Helicoverpa assulta (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) exhibits a specialized herbivorous diet, primarily targeting select Solanaceae plants. Despite its significant economic impact as a pest, causing substantial harm to crops like hot pepper and tobacco, it has received comparatively limited attention in research compared to its generalist counterparts, H. armigera and H. zea.We introduce a chromosome level genome assembly using a Korean H. assulta (Pyeongchang strain, K18). This assembly was achieved through a combined approach utilizing Nanopore long-read sequencing (approximately 78X coverage) and Illumina NovaSeq short-read sequencing (approximately 54X coverage). The total assembled genome spans 424.36 Mb, designated as ASM2961881v1, comprises 62 scaffolds, with 98.7% of the genome contained within 31 scaffolds, confirming the insect's chromosome count (n = 31). The completeness of the assembly is reflected in BUSCO assessment, with values reaching 99.0%, while the repeat content accounts for 33.01%, and 18,593 CDS were annotated. Additionally, 137 genes were identified within 15 orthogroups that have rapidly expanded in H. assulta, while 149 genes in 95 orthogroups have rapidly contracted. This genome draft serves as a valuable resource to explore various aspects of the specialist's biology, enabling research into host-range evolution, chemical communication, insecticide resistance, and comparative investigations with other Heliothine species.

식물의 이차대사산물은 곤충-식물 상호관계에서 중요한 역할을 한다. 식식성 곤충은 식물의 방어물질에 대처하는 다양한 전략을 가지고 있 다. 광식성 곤충은 넓은 범위의 다양한 식물들을 섭식하고 그 해독 기작도 보다 복잡한데, 이는 많은 종류의 식물유래 화합물에 반응하는 경향이 있 기 때문으로 보인다. 이와는 달리 협식성 곤충은 몇몇 유사한 식물에 국한되어 살아가며 보다 효율적인 적응 방식을 지니고 있을 것으로 여겨진다. 이러한 협식성 곤충의 적응은 식물의 방어물질에 대한 해독효소를 다량 생산하거나 방어물질 또는 그 대사산물을 격리하는 전략을 마련하였기 때문 으로 보인다. 담배나방은 담배와 고추 등 주로 가지과의 몇몇 식물만을 가해하는 협식성 곤충이다. 담배나방의 기주식물 적응성을 이해한다면, 이 해충에 의한 작물의 피해를 줄이는 방법을 개발하는데 도움을 줄 수 있을 뿐만 아니라, 담배나방과 같은 협식성 곤충의 생리, 생태, 진화를 연구하는 데에도 중요한 단서를 제공할 것이다. 본 종설에서는 담배나방의 기주식물 범위, 유충과 기주식물의 상호작용, 그리고 기주식물에서 특이적으로 나 오는 니코틴과 캡사이신에 대한 곤충의 반응과 해독 메카니즘을 중심으로, 지난 반세기 동안의 연구결과를 요약하고 앞으로의 전망을 제시하고자 한다.

야외 사육과 성페로몬트랩 조사를 통해 왕담배나방 휴면 유도시기와 연중 발생 세대가 연구되었다. 2013년과 2014년에 갓부화 유충을 수 원 야외에서 사육하였을 때, 8월 하순~10월 상순에 사육을 시작한 집단들에서 휴면용이 생성되었고, 9월 중순 이후 사육 집단에서는 휴면용들만 생성되었다. 2013년 집단의 경우 휴면용들은 이듬해 5월 하순~6월 상순에 우화하였고 2014년 집단의 경우 5월 하순~6월 하순에 우화하였다. 휴면용들만 생성된 집단들에서, 사육을 시작한 날의 일장은 11시간 49분~12시간 24분이었고, 이들이 번데기가 될 때까지 평균온도는 14.8~20.7℃ 이었다. 야외 사육에서 하면은 관찰되지 않았다. 수원과 화성에서 2010년부터 2014년까지 조사한 페로몬 트랩의 성충 발생 시기는 연중 4회(1화기: 4월 하순~6월 중순, 2화기: 6월 중순~7월 하순, 3화기: 7월 중순~8월 하순, 4화기: 8월 하순~10월 중순)으로 조사되었다. 여기에 Mironidis and Savopoulou-Soultani (2008)의 선형발육모델을 적용하였을 때 4세대 출현이 가능한 것으로 분석되었다. 가을철 3세대와 월동세대는 일부 중첩되는 것으로 조사되었다. 왕담배나방은 연중 월동세대 이후 온전한 3세대를 거치고, 휴면용은 3화기와 4화기 성충들의 자손들에서 출현하는 것으로 조사되었다. 마지막으로 4월 말 파종되는 옥수수 포장에서 출사기에서 수확기 사이의 이삭 피해는 1세대와 2세대의 왕담배나방 유충이 피 해를 주는 것으로 고찰되었다.

Apolygus spinolae (Meyer-Dür) (Heteroptera: Miridae) is an important pest of fruit and tea trees in Korea and Japan. Analyses of extracts of metathoracic scent glands revealed that those of female bugs contained hexyl butyrate, (E)-2-hexenyl butyrate, and (E)-4-oxo-2-hexenal in a ratio of 20:100:7. The glands of males contained the same three compounds, but the ratio of the components was quite different, with hexyl butyrate being the most abundant. Field trapping tests with various blends of the synthetic compounds dispensed from high-density polyethylene tubes showed that (E)-2-hexenyl butyrate and (E)-4-oxo-2-hexenal were essential for attraction of male A. spinolae, and catches with a wide range of ratios of these two compounds did not differ significantly. However, adding hexyl butyrate at 50% or more of the (E)-2-hexenyl butyrate to the binary blend strongly inhibited attraction of males. Trap catches increased with increasing amounts of a 10:1 blend of (E)-2-hexenyl butyrate and (E)-4-oxo-2-hexenal from 0.011 to 11 mg loaded into the tube. Catches of males in traps baited with lures containing 1.1 mg of the binary blend were not significantly different from catches in traps baited with live virgin females.

The oriental tobacco budworm, Helicoverpa assulta, is an oligophagous insect feeding on a few species of Solanaceae plants, including Nicotina tabacum. This study investigated the relationship between H. assulta and plants, focusing on oviposition preference and larval performance of the specialist in host and non-host plants. (1) In choice experiments, N. tabacum and Phaseolus vulgaris were put in a cage with 5 females and 10 males. Most of eggs (ca. 98%) were layed in N. tabacum, whereas few eggs in P. vulgaris. (2) In non-choice experiments, N. tabacum, Datura stramonium, or P. vulgaris was individually put in a cage with 3 females and 6 males, resulting that N. tabacum was the most preferred host, followed by D. stramonium and P. vulgaris. Oviposition was delayed about 2 days in P. vulgaris (a non-host plant) compared to the two host plants. (3) Larval performances were also compared with the three plants. Larval growth was better in N. tabacum followed by D. stramonium and P. vulgaris, High mortality (ca. 100%) of larvae was observed in P. vulgaris, suggesting toxic component(s) derived from the non-host plant might cause the death. The ovipositional avoidance in P. vulgaris is current being investigated to search for the oviposition deterrent, which could be useful for the environment-friendly pest management of H. assulta.

The blueberry gall midge, Dasineura oxycoccana (Johnson)(Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), has known as a key pest of blueberries in the southeastern United States, Europe and Canada. It can cause considerable damage to developing blueberry flower buds and also injure vegetative growth by distorting and blackening shoot tips. Similar symptoms of damage, which mighty be caused by D. oxycoccana, have been investigated on blueberry plants(damage rate: 20~80% of total shoot tips), Vaccinium spp., in Hwaseong-si of Gyounggi-do in 2010. And, followed by an investigation on the occurrences of D. oxycoccana and its damages in 2010~2012. We emphasize caution concerning the possibilities that D. oxycoccana could infest flower buds and shoot on blueberries and developed monitoring methods and environment-friendly management strategies for D. oxycoccana on buleberry.

UDP-glycosyltransferases (UGT) catalyze the conjugation of a range of diverse small lipophilic compounds with sugars to produce glycosides, playing an important role in the detoxification of xenobiotics and in the regulation of endobiotics in insects. Recent progress in genome sequencing has enabled an assessment of the extent of the UGT multigene family in insects. Here we report over 310 putative UGT genes identified from genomic databases of eight different insect species together with a transcript database from the lepidopteran Helicoverpa armigera. Phylogenetic analysis of the insect UGTs showed Order-specific gene diversification and inter-species conservation of this multigene family. Only one family (UGT50) is found in all insect species surveyed (except the pea aphid) and may be homologous to mammalian UGT8. Three families (UGT31, UGT32, and UGT305) related to Lepidopteran UGTs are unique to baculoviruses. A lepidopteran sub-tree constructed with 40 H. armigera UGTs and 44 Bombyx mori UGTs revealed that lineage-specific expansions of some families in both species appear to be driven by diversification in the N-terminal substrate binding domain, increasing the range of compounds that could be detoxified or regulated by glycosylation. By comparison of the deduced protein sequences, several important domains were predicted, including the N-terminal signal peptide, UGT signature motif, and C-terminal transmembrane domain. Furthermore, several conserved residues putatively involved in sugar donor binding and catalytic mechanism were also identified by comparison with human UGTs. Many UGTs were expressed in fat body, midgut, and Malpighian tubules, consistent with functions in detoxification, and some were expressed in antennae, suggesting a role in pheromone deactivation. Transcript variants derived from alternative splicing, exon skipping, or intron retention produced additional UGT diversity. These findings from this comparative study of two lepidopteran UGTs as well as other insects reveal a diversity comparable to this gene family in vertebrates, plants and fungi and show the magnitude of the task ahead, to determine biochemical function and physiological relevance of each UGT enzyme.

Capsaicin β-glucoside was isolated from the feces of Helicoverpa armigera, H. assulta and H. zea that fed on capsaicin-supplemented artificial diet. The chemical structure was identified by NMR spectroscopic analysis as well as by enzymatic hydrolysis. The excretion rates of the glucoside were different among the three species; those in the two generalists, H. armigera and H. zea, were higher than in a specialist, H. assulta. UDP-glycosyltransferases (UGT) enzyme activities measured from the whole larval homogenate of the three species with capsaicin and UDP-glucose as substrates were also higher in the two generalists. Compared among five different larval tissues (labial glands, testes from male larvae, midgut, the Malpighian tubules, and fatbody) from the three species, the formation of the capsaicin glucoside by one or more UGT is high in the fat body of all the three species as expected, as well as in H. assulta Malpighian tubules. Optimization of the enzyme assay method is also described in detail. Although the lower excretion rate of the unaltered capsaicin in H. assulta indicates higher metabolic capacity toward capsaicin than in the other two generalists, the glucosylation per se seems to be insufficient to explain the decrease of capsaicin in the specialist, suggesting H. assulta might have another important mechanism to deal with capsaicin more specifically.