Tenebrio molitor beetles have been widely used in traditional and folklore medicines to treat various human diseases worldwide. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder and the most prevalent form of dementia in developed and developing countries. The human β-amyloid cleaving enzyme (BACE-1) is a target for AD treatments. This study was performed to determine BACE-1 inhibitory activity of 12 compounds that were extracted from T. molitor adults and their 65 related compounds using a fluorescence resonance energy transfer-based enzyme assay. The results were compared with those of two positive controls for BACE-1, the cell-permeable isophthalamide BACE-1 inhibitor IV and the natural BACE-1 inhibitor, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). Based on IC50 values, linoleic acid, ergosterol, palmitoleic acid, and tryptopol (28.41‒46.16 μM) were the most potent BACE-1 inhibitors and the anti-BACE-1 activity of these compounds was lower than either inhibitor IV (13.13 μM) or EGCG (1.12 μM). Multiple regression analysis of the anti-BACE-1 activities of compounds was examined using their IC50 values and the values of the physical parameters (molecular weight (MW), log P, and molecular refraction (MR)) for the 41 fatty acids (R2 = 0.674 (P = 0.044)) and 29 flavonoids (R2 = 0.587 (P = 0.063)). Correlation coefficient (r) analysis showed that MW, log P, and MR may be positively correlated with IC50 of the fatty acids (MW, r = 0.658; log P, r = 0.471; and MR, r = 0.713) and IC50 of the flavonoids (MW, r = 0.547; log P, r = 0.644; and MR, r = 0.591). Further studies will warrant possible applications of T. molitor adults as therapeutic BACE-1 blocker.

Luehdorfia puziloi (Erschoff, 1872) is a monophagous butterfly species that occurs only once during spring in a year and distributed nationwide in Korea. From 2012 to 2013 the adult emergence has been monitored to assess how the species responds to temperature rise in the country. Monitoring sites were located in four different provinces, two in the northern part of the country and the others the southern part. In each site a small emergence cage was set up with 60 to 70 pupae and a HOBO data logger to record the soil temperature of the site from February to April. The earliest record from literatures and specimen collection data was 28th of March in Geojae-gun, one of far south parts of the country, during the late 90’s. In 2013, the butterfly started emerging in a southern site, Namhae-gun, from 20th of March, and it was the earliest record so far. The emergence from all of the sites occurred on average 7.75 days faster in 2013 than 2012. The emergence patters during the two years clearly showed that the adult emergence reached to 50% emergence rate faster as the soil temperature rose.

Anoplophora isa moderate-sized genus with 36 species of woodboring cerambycid beetles that occur throughout Asia, with the highest diversity in the tropical and subtropical region. Two species, A. chinensis (Forster) and A. glabripennis (Motchulsky) are known in the Korean peninsula. The latter is an infamous invasive species, commonly called the Asian longhorned beetle, in the U.S. causing economic damage on hard woods. For the present study, we carried out field surveys from 2010 to 2013 and literature review on the host plants of Korean Anoplophora species. A. chinensis is associated with 14 host plant species in 4 families and A. glabripennis 17 species of 11 families. Most importantly, the Manchurian striped maple, Acer tegmentosum Maxim. (Aceraceae), is newly recognized as a host of the Asian longhorned beetle. In the present study, a revised host plant checklist of Korean Anoplophora species is provided, with correction of scientific and Korean names of the host plants.

The Cerambycidae is a very diverse family in Chrysomeloidea (Insecta: Coleoptera), and the members are commonly called as longhorn beetles, long-horned beetles or longicorn beetles. The family is comprised of approximately 25,000 described species in nine subfamilies worldwide, and 311 species are known from Korean insect fauna. Most species are associated with woods and shrubs or live on herbaceous vegetation in open areas. Cerambycid larvae are primarily borers in deadwood. Some species develop in living trees and cause damage on host plants by boring heart wood and making galleries. As the results of four year field surveys (from 2010 to 2013) and literature review, host plants of 181 species of Korean Cerambycidae are revised, including thirteen new cerambycid-host associations, and more than 179 host plants species of 107 genera in 44 families are compiled. Among them, most common host plants are belonged to mainly four families: Ulmaceae, Pinaceae, Fagaceae and Betulaceae. Additionally, Acer tegmentosum Maxim. (Aceraceae) is newly recognized as a host plant of the Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora grabripennis (Motchulsky) in South Korea.

In the process of revising the tachinid subgenus Linnaemya Robineau-Desvoidy of South Korea, three species are recognized as new to the country: Linnaemya pallidohirta Chao, L. scutellaris (Malloch) and L. lateralis (Townsend). They belong to the oralis species group of the subgenus. L. scutellaris (Malloch) and L. lateralis very closely resemble each other so that they need to be identified with caution. We here provide detailed redescriptions and illustrations with their diagnostic characters indicated.

In the process of revising the tachinid genus Linnaemya Robineau-Desvoidy in Korea, we have discovered two species for the first time in Korea. They closely resemble each other and need to be identified with caution. We here provide detailed redescriptions and illustrations with their diagnostic characters indicated. L. atriventris can be distinguished from L. hirtipennis by the combination of the following characteristics: 1) abdomen black in ground color; 2) wing vein R1 without setulose; 3) hypandrium without secondary posterior lobe; 4) male with antero-basal 1/3 of flagellomere I distinctly swollen; and 5) postgonite very weakly curved dorsally.

The genus Linnaemya Robineau-Desvoidy (Diptera: Tachinidae: Linnaemya) is one of the largest genera of the subfamily Tachininae including 149 recognized species worldwide. We reviewed Korean species of the subgenus Ophina belonging to the genus Linnaemya. As a result, we recognized three species, L.(Ophina) microchaetopsis Shima, L.(Ophina). picta (Meigen) and L.(Ophina) zachvatkini Zimin. Among them, the latter two species are reported for the first time from Korea. They belong to the haemorrhoidalis species group of the subgenus Ophina. We provide a generic key, descriptions and illustrations of the species.

Linnaemya Robineau-Desvoidy (Diptera, Tachinidae) is one of the largest genera of the subfamily Tachininae with more than 149 described species in the world. In Korea, only three species have been known to date. In this study, the genus Linnaemya in Korea was reviewed. All available material was examined to identify the species of the genus. Based on the present study, we described a new species. Also ten species are reported for the first time from Korea: L. comta, takanoi, tessellans, ambigua, kanoi, zachvatkini, picta, pallidohirta, scutellaris, and lateralis. We provide a generic key, illustrations, and photos of the species of the genus. A phylogenetic analysis was also conducted to infer interspecific relationships among Korean Linnaemya species using a software, PAUP, with an outgroup Lypha dubia.

The family Epermeniidae (Lepidoptera) is a small family with more than 100 described species in the world (Gaedike, 1996). It is divided into two subfamilies, Epermeniinae and Ochromolopinae (Dugdale et al., 1999). Although this family comprises species with variously shaped wings from broad to narrow lanceolate, it is characterized by stiff bristles on the whole surface of the hind tibia. Another character, one or more scale teeth on the dorsum of the forewing seems to be another apomorphy for the family. However, some species lack these teeth by secondary loss (Kuroko, 2006). The family has been poorly known from Korea to date. The first record of Epermeniidae in Korea was Epemenia strictella (Wocke), by Park (1983), on the basis of specimen collected in the Suwon, Province Gyeonggi. Since this report, no research has been conducted on this family in Korea. This study is based on the recent survey on the Microlepidoptera by Korea National Arboretum(KNA) to clarify the fauna of microlepidoptera of Korea. In this study, we report two species of the family Epermeniidae, Phaulernis chasanica and Ochromolopis sp., for the first time from Korea along with illustraton of adults.