For over a decade, pollinator health has been of major concern to the agricultural sector, entomologists, and the public. Beekeepers have suffered sometimes devastating losses of colonies, the apicultural industry has been severely disrupted, and there is growing concern about our ability to maintain and increase production of many crops efficiently and economically. In the last couple of years, significant amounts of federal funding have been released to address the complex challenges facing pollinators, and a number of tenure-track positions have been established in academic departments across the nation. …

The control of the woodwasp Sirex noctilio can be visualized as a three-legged stool. Silvicultural practices to reduce tree competition and stress and biological control using the nematode Deladenus siricidicola are two important legs. The third, and equally important, component of a total control program for this pest is the use of parasitoid wasps. Parasitoids were the first form of control used against S. noctilio in the Southern Hemisphere and remain important, especially as a constant repressor at low population levels. However, there is significant variation in the effect and application of the various parasitoid wasps in different regions. There is evidently scope for renewed efforts to better understand and optimize the use of parasitoids to achieve stable, long lasting population repression of invasive S. noctilio populations.

An explorative trip was made to southwestern Turkey in April 1995 in search of pear thrips, Taeniothrips inconsequens (Uzel) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), and its natural enemies. Forty-three females and 13 males of a previously undescribed species of the genus Ceranisus Walker (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) were found, mainly in flowering Arbutus andrachne L. Although the parasitoid was found in association with several thrips species, but especially T. inconsequens adults and larvae, its host or hosts were not determined. The parasitoid is described and given the name Ceranisus antalyacus S. Triapitsyn.

The seasonal dynamics of an indigenous entomopathogenic nematode, a new strain of Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, "Nittany strain," in a stand of sugar maple, Acer saccharum, were examined utilizing a Galleria mellonella bait method. Seasonal dynamics are described in relation to soil temperature; occurrence is related to distance from a tree bole. A correlation between soil temperature and the number of infected G. mellonella was observed. Soil temperature had a significant effect on the number of positive samples, i.e., soil samples containing infected G. mellonella, obtained. In addition, seasonality had a significant effect on whether positive samples were obtained on a given date. There was no significant difference in the abundance of positive samples among three distances from a tree bole, namely, at the base of the tree, 2 m from the bole, or at the dripline.

Recent damage to sugar maple, Acer saccharurn Marsh., by pear thnps, Taeniothrips inconsequens, in the northeast of the United States and adjacent parts of Canada has led to much research on this pest (Teulon et al. 1993; Teulon and Cameron 1996; Parker and Skinner 1997). A detailed description of the univoltine pear thrips' life history is reported in Teulon et al. (1998). Although T: inconsequens is the dominant species in sugar maple, other thrips may also be important as herbivores, detritivores, or predators and need to be taken into account in sampling or monitoring programmes. This article describes the diversity of thrips in a sugar maple plantation in central Pennsylvania, United States.

The behavioural responses of flying western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) to the colour yellow and the odour anisaldehyde were examined. In a wind tunnel, upwind flight by female thrips was common in an airflow of 0.11 m s−1 but was impeded at 0.22 m s−1. In the absence of anisaldehyde, flying female thrips exhibited an oriented response towards a yellow cue in the wind tunnel at a wind speed of 0.11 m s−1. The main response of females to anisaldehyde in the wind tunnel was flight inhibition. There was no evidence of an odour‐induced visual response, an odour‐induced anemotactic response or chemotaxis by female thrips to anisaldehyde in wind tunnel bioassays, but chemokinesis was implicated. With a matrix of yellow or black water traps with and without anisaldehyde in a greenhouse sweet pepper crop, yellow traps with anisaldehyde caught more thrips adults than yellow traps without anisaldehyde, black traps with anisaldehyde and black traps without anisaldehyde (1.3, 28 and 721 times for males respectively and 2.4, 9 and 117 times for females, respectively). Differences between respective traps were statistically significant in almost all cases. Trapping experiments using a centre‐baited trap design to reduce the interaction of anisaldehyde between baited and unbaited traps were undertaken in tomato and sweet pepper greenhouse crops. When the spatial distribution of the thrips adult population within the greenhouse was taken into account, yellow water traps with anisaldehyde caught between 11 and 15 times more female and 3 and 20 times more male F. occidentalis adults than yellow traps without anisaldehyde.

The pear thrips Taeniothrips inconsequens (Uzel) was sampled for four years in a small sugar maple Acer saccharum plantation in Centre County, Pennsylvania, USA. The life cycle of T. inconsequens was univoltine with the main period of emergence and flight from late March to mid May. Adults, eggs, and first and second instar larvae were associated with sugar maple budburst and early leaf development from late April to late May. Larval drop occurred from mid to late May. Mature second instar larvae, propupae, pupae and adults spent from June to March in the ground; development from larva to adult occurred between September and November. From March to May most (usually >90%) thrips adults and larvae sampled were T. inconsequens. No T. inconsequens males were found. In soil samples taken in spring, summer and autumn T. inconsequens were found to a depth of 50 cm but over 87% were in the top 20 cm. Almost no T. inconsequens were found in the litter layer. Large variations in T. inconsequens adult emergence and larval drop were recorded. The most important contributing factors in fluctuations of T. inconsequens populations were the length of sugar maple budburst, the degree of synchrony between thrips emergence and sugar maple budburst, and the occurence of sugar maple flowering.

A laboratory bioassay was conducted to test the effects of temperature and the availability of Acer saccharum Marshall pollen on adult female Taeniothrips inconsequens (Uzel) longevity and oviposition. Over a range of temperatures (8-20 degrees C), a diet that included pollen significantly increased T. inconsequens adult longevity, total oviposition, and oviposition rate compared with diets that included no pollen. For diets with and without pollen, adult longevity significantly decreased with increasing temperature. However, the decrease in total oviposition and oviposition rate with increasing temperatures was only marginally significant. The importance of these 3 factors in determining the population dynamics of T. inconsequens in sugar maple stands is discussed.

Within-tree distribution of pear thrips, Taeniothrips inconsequens (Uzel), in sugar maple, Acer saccharum Marsh., was determined in six nonflowering trees in 1990 and six flowering trees in 1992. During budburst, vegetative (1990) and flower (1992) buds were sampled from four cardinal quadrants, two canopy positions (inside and outside), and three crown levels (upper, middle, and lower) of sugar maples in a plantation in central Pennsylvania and examined for thrips eggs and adults. Almost all thrips adults were identified as T. inconsequens (94.9% in 1990 and 97.0% in 1992) and all eggs were likely to be from T. inconsequens because of their position in bud tissues and their morphology. Few larvae were present. Thrips eggs and adults were found in vegetative and flower buds throughout all levels, positions and quadrants. There were few significant differences in relation to any part of the tree in either year. In 1990 significantly more eggs (but not adults) were found in the middle level, compared with the lower and the upper levels. There was a significant interaction between height and quadrant for eggs (but not adults) in 1992. Within-tree distribution of pear thrips is likely to be affected by the synchrony between thrips emergence from overwintering sites and the timing of budburst in a particular position within the tree, and the distribution and density of flowers.

Response of male gypsy moths from a sparse infestation in Italy to an observer apparently contaminated with disparlure at least two years previously is reported. Other examples of pheromone contamination of people or things are also recorded.

The distribution and host plant associations of the pear thrips, Taeniothrips inconsequens (Uzel), were determined from published and unpublished data. T. inconsequens is found throughout Europe and much of North America as well as in some countries of Asia and South America; there is one record from North Africa. It is generally considered that T. inconsequens is native to Europe, but we present good evidence to suggest that Asia is its area of origin. Breeding hosts for T. inconsequens were identified from 35 species, 17 genera and 12 families, with incidental records from at least 207 species, 138 genera and 54 families. Breeding hosts were mainly from the Rosaceae (5 genera, 16 species) and Aceraceae (1, 7) but also members of other plant families. Incidental collections were mostly from the Rosaceae (15 genera, 36 species) but also members of a wide range of plant families including the Compositae (10, 12), the Leguminosae (10, 11) and the Aceraceae (1, 9). Reports of economic damage to orchard and forest trees are listed. There is no evidence to suggest that recent outbreaks of T. inconsequens in northeastern hardwood forests of the United States and adjacent areas of Canada can be explained by recent changes in host plant preference.

Western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), originally distributed throughout western North America (Bryan and Smith 1956), have since spread to greenhouses in the eastern United States and Canada, and to many other parts of the world (Brodsgaard 1989). Populations have established outdoors in the southeastern United States (Chamberlin et al. 1992) and in several other warm regions of the world (Brodsgaard 1993). but have failed to establish in Ontario (Broadbent and Hunt 1991) and the northern parts of Europe (Brodsgaard 1993). We have not found reports of western flower thrips overwintering outdoors in the northeastern United States.

The vertical distribution of pear thrips, Taeniothrips inconsequens (Uzel), in forest soils of three drainage classes was investigated. Thrips were extracted from soil cores collected in October 1989 and 1990 from well-drained, moderately well-drained, and poorly drained soils in Pennsylvania sugar maple stands. In both years, the majority of pear thrips occurred in the upper 10 cm of all soils regardless of drainage class. The number of thrips decreased with increasing soil depth in all soils. Thrips were present in the upper 30 cm of well-drained and moderately well-drained soils but did not occur below 20 em in poorly drained soils. Poorly drained soils contained higher percentages of thrips in the upper 10 cm of the soil than did well-drained and moderately well-drained soils. These results suggest that estimates of thrips populations in the soil based on the number of thrips in samples collected from selected portions of the soil profile may need to be adjusted for soils of different drainage classes.