Communication using substrate-borne vibrational signals is common in hemipteran insects. In the present study, we recorded the electrophysiological responses of the peripheral vibratory receptor neurons in the legs of the brown-winged green bug, Plautia stali Scott（Hemiptera: Pentatomidae）. We recorded vibration-induced spike potentials using tungsten electrodes in the middle part of the meso- and meta-thoracic coxa, and applied pure sine-wave stimuli to the tarsus using a function generator. The receptor neurons exhibited different thresholds in a frequency-dependent manner； the lowest one being 50 Hz. Our results suggest that the electrophysiological responses of the peripheral vibratory receptor neurons in the legs of P. stali are generally tuned to low-frequency ranges of up to 200 Hz, corresponding to the substrate-borne vibrational signals used in inter- or intra-specific communication.

Benomyl, a benzimidazole-based fungicide, was inoculated orally at 0.025% with an artificial diet into white cabbage butterfly larvae, Pieris rapae crucivora（Boisduval）（Lepidoptera: Pieridae）, which had been parasitized by a parasitoid wasp, Cotesia glomerata（L.）（Hymenoptera: Braconidae）. The inoculation resulted in the death of the parasitoid eggs. The dead eggs were encapsulated by host hemocytes in the host hemocoel. While benomyl was harmless to the host P. rapae larvae as inoculated larvae developed to the adult stage, it had harmful effects on the parasitoids following inoculation at a concentration of 0.0005% or higher in an artificial diet. Benomyl was toxic not only when inoculated with an artificial diet but also with cruciferous leaves.

Benomyl, a benzimidazole-based fungicide with agricultural applications, is effective against the larval parasitoid wasp, Cotesia glomerata（L.）（Hymenoptera: Braconidae）, when inoculated orally with food into parasitized hosts. When benomyl was inoculated during the first two days after parasitization into the host larvae of Pieris rapae crucivora（Boisduval）（Lepidoptera: Pieridae）, the parasitoid eggs were encapsulated by host hemocytes, and the host developed and pupated normally. When inoculated on the third to eighth day after parasitization, the parasitoid eggs hatched to produce living larvae, most of which were devoid of host hemocyte encapsulation, but failed to develop. These host larvae, carrying the parasitoid larvae that failed in development, developed into the final instar, and then died after prolonged larval duration. When inoculated on the ninth and tenth day, the parasitoid succeeded in parasitization on most, though not all, of the hosts.

Yellowing and dwarfing of soybean plants occurred in an area with a high-density population of the citrus leafhopper Apheliona ferruginea（Matsumura）（Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Typhlocybinae）in Mie Prefecture, Japan. In two laboratory experiments, we examined whether these symptoms were induced by the insect itself or by a pathogen transmitted by it. In Experiment 1, internode lengths were significantly shorter at 17 days after infestation of soybean seedlings by A. ferruginea than in the control plants. In Experiment 2, newer internode and petiole lengths were significantly shorter at 17 and 37 days after infestation than in the control plants, but 20 days after the removal of the insects on Day 17, those of later leaves did not differ significantly from the controls. We conclude that the yellowing and dwarfing of soybean plants infested by A. ferruginea are induced by the insect itself, not by a pathogen transmitted by it, because the occurrence of the symptoms was restricted to the insect infestation period.

The masson pine moth, Dendrolimus punctatus（Walker）（Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae）, is a notorious pest of pine trees in Asian countries and was recorded in Japan for the first time from Ishigakijima Island and Iriomotejima Island. We performed taxonomic studies involving the male and female genitalia and clarified the distinguishable features among the following four Japanese species of the genus Dendrolimus: D. superans（Butler）, D. spectabilis（Butler）, D. okinawanus Sonan, and D. punctatus based on many specimens including the lectotype of D. punctatus. As for DNA barcoding, five of the analyzed Japanese haplotypes from Ishigakijima Island and Iriomotejima Island and three of the Chinese haplotypes registered in GenBank as D. punctatus belonged to the same clade in the NJ tree. The intraspecific divergence value within D. punctatus was higher than the interspecific divergence value between D. okinawanus and D. spectabilis. In addition, we revealed that D. punctatus induced severe damage in Pinus luchuensis Mayr on Ishigakijima Island in 2016.

Changes in the fumigation efficacy with nematode stage and temperature were investigated using the three main fumigants currently used in Japan（chloropicrin, 1,3-D, and MITC）on Meloidogyne incognita（Kofoid et White）Chitwood（Tylenchida: Meloidogynidae）2nd-stage juveniles（J2）and eggs under various temperature conditions. An in vitro experiment under 5, 15, and 25°C temperature conditions showed the EC₅₀ and EC₉₀ of the three fumigants increased with a lower temperature. Regardless of the temperature condition, chloropicrin showed a very remarkable decrease in susceptibility in targeting eggs compared with J2. The differences in the susceptibility of 1,3-D between J2 and the egg became larger as the temperature decreased； the EC₉₀ value of the eggs at 5°C was 10 times that of J2. The sensitivity of MITC to eggs was lower than that of J2 only at 5°C, but the difference was within 5 times the EC₉₀ value. These trends in vitro were supported by field tests conducted in the summer and winter targeting the eggs remaining in the soil, which showed decreased efficacy in winter fumigation despite an increased accumulative concentration in the soil. The problem in the winter fumigation for the remaining eggs became clear.