The Japanese elm leaf miner, Anafenusa shinoharai Smith(Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae), caused a large blister-like browning on the young leaves of Ulmus davidiana var. japonica in Morioka City, Iwate, Japan. This damage is reported for the first time, and the life history and larval morphology of the species are described to facilitate rapid diagnosis. The species is univoltine, and the adults emerged and reproduced in mid-May when the host leaves reached 78% of their full length. After 3 weeks, mature larvae fell to the ground, formed a chamber in the soil, and overwintered there as prepupae. In this study, all 40 adults that emerged from the soil were female, carrying an average of 35.5 mature eggs. The larvae consumed both palisade and spongy parenchyma, forming a mine with an average size of 10.3 cm2. In 2019, the number of adults that emerged from the soil was 26.7/m2 and the number of mature larvae that dropped to the ground was 239.9/m2, suggesting that the infestation and damage would be repeated the next year. I describe the larval morphology of the 5th instar(final feeding stage)and the 6th instar(non-feeding mature stage), revealing drastic morphological changes. In addition, I redescribe the adult morphology.
A flightless strain of the ladybird beetle, Harmonia axyridis(Pallas)(Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), has been developed by artificial selection to enhance colonization. Colonization can also be facilitated by supplementary foods such as brine shrimp Artemia salina(L.)(Anostraca: Artemiidae). Hence, we conducted a two-choice feeding test using cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover, and brine shrimp. Interestingly, irrespective of whether the beetle had fed on brine shrimp or cotton aphids or neither of them before the experiment, they preferred the aphids over brine shrimp as their first choice. This suggests that even if the beetle consumes brine shrimp before it encounters cotton aphid, its preference for aphids remains unchanged.
The potential for the successful overwintering of female tobacco thrips, Frankliniella fusca(Hinds)(Thysanoptera: Thripidae), and seasonal changes in their oviposition and wing form composition were assessed through rearing trials under outdoor conditions in Kyoto City from 2009 to 2010. Almost all overwintering female adults did not lay eggs in January and February. Some laid only a few eggs in March and early April, although these eggs did not complete development to the adult eclosion stage. Hibernation at the larval and pupal stages was not observed during the study period. Macropterous females emerged between late May and late September, with their proportion peaking(72.1%)in August; however, they did not emerge during other periods. In contrast, all females that moulted into adults between October and December as well as in mid-May were brachypters. These results suggest that under outdoor conditions in Kyoto the invasive agricultural pest F. fusca does not reproduce throughout winter and that macropterous females emerge into adults only in summer.
The effects of red-light irradiation and a reflective sheet cover on the population density of two thrips species(Thysanoptera: Thripidae), the melon thrips(Thrips palmi Karny)and the onion thrips(Thrips tabaci Lindeman), were investigated on eggplant and cucumber in a greenhouse in 2014 and 2015. Red fluorescent lamps were illuminated from above the plants and a light reflecting sheet was placed on the ridges of the treated plots. A greenhouse without either material was set up as a control plot. The population densities of the two thrips species on eggplant and T. palmi on cucumber were significantly lower in the treated plots than in the control plot.
To automate pheromone trap surveys at a low cost, we developed a new counting system equipped with a photoelectric sensor and single-board computer for Spodoptera litura Fabricius(Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). We set a funnel trap with this system in a soybean field from August 14 to September 4 in 2018. As a result, the number of trap catches and the count obtained by the photoelectric sensor were positively correlated. However, the count obtained by the photoelectric sensor was significantly larger than the number of trap catches. To avoid counting the same individual multiple times, we corrected the numbers of the count obtained by the photoelectric sensor, if there was a count within a certain time from the previous count. Using this the correction, the automated counts of the trap catches were improved.