I investigated drinking water consumption in 19 captive black rats, Rattus rattus, in cages. The relationship between body weight (X) in grams and daily water consumption (Y) in milliliters was Y = 9.58 + 0.074X (r = 0.61), and that between body weight (X) and mean daily water consumption per 100 g body weight (Y) was Y = 28.3 - 0.061X (r = 0.55). The mean daily water consumption was 18.9 ± 5.8 ml, and the mean body weight was 125.9 ± 47.8 g. These results show that smaller rats require less drinking water than larger ones, but require more water per unit of body weight than larger ones.

Overwintering flights of Halyomorpha halys and Menida disjecta have been observed at the foot of Mt. Tateyama in Toyama Prefecture since 1995. H. halys has been observed on the walls of houses from late September to early December. The highest flight activity of this species was observed on several days in mid-October. M. disjecta has been observed on the walls of houses from mid-October to early December. The highest flight activity of this species was observed on several days in early November.

We describe control of Periplaneta australasiae in a seepage water tank in a building in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. We also analyzed past distribution records of this species.

Overwintering flights of Halyomorpha halys at a mountain hot spring inn in Toyama Prefecture were observed. High numbers of overwintering flights were observed in 2010-2012 and 2017-2019, while low numbers were recorded in 2009, 2013 and 2016. These results suggest that the number of overwintering flights may be affected somewhat by weather conditions during the overwintering flight period (late September to mid-October) and nymphal development period (June to August). My results also show that the number of bugs in overwintering flight each year is related to the amount of snowfall the preceding winter.

Recently, triticale flour has come to be used in the human diet rather than solely as animal feed, in foods such as bread, pasta, and cookies. However, the value of triticale flour in the diet of stored grain insects has not yet been fully determined. Therefore, the growth of the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum was investigated to evaluate the dietary value of triticale flour compared with wheat flour and rye flour. The results of this investigation showed that among beetles feeding on the examined flours, the triticale flour group developed a higher total number of T. castaneum larvae and pupae compared to beetles feeding on the other flours, indicating that triticale flour is a suitable feed for this insect. Future research is needed to establish appropriate measures to protect triticale flour from such grain insects.