Abstract
Caenorhabditis japonica is a bacterial-feeding nematode phoretically associated with the shield bug, Parastrachia japonensis. Caenorhabditis japonica dauer larvae (DLs) are mainly found on adult female bugs throughout the year, suggesting an intimate association between the nematode and the shield bug, but the mechanisms of the female bug-specific association, as well as the life history of C. japonica, are not well known. To understand the biology of C. japonica and the behavior of DLs, we developed a simple method to selectively collect phoretically active DLs using swarming behavior. We also demonstrated that the DLs obtained by this method were able to associate with the shield bug.
