Youngjin Kim

Insect fauna of is. Boleum-do (Prov. Gyeonggi-do), Korea.

We investigated insect fauna of Is. Boleum-do from April to October, 2009. As a result of all the collections examined, 162 species of 59 family under 11 order were identified. Therefore, the species composition of insect diversity from Is. Boleum-do was a total of 228 species of 77 families under 11 orders including 3 endangerd species (level, Fabriciana nerippe, Lethocerus deyrollei and Copris tripartitus), 22 endermic species, 3 management of exotic species, 1 species of IUCN Red List and 42 designated species; 103 species of 18 families Lepidoptera (35.76%) which was the highest, 51 species of 18 families Coleoptera (17.72%), 44 species of 15 families Hemiptera (15.28%) and 37 species of 6 families Hymenoptera (12.85%).

New Host Records of Ichneumonidae (Hymenoptera), with List of Ichneumon Wasps Parasitizing Ivela auripes (Butler) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) from Korea

We report new host records of four ichneumonids from Korea. They were discovered from the pupae of Apatura metis Frever (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), Allotraeus sphaerioninus Bates (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) and Ivela auripes (Butler) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) respectively. Diagnoses, illustrations, host records of the four species, and a list of ichneumon species parasitizing of I. auripes are provided.

Endoparasitoids of larval Anomis privata (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), major pest of Hibiscus syriacus (Columniferae: Malvaceae)

Endoparasitoids of Anomis privata larvae include five species in three families of two orders. In this work, two species of Hymenoptera Braconidae (Cotesia sp., Microplitis sp.), one species of Ichneumonidae (Mesochorus vittator) and two species of Diptera Tachinidae (Exorista (Podotachina) sorbillans, Timavia amoena) were investigated. Of the 261 larvae of A. privata examined, 32 had a parasite, so the rate of parasitism was 12.26%. Parasitism by taxon was the highest, at 10.35% (27 individuals), in Cotesia sp. in Hymenoptera Braconidae. Parasitoids of Braconidae and Ichneumonidae were larval parasitoids. A parasitic insect of Tachinidae was a larva–pupal parasitoid. Solitary parasitoids included Microplitis sp. in Braconidae and E. sorbillans in Tachinidae. Gregarious parasitoids included Cotesia sp. in Braconidae, M. vittator in Ichneumonidae and T. amoena in Tachinidae. There was also a multiparasitoid (T. amoena) and two superparasitoids (Cotesia sp., M. vittator). A larva of A. privata sought feed even after it was parasitized every parasitoid investigated in this study, so five species of parasitoids were all koinobiont.

Ecological and morphological characteristics of endoparasitoids on Elcysma westwoodii (Vollenhoven) (Lepidoptera: Zygaenidae)

Six species of insect endoparasitoids were identified from Elcysma westwoodii, which is the most damaging lepidopteran pest of Prunus yedoensis. From Hymenoptera, two species were identified: a species in Braconidae and Charops striatus in Ichneumonidae. From Diptera, there were four species in Tachinidae: Compsilura concinnata, Exorista sp., Pales sp. and Tachinidae spp. The parasitic ratio was 4.86% (45 of 926 larvae). The hymenopterans were parasitic on 31 individuals of E. westwoodii (68.9%) and the dipterans were parasitic on 14 individuals (31.1%). It was found that parasitoids from the larvae of E. westwoodii were all either endoparasitoids or larval parasitoids. However, Exorista sp. of Tachinidae was found to be either a larval parasitoid or larval‐pupal parasitoid. Additionally, all the identified parasitoids were solitary parasitoids, as only one parasite occurred in a larva of E. westwoodii. Because the larva of E. westwoodii eats and molts after it is parasitized, all the parasitoids were identified as koinobionts. There were no big differences in morphological characteristics and life histories between C. striatus and C. concinnata. However, for Exorista sp. and Pales sp., males took 3–5 days longer to emerge from their pupae and had remarkably longer body lengths than females.

Insect herbivores associated with the introduced weed Bidens frondosa L. (Asteraceae) in Korea, and their potential role as augmentative biological control agents

The annual herb Bidens frondosa L., native to North America, is an invasive weed. Currently no information is available on the insect herbivores associated with this weed in Korea. A survey was carried out at two‐weekly intervals from May to October 2008 at two sites, and the incidence and abundance of various insect herbivores studied. A total nine species of insects was recorded and among them the defoliating caterpillar Hadjina chinensis (Wallengren) (Lepidoptera) was the only species known to have host plants restricted to genus Bidens. Further host specificity studies are required to evaluate the potential of this insect as a candidate for augmentative biological control agent for B. frondosa in Korea. All other insect species are either polyphagous or known crop pests.