주요 생활권 수목인 벚나무류, 단풍나무류, 느티나무, 철쭉류, 무궁화에 대한 효과적인 방제 전략 수립에 필요한 기초 자료 확보를 위해, 해 당 수종별 나비목 곤충의 발생 양상을 2019년부터 2021년까지 조사하였고, 2020년 곤충의 발생 시기와 밀도를 조사하였다. 확인된 곤충으로는 벚나무류에서 14과 76종, 단풍나무류에서 8과 40종, 느티나무에서 10과 43종, 철쭉류에서 7과 28종, 무궁화에서 4과 10종이 발생하고 있음을 확인하였다. 그중 미국흰불나방은 느티나무를 제외한 모든 수목에서, 매미나방은 무궁화를 제외한 모든 수목에서 발생이 확인되었다. 발생밀도 조사 결과, 왕벚나무는 미국흰불나방, 갈색뿔나방이 많았으며, 느티나무는 느릅애기잎말이나방이, 무궁화는 점노랑들명나방의 발생이 가장 많았 다. 미국흰불나방과 매미나방은 경남지역보다 경기지역에서 밀도가 높게 조사되어 지역별로 방제 전략을 달리해야 할 것으로 생각된다. 왕벚나 무는 확인된 나비목 곤충 종수가 가장 많고, 광식성인 종이 많아 주의가 필요한 반면, 단풍나무는 나비목 곤충 피해가 크지 않는 것으로 파악되었 다. 생활권 수목은 사람과 근접한 거리에 있어, 생활권 수목의 나비목 해충의 방제를 위해서는 페로몬을 이용하여 발생시기와 발생량을 예찰함으 로써 농약 살포를 최소한으로 줄이는 것이 바람직할 것이다.

Glycerol is a polyol that is responsible for the cold hardiness of insects. Glycerol kinase gene, which is an important key enzyme for glycerol biosynthesis, was predicted from whole genome sequencing data from the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella. Four of P. xylostella glycerol kinase genes (PxGKs) were determined as a functional glycerol kinase through in silico study. Pre-exposure of P. xylostella larvae to 4°C for 7 h significantly enhanced survival (rapid cold hardiness: RCH) under a freezing temperature (-10°C) and increased glycerol titers. To determination of functional GK gene, expressions of all GK genes were measured by RT-PCR analysis. All GK genes were expressed in all larval stage and tissues (gut, hemocyte, and fat body). Expressions of all GK genes were suppressed by its specific dsRNA treatment into 4 th instar larva. Each 150 ng of dsRNA PxGK2 treatment significantly decreased glycerol amount in hemolymph by HPLC analysis. Larval treated by dsRNA PxGK2 also significantly lost the RCH under -10°C exposure. These results indicate that glycerol is a crucial RCH agent and its synthesis is regulated by a specific PxGK2 gene among GK gene isoforms in P. xylostella. In addition, the beet armyworm, Spodpotera exigua, encodes RCHassociated SeGK1, which has been functionally identified by RNA interference.

Laos, a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, has most extensive network of ecosystems in the Indochina Peninsula, surrounded by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west. It is the tropical vegetation and warm climatic conditions influenced by monsoon. Such geographical and climatic condition is favorable for the diversity of insects. However, research or educative investigation on insects have been poorly conducted. Through recent expedition during dry season (between December 2012 and February 2013), mainly held at Phou Khao Khouay National Park (PKKNP), which varies from sheer sandstone cliffs and pristine river gorges to rough mountain slopes along the Mekong river, we recognized atotal of 88 lepidopteran insects belonging to 22 families, Arctidae, Attevidae, Choreutidae, Cossidae, Crambidae, Geometridae, Gracillariidae, Hesperidae, Hyblaeidae, Limacodidae, Lycaenidae, Lymantridae, Noctuidae, Nymphalidae, Oecophoridae, Papilionidae, Pieridae, Pyralidae, Scythrididae, Sphingidae, Uraniidae and Zygaenidae, were recognized.

Two complete mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) of the endangered, lycaenid butterflies, Spindasis takanonis and Protantigius superans (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), were sequenced. Each 15,349 bp and 15,248 bp-long genome contained both the lepidopteran specific gene arrangement that differ from the most common arrangement of insects by the movement of tRNAMet to a position 5’-upstream of tRNAIle. Neither of the species have typical COI start codon. Instead, the CGA (arginine) sequence that is commonly present in all other lepidopterans was also found in both lycaenids. The possible binding site for the transcription termination peptide, TACTA sequence, also was well retained in both species. The high A+T-content, which is a characteristic of insect mitogenomes was well reflected in the genomes in the form of higher frequency of codons with A/T nucleotides, severe A/T bias in 3rd codon position, and extremely high A/T content in the A+T-rich region. The 19 bp-long poly-T stretch and the downstream conserved motif ATAG, which were suggested previously to function as a structural signal for minor-strand mtDNA replication, was also well conserved in the A+T-rich region of both lycaenids. Phylogenetic analysis among lepidopteran superfamilies supported the relationships of either (((((Bombycoidea + Geometroidea) + Noctuoidea) + Papilionoidea) + Pyraloidea) + Tortricoidea) by concatenated amino acid sequence or (((((Bombycoidea + Geometroidea) + Noctuoidea) + Pyraloidea) + Papilionoidea) + Tortricoidea) by concatenated nucleotide sequences of 1st and 2nd codon positions of 13 protein-coding genes, two rRNA genes, and 22 tRNA genes, revealing fluctuating positions of Papilionoidea and Pyraloidea between the two data sets.

Eumenis autonoe belonging to a lepidopteran family Nymphalidae (superfamily Papilionoidea) is an endangered species in Korea. Historically, the species was distributed in Europe and Asian region including a wide region in Korean peninsula. However, in Korean peninsula, the species is found only in two isolate dregions: South in a remote island Jeju, where altitude is higher than1, 400 meter on Halla Mt. and North in far northern Korean peninsula around Mt. Bekdu. In this study, we report the complete mitochondrial genome of the endangered E. autonoe collected from Mt. Halla. The 15,489-bp long E. autonoe genome has a typical gene content found in animal mitochondrial genomes and contains the gene arrangement identical to all other sequenced lepidopteran insects, which differs from the most common type found in insects, as the result of the movement of tRNAMet to a position 5’-upstream of tRNAIle. As seen in many other lepidopteran insects, no typical ATN codon for COI gene is available. Thus, we tentatively designated the CGA (arginine) found at the beginning of the COI gene, as has been suggested for lepidopteran COI starter. The intergenic spacer sequence located between tRNASer (UCN) and ND1 of E. autonoe mitogenome also contains the ATACTAA motif which is conserved in all sequenced lepidopteran species. The 678-bp long A+T-rich region, which is longest in sequenced lepidopteran insects contains ten identical tandem repeats composed of 27 bp plus one 13-bp long identical incomplete final repeat. Such repeat sequence is rare in the lepidopteran mitogenomes known so far. The E. autonoe A+T-rich region also contains a poly-T stretch located at the end of the region as 19 bp and also contains the downstream conserved motif ATAGA that were previously suggested to serve as a structural signal for minor-strand mtDNA replication. Phylogenetic analysis using the concatenated 13 amino acid sequences of PCGs among available six lepidopteran superfamilies (Tortricoidea, Pyraloidea, Papilionoidea, Bombycoidea, Geometroidea, and Noctuoidea) rooted with three dipteran species with BI and ML analyses supported the following topology: ((((Bombycoidea + Geometroidea +Noctuoidea) + Papilionoidea) + Pyraloidea) + Tortricoidea). Within Papilionoidea, a closer relationship between Lycaenidae and Pieridae, excluding Nymphalidae was observed. Further fruitful information will be available after more analysis is done.

The 15,389-bp long complete mitogenome of the endangered red-spotted apollo butterfly, Parnassius bremeri (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) was determined. This genome has a gene arrangement identical to those of all other sequenced lepidopteran insects, which have the gene order of tRNAMet, tRNAIle, and tRNAGln at the beginning. Due to the uncertainty the start codon for COI gene in insect has been discussed extensively. We propose the CGA sequence as the start codon for COI gene in lepidopteran insects, based on complete mitogenome sequences of lepidopteran insects including our P. bremerii and additional sequences of the COI start region from a diverse taxonomic range of lepidopteran species (a total of 51 species belonging to 15 families). As has been suggested in other sequenced lepidopteran insects the 18 bp-long poly-T stretch and the downstream conserved motif ATAGA that were previously suggested to serve as a structural signal for minor-strand mtDNA replication also was found at the 3’-end region of the P. bremerii A+T-rich region. In an extensive search to find out tRNA-like structure in the A+T-rich region, each one tRNATrp-like sequence and tRNALeu (UUR)-like sequence were found in the P. bremeri A+T-rich region, and most of other sequenced lepidopteran insects were shown to have tRNA-like structure within the A+T-rich region, thereby indicating that such feature is frequent in the lepidopteran A+T-rich region. Phylogenetic analysis using the concatenated 13 amino acid sequences and nucleotide sequences of PCGs of the four macrolepidopteran suferfamilies together with Tortricoidea and Pyraloidea well recovered a monophyly of Papilionoidea and a monophyly of Bombycoidea. However, Geometroidea and Noctuoidea were unexpectedly clustered as one group and placed this group to the sister group to Bombycoidea, instead of Papilionoidea in most analyses.

The 15,338-bp long complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of the Japanese oak silkmoth, Antheraeayamamai (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) was determined. This genome has a gene arrangement identical to those of all other sequenced lepidopteran insects, but differs from the most common type, as the result of the movement of tRNAMet to a position 5’-upstream of tRNAIle. No typical start codon of the A. yamamai COI gene is available. Instead, a tetranucleotide, TTAG, which is found at the beginning context of all sequenced lepidopteran insects was tentatively designated as the start codon for A. yamamai COI gene. Three of the 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs) harbor the incomplete termination codon, T or TA. All tRNAs formed stable stem-and-loop structures, with the exception of tRNASer(AGN), the DHU arm of which formed a simple loop as has been observed in many other metazoan mt tRNASer(AGN). The 334-bp long A+T-rich region is noteworthy in that it harbors tRNA-likestructures, as has also been seen in the A+T-rich regions of other insect mitogenomes. Phylogenetic analyses of the available species of Bombycoidea, Pyraloidea, and Tortricidea bolstered the current morphology-based hypothesis that Bombycoidea and Pyraloidea are monophyletic (Obtectomera). As has been previously suggested, Bombycidae (Bombyxmori and B.mandarina) and Saturniidae (A.yamamai and Caligula boisduvalii) formed a reciprocal monophyletic group.

We investigated the species richness of lepidopteran insects (excluding butterflies and microlepidoptera) of Mt. Seungdal-san, Muan-gun, Jeollannam-do, Korea, from 2003 to 2005 using two portable light traps. A total of species comprised 423 species belon