The objective of our study is to clarify the habitat depth of Lasioderma serricorne larvae in powder deposits. L . serricorne were reared in a PVC pipe that was cut every 1 cm with whole wheat flour. The mean abundacne of larvae distributed in the powder layer 0.0–1.0 cm was 359.3 ± 30.0 individuals (70.4 ± 1.0%), 1.0–2.0 cm 133.7 ± 16.0 individuals (26.2 ± 2.0%), and 2.0–3.0 cm 17.3 ± 6.4 individuals (3.4 ± 1.2%). The population ratio of L. serricorne showed a significant negative correlation with the deep powder layer (r = –0.98, p <0.001). The results of our study indicate that L. serricorne larvae were distributed in the shallow powder layer.

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Three exotic ant species were found in monitoring surveys at harbors in Honshu, Japan in recent years. Monomorium salomonis was discovered in Tokyo Port, as the first record from Japan; M. floricola in Chiba Port, as the first record from Kanto district; and Trichomyrmex destructor in Chiba, Shimizu and Nagoya Ports, as the first record from the Japanese mainland. M. salomonis is a tramp species which spread its distribution widely in the world mainly by human transportation, and is currently distributed from Africa, Madagascar, Europe, the Arabian Peninsula to India, Sri Lanka, and Central and South Americas.

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A study on Trinodes rufescens in historical wooden buildings was conducted to examine the habitats of their larvae, the time of the appearance of their adults, and their feeding habits. Sediment samples were collected from wooden crossbars surrounding the main hall of a historical wooden building in Ishikawa Prefecture. The time of the appearance of their adults and their feeding habits were surveyed at temples in Chiba Prefecture.
Large numbers of T. rufescens in different stages (adult, larva and pupa) were detected in the sediments.
The time of adult appearance is estimated to be around April to the end of July. It seems that adults of T. rufescens feed on dead bodies of insects and other organisms in natural environment, because the hatched adults aggregated to dried bonito powder, and because adults aggregated to dead bodies of coleopterans at temples in Chiba Prefecture.

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[in Japanese]

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We conducted development tests of Tribolium castaneum and T . confusum using laboratory animal diet. The average number of developing T. castaneum was 119.5 ± 51.7 individuals, and was 87.5 ± 39.7 individuals in T. confusum . After 36 days of release, 67.3 ± 9.2% of the developing individuals were adults in T. castaneum, while 21.3 ± 4.1% were adults in T. confusum . The development of each species was delayed compared to the growth in whole wheat flour. These results suggest that flour beetles are able to develop in laboratory animal diet, but not suitable for food of each species.

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Recently, cases of deep-seated mycoses caused by basidiomycetes, such as Schizophyllum commune , have become widely recognized. However, there are few reports on the distribution of airborne basidiomycetes in the living environment, and their dissemination patterns have not been elucidated. Therefore, we conducted a sampling survey of airborne basidiomycetes from April to June 2017 in a residential house in and around three children's public parks. As a result of this survey, white filamentous fungi, including basidiomycetes, were isolated from the investigation sites throughout three months. The 27 white fungi isolated in the survey were identified by the gene sequence analysis of the ITS region. Of these, 26 strains belonged to the phylum Basidiomyceta, and they were classified into 8 species. The identified 10 strains were the most common strains of Trametes hirsuta , and 5 strains were, a known pathogenic basidiomycetes, S. commune. More than half of the strains of T. hirsuta were isolated in June, suggesting that its distribution might be seasonal. The results of this survey revealed that basidiomycetes, known to be responsible for allergic bronchopulmonary mycosis, were normally distributed in residential house and in childrenʼs public parks that were in the vicinity.

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