared 90 
miles east of Grand Forks at Wynndel 
on Kootenay Lake . 
Except where references are given 
the data in this paper were taken 
from the records of the Chilliwack 
Sub-station (formerly the Agassiz 
Entomology Labora tory), the Kam-
loops Entomology Laboratory, and the 
Provincial Entomologist, Mr. C. L. 
Neilson, to whom grateful acknowl-
edgement is made . We also wish to 
thank Dr. H. R. MacCarthy, Head, 
Entomology Section, Res ear c h 
Branch, Vancouver, who suggested 
this topic and for his assistance in the 
preparation of this paper. 
B
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References 
1. Cowan, Robert. F lea bee lle injury in south west Wash ington. Proc. 22nct Ann . 
Meeting Wash . State Hart. Assn . Dec. 1926, pp. 155-160. 1927. 
2. Gentner, L. G. The black fl ea beetl es of the genus Epitrix commonly identified as 
cucumeris (Harris) (Co leoptera : Chrysomelidae). Proc. Ent. Suc. Wash. 46: 
137-149. 1944. 
3. Glendenning, R. Population coun ts of potato flea beetl es at Agassiz and Chill iwack, 
B.C. Proc . Ent. Soc. Brit. Col. 42:2. 1945. 
4. MacCarthy, H. R. A comparison of potato tuber damage by two flea beetles, Epitrix 
tuberi$ Gent. and Epitrix subcrinita (Lec.) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Proc . 
Ent. Soc. Brit. Col. 47: 42. 1951. 
5. Webster, R. L ., and W. W . Baker. Pota to fl ea beetles in Washington . J. Econ. En!. 
22: 897-900. 1929. 
A FURTHER RECORD OF GRYLLOBLATTA CAMPODEIFORMIS 
CAMPODEIFORMIS WALKER, IN THE INTERIOR OF B.C. 
A furth er record for the distribu -
t ion of Grylloblatta campodei/ormis 
campodeijormis Walker, is establish-
ed with the discovery of this insect in 
th e Monash ee Mountains east of 
Lumby, B .C. Two specimens, one male 
and one female nymph, were found 
on September 13 , 1956, at a road cross-
ing over Tepee Creek a pproximately 
two miles north-west of Lightning 
Peak in the Mona~hee Mountains. 
The identifica t ion of these specimen s 
was verifi ec' b', Prnf8<;,,,or Emeritu s G . 
F. Spencer of the Univer <: ity of British 
Columbia . 
It is interestIn g to note tl:. a t a lon g: 
wU.h nn th of tr. e <:e in ,c::ects was ca n -
t,ured a Ja -rt:!e Cal·ahid~.~ - ppm'Ylhu ~ 
rmQusticoU i.s verified bv Gar don 
St,ace Smith of Creston , B.C. 
The snecimens were ta1<en fJ"O m a 
deep crack in a soft granite boulder 
on the bank of the creek . The outer 
slab of th e rock was removed and th ~ 
insects were found a mong the mas') 
which was growing inside of the rock 
fissure . It was a bright day and tem-
perature was estimated to be 65°F . 
a lthough evening temperatures were 
below fr eezing. Altitude was estimat-
ed at 6,300 feet. 
These specimens and th e one cap-
tured by J . D . Gregson (1938) at Kam-
loops, B.C. h ave coal black eyes which 
is in contrast to the non-pigmented 
eyes of two adult specimen s taken at 
Jasper ( 1930) and which are h eld by 
Professor G . J . Spencer. 
Seven speCimens, one adult and six 
nymphs, were taken by D . K. Camp-
bell and J. Grant and are assumed to 
be of the same variety, a lthough 
identification was not confirmed. 
These specimens were found beneath 
the rocks, at the foot of a stable 
talus slope , located on the north-east 
side of the Monashee highway a p-
proximately 32 miles east of Lumby 
at an elevation of about 3,800 fee t . 
The date of cap ture was November 
11 , 1952. At the time of capture the 
insects were active a lthough air tem-
perature h overed about the freezing 
point with intermittent snow flurries . 
The temperature within the rock 
slide was below freezing. The pig-
mentation in the eyes of these speci-
mens was not observed. 
--.1 . el) /'I If '/'. Pmr ill ci fll A p iaris t . "Fen I0 1I. 
U.t' . 
References 
Gregson J . D. Gryllobl .. tta campodeiformis Walker- A nell' record . Can. En t. 70 : 63-64 . 
HJ3fl . 


A brief history of the tuber flea beetle, Epitrix tuberis Gent., in British Columbia

Silver, G. T.

PROC. ENTOMOL. Soc. BRIT. C OLllMIHA. VOL. 57 (1960), DEC. 1, 1960 
CHEMICAL CONTROL OF LOOPERS IN STANLEY PARK, VANCOUVER' 
G. T. SILVER 2 
Introduction 
Stanley Park has long been recog-
nized by the Forest Insect Survey as 
a good collecting area for loopers, 
primarily the western hemlock looper, 
Lam b din a jiscellaria lugubrosa 
(Hlst.) . A heavy outbreak of this 
species occurred between 1911 and 
1913, but by 1914 the population was 
greatly reduced by the action of a 
tachinid fly (Whitford and Craig, 
1918). Many western hemlock, Tsuga 
heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg., were killed 
outright. Another outbreak caused 
moderate defoliation in 1929, and the 
Park was dusted in 1930 to prevent 
further damage (Hopping, 1934) . 
No further outbreaks of the hem-
lock looper were recorded until 1958. 
In July, 1958, large numbers of hem-
lock loopers were present, but in as-
sociation with a much larger number 
of green-striped forest looper, Mel-
anolophia imitata Wlk. By July 15 the 
combined population has caused light 
to heavy defoliation on coniferous 
understory trees and light defoliation 
to many mature overstory hemlock. 
Six hundred acres were sprayed by 
aircraft on July 26 with 10 per cent 
DDT to protect the trees from further 
damage . No appraisal was made of 
insect mortality but about 30 minutes 
after spraying the roads and paths 
were littered with dead and dying 
larvae. Samples taken on the under-
story trees two days after spraying 
indicated a relatively large number 
of larvae had survived the treatment 
apparently protected by the thick 
mid-story of vine maple which exists 
in some sections of the heavily wooded 
areas. 
By mid-July, 1959, the number" of 
western hemlock looper and the 
1 Contribution No. 598, Forest Biology Division, 
[{esear r h Branch, Department of Agriculture ot· 
tawa, Canada. ' 
2 Forest Biology Laboratory, Victoria, B.C. 
green-striped forest looper were large 
enough on some trees that if allowed 
to complete their feeding it was fear-
ed that top-kill could occur on some 
of the mature and over-mature west-
ern hemlock. In contrast to 1958 the 
hemlock looper was the more numer-
ous species. About 550 acres were 
sprayed between 7: 17 a.m. and 7: 43 
a.m., July 25, by a Grumman Avenger 
aircraft from Skyway Air Services 
Ltd. at Langley. The insecticide was 
DDT in fuel oil , without emulsifier, 
and applied at the rate of one gallon 
per 3.cre. 
Methods 
Because of Park restrictions it was 
impossible to cut branch samples so 
la rval mortality was calculated by a 
series of prepared tests . Larvae of 
both species were obtained by beating 
trees. Small hemlock branches were 
tied to a lath cross-piece suspended 
about a foot above a 40-inch square 
of factory cotton stretched on a 
frame. Tanglefoot was placed around 
the edge of the frame and the ends 
of the cross-piece to prevent larvae 
from escaping. The trays for the two 
species were set up in pairs in a large 
clearing with three replications about 
200 feet apart at right angles to the 
line of flight . Larvae were placed on 
the foliage on the evening of July 24, 
and checked again early the next 
morning. The trays were checked 
four times after spraying on July 25, 
and once again early on July 26. All 
living larvae were then taken to the 
laboratory and reared for 11 days on 
foliage collected adjacent to each 
tray. 
Spray deposit cards were set out on 
each tray prior to spraying, and sam-
ples of the insecticide were obtained. 
Results 
The insecticide samples were an-
alysed by the Chemical Control Sec-
P I:0l'. ~:\ 'J"\I ' . I. SO(. B:: r' l. C( ' I.I 111<1 .1. \" (11 .. . )1 (1 ~1I.;n). DIe". 1, 10GI1 59 
tion , Forest Biology Divi sion, and con-
tained 7.54 per cent DDT by weight. 
The amount of DDT recovered from 
the spray depo sit cards was small, 
ranging from 0.0 6 to 0.10 pounds per 
acre . 
Considering th e low DDT deposits 
h emlock looper 18, rva l mortality was 
r emarkably heavy. In the three repli-
c:),tions 0.06, 0.09 , and 0.10 pounds of 
DDT per acre wer e r ecovered, and the 
corre.':pol1cling larva l mortali ty three 
clays after spraying was 97.4,90 .4, and 
96.8 pel' cent respectively. The com-
bined mor tality from the three repli-
cations is sh own in Table 1. Mortality 
TABLE I - Hcmlock looper lar val morlali1y )'csult ing from an ;]ve l'age deposit of 0.083 
lb. acre DDT. St,m)r-y Park . 1959. figUl' es arc u tl ~ ,)!' r eclc(i fo r natura l m ortality . 
D al's afte!' No, larvae P er cen t 
Date 'spray j)c:lrl Livjn~ mo rtality 
J uly 26 
July 27 
,J u 'y 28 
J uly 30 
July 31 
August 3 
August 6 
1 197 19 91.2 
2 199 17 92.1 
:-l 204 12 94.4 
5 20() 10 95 ,-1 
(j 2m 9 95,8 
9 209 7 96,8 
12 209 7 96.8 
was 91.2 per cent after 24 hours, and 
increased slowly to 96 .8 per cent on 
th e ninth day. Of th e seven survivors 
after 12 days four were pupae. 
Larva l mortalit y of the green-
striped fores~ looper was] rss ~.bD.n the 
h emlock looper. DDT recoverey in the 
th ree tests was 0.06, 0.09, and 0.10 
pounds per acre, and larval mortality 
a fter three days was '/5 .8, 90.4, and 
86.5 per cen t r espectively. Mortality 
in the first replication increased slow-
ly, but reached 86.7 per cent on the 
twelfth day compared with 86.5 per 
cent [or th~ test which received 0,09 
pounds of DDT per acre. Th e data for 
the three re1Jlica t ions were grouped 
l Table 2). Total mortality bar ely 
reached 90 per cent , considerably less 
than for h emlocl<: looper. Twelve of 
TABLE 2-GrC'cll -, t ,'ipc r] 10l'est leop p!' la \'a I mor1ali ty r esu l ~ i Il~ f rom an avera ge de · 
posit of 0.083 lb . ;;r'e DDT. St2!l 1;, P :E'k, Hl5£l. F;~l:t' E' S eT C uncoL'ccl ecl [or nat ura l 
mortality . 
Dale 
Ju lv 26 
Jul,' 27 
Jul~' 28 
Jul; 30 
Auguot 3 
August 4 
August 6 
1 2 l ar vae ln issing. 
Days after 
SP' a.1 
] 
2 
:-l 
;) 
9 
10 
12 
22 lan'ae died or para <:: ites . 
the 27 survivors were pupae. 
As ma terial \vas not available to 
allow for check experim ents the mor-
tality percentages a r e not corrected 
for na t ural mor tality. 
On .July 25, abou t 20 per cent of the 
h emlock looper s were in the fourth 
instal' and about 80 per cent in th e 
fifth or ul t imate in stal'. Most of th e 
fourth - instal' larvae died within 24 
hours. The first green-striped forest 
looper la rvae to clrop ancl die were the 
sm allest. Dead la rvae the first clay 
No. !u rvae 
Dead Li\'ing 
225 46 
232 39 
233 38 
235 34' 
237 32 
238 31 
240 27 2 
P er cent 
mor tal il \' 
83.0 . 
85.ti 
86.0 
87 .4 
88. 1 
88 .5 
89.9 
were 23.5 per cen t fourth, 52 .5 per cent 
fifth, 8. ncl 2,4.0 per cent sixth or ulti -
mate instal'. By the second day all 
fourth -instal' larvae were dead, and 
after the fifth day on ly last- instar 
larvae were a live. Based on th ese rec-
ords it appears that the bes t t ime to 
spray for both species is no la ter than 
when the majority of the larvae reach 
the tomtl1 instal'. In this particular 
instance treatment on e week or 10 
cl8yS earlier would have r esul ted in 
l1cavier mortal ity in a shorter t ime . 


Chemical control of loopers in Stanley Park, Vancouver

Andison, Harry

In Memoriam: William Downes, 1874-1959

Hardy, George A.

Lree did reduce the numbers signif -
iean tly below that of the checks. In 
Block II there was no significant 
difference between the three levels of 
applica tion but all significan tly re -
duced the numbers below that on th e 
lin treated trees. 
Adult a phids on ten leaves per 
tree in Blocks I and II in 1960, are 
shown graphically in figure 1. In late 
J uly, two months after the insecticide 
was a pplied , the populations rose 
sharply, but the increase in the un -
treated trees was much more rapid 
than in the treated trees. 
Although the tree trunks ranged 
from 25 to 41 inches in circumfer-
ence, the degree of aphid control was 
not influenced by tree size. However, 
trees over 40 inches in circumference 
should probably receive not less than 
24 oz. of 5 per cent Di-Syston 
Two trees in Block I , the aphid 
counts from which were exclud ed 
from the experiment, h ad been treat-
ed for three consecutive years with 
24 ounces of Di-Syston. They were 
virtually free from aphids . Indeed 
they were the only trees und er which 
cars co uld be parked with impunity . 
Summary 
My:wcallis walshii Monell is a major 
Iluisance on the red oak , Quer cus 
borealis Michx. f. (Q. rubra a uth.) , a 
boulevard tree of many streets in 
Vancouver, British Columbia. 
The aphid has no a lternate host. 
The males a r e winged. Mating' takes 
place on the leaves, a fter which the 
a pterolls oviparae move to th e vicin-
ity of the main crotch to lay their 
eggs in crevices of the rough bark. 
In 1961, the eggs hatched in the mid -
dle of May . 
A fiv e per cent granu la r tormula-
t;o n of Di-Syston appreciably r ed\lced 
the numbers of aphids when appli ed 
III the soil around the trees at the 
rate of 15 oz. per tree. 
Acknowledgements 
r am in debted to Dr. W. R. Richard s, 
Entomo logy Research In stitut e , Resea rch 
Bra nch, Canada Department uf Agriculture, 
Ottawa, (or identification of the aphid, and 
tu my colleagues Dr. H. H. MacCa rthy. Mr. 
A . R. Porbes, and l\ Ir. M. D. Nohle [or 
<t ss ist;ll1ce durin g the cuurse of thi s I\"()rk. 
References 
1. Hottes, F. C., and T. I-I. Friso n. 1931. The pl ant lice, or Aphiidae, of Ill inoi s. Bull. 
Nat. Hi st. Survey lllinoi s. 19 : 259·260. 
2. Patch , E. M. 1938. Food·pIa!1t cata logue u[ the aphids of the w()rld. \laine Agr. Exp t. 
Sta .. Bull. 393: p. 97. 
3. Snedecor, G. W. 1946. Statistical Meth oc;s . .10\\·a St<Jte Co llege Press. Ames, Iowa . 4th 
Ed . p. 268 . 
Heliothis phloxiphaga G. & R. (Le pidopte ra: .Pha laenidael on Vancouve r Island 
In the pas! tw elve years I have met wilh 
t hi s species only once, in 1957, when .it wa s 
fr equentl y to be see n on the open g rassy 
slopes of the hill sid es near Vict oria and 
Goldst r ea m . 
It was observed in tl\"O period s, May 4 to 
7, and aga in from July 5 to Au g ust. 4. fn 
the first peri od it was fairl y cO lllmon , i eed · 
ing on the fluw er s either uf sea blu sh , 
Valerianella congesta, or of several species 
of Trifolium. More commonly, it was a rous-
eel to flight on m y close approach , and 
remaining just out of reach of the net, 
\\ 'ould fl y Slriftly and errat ica]]y for a shor t 
distance and then di ve s udd enly into th e 
herbage, repeating th e process if again 
dis turbed. 
In t he seco nd period it wa s nol so uften 
seen but sl've ral wer ::; !"ken at lig ht. Mos t: 
d the indi vid ual s were ubviously second 
brOOd. judgin g frolll the fresh condit ioll of 
: heir wings. 
J ones records th e species from Victoria, 
Mill Bay , a ncl Duncan on Vancouver Island 
~o there is evi dentl y a res id ent. nucleus 
\\" hi c h gives rise tu noticeable number;; in 
~in exceptionally favourable season. 
H. phloxiphaga is closely r e lated to H. 
obsoleta, a pest assotiated with the cotton 
crup of the southern states . 1 have no infor-
mation concerning it s eco nomi c ~ 1.alu~ .in 
Briti sh Colul11 bia . 
(/eo!"!)( ' A. FTuof ,l/. r',.'Jr i JII 'iuJ .lJ JI SI ' lIll t 
( It lt! . ). ~ ' ;1 II)ril(. H.f '. 


Heliothis phloxiphaga G. & R. (Lepidoptera: Phalaenidae) on Vancouver Island

Pielou, D. P.

Williams, K.

THE PATTERN AND PERSISTENCE OF DEPOSITS OF SEVIN , WITH AND 
WITHOUT SURFACTANTS, ON THE FOLIAGE OF FRUIT TREES 
II. APPLICATION BY HIGH VOLUME SPRAYER' 
D. P. PIF.LOU AND K . WILLIAMS " 
R esearch Sta tion, RGsea1'ch Branch, Ca n ada Department 
of Agriculture, Summerland , British Columbia 
Introduction 
In a previous pa per (5) an acco unt 
was giv en of the distribution and de-
clin e of depOSits of Sev in ( I - na phthyl 
N - m eth ylca rbama te), usin g a m ethod 
of extraction a pplicable to th e deposit 
on one side of a Sin gle leaf. The in-
ft uence of Plyac (active ingr edien t . 
polyethylene 629) on these deposits 
was a lso investigated. Those investi-
ga tions were made using th e 'con-
cen trate ' a ir-blast method of spray-
in g. In concentrate spraying the wet 
deposit on foliage consists of a dense 
pattern of drops. These drops have 
coalesced from the smaller drops in 
the a ir tha t have fallen on the 
leaves. By correct manipulation of 
the sprayer, these drops do not coal-
esce to the point where irregula r 
patches of ftuid occur, i. e ., to the 
point of ' incipient run-off ' (3). I n 
high volume spraying, on the other 
hand , the foli age is delibera tely 
drench ed with la r ge quantities of 
flU id , much of which ultimately fa ll s 
to the ground. The film of water r e-
tained produces an insec ticide de-
posit . which on dryin g, is different in 
ma n y ways from that produced by 
concentrate sprayin g. In this pa per 
an account is given of some ch a r ac-
teristiCS 0 I' th e deposits from high 
volume a pplication . Poin ts of co m -
pa ri son a nd con tras t a re made with 
t.he fi ndin gs in th e previous paper 
(5) in wh ich concentrate sprayi ng 
was used. 
1 ContribuLion f\u . 11 0, f {e~ea rt'h Sta t iOI1 , I{e-
:::-ca re h Bra nch. Canada Dep.'J. l'tlll e n l or Ag rkulture. 
SU111me r lan ci , Briti sh CulumiJ i.1. 
.2 En t o l11(J l() ~ i sl and C helllht. t' E'spect i \'l-'b'. 
Methods 
The methods, trees, a nd samplin g 
a rra ngem en ts were as previou sly de-
scribed (5) except in a few important 
r espects. 
The sprayer used was a t ruck-
mounted, gun-type m achin e. It was 
operated at a pump pressure of 400 
pounds per squa r e inch . Th e cherry 
t rees were sprayed very thorou ghly, 
approximately 20 Imperia l3 gallons 
being used per tree. Sevin , 50 per cent 
wettable powder, was a pplied a t a 
rate of one pound per 100 gallons, 
a nd , Plyac , when in clud ed, a t one pint 
per 100 gallons. This is one- sixteenth 
the concentration used in the concen-
tra te application (5). Leaf samples 
were ta ken immediately after the de-
posits were dry, and six days later. 
In p lace of the device previously 
used (5) a n ew piece of appara tus was 
constructed that allowed the simul-
taneous, but separate , removal of the 
deposi ts from th e two faces of the 
sa m e leaf. This apparatus is described 
elsewh ere (6). Since both faces of 
each leaf were a n a lyzed for insecti-
cide it was possible to test for corre-
lation be tween depos it s ize for th e 
two surfaces . This was not possible 
in th e fo rmer stud y. 
Chem ical analysis of the ex t r acts 
was m ade according to th e m ethod 
of Misku s, Gordon and Geor ge (4 ) . 
Results 
The m ean va lli es of deposi ts group-
eel a ccord in g to sa mplin g t ime, leaf 
sur fac e, and treatment are show n in 
Ta ble 1. Rat ios, sho win g th e relation 
2G 1'1:<"'. I;;ST"\'"I. . ~; II' . HI: IT . (' 01.1" .111:1.1. \'1)1. . 5~1 ( 1~162 ) . OH ·. 1. H I62 
TABLE I.- The Influence of Suriace , :! nd Prese nce of Plyac, on th e Mean De posits of 
Sevin Produced on Cherry Foliage by Hi g h Volume Spraying . 
Tim e Surface 
Mean de pos it of Sevin , 
micrograms per sq. cm. Ratio : 
with withou t 
0.56 * 
0.57* 
With Plyac Without Plyac 
Lower, L 
Upper, U 
Ratio: L / U 
Lower L 
U pper : U 
Ratio: ' L U . 
1.76 3.12 
Day 0 1.39 2.43 
1.27* 1.28 * 
(, .78 1.64 0.48 * 
0.56 * Day 6 0.49 0.87 
1.59 * 1.89 * 
All ratios s ig nificantly diffe:'e nt from the nu ll hypoth esis valu e of 1.0. 
between deposit size on the two leaf 
surfaces a nd between treatments, a re 
al so included in the ta ble. It will be 
seen that, as in concentrate spraying 
(5) deposits are heavier on the lower 
surfaces of leaves. A conspicuous ef-
fect , but in th e reverse direction to 
that observed with concentrate spra y-
in g, is also obvious as a r esul t of 
Plyac treatmen t. 
To see wh ether the values for de-
posit size on th e lower leaf surfaces 
ranged independen tly of those on th e 
upper surfaces, coefficien ts of correla -
tion were calculated. For deposits 
sampled on the day of spray a pplica -
tion , the coeffici ent of correla tion be-
tween the lower a ncl upper deposits 
was 0.3695 when Sevin plus Plya c 
was used ; where Sevin was used alone 
it was 0.3797. Examination of Table 
VI in Fisher and Yates Statistical 
Tables (1) shows that these values 
are highly significant (P = 0.0 1). At 
the sampling on the sixth day the 
va lues of the coefficient were, respec-
tively, 0.3057 and - 0.1382. The for-
m er value is significant (P = 0.05 ) 
but the latter is not . It would appea r , 
therefore, tha t initially there is a 
s light tendency for a heavy deposit 
on one surfa ce to be associa ted with 
a h eavy deposit on the other , and vice 
versa; but this relation tends to di s-
appea r or be reduced witl1 tim e. 
TABLE 2.- Se vin Depos its on Ch l! ITY Fol iage . Sa mp les Ta ke n Immedia t ely the Spra.\· 
H ad D r ied . Mea n s a nd V<lr iances [or T lVo Me th ods of Applica tion , P r esence 
Absen ce of' PI.va c, and f OI' Upper a nc! Lo we r Leaf Surfaces . 
Type 
of spray i ng 
Co ncentrate 
air-bla st 
Hi g h volum e, 
hydrauli c 
Pl yac 
Present 
Absent 
Lea l 
,s uria ce 
Lo\\" er 
Uppc r 
L plre r 
UP PH 
P r ese nt L()" I'C' r 
Uppe r 
Absent LO\\'e r 
U ppe r 
Se vi n de posi t. 
Microg r a m s per sq . cm . 
Mean Vari a nce 
3.309 1.922 
1.885 1.227 
2.456 
1.405 
ge ne r a l me,oll . 
concen tra te : 
2.264 
1.761 
1.387 
3.119 
2.427 
ge ne ral mea n . 
hi g h vol um e : 
2.178 
1.662 
0.953 
0. 245 2 
0.3062 
0.519 1 
0.501 1 
1 Sig n ifi ca ntl y lowe r tha n cOl'res;Jo ndin g va riance [or concentrate a pplica tion . 
2 Si g nificantl y lower than w il e n PJ ~ ' ac a bse nt in hi g h volum e a pplica t ion . 
There was much less varia tion in 
deposit from leaf to leaf th a n was 
observed with concentra te applica-
tion . The variances, for both leaf 
surfaces, a nd both trea tments , a r e 
shown , together with the valu es for 
the mean, in T a ble 2. Also included 
in this table are some r elevant fi gures 
from the previous s tudy on concen-
trate a pplica tion (5) together with 
values for the varia nce which wer e 
not previously published . The gen er a l 
mean for high-volume spraying was 
2.178 microgr a m s pel' squ a r e cen t i-
meter ; tha t for the concentra te 
a pplication of th e previous stud y 
was 2.264 microgra ms. The closen ess 
of m ean deposit in th e two se ries of 
experiments emphasizes the validity 
of comparison ot various cri te ria for 
the two m ethods of applica tion. 
Disc ussio n 
The results summarized in T able 
show tha t, as with concentrate 
spraying (5), si gnificantly more Sevin 
is deposited on th e lower sur fa ces of 
the leaves . With time this r a tio in-
creases a s a result of a more ra pid 
loss from the upper surfaces. Also, as 
in the previous work (5) , the a ddi tion 
of Plyac does not alter th e ra tio of 
the initia l deposits be tween lower 
and upper surfaces. Unlike th e r esults 
previously obtained with con ce ntra te 
spra ying, however. th ere is n o evid-
enc e that Plyac redu ces the ra te of 
cl ecline 0 f deposi ts. 
However , the most notewor th y 
point of this investigati on is th at the 
a ddi t ion of P lyac, instead of prod uc-
ing an in crease in deposit of Sevin , 
as wi th concen t rate spraying (5), 
reduced th e ini t ia l deposits by nearly 
h a lf . This r eversal of effect, wh ich 
h olds for appl e as well as ch er ry , h as 
been r eferred to in a prel iminary 
accoun t (7) . Plyac is gene ra ll y des-
cr ibed as a sticker - spr eader (2) . 
Ho wever . these res ults. in combina-
tion with t h ose of t h e previous paper 
(5) suggest th at the spreading p1'o-
per ties a r e predominan t in hi gh 
vol ume spra yin g wh er ea s th e sticking 
properties a re predominan t in con-
centra te a pplica tion. The a bunda nce 
of wa ter used in high volume applica -
tio n, and th e ready wet t ing proper t ies 
of the surfactant, ensure not only th e 
production of a thin film of flUid on 
th e leaves, but fa cilita te , a ll too well. 
run -off of the surplu s fluid . On th e 
con tr a ry, with effici en t concentrate 
a pplication , no run - off occurs (3) . 
Run-off is par t icula rly was teful wi th 
concentrated spray fluids . The Plyac 
a dditive ca nnot, un der these condi-
t ions , promo te film - Jorma tion nor 
enha nce the effi cien cy of r un-off . The 
!ncr eased deposits obta ined in this 
form of spraying h a ve been a ttribu ted 
to r educed loss Jrom rebounding 
spray drops, a nd improved adhesion 
of th e discrete clus te rs of pa r t icles 
of Sevin (5). 
I n Ta ble 2 a nother importa nt 
e ff ect of the addition of Plyac in high 
volume spraying is appa r ent. Ther e is 
mu ch less varia bility in magnitude of 
deposits, betwee n leaves when this 
ma terial is present. Th e varia nce, for 
eit h er upper or lower surfa ces, was 
reduced to a pproximately on e h a lf by 
the a ddition of Plyac . On the other 
h a nd, the a ddition of Plyac did n ot 
produce a n y signiftca n t differ ence in 
va ria nce in conce n tra t e spraying. In 
the li ght of th e commen ts in the 
prev ious pa r agr a ph this is what one 
m igh t expect . Spreadin g proper t ies, 
SUCll as those shown by Plyac in h igh-
volum e spraying. tend to p romote 
un ifo r m ity. But th ere is no reason 
wil y th e s t ickin g qu a li t ies, mor e a p -
par en t in con cen t rate spraying, 
should promote a more un ifo rm 
depos it. 
Anoth er poi nt, apparent in T able 
2, is t h at even in t h e a bsence of 
P lya c, lea f-to- Iea f va r ia nce is two or 
t l1 r ee times greater in concen tra t e 
than in high-volume spraying. Tlli s 
virtue of reduced variance, however, 
is bought a t the price of a grea tly 
increased a mount of insecticide pel' 
acr e for in high -volume spraying a 
la r ge proportion of the spray fluid 
ru ns off the foliage a nd is lost on th e 
grou nd . The proportion lost va ries 
with the stage of foliar growth of the 
trees. However, in general. high-
volume spraying uses twice as m uch 
insecticide per ac re, and a bout 20 
times as much water . to do th e same 
job of insect control (3). 
The low value of correlation be-
tween fresh deposits on the two sur-
faces shows th ere is a tend ency for 
a h eavy deposit on on e surface to be 
associated with a h eavy deposit on 
t.he other. The rela tion is not ve ry 
marked , however, and it tends to di s-
a ppear with time presu ma bly as a 
result of the equa lizing effects of 
weathering and loss processes . 
Summary 
A study of the inte r -leaf pa ttem of 
deposits of Sevin on cherry folia ge 
has been m ade usin g high-volume 
methods of spr ay applicat ion. The 
r esu lts a r e contrasted with previous 
studies in which concen tra te air- blast 
spraying was used. As in the latter 
case there were no sign ifica n t differ -
ences in mean deposit up to a height 
of 14 feet; nor were there a n y dif-
fe rences aSSOCiated with differen t 
quadra nts of the trees . Initia lly, 
deposits were approximately 27 per 
cent high er on the lower than on the 
upper surfaces of the leaves. Subse-
quent erosion was more rapid on the 
upper surface so that this disparity 
increased with time. This relation was 
not, however, as marked as in con -
centrate a pplication . The addition of 
one pin t of Pl yac to one pound of 50 
per cen t Sevin r esulted in decreased 
initi a l d eposits; the r everse of the 
r elation with concentra t e a pplication . 
However, th e addition of Plyac mark-
edly red uced th e leaf- to -l eaf vari-
ance; in contrast to concen t rate 
spraying, where Plyac made no 
ch ange . The variance was always less 
in high volume than in concentrate 
spraying. There was on ly a slight 
tend ency for a high deposit on a 
lower surface to be assoc iated with a 
high deposit on an upper surface; and 
vice versa. This correla tion was sig-
nificant bu t low immediately after 
a pplica tion ; after six days it was 
r educed or a bsent. 
Refere nces 
1. Fisher, R. A., and F. Y·ltes. 1!.153 Sb ti s ti ca l Tabl es [or Bio logical , Agr icu ltu ra l ,lllel 
Med ica l Resea rch . 4th ed. Oli ver and Boyd. Ed inburg h. 
2. Genera l Ch emical Di vis ion. j\l !ied Chemi ca l Corporation. 1959. Plyac spreader-
sticker. Bull. New YlJrk ti. N. Y. 
3. Mars hall , J as. 1958. Concentrat E' s pr~lyi n g in dcc iduo us orc hard s. P ub!. 1020. Ca n. 
De p. Agr i. , Ottawa. 
4. Misku s, R. , H . T . Gordon, and D. A. George . 1959. Co lorime tr ic determination of 
I -nap hthy l N-methy lcarbamaU' in agri cu ltural crops. J . Agr. Food Chern . 
7: 613-614. 
5. Pieluu, D. P. , a nd K. Williams. 1962. T he pattern and pers istence of depus its of Sevin. 
with or wit hou t surfac tant s , on th e fol iage of fruit trees. 1. Application by 
concentrate spr ayer. Proc . Ent. Soc. Brit. Columbia. 59 : 
6. Pi e lou, D. P. , K. Wi lli ams, an d P. E. Brinton. 1962 . Diflere nces in th e deposition a nd 
persistence of pesticid es on th e upper a nd lower surfaces of leaves. Nature. 
] 95: 256-257 . 
7. Williams, K., and D. P. P ie lou. 1962. No te on t he reve rsal of su me eff ects of surface 
active agents or. pesticide depos its on folia ge as a r es ul t of d iffe r ent method s 
of applicatiun. Ca nad. EntomoJ. 94: 874-875. 


The pattern and persistence of deposits of Sevin, with and without surfactants, on the foliage of fruit trees - II. Application by high volume sprayer

Grant, J.

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 ·. 


Holopleura marginata Lec. reared from Douglas-fir (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

Four sewage lagoons are described that illustrate in varying degree conditions that encourage mosquito production. Steps are outlined by which mosquito breeding in ponds can be prevented

Curtis, L. C.

22 
MOSQUITO PRODUCTION IN SEWAGE LAGOONS 
L. C. CURTIS ' 
A fairly recent development in 
community sanitation is the rapidly 
expanding use of sewage lagoons, or 
stabilization ponds. Compared with 
the traditional mechanized sewage 
disposal plant they have the advan-
tages of low first cost, depreciation. 
and maintenance. Unfortunately for 
those interested in mosquito control , 
some communities have responded to 
the low maintenance concept by pro-
viding none , with the result that th e 
lagoons have provided idea l condi-
tions for producing mosquitoes, prin-
cipally Culex tarsalis, a potentia l dis-
ease vector. 
A heavy population of C. tarsalis at 
K a mloops led to an inves tigation of 
four lagoons in the district which 
gave clear demons trations of mos-
quito breeding at its worst , and the 
possibility of its suppression. These 
four pools are disc ussed in descend-
in g order 01' nu.isance va lue . 
Lagoon A, a pool about three ac res 
in extent, was attached to a la rge 
private institution . Roughly rectang-
ular , it had a peninsula extendin g a 
short distance from one end on which 
were the inlet works. The water had 
the appearance of pea soup due to 
algae, and the pool apparently per -
formed its primary function excel-
lently. It contained a number of large 
carp which no doubt played an im-
portant role in keeping the main 
body of water free of mosquito and 
other insect larvae. Unfortunately 
the banks were heavily overgrown 
with vegeta tion down to and beyond 
1 Research Sllltioll, Entomology Laboratory. Can· 
ada De partment of Agricult.ul"c, Kalllioops, B.C. 
the waterline, giving place to a mas-
sive growth of cattails extending in 
places six feet from the shore. In this 
zone . sheltered from wave action and 
predation , Culex larvae prOliferated 
excessi vely. 
Lagoon B, a large pool of about 
twelve acres, s e r v e d a suburban 
community . The banks were heavily 
covered with weeds and some wil-
lows, and there was a margin of a 
few inches of vegetation emerging 
from the wa ter. This margin sup-
ported a moderate population of 
Culex larvae . At one end an overflow 
carried the etlluen t to a depressed 
area of se veral acres where it formed 
a swamp, heavily overgrown, which 
supported an exceedingly dense popu-
la tion of mosquitoes. 
Lagoon C consisted of two sections 
of fifteen acres each, which at the 
time of inspection had been in use 
only for a few weeks. The banks were 
thickly overgrown with annual weeds, 
some of which had been inundated by 
the rising water. This had formed a 
narrow margin of protected water 
in which were a few mosquito larvae. 
It was obvious that this was a tem-
porary condition, and the future 
state of the banks would depend upon 
the quality of maintenance. However. 
in this case there had been a long 
interval between the original excava-
tion of the pools and the inauguration 
of the system, during which the beds 
had given rise to numerous tall ter-
restria l plants, even including wil-
lOWS, which protruded above the 
water. The annual plants would soon 
be gone, but the willows could thrive 
and form a mosquito harbour. 
J'HI)". '·; Y I()IJIIL. ::;'_li . L1HI r. C"U; .\ l l<l.\. Y'JI .• liu ( I :I(;:~) . VI';" . I . 1 ~1 '; 3 
Lagoon D was two small basins, 
totalling about three acres , attached 
to a large public institution. The 
pools had been in use for a number 
of years but produced no mosquitoes . 
The reason for this lay in their con-
struction . The outline was rectangu-
lar , and the banks were lined with 
shale which gave footing to a scat-
tered popula tion of annual weeds, 
none of which extended below th e 
water line . Accordingly wave action 
and na tive predators eliminated a ll 
larvae. 
Chemical methods of larval con-
trol are uneconomic in sewage la-
goons, as the normally resid ual larv i-
cides degenerate rapidly in the highly 
polluted water , making repeated , 
heavy a pplications necessary. For-
tunately , the environment may be so 
manipulated that the existing natural 
control factors beco me highly 
efficient. 
The most eIfective deterrents to 
mosquito production in these pools 
are wave action and natural preda-
tors . Both are inhibited by the 
presence or emergent or floating 
vegetation . If the following poin t,s 
are observed in the construction a nd 
maintenance of sewage lagoons there 
is little likelihood that they will 
become sources of mosquitoes. 
1. The area of the pools should be 
as large as possible, and the establish-
ment of nearby windbreaks should be 
avoided , so that wave action may be 
encouraged. 
2. The dykes should be wide enough 
on top to permit the passage of 
mowers and other maintenance 
machinery. 
3. The banks should have a moder-
ate slope, and if formed of soil , they 
should be planted to grass an d kept 
mowed. 
4. The water should be kept at 
~ufficien t depth to prevent the estab -
lishment of bottom-rooted vegetation . 
5. There should be provision for a 
ra pid draw-down of a foot or so, 
when this is compatible with the 
primary function of the pool , to 
destroy larvae by s tranding. 
G. Seepage or overnow should be 
carried a way in deep , clear channels. 
7. Emergent vegetation should be 
killed by herbicides or removed 
mechanically . Floatin g drit't should 
be cleared away. 
8. Coarse fish , such as carp, may 
be introduced as predators. 
Abstract 
Four sewage lagoons are described 
that illustrate in varying degree 
conditions that encourage mosquito 
production . Steps are outlined by 
which mosquito breedin g in ponds 
can be prevented . 
CONTROL OF PESTS IN INSECT AND HERBARIUM CABINETS 
G. J . SPENCER ' 
For some years I have worked Oll 
control of museum pests, chiefly 
Anthrenus verbasci (L.) , the varied 
carpet beetle, which is a lso the most 
widespread household pest in Van-
couver ; Attagenus piceus Oliv .. th e 
black carpet beetle ; Perirnegatoma 
(Megatorna) vespu lae Milliron , a par-
thenogenetic species which feed s 
indiscriminately upon h erbarium 
specimens and dried insects ; s tego-
bium paniceum (L.) , the drug store 
beetle ; an d Ptinus ocellus Brown 
tectus) . We do not yet contend 


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An improved technique for pinning, spreading and mounting minute Lepidoptera

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A brief history of the tuber flea beetle, Epitrix tuberis Gent., in British Columbia

Chemical control of loopers in Stanley Park, Vancouver

In Memoriam: William Downes, 1874-1959

Heliothis phloxiphaga G. & R. (Lepidoptera: Phalaenidae) on Vancouver Island

The pattern and persistence of deposits of Sevin, with and without surfactants, on the foliage of fruit trees - II. Application by high volume sprayer

Holopleura marginata Lec. reared from Douglas-fir (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

Mosquito production in sewage lagoons

Notes on the life histories of four moths and one butterfly from Vancouver Island (Lepidoptera: Phalaenidae, Lasiocampidae and Lycaenidae)

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