A study currently under way required non-attractant traps to collect and preserve for taxonomic identification flying insects inhabiting the crown and shrub layers of a slash pine (Pinus elliottii var. elliottii Engelm.) and pondcypress (Taxodium distichum var. nutans (Ait.) Sweet) forest. We concluded that an omnidirectional flight trap was appropriate. After failing to find a satisfactory design in the literature, we developed the trap illustrated in Fig. 1. Our design combines an original upper collecting unit with a modification of the trap described by Hines and Heikkenen (1977).

Sticky traps adjacent to severed and tipped slash pines and window traps with ethanol as attractant and collecting fluid (randomly located in the stand) were used to monitor flight patterns of Scolytidae, Platypodidae, Curculionidae, Buprestidae, and Cerambycidae in a slash pine plantation in North Florida. Forty-nine species were trapped, of which 35 breed in pines and 14 in hosts in the understory and nearby cypress domes. Sticky and window traps differed greatly with respect to species trapped, relative abundance of species, and seasonal trends ill numbers of species, specimens, and diversity. Sticky traps caught a greater proportion of the pine-breeding species in the area. Window trap catches were dominated by ambrosia beetles, apparently attracted to ethanol, and included most of the species associated with the understory and cypress domes. Scolytidae and Platypodidae, present throughout the year, may breed continuously under local conditions. Larger species of Curl'ulionidae, Buprestidae, and Cerambycidae showed distinct peaks and were absent during much of the year. Most pine-breeding scolytids showed peaks in the fall, spring, or both, with lows during the hottest and coldest months. There was a general correlation between breeding habits and height of window traps in which insects were captured.

Brood development and adult activity of Pissodes nemorensis Germar were studied in slash pine (Pinus elliottii Engelm. var. elliottii) plantations in northern Florida in 1977-78. The insect is basically univoltine in this area, but immatures are present in infested hosts for almost 9 mo during the cooler part of the year. Eggs were present in the field from late August until mid March; most oviposition occurred from October through February. Development from egg to adult within hosts required 7-25 wk depending on date of oviposition. Most adults emerged from late March to mid May. Some adults emerged before December from eggs laid in late summer, but it is not known whether these reproduced during the same season. Adults were caught in sticky traps next to trap trees, in window traps, and in pheromone traps from August until early April, with a major peak in October or November and a smaller peak in March. Most adults trapped were apparently mature (i.e., had developed in the previous season), for trap catches declined as new adults emerged. Adults were not observed in the summer months and were not caught in traps. P. nemorensis has five instars. At constant temperatures of 15, 20, and 25°C, egg-to-adult development required ca. 180, 70, and 58 d, respectively. Principal causes of mortality to weevil brood were the parasite Coeloides pissodis (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and woodpeckers. Disease and competition, principally with Ips spp., also appeared to be important.

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