The ovaries of 15 species of adult Odonata are preliminarily described and

illustrated anatomically. The ovaries extend from the anterior margin of the mesopostscutum under the apodeme to the 8th abdominal segment. Those occupy the greater part of the abdominal cavity, and unite at the gonopore in ventral side of the 8th segment.The ovarioles open dorsally and sequentially into each calyx, previously known as a part of the lateral oviduct. The calyxes store many matured eggs, and the lateral oviducts open into the common oviduct at the posterior part of the 8th abdominal segment. Each entire ovary is covered with a thin membrane, which is probably presumed to be homologous with the peritoneal sheath as is known in adults of some dipteran species in structure.

The ovarioles are counted one by one in 15 species based on fresh material. The numbers of ovarioles per individual is range from 166 to 256 in Ischnura senegalensis (Rambur, 1842) and 568 up to 1459 in Orthetrum albistylum (Brauer, 1848). The numbers also usually vary in each species, however, those are more stable in number in such groups as Zygoptera and Libellulidae than the others.

The annual life cycle of six moth larvae that feed on Buxus microphylla growing in two different limestone areas were investigated in the central region of Japan. The leaves of B. microphylla were large, thick and hard at the investigation in the presence of direct sunlight. Moreover, fresh new leaves and old hardened leaves contained high tannin content. The larval numbers were higher in the absence than in the presence of direct sunlight. However, in the fresh sprouts season and the subsequent season, larval numbers showed only a minor difference between direct and indirect sunlight conditions.On the other hand, in the observations under direct sunlight, the larval numbers showed gradual decrease toward the season in which the leaves hardened. At the investigation in the absence of direct sunlight, larval numbers in spring had arisen according to the individuals of Pseudalelimma miwai (hibernation generation larva) and Agrochola sakabei, but Asidemia inexpecta inexpecta (the first generation larva) had replaced them in the second half of spring. The larval number in midsummer was mainly based on P. miwai (the first generation larva). The larval number in autumn was also dependent mainly on P. miwai (the second generation larva). At the investigation in the presence of direct sunlight, the spring increase of larval numbers was based on A. sakabei and Glyphodes perspectalis (hibernation generation larva), while A. inexpecta inexpecta increased in the second half of spring. The larval numbers in midsummer were mainly dependent on P. miwai, and those in autumn on G. perspectalis and A. inexpecta inexpecta. Although the pattern of larval numbers was very similar under different sunlight conditions, dominant moth species differed each other. Furthermore, characteristics of B. microphylla leaves in the different condition are considered to influence the differences in dominant species.

Hatched larvae of A. inexpecta inexpecta appeared in late May, when the other five species had already finished larval stage, and they missed to feed on soft new leaves in early spring. However the late appearance of A. inexpecta inexpecta larvae allowed them to avoid competitions and monopolize hard box leaves as the food resources.

We conducted rearing experiments to evaluate the resistance of three tea germplasm accessions and a leading tea cultivar ‘Yabukita’ to tea green leafhopper (Empoasca onukii Matsuda), in order to select breeding materials with resistance to this insect pest. A previous study revealed that these accessions sustained less feeding damage and fewer probing punctures by tea green leafhopper than did ‘Yabukita’. In the present study, we compared the volumes of honeydew excreted by tea green leafhoppers feeding on the accessions and on ‘Yabukita’, and found that less honeydew was excreted on the accessions. We also compared the total amounts and amino acid compositions of honeydew excreted on the three tea accessions and on ‘Yabukita’ by using high-performance liquid chromatography. The total amounts of amino acids concentration of honeydew excreted on two of the three accessions was less than that on ‘Yabukita’; that of the third accession was not different significantly to that on ‘Yabukita’. The honeydew contained 18 different amino acids. Of these, the concentrations of aspartic acid, glutamic acid, serine, and valine were lower in honeydew excreted on the three accessions than on ‘Yabukita’, suggesting that tea green leafhoppers were less able to feed from the phloem of the accessions than from ‘Yabukita’. Furthermore, the amino acid concentrations in new shoots of the three accessions were similar to those of ‘Yabukita’. Thus, the accessions showed strong antixenosis even though they contained amino acid concentrations similar to those of ‘Yabukita’.

We captured one worker of Vespa velutina on Tsushima Island of Nagasaki Prefecture on 20 October 2012. This is the first collection record of V. velutina from Japan. Since V. velutina is known for its great capacity to adapt to environmental changes, it is suggested that the spread of V. velutina is likely to affect the unique ecosystem of Tsushima Island in the near future.