Mass mortality of oak trees has been reported in Korea since 2004. It seemed to be occurred by a possible pathogenic fungus Raffaelea quercus-mongolicae and spread by an ambrosia beetle, Platypus koryoensis (Coleoptera: Platypodidae) which was a vector of that fungus. P. koryoensis attacked healthy or stressed living Quercus mongolica. The numbers of damaged and/or died Q. mongolica by P. koryoensis has increased every year since its first report. The damages caused by Platypus spp. were reported world widely. Pinehole borers P. caviceps, P. apicalis and P. gracilis damaged and killed living southern beech (Nothofagus spp.) and/or Kamawi (Weinmannia racemosa) in New Zealand. The relationship between pinhole bores, the fungal pathogen Sporothrix and their host beech is well established. P. subgranosus was responsible to death of myrtle beech (N. cunninghamii) in Tasmania, Australia. In southern Europe, P. cylindrus attacked cork oak (Quercus suber), and Phytophthora cinnamoni was known as a pathogen. P. mutatus was a primary pest to poplars, especially Populus deltoides in South America. Alfaro et al. warned on the threat of P. mutatus to world poplar resources since its introduction to Italy on 2002. P. quercivorus, a vector of pathogenic fungus Raffealea quercivora was responsible for Japanese Oak wilt disease on Q. crispula and Q. serrata. In this study, we will introduce the current status of oak wilt disease in Korea and integrated control method of this disease

Bark beetles are recently considered as important forest insect pests in several countries. Damage of bark beetles has increased in Korea, and monitoring of these beetles become important. However, there has been no study on development of monitoring skill on bark beetles in Korea. In this study, we tested the attractiveness of (-)-α-pinene, ethanol, (-)-α-pinene+ethanol for monitoring of bark beetles. Some bark beetles strongly attracted to (-)-α-pinene or (-)-α-pinene+ethanol. Some ambrosia beetles strongly attracted to ethanol. Our results indicated that (-)-α-pinene, ethanol, or (-)-α-pinene+ethanol could be useful infochemicals for the monitoring of bark beetles.

 ,  , The larvicidal activities of Piper nigrum fruit methanol extracts and its constituents against larvae of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella, were investigated using the leaf dipping method. Administering the P. nigrum methanol extract resulted in 100 and 97% mortality against diamondback moth larvae at 5.0 and 2.5 mg/mL concentrations, respectively. Larvicidal activities of the P. nigrum fruit-derived piperidine alkaloids, piperine, and N-isobutylamide, as well as pellitorine, guineensine, pipercide, and retrofractamide A against P. xylostella varied according to test compound. Based on the 48 h LC50 values, the most toxic compound to diamondback moth larvae was guineensine (0.013 mg/mL) followed by retrofractamide A (0.020mg/mL), pipercide (0.033mg/mL), and pellitorine (0.046 mg/mL). The LC50 value of piperine was >, 0.5 mg/mL.

Mass mortality of oak trees has been reported at Sungnam city, Gyeonggi province, Korea in 2004, and spread to several areas of Korean peninsula. It seemed to be occurred by a possible pathogenic fungus Raffaelea sp. spread by an ambrosia beetle, Platypus koryoensis (Coleoptera: Platypodidae). P. koryoensis massively attacked healthy or stressed living Quercus mongolica. The numbers of damaged or died Q. mongolica by oak wilt disease has increased annually since its first report. Here, we introduce control methods recently developed for the control of this disease.

Plant essential oils from twenty plant species were tested for their insecticidal activity against larvae of Lycoriella ingenua using a fumigation bioassay. Good insecticidal activity (>90%) against larvae of L. ingenua was achieved with essential oils of caraway seed (Carum carvi), lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus), mandarine (Citrus reticulate), nutmeg (Myristica fragrans), cade (Juniperus oxycedrus), spearmint (Mentha spicata), cumin (Cuminum cyminum) and thyme red (Thymus vulgaris) oils at 30×10-3 mg/㎖ air. Among them, caraway seed, spearmint, cumin and thyme red essential oils were highly effective against L. ingenua at 20×10-3 mg/㎖ air. Analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry led to identification of 4, 9, 8 and 17 compounds from caraway seed, spearmint, cumin and thyme red oils, respectively. These compounds were tested individually for their insecticidal activities against larvae of L. ingenua, and compared to the toxicity of dichlorvos. Carvacrol, thymol, linalool, cuminaldehyde, p-cymen, terpinen-4-ol and carvone was effective at 10×10-3 mg/㎖. The insecticidal activity of dichlorvos was 60% at 10×10-3 mg/㎖. Effects of four selected plant essential oils on growth of Pleurotus ostreatus were also investigated.