Spencer, G. J.

English

Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia

24 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF BruTISH COL UMBIA, PROC. (195 2), VOL. 49, J UNE 15, 1953 UPON NEUTRALIZING THE ODOUR OF NOM IUS PYGMAEUS (DEJ.). THE STINK BEETLE (COLEOPTERA: CARABIDAE). G. J. SPENCER University of British Columbia, Vancouver. During certain summers, and espec-ially when the smoke of forest fires on Vancouver Island is driven by a west wind, any section of the City of Vancouver may be plagued with Nomius Pnmaeus (Dej.), the stink beetle, which, for its size, is probably one of the most powerfully obnoxious creatures in the world. One individual, crushed or injured in a room, will render that room uninhabitable for two weeks, and the smell persists for months. In late August, 1951, a number of reports was received by the Department of Zoology, of these beetles occurring in homes ; one such enquiry came from a physician who was attending a woman for a slight head wound and from her hair he removed a stink beetle; he fe lt that the stench could not possibly a rise from such a slight w ound and wond-ered if the beet le had been att racted by the wound. Another report, from North Vancouver, was of three beetles found on steps just outside a base-ment door over a period of two days; the beetles had not been injured in any way but were r endering the base-ment most foul by their mere pres-ence. From various sources, three beetles were obtained uninjured and a num-ber of chemicals, including activated charcoal, tested as possible deodor-ants. None was effective except those con taining active chlorine such as sodium hypochlorite, ordinary house -hold bleach and chl o ride of lim e. A few drops of sodium hypochlo ri te on the cork of a test-tube will deodorize the smell of a beetle in the tube in ten minutes, leav ing only a faint musty odour: further exposure renders the beetle as inoffensive as any ordinary pinned carabid. F or the treatment of rooms where beetles had been crushed . it was recommended that household bleach be used in an ordina ry fly sprayer. For ou tside premises, dusting with fresh chloride of lime was recom-mended. The citi zens reporte~1 that th e trea tm ent was successful and the stink of the beetle was neutralized al-most completely in a shor t t im e. PRELIMINARY ORCHARD TRIALS WITH SYSTEMIC INSECTICIDESl R. S. DOWNING2 Fruit Insect Laboratory, Summerland, B.C. At the Summerland laborato ry work on systemic insecticides was com-menced in 1950. Prestox 3 (30 per cent schradan3) was applied to De-licious apple trees as a "pink" spray at one quart per 100 imperial gallons against the European red mite, Metal e· t,.anychuJ IIlmi (Koch) . It compared 1 Contribution No. 2990, Division o[ Entomology, Science Service, Department o[ Agriculture, Ottaw.a, Canad a. 2 Ass is tant Entomologist. 3 P est Control Limited, Cambridge, England. 4 Geary Chemical Lo., N~w York, N. Y. 5 ClO14, Dow Chemical Co., Midland , Michigan. 6 Naugatuck Chemicals, EIDlira, Ontario. favourably with the s tanda rd recom-mendation of one pound of 15 per cent. parathion. Seasonal ave rages in terms of mites per leaf were Pestox 3, 0.6, and parathion, 0.2. The Ull -treated trees carried 14.8 mites per leaf in late May and had to be sprayed . In August, Systox (32.1 per ce nt. diethyl S-ethylmercapto-e thyl thio-phosphate)4 at one qua rter-pint was applied to Delicious apple trees to control th e two-spotted spider mite , Tetrallychus bimaculatus H a rvey. A comparison with 15 per cent. parathion, one pound is given in Table 1. 

Upon neutralizing the odour of Nomius pygmaeus (Dej.), the stink beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae)

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Upon neutralizing the odour of Nomius pygmaeus (Dej.), the stink beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae)

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Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia