An unrecorded gall midge was discovered from inflorescence galls on Castanopsis sieboldii (Makino) Hatus. ex T.Yamaz. & Mashiba, which is one of major components in evergreen forests on the Korean Peninsula. The galls occurred on 20 trees out of 230 on Yokiji Island. The gall midge was identified as Schizomyia castanopsisae Elsayed & Tokuda, 2018 (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), using morphological characters and mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI) region sequences of gall midge’s larvae. The Barcode sequences of 40 samples collected from Yokji Island were identical, and the individuals from Yokji Island formed a clade with the individuals from Kyushu, with robust bootstrap support in a maximum likelihood tree. This result suggests the gall midges may have migrated from Kyushu, Japan to Yokji Island, South Korea. However, it is too early to determine if the gall midge is truly invasive or not at present due to paucity of distribution data in the country.

This study investigated the seasonal occurrence of bark and wood-boring Coleoptera in Pinus densiflora (Siebold & Zucc.) (Pinales: Pinaceae), and Larix kaempferi (Lamb.) (Pinales: Pinaceae) stands using multi-funnel traps baited with pine volatiles in Korea. The number and species of bark and woodboring beetles caught in traps baited with ethanol, α-pinene, and ethanol+α-pinene were compared to determine the effective attractants. In addition, the effects of other pine volatiles, such as (-)-β-pinene, β-caryophyllene, (±)-limonene, β-myrcene, and 3-carene, were investigated. A total of 13,134 wood-boring beetles from 150 species were collected from pine and larch stands from 2019 to 2020. Tomicus minor (Hartig) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) adults were more attracted to traps baited with α-pinene, whereas Xyleborinus saxesenii (Ratzeburg) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), Cyclorhipidion pelliculosum (Eichhoff) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), and Phloeosinus pulchellus (Blandford) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) adults were more attracted to traps baited with ethanol. Hylurgops interstitialis (Chapuis) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), Shirahoshizo genus group, Rhagium inquisitor (Linne) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) and Rhadinomerus maebarai (Voss & Chûjô) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) were more frequently attracted to traps baited with ethanol+α-pinene than to traps baited with other attractants. The addition of 3-carene to ethanol+α-pinene enhanced the capture of H. interstitialis, R. inquisitor, and Hylobius (Callirus) haroldi (Faust) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae).

Medicinal plant extracts from 27 plant species in 20 families were tested for their larvicidal activity against house fly, Musca domestica (L.). Responses varied with plant material and concentration. Among plant species tested, Phryma leptostachya var. asiatica showed 100% larvicidal activity against M. domestica at 10 mg/g concentration. Larvicidal activities of Atractylodes japonica, Saussurea lappa, Asiasarum sieboldi, and Gleditsia japonica var. koraiensis were 89.3, 85.3, 93.3 and 96.6% at 10 mg/g concentration, respectively. Extracts of Prunus persica, Curcuma longa and Paeonia moutan produced moderate activity. Larvicidal activity of other plant extracts was less than 50%. Among test plant species, Phryma leptostachya var. asiatica showed the most potent larvicidal activity. The active constituent of P. leptostachya var. asiatica roots was identified as the leptostachyol acetate by spectroscopic analysis. The LC50valuesofleptostachyolacetateagainstM. domestica larvae was 0.039 mg/g. Naturally occurring medicinal plant extracts and Phryma leptostachya var. asiatica root–derived compounds merit further study as potential house fly larval control agents or lead compounds.