The erythraeid mite, Balaustium murorum, is a nuisance in the urban areas of Tokyo because of its mass emergence. However, there are few mites on waterproofed roofs of buildings. The water-proof paints seem to prohibit the distribution of the mite. We researched the effects of the water-proof urethane paint on the mite. There were significantly fewer wandering mites on the painted sheets of galvanized steel than on the untreated sheets for three years after painting. No dead or inactive mites were found after exposing them on the painted surface for 24 hours. We painted concrete blocks on a roof where many mites were observed. There were fewer mites on the painted blocks than on untreated ones. The water-proof paint did not lose its effect until three years after painting. Coating with water-proof urethane paint is a useful method of controlling the mite.

The larval control of mosquitoes was carried out by community participation in a residential area in Yokohama. Simultaneously, a biological survey of mosquito occurrence was carried out to efficiently promote control. The survey has definitely shown that the target species should be only Aedes albopictus (Skuse) and that the abundant catch basins scattered along the roadside were the most important breeding places. Catch basins and some other minor breeding places were treated using 0.5% pyriproxyfen tablets by the community, every month from May to September for 8 years from 2005. As a result, the biting density dropped from 20 to 2～4 (m/h). According to questionnaire responses, the inhabitants highly valued the effect.

Cockroaches were collected with sticky traps in open spaces close to high-rise buildings and in tree hollows in an urban park, Minato-ku, Tokyo, from June to December 2011. The smoky-brown cockroach, Periplaneta fuliginosa, was captured in both places, and the Japanese cockroach P. japonica was captured only in the tree hollows in the urban park. More numbers of P. fuliginosa were collected than P. japonica. Up to 90% of specimens collected in open spaces were in nymphal stages, and 74% of specimens collected in tree hollows were P. fuliginosa.

The prevalence of mosquitoes was studied in two forest parks (Mt. Enkaizan,and Jingashita) in Yokohama City using a sweeping net and a light trap with dry ice. A total of 342 (245) adults of 5 species in 4 genera were collected by sweeping in Enkaizan (Jingashita) in 2010. In 2011, a total of 399 adults of 4 species and 738 adults of 3 species in 2 genera were collected respectively in Enkaizan and Jingashita. Aedes albopictus predominated throughout the investigation. In Jingashita park, a total of 340 adults of 8 species and 5 genera were collected by light trap with dry ice in 2010; 484 adults of 7 species and 4 genera were collected there by light trap with dry ice in 2011. Ae. albopictus and Tripteroides bambusa were dominant among species captured in Jingashita park in 2010 and 2011 by light trap. In Enkaizan, Ae. albopictus was abundant in the residential area. The correlation line fitted well to the relationship between the distance from the residential area and the number of Ae. albopictus with coefficients of determination of ‐0.670 in 2011, ‐0.694 in 2011. The sweeping method was convenient for investigating several points in a short time, and suitable for surveying mosquitos like Ae. albopictus with restricted spatial distributions of host-seeking.

The effectiveness of diethyl-m-toluamide (DEET) in preventing bedbugs, Cimex lectularius L., was examined by applying DEET on filter paper surrounding a mouse. DEET inhibited blood-sucking in a concentration-dependent manner. A 10 g/m² residue of DEET reduced blood-sucking of bedbugs to 2.1% to 17.7% that of the test bugs for two days, whereas 58.6% to 86.8% of the bugs sucked in the control. It was suggested that DEET treatment exceeding 10 g/m² around bait inhibited blood-sucking of bedbugs.

We investigated the larval development of the Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) (Hübner),on roasted whole almonds covered with milk chocolate, white chocolate, or milk chocolate containing broken kaki-no-tane at 28℃, 70% RH, and 16L8D. Kaki-no-tane is a Japanese rice cracker commonly coated with a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, and chili. Twenty first-instar larvae were placed on a surface of single almond covered with each variety of chocolate. The larvae fed on the surface of the test materials, creating a shallow trench. Most first- or second-instar larvae died; only one adult emerged on milk chocolate, none on white chocolate, and four on chocolate+kaki-no-tane. The developmental period was 149 days on milk chocolate and 80 to 101 days on chocolate+kaki-no-tane. To determine the success of larvae en masse, we introduced thirty first-instar larvae on four almonds of each type. The larvae could not penetrate the chocolate to feed on the almond within. No adults emerged on milk chocolate, only two on white chocolate, and none on chocolate+kaki-no-tane. The developmental period was 109 and 149 days. Thus, these chocolate products were unsuitable as a food for P. interpunctella larvae. On uncoated roast whole almond, the mean developmental period was 30.2 days for males (n=10) and 32.3 days for females (n=13) at 28℃, 70% RH, and 16L8D.