Phthorimaea operculella is a pest causing serious damages in worldwide potato cultivation. As climatic factors are considered to be the most crucial on species’ distribution, we tried to compare climatic conditions between a native area of Phthorimaea operculella with cities in South Korea and other areas in Asia based on climatic similarity provided by 'Match Climates' function of CLIMEX software. Even though there is arguing regarding origin of Phthorimaea operculella, we selected Peru and Bolivia as home climate, and compared its climatic similarity to other areas in Asia with application of SRES A1B 2030 climate change scenario. Result showed that South Korea has favorable climatic condition for Phthorimaea operculella. Also, most of Asia except north China and south Russia showed the similar climate suitable for Phthorimaea operculella.

• Dae-hyeon Byeon(Department of Biosystems Machinery Engineering, Chungnam National University)
• Sunghoon Jung(Department of Applied Biology, Chungnam National University)
• Wang-Hee Lee(Department of Biosystems Machinery Engineering, Chungnam National University)