Young-Uk Park

Chemical Composition, Larvicidal Action, and Adult Repellency of Thymus magnus Against Aedes albopictus

Abstract Thymus magnus, an endemic species, is found in the Republic of Korea. The volatile compounds extracted by SPME from T. magnus were investigated for their chemical composition and electrophysiological response against the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus. The volatile compounds of T. magnus as determined by gas chromatography mass spectrometry were γ-terpinene (33.0%), thymol (29.9%), β-bisabolene (8.9%), ρ-cymene (8.3%), α-terpinene (5.0%), myrcene (4.7%), β-caryophyllene (4.0%), α-thujene (2.7%), camphene (1.3%), carvacrol (1.2%), and α-pinene (1.1%). Among these candidates, thymol exhibited complete (100%) repellent activity against female Ae. albopictus, an effect that was confirmed through evaluating the electrophysiological response on the antenna of Ae. albopictus. The effectiveness of a binary 1∶2 mixture of thymol and vanillin (0.05∶0.1 µl per cm2) was found to be significantly more effective than thymol alone for a period of 120 min. In addition, thymol, α-terpinene, and carvacrol showed high larvicidal activity against on the third-stage larvae with LC50 values of 0.9 µl per 100 ml.

Seasonal Fluctuation of Riptortus pedestris (Hemiptera: Alydidae) in Chungbuk Province

Seasonal fluctuations of Riptortus pedestris were investigated in four regions including two sites each at Mt. Yangseong (Munui-myeon, Cheongwon-gun), O-chang (Cheongwon-gun), and Jujung-dong (Cheongju) using aggression pheromone traps from April to November in 2010 and 2011. Aggression pheromone and aggression pheromone + soybean traps were set at all investigated sites, and the Mt. Yangseong A and B sites were investigated at a farmland (80 m, asl) and forest (200 and 300 m). The population density of R. pedestris was high in mid June, mid August, and late October in 2010 and in early May, mid June, mid September, and early October in 2011 with trivoltine. O-chang and Jujung-dong populations, which were distinguished in farmlands and forests, were highest from June to August in the farmland and in September in the forest. Similar numbers of R. pedestris were capture in the farmlands and the forest in June-August, September-November, respectively. From the results of the four regions, more R. pedestris adults were captured in the aggression pheromone + soybean trap than that in the pheromone trap. To investigate the migration route by altitude, 500 R. pedestris adults marked with fluorescent paint were released and re-caught insects were counted in traps after 10 and 20 days. The pattern of the re-caught R. pedestris indicated migration from the forest to farmlands during April-June. These results suggest that the insects did not migrate in August because food was plentiful in the forest at 200 m, but they moved to the forest during October due to the scarcity of food and for overwintering. The R. pedestris seasonal fluctuations in 2011 were affected heavily by the environment, particularly rain precipitation.

An Integrated Biological Control Using an Endoparasitoid Wasp (Cotesia plutellae) and a Microbial Insecticide (Bacillus thuringiensis) against the Diamondback Moth, Plutella xylostella

All tested Korean populations of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella, are known to be resistant especially against pyrethroid insecticides by mutation in its molecular target, para-sodium channel. Moreover, P. xylostella is able to develop resistance against most commercial insecticides. This study was performed to develop an efficient control technique against P. xylostella by a combined treatment of an endoparasitoid wasp, Cotesia plutellae, and a microbial insecticide, Bacillus thuringiensis. To investigate any parasitism preference of C. plutellae against susceptible and resistant P. xylostella, five different populations of P. xylostella were compared in insecticide susceptibilities and parasitism by C. plutellae. These five P. xylostella populations showed a significant variation against three commercial insecticides including pyrethroid, organophosphate, neonicotinoid, and insect growth regulator. However, there were no significant differences among five P. xylostella populations in their parasitic rates by C. plutellae. Moreover, parasitized larvae of P. xylostella showed significantly higher susceptibility to B. thuringiensis. As an immunosuppressive agent, viral ankyrin genes (vankyrins) encoded in C. plutellae were transiently expressed in nonparasitized larvae. Expression of vankyrins significantly enhanced the efficacy of B. thuringiensis against the third instar larvae of P. xylostella. Thus an immunosuppression induced by C. plutellae enhanced the insecticidal efficacy of B. thuringiensis. These results suggest that a combined treatment of C. plutellae and B. thuringiensis may effectively control the insecticide-resistant populations of P. xylostella.