Bees of the genus Osmia are cavity-nesting solitary species that play important roles as pollinators. Nest traps are one of the most common methods to study Osmia bees. To elucidate the optimal environmental conditions of nesting sites, we investigated the effects of location, direction, altitude, and sites of nest traps on the rate of trap-nesting Osmia spp. During the collection period, the average rate of trap-nesting Osmia spp. collected within 90 days after the installation of traps was 17.0±20.0%. This percentage was 2.7-fold higher than that of trap-nesting bees in 30 days after the installation of traps. The Jeongseon location exhibited the highest rates of trap-nesting Osmia spp. collected in 30 and 90 days, representing 11.1 ±17.6% and 23.2±22.5%, respectively. The direction of the nest traps did not affect the rate of trap-nesting Osmia spp. The altitude ranges of the traps were 0-199 m, 200-399 m, 400-599 m, 600-799 m and over 800 m. Interestingly, the altitude range of 600-799 m showed the highest rate of trap-nesting bees, which was 40.4±3.9%. Higher altitudes seemed to correspond to higher rates of trap-nesting bees. With regards to the sites where the nests were placed, the rate of trap-nesting bees in a mud wall of an old house was 45.1±25.2%, which was 3-fold higher than that of a nest in an apple orchard. The flowering plants collected at different locations during the trap-nesting activity of Osmia bees belonged to 18 families and 34 species. In conclusion, the rates of trap nests colonized by Osmia spp. were affected by altitude, site, and plant diversity.

Animal-assisted-activity programs are often used in pediatric hospital settings to provide emotional support and diversion, however there is little research about their efficacy. AAA for using insect affect children was examined in this study of 50 elementary school children. Self-reported (self-esteem, sociality and stress) were measured. Self-esteem and sociality rating of the children, and display of positive affect were enhance in the AAA group. This study provides further support to the numerous health benefits of AAA, particularly for children in elementary school.

Bumblebees are important pollinators of crops and wildflowers. Bumblebees generally produce one generation per year. One of the key stages for year-round rearing of bumblebees is breaking diapause. To evaluate the effects of a combination method of CO2-narcosis and cold treatment to break the diapause of B. ignitus and B. terrestris queens, we determined whether this method affected their ability to establish a colony after the diapause break. The diapause treatment regimes that were utilized were CO2(CO2– narcosis), CT-1M(cold treatment at 5°C for 1 month), CT-1M-CO2(CO2–narcosis after cold treatment for 1 month), CT-2M-CO2(CO2–narcosis after cold treatment for 2 months), CT-2M (cold treatment for 2 months), CT-2.5M-CO2(CO2–narcosis after cold treatment for 2.5 months) and CT-2.5M (cold treatment at 5°C for 2.5 months). In view of the effects on the colony developmental characteristics of B. ignitus queens, the most favorable diapause treatment was CT-1M-CO2. A combination method of CO2– narcosis and cold temperature treatment yielded better results than that of single CO2–narcosis or cold temperature treatment on the colony development of diapause-broken B. ignitus queens. In the case of B. terrestris queens, we concluded that a combination method of CO2 and cold temperature treatment yielded better results than that of a single cold-temperature(up to2 months) treatment. In conclusion, the findings of the present study indicated that the combined application of CO2 and cold temperature was a favorable method for the colony development of diapause-broken B. ignitus and B. terrestris queens compared with only CO2–narcosisorcoldtemperaturetreatments. A combination method of CO2 and cold treatment reduced the side effect of CO2–narcosis and shortened the duration of cold treatment by at least 1month.

Insects impact human health through vector-borne diseases and cause major economic loses through damaging crops and stored agricultural products. Insect-specific growth regulators (IGR) represent attractive control agents because of their safety to the environment and humans. Here, we report identification of plant compounds that are antagonists of the insect-specific juvenile hormone (PJHANs), using the yeast two hybrid system transformed with the mosquito JH receptor as a reporter assay. We show that these compounds act by inhibiting larval growth and reproduction in mosquitoes. We also demonstrate that PJHANs affect the JH receptor, Methoprene-tolerant (Met), by disrupting its complex with CYCLE, formation of which is required for mediating JH action. We isolated five diterpene secondary metabolites with JH antagonist activity from two plants, Lindera erythrocarpa and Solidago serotina. They are effective in causing mortality of mosquito larvae at relatively low LD50 values. Two of these diterprenes affect Met function, leading to reduction in expression of Met target genes and causing retardation of follicle development in mosquito ovaries. Developing potent compounds counteracting JHaction (JH antagonists) would find a wider range of control applications. However, so far such JH antagonists have not been developed. Here, we report the discovery of potent JH antagonists in plants, which represents an innate resistance mechanism of plants against insect herbivores. These newly discovered plant JH antagonist compounds could be used as the starting material for developing novel insecticides.

A Tenebrio molitor larva that is called mealworm is widely used as feed for raising a pet. Also, it is the insect that would be produced as the edible food for human. For these reasons, many researchers are revealing about physiologic characteristic of Tenebrio molitor to make good use of it. However, morphological characteristic of different larval stage is not specifically indicated and researchers have different opinions about the average number of Tenebrio molitor’s instar until now. This study, therefore, was carried out to examine the physiological and morphological characteristics of Tenebrio molitor larva in different larval stages, and the average number of Tenebrio molitor’s instar. As a result, all of the Tenebrio molitor larvae had 7~8 days during their incubation period and 3~4 days during the 1st instar period. After the 1st instar, there were comparatively large differences in the number of days in each instar. Before emergence, most of the larvae comparatively showed 15th~17th instars, particularly, the largest rate of pupae (28.83%) was observed in the 17th instar. In terms of the body length of each Tenebrio molitor larval stage, the body length was gradually increased by the 17th instar. Beyond the 17th instar, however, the body length was smaller than 17th instar. In the 1st instar, the larva had white color, and the color gradually changed into brown from the 2nd instar. Through this study, we could identify the accurate incubation period, 1st instar period, the average number of instar, body length and the color change in different larval stages. These results would be used as a fundamental data for further study about the physiological and morphological characteristic of each instar period.

As demand for Tenebrio molitor increases in animal feed market, improvement of mass-rearing indoor system became more crucial. This study is aimed at establishing the technology for conserving genetic resource of Tenebrio molitor, and increasing the technology utilization. This year, in advance, this experiment was designed for examining the developmental characteristics of eggs and larvae. To research the developmental characteristics under different temperatures, eggs, larvae and papae were treated at 17.5, 20, 22.5, 25, 27.5 and 30°C. At 25°C, larvae were exposed to various photoperiod conditions, LD 14:10, 12:12, and 10:14. The results show that the temperature range which affected hatching was 15~32.5°C. To achieve 70 percent or higher hatching rate 17.5~27.5°C was required. Furthermore, hatching occurred within 10 days, when the eggs were treated in 22.5~27.5°C. In regard of larval development, shorter developmental period, and higher pupation and eclosion rates were observed in 25~27.5°C. The shortest larval period was recorded at 14L:10D. At 10L:14D, in contrast, pupae showed the lowest chance of eclosion. Overall, larval development was optimal in long-day condition.

The effect of an artificial diet on the developmental rate, a life history parameter, was examined for the swallowtail butterfly, Papilio xuthus. Artificial insect diets are an essential component of many insect rearing systems that produce insects for research purposes. Complex agar-gelled diets are generally prepared in large batches and used shortly after preparation because the degradation of perishable diet ingredients, such as vitamins and fatty acids, can adversely affect insect quality (Brewer F D 1984). However, the timing of diet preparation may be inconvenient and large batches wasteful if the unused, excess diet is discarded. This study showed that if the artificial diet was fed during the larval stage, the larval and pupal developmental periods, the percentage of pupation, and the pupal weight generally did not differ significantly among the five artificial diets evaluated. The percentage of pupation varied considerably, with no significant differences among diets except for diet C. A maximum pupation percentage of 83% was observed on diet C. Pellet-type diets were investigated with the aim of developing a more easily prepared diet. The extrusion of the artificial diet under high temperature and pressure may induce desirable chemical and physical changes in the extruded product. The purpose of the present study was to develop an artificial diet for rearing P. xuthus.

Using eight universal primers and new designed 315 species-specific primers, we tried to retrieve COI sequences from 45 dried specimens of 36 butterfly species collected from 1959 to 1980. The eight universal primers were entirely failed in PCR amplification and sequencing of all specimens. In the other hand, the 315 primers, targeting fragments of 71–417 bp, generated various lengths of COI sequences ranged from 444 bp to 658 bp from all specimens. Among 284 primer pairs, 26 primer pairs designed for Limenitis camilla, Argynnis niobe, and Brenthis daphne were success to produce COI sequences of congeneric speices, Limenitis doerriesi, Argynnis nerippe, and Brenthis ino. It suggests that the species-specific primers can be applied for analyzing COI sequences of closely related species. Our study reveals that newly designed species-specific primers will be effective to retrieval of COI sequences of old butterfly specimens.

The flight behavior of Pieris rapae were compared to understand how temperature affects flight behavior. The effects of temperature on insect thermal performance curves are generally poorly understood but significant for understanding responses to insect gardening. Temperature is a physical factor as well as a stimulus for insects behavior. In Pieris rapae, we examine the physiological effects of temperature-dependence of flight behavior. At test temperature increased, flight speed typically increased. The maximum flight speed of P. rapae at given temperatures show a straight line relationship between 20, 25 and 30℃. Therefore, the effects of test temperature were significant for flight behavior.

Allomyrina dichotoma is a typical pet beetles in Korea. From 2010, similar symptoms of milky spore disease were found collectively in grubs of the species reared in insect farms. They shared a specific symptom that the skin of last instar larvae was changed softer with opaque white and infested grubs eventually died. To clarify the cause of the symptom, we collected the larvae of A. dichotoma from five farms and examined intestinal bacterial florae of them using pyrosequencing technique. From those results, a member of Paenibacillus was found only in the larvae showing the symptom of disease. Through PCR analysis using a Paenibacillus specific primer set, we obtained the partial 16S rRNA gene sequence and confirmed the microbe as Paenibacillus sp. For detailed characterizing, a whole guts was extracted from each larva showing the sign of the disease and incubated at 70℃ for 15 min to isolate spore forming bacteria. After then, each content of guts was cultured on MYPGPNAL agar medium (12.5 μg/ml of nalidixic acid) at 30℃. The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis for six isolate showed that they were closely related to P. rigui (97.5~98.0% similarity) and to P. chinjuensis (95.9~96.6% similarity). Additional tests including API test and cellular fatty acid composition analysis were performed, but the strain couldn’t be identified at species level, suggesting it may represent novel species of the genus Paenibacillus.

본 논문에서는 굴절(refractive) 물체의 광학적 현상들을 실시간으로 표현하는 GPU(Graphics Processing Unit) 기반 렌 더링 알고리즘이 제안되었다. 일반적으로 굴절 물체에 대한 광학적 현상들을 렌더링할 때 포톤 매핑(Photon Mapping) 이 널리 쓰이지만, 포톤 매핑 방법은 계산량이 많기 때문에 게임 등과 같은 실시간 응용분야에는 적합하지 않다. 본 논문에서는 굴절 물체의 앞면, 뒷면의 깊이값의 차이와 굴절 레이(ray)를 이용해 탈출지점을 구하며, 탈출지점의 법선 벡터를 근사하여 빛이 굴절 물체를 통과하면서 발생하는 커스틱스(caustics)현상과 굴절현상을 렌더링한다. 굴절 물체의 반사(reflection) 현상은 프레넬 항(Fresnel term)을 근사(approximation)해서 효율적으로 표현하였다. 또한 HDRI(High Dynamic Range Image)로 환경맵을 구성하여 자연광이 굴절 물체를 통해 굴절되어 보이는 현상을 생성하였다.

14-3-3 proteins are known to play a pivotal role in a diverse array of cellular events such as cell survival, apoptosis, and signal transduction. Numerous 14-3-3 ζ have been cloned and characterized from a host of eukaryotic organisms including human, plants, yeast, fruit fly and silkworm. However, no study on Spodoptera exigua 14-3-3ζ in conjunction with virus infection has so far been reported in insects. It appears that expression of Se14-3-3ζ was decreased starting 24 h post-SeNPV infection as SeNPV titers seemed to increase as evidenced by intense bands of SeNPV IAP3. Interestingly, confocal microscopic analysis revealed that Se14-3-3ζ is expressed at the apical side of the NPV-uninfected gut cells, whereas it was detected mainly in the nucleus of the NPV-infected cells. Thus, despite the biological significance of Se14-3-3ζ in S. exigua in conjunction with molecular interactions between SeNPV and S. exigua is unclear now, our data suggest that Se14-3-3 ζ protein plays a role to protect S. exigua from the infection or inhibit replication of SeNPV.

Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT) signaling pathway is known to play a pivotal role in various cellular events and antiviral responses in both vertebrates and insects. In an attempt to elucidate the potential involvement of STAT on S. exigua-SeNPV interactions, the full length cDNA of SeSTAT was cloned from S. exigua. Analysis of temporal expression patterns shows that SeSTAT is expressed in all stages of life cycle such as larvae, pupae, and adult. Spatial expression analysis shows that it is highly expressed in fat body and Malpighian tubule. Interestingly, SeSTAT is induced at 24 h in response to either laminarin or LTA injection in larvae. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) shows that the binding of nuclear extracts from fat body cells immune-challenged with LTA to STAT5 probe was observed. In addition, SeSTAT was nuclear-translocalized in both fat body and gut cells that were challenged with LTA and laminarin, respectively. Finally, gene silencing of SeSTAT shows that SeNPV number appears to be increased. It suggests that SeSTAT may act as a negative regulator against SeNPV in midgut.

In order to establish an indoor-rearing system for Copper butterflies; Large Copper butterfly, Lycaena dispar, the effect of temperature, photoperiod on larval development was investigated. As temperature increased, the developmental period was gradually reduced. The developmental periods of Large Copper larvae was 11.0 days and 28.5 days at 30℃ and 17.5℃, respectively. We investigated the sensitivity of stages to diapause induction. The experiment involved transfer of individuals from diapause averting (LD 16:8 h, 25℃) to diapause inducing condition (LD 8:16 h, 20℃) at various stages. Daipause was induced in 95.2% insect transferred at hatching larvae, in 15.6% of insects transferred at 2nd stadium molt, in 0% of insects transferred at after 3rd stadium molt. Percentage of diapause induction increased with the length of short days and low temperature. The main sensitive stage to photoperiodic and temperature induction of diapause determination was the early first larval instar. The diapause sensitivity began 14 days and ended 20 days after hatching larvae. The main stage sensitive to photoperiodic induction of diapause determination was the early first larval instar under low temperature and short day length. In relation to diapause termination, pupation was accelerated with cold treatment after diapausing 15 to 20 days and suitable chilling temperature was 8℃.