In a faunistic survey for the family Coleophoridae (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea) on Is. Yeonpyeong and Is. Baengnyeong in 2010 and 2006, respectively, eleven species of Coleophora were recognized. Among them, three species; Coleophora adjunctella Hodgkinson, C. chenopodii Oku, and C. kurokoi Oku are reported for the first time from Korea. For the newly recorded species, taxonomical remarks and illustration of adults and genitalia are given.

Six unknown hitchhiking moths intercepted at the Korean port of entry were detected from an international vessel by the personnels of the International Plant-Quarantine Accreditation Board (IPAB) in 2012. Among them, there was a noctuid moth, Noctua pronuba (Linnaeus), which is a quarantine pest in Korea. Other five species are three erebids (Lophocampa maculata Harris, Lemyrarhodo philodes (Hampson), and Trigonodes cephise (Cramer)), one sphingid (Hippotion rosetta Swinhoe), and one zygaenid (Histia flabellicornis nigrinus Jordan). They are mostly distributed in the subtropical regions. In addition to these hitchhiking moths from the vessel, other interception records from inanimate pathways are provided here on the bases of Pest Information System, Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency (QIA). Thus, it is necessary to monitor inanimate pathways and to adopt comprehensive border surveillance system, in order to protect further invasions of alien insect species.

I) Surveillance for subtropical-moths through the inanimate pathway in the Korean Peninsula was investigated during the period from 2006 to the present using the light trap in Is. Baekryeong-do and Is. Daecheong-do. A total of 438 species belonging to 27 families of Lepidoptera were identified. Among them, two species of subtropical -moths, including Ischyja manlia Cramer and Spirama sp. belong to the family Noctuidae were occurred at Is. Daecheong-do in the west coast. II) We are conducting an investigation into subtropical-moths detected from a vessel arrived in Yeosu sea port from this year. Among them, one species was identified into Histia flabellicornis Fabricius belong to the family Zygaenidae. These moths are mainly distributed in the subtropical area from the southern part of China to Indonesia. It is very likely that subtropical-moths have invaded in the Korean Peninsula through the inanimate pathway such as typhoons and/or vessels. To resolve this question, further researches should be done to determine the pathway by which these subtropical-moths occurred in Korea.

Metcalfa pruinosa (Say), native to North America, is spreading rapidly in the Korean Peninsula, causing serious damages on many deciduous forest trees, ornamental trees, and agricultural crops. Before the first report from Korea in 2005, M. pruinosa has not been reported from any other countries in the Eastern Palaearctic, while it has been record in Italy in 1979, and rapidly spreading into many European countries. To trace the invasion route of this species, we analyzed haplotype analysis of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit-I (mtCOI, 577bp), and developed microsatellite markers. In the haplotype analysis, a total of fourteen haplotypes were found from 69 individuals in 18 populations: 12 haplotypes (native region), 4 haplotypes (European region) and 2 haplotypes (Korea). Interestingly, Korean populations were clustered with some European populations. Eight polymorphic microsatellite loci were developed, and population structures were analyzed from 145 individuals in 8 populations. The origin and invasion route of M. pruinosa are under investigation.

Ten novel microsatellite loci were isolated and characterized from the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exiqua. The isolated loci are polymorphic, with 2~12 alleles in 18 individuals from several populations in Korea. All 18 individuals had different multilocus genotypes with heterozygosity ranging from 0.089 to 0.843. Nine of 10 loci kept the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in adjusted significance thresholds. We report the development of microsatellite markers for S. exiqua potentially suitable for further studies of population structure, dispersal, and host relationship.