The family Pyralidae comprises over 6,000 species, and is composed of five subfamilies. Among those, the subfamily Phycitinae includes 3 genera, Addyme Walker, 1863, Calguia Walker, 1863, and Coleothrix Ragonot, 1888, with more than 3,300 species worldwide. However, several species of the genera have been erroneously stated and identified due to confusions caused by high morphological similarities. Therefore, we correct those errors through re-examinations of most of the type specimens, along with a diagnosis and table exhibiting the history of those genera. Additionally, we introduce two misidentified Korean pyralids belonging to the genus Addyme.

The box tree moth (BTM, Cydalima perspectalis Walker) is a pest that infests various plants within the Buxus genus. Although a specific parasitoid wasp species associated with the BTM has been observed in the Republic of Korea, no research on this species has been published. Here we describe the fundamental biological and morphological characteristics of this parasitoid. We placed the wasp under the genus Eriborus (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Campopleginae). Eriborus sp. parasitizes within the living host body, with one wasp emerging from each host. The parasitism rate in collected BTM populations was 33.1%. The emergence rate was 87.1%, with all emerging adults being females, resulting in a sex ratio of 0. The pupal period averaged 9.5 days, and the adult lifespan averaged 10.5 days. Eriborus sp. parasitized BTM larvae from the first to the fourth instar and reproduced by parthenogenesis. Eriborus sp. exhibited morphological differences compared with previously reported Eriborus species in Korea, particularly in the length of the ovipositor sheath. In addition, the proportion of the highest similarity in nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I DNA was only 94.53%, rendering species identification using GenBank’s mt cytochrome c oxidase 1 DNA sequences unfeasible. These data suggest Eriborus sp. could be used as a biological control agent for managing BTM infestations.

벼밤나방[Sesamia inferens (Walker, 1856)](나비목: 밤나방과)은 벼 줄기를 가해하는 해충이다. 본 연구는 국내 몇 지역에서 벼밤나방의 연 중 세대수를 추정하였다. 북위 38° 부근의 세 지역에서 벼밤나방 성충이 성페로몬트랩에 포획되었다. 이는 국내 모든 지역에서 벼밤나방이 서식하 는 것을 나타냈다. 조사된 지역 대부분에서 단일사인곡선의 유효적산온일도 모델로 추정된 세대별 성충 발생 시기는 관찰된 성충 세대의 발생 시기 와 차이가 없었다. 이 모델을 사용하여 추정된 월동유충은 성충 마지막 세대로부터 유래할 가능성이 있다고 추정되었다. 중남부지역에서 가을동안 벼 포장에서 채집된 유충들을 25°C에서 사육하였을 때, 번데기의 약 70%가 용화전 유충 탈피를 보이지 않았다. 경남 고성에서 3월초에 채집된 유 충은 25°C 사육에서 유충 탈피 없이 용화하여 이 지역에서는 주로 마지막 유충 영기로 월동할 것으로 추정되었다. 모든 결과를 종합하여 벼밤나방 은 북위 38° 부근 지역에서는 주로 2세대, 북위 35.3° ~ 37.3° 사이 지역에서는 3세대가 경과할 것으로 결론지었다. 별도로, 시토크롬 c 산화효소 1 유전자의 염기서열을 분석한 결과, 성페로몬트랩에 포획된 종의 35%가 다른 종이었고, 이들은 형태적으로 벼밤나방과 혼동되지 않았다.

The box tree moth, Cydalima perspectalis (Walker, 1859) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), is a native species in East Asia specialized in box trees (Buxus sp.) but has recently invaded most European countries. Due to the absence of its natural enemies in Europe, the economic impact is serious in most countries. In order to find parasitoids as biological control agents in Korea, C. perspectalis larvae were collected from ornamental and native box trees from various regions of the country from 2022 to 2023. While rearing them in the insectary, several parasitoids emerged from the larvae. We found at least six larval parasitoids, including five wasp species and one fly species. Molecular diagnosis using the nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) showed that most samples were 90–97% identical to the data in the NCBI database. Further studies are required to determine biological and parasitic characteristics, such as developmental rate, fecundity, host specificity, and parasitic rate, to clarify the suitability of parasitoids as biological control agents.

As a result of our taxonomic study of the genus Epistrophe (Walker) in Korea, we recognized a total of 16 species including seven putative new species (code names are temporarily given from A to F). We also conducted a DNA barcoding analysis of 25 nominal species and 130 samples of Epistrophe. In our barcoding analysis, despite insufficient bootstrap support, Epistrophe formed a cluster with two genera, Epistrophella and Leucozona, topologically supporting their close relationships. Our analysis also showed some interesting results worthy of attention: First, at least two distinct cryptic species were found within the E. grossulariae cluster. Second, the taxon identified as E. nitidicollis seems to represent at least three distinct species. Third, three BOLD-deposited European samples listed as E. olgae showed almost identical barcode sequences with the European E. nitidicollis.

Ippa conspersa (Matsumura, 1931)를 포함한 Ippa Walker, 1864 속의 한국 분포를 최초로 확인하였다. I. conspera의 유충은 Lasius (Lasius) spp. 와 같은 몇몇 개미류를 포식하는 것으로 알려져 있다. 이번 연구를 통하여 한국산 I. conspera의 성충 및 암수 생식기, 유충의 외부 형태를 기재하 고 도판을 제시하였다.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Ostrinia palustralis memnialis Walker, 1859 (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) was determined to be 15,246 bp with a typical set of genes (13 protein-coding genes [PCGs], 2 rRNA genes, and 22 tRNA genes) and one non-coding region, with an arrangement identical to that observed in most lepidopteran genomes. The A+T content of the whole genome, PCGs, srRNA, lrRNA, tRNAs, and the A + T-rich region all are well within the range found in other Pyraloidea. Phylogenetic analyses of the concatenated sequences of the 13 PCGs using Bayesian inference and Maximum-likelihood methods placed O. palustralis as a sister group to O. furnacalis and O. nubilalis, with the highest nodal support. The subfamilies within Crambidae, such as Nymphulinae, Spilomelinae, and Pyraustinae, all formed monophyletic groups with the highest nodal support.

Eurytomidae Walker, 1832 are relatively medium-sized group in the superfamily Chalcidoidea with approximately 1600 species of three subfamilies and 73 valid genera. In Palearctic region, more than 600 species have been recorded, and only 11 species are recorded in South Korea. In this presentation, we report 21 eurytomid species including one subfamily, three genera and 10 species new to South Korea.

The genus Docirava Walker, [1863] belongs to the tribe Chesiadini of the family Geometridae with only 12 described species in the world. The genus could be distinguished from other genera of Chesiadini with the characters, which had been described by walker in original description as follow : “Proboscis slender, rather long….Legs long, very slender; hind tibiae with four rather short and slender spurs”. In this study, the genus Docirava was first recorded with a new species Docirava sp. nov. with DNA barcode. Also, all the available information including images for both of genitalia and adult, wing venation and descriptional study was provided.

Asaphinae Ashmead, 1904 are the smallest subfamily in Pteromalidae and currently include 27 extant species of 6 genera. Up to date, only 2 species, Asaphes suspensus (Nees) and A. vulgaris Walker, have been recorded from South Korea. Among them A. vulgaris Walker is suspected of misidentified due to several reasons. Hyperimerus Girault, a small genus of the subfamily Asaphinae, consists of two world-wide species. It is close to Asaphes Walker but is separated by the following characteristics: antenna with one anelliform segment; scutellar frenum not distinct; petiole transverse. In this study, we report genus Hyperimerus based on Hyperimerus pusillus (Walker) for the first time from South Korea and Eastern Palearctic region. Also, a key to the genera of Asaphinae from South Korea, diagnosis, photographs of each species and taxonomic note of A. vulgaris Walker are provided.