Field surveys for the B. tabaci species complex were conducted from 2009 to 2013 in Korea, and the results were compared with published data of the B. tabaci complex. Three species, Mediterranean, Middle East-Asia Minor 1, and JpL, were determined from several regions based on mitochondrial COI sequences. The Mediterranean was mainly collected in greenhouses, displacing the earlier invasive species, Middle East-Asia Minor, and the JpL was collected in the field. The JpL is newly confirmed as a unique species of B. tabaci complex in Korea and Japan.

Corythucha marmorata (Uhler, 1878), the chrysanthemum lace bug, originally distributes throughout North America. It feeds on plants in the family Asteraceae. In south central New York, it has been known as a common herbivore of Solidago spp. and Aster spp., especially Solidago altissima and Aster novae-angliae. Since the first founding of the lace bug in the western Japan (Hyogo) in 1999, it has rapidly expanded to other areas and sometimes damaged to agricultural crops such as chrysanthemum and sweet potato. In July 2012, we found the lace bug at Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, in Korea for the first time. Interestingly Aster pilosus Wild., an American exotic plant, was heavily infested with a lot of adults and nymphs of the lace bug at roadside. Subsequent survey indicates that it distributes widely in the central Korea, inhabiting a few wild plants including Erigeron annuus (L.) and Conyza canadensis (L.). In this report, we provide its morphological and molecular characteristics, distribution, host plants, and possible importance as an agricultural pest in Korea.

The sweet potato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius, 1889) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), is one of the most important agricultural pests by direct feeding and begomovirus transmission in the world. B. tabaci species complex consisting of about 30 species worldwidely has been mainly distinguished by molecular methods because of difficulties detecting morphological differences. In Korea, distribution of two exotic groups, the Mediterranean (Q biotype) and the Middle East-Asia Minor 1 (B biotype), were confirmed by comprehensive molecular methods in 2012. Of them, the Q biotype as a vector of Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) has caused significant crop yield losses. Tobacco leaf curl virus (TbLCV), one of four begomoviruses in Korea, was first reported in 2011. It damaged, although not frequent, to greenhouse tomatoes at Iksan, Gimje, Sunchang, and Jeju. The vector transmitting TbLCV, however, is not known yet. In this study, we sampled an unknown B. tabaci populations on leaves of the Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) at Iksan in outdoor conditions. PCR analysis revealed that some populations were infected with TbLCV. We identified an unknown indigenous genetic group named as JpL and clarified its phylogenetic relationships based on nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene.