The genus Apiloscatopse Cook is recorded in Japan for the first time. Apiloscatopse japonica sp. nov. is described and illustrated. The morphology and homology of the male terminalia in this species are briefly discussed.
Mosquito collections using dry-ice traps were conducted at Izumo, Shimane, Japan, from May to October 2008. Trap sites with different surrounding environments (reservoir, riverside vegetation, a shrine in rice fields) and a breeding colony of heron were selected. A total of 4,890 mosquitoes of 16 species in 6 genera were collected by dry-ice traps. Among them Culex tritaeniorhynchus, Cx. pipiens pallens, Aedes albopictus, and Cx. bitaeniorhynchus were the dominant species. The species composition of Cx. tritaeniorhynchus was the highest in riverside vegetation, and Cx. pipiens pallens showed a high species composition at the shrine surrounded by rice fields. The species diversity was compared using the Shannon–Weaner Index. The species diversity was the highest at the breeding colony of heron and lowest in riverside vegetation. A total of 312 females were collected by a sweep net at the breeding colony of heron and 21.5% of them had fed on a blood meal. The proportion of fed females was the highest in Cx. pipiens pallens (80.8%) and next was Uranotaenia novobscura (61.5%) and then Cx. bitaeniorhynchus (30.0%). The breeding colony of heron was found to be an excellent entomological study site to investigate ecological interactions between vector mosquitoes and wild birds.
In 2020, the first case of human tick-bite by Carios vespertilionis (Latreille, 1796)[Argas vespertilionis] was confirmed in Miyazaki Prefecture. The species was identified based on morphological examination and molecular identification of the mitochondrial 16S rDNA gene. Moreover, we aimed to detect Rickettsia sp. in this tick through nested-PCR targeting of the gene of the 17 kDa protein; however, no Rickettsia was detected.
Twenty species and seven genera of tabanid flies were collected through surveys conducted at the Sasagamine Pasture, Niigata Prefecture, Japan. Our results showed an abundance of Tabanus nipponicus in this pasture. Meanwhile, Hybomitra montana, Hybomitra brevis and Haematopota rufipennis also showed a higher abundance in the study site than in the highland pastures of neighboring prefectures.