Aphids feed on host plants by penetrating the stems or leaves with stylets. The feeding behavior of aphids consists of probing, penetration, salivation, and sap ingestion. To assess the effects of sound on feeding behavior, we monitored the stylet activity of the green peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer), using electrical penetration graph (EPG). The use of EPG was critical for determining the stage, frequency, and duration of feeding in aphids. We played back three acoustic stimuli of sine waves with frequencies of 100, 1000, and 5000 Hz to adult aphids. In the sound treatment group, the frequencies of probing, penetration, and salivation increased, whereas the duration of sap ingestion decreased. The results of EPG revealed that the acoustic stimuli may restrict aphid feeding by inhibiting sap ingestion.

Lycorma delicatula (White 1845), which has been recently introduced into Korea, is a notorious pest on grapes. This invasive insect has rapidly spread throughout central and southern Korea. To date, we have no behavioral or population genetics information, such as invasion routes and subsequent dispersal rates in Korea, to help understand and control populations of L. delicatula. Here, we have developed 15 novel microsatellite loci for L. delicatula. The isolated loci were polymorphic, with 2 to 19 alleles in 42 individuals from a single population in Cheonan. The analyses revealed that all 42 individuals had different multilocus genotypes with heterozygosity ranging from 0.214 to 0.866. Eleven of the 15 loci did not deviate significantly from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The isolated markers will facilitate population genetic studies of L. delicatula.

Plant penetration by aphids can be monitored electrically by the electrical penetration graph (EPG) technique. To confirm whether some behaviors are correlated to specific graph pattern in EPG, we analyzed the two synchronized data, EPG and video records. We recorded electrical penetration graph (EPG) and behaviors of aphids simultaneously. Then we compared the behaviors of aphids with the recorded EPG waveforms in order to match their visible behaviors and invisible behaviors with stylet. The visible behaviors were categorized for walking, wagging, honeydew production, and reproduction. When the aphids were generally motionless, the EPG denoted feeding-related waveforms (E1, E2, F and G). Whereas, probing waveforms (B and pd) frequently occurred when they were wagging. We aim to present the correlation between observed behaviors and EPG patterns.

In this paper, we propose a methodology for classfying types of lower limb disability and their mechanical structure, based on extensive survey of previous developments. We also propose a task-oriented design with human-friendly and energy-efficient assistive system. The result can be used for optimal design of wearable walking-assistive robot donsidering the type of disability and the content of task.