This research was conducted over a time span of three years, from 2009 to 2011. Twenty-one surveys in total, seven times per year, were done between April and June of each year on major trees on trails around Donghaksa and Gapsa in Mt. Gyeryong National Park in order to identify foodplants of the Lepidoptera larvae and their characteristic appearances. During the survey of Lepidoptera larvae in trees along trails around Donghaksa and Gapsa, 377 individuals and 21 species in 8 families were identified. The 21 species were Alcis angulifera, Cosmia affinis, Libythea celtis, Adoxophyes orana, Amphipyra monolitha, Acrodontis fumosa, Xylena formosa, Ptycholoma lecheana circumclusana, Choristoneura adumbratana, Archips capsigeranus, Pandemis cinnamomeana, Rhopobota latipennis, Apochima juglansiaria, Cifuna locuples, Lymantria dispar, Eilema deplana, Rhodinia fugax, Acronicta rumicis, Amphipyra erebina, Favonius saphirinus, and Dravira ulupi. Twenty-one Lepidoptera insect species were identified in 21 species of trees, including Zelkova serrata. Among them, A. angulifera, C. affinis, and L. celtis were found to have the widest range of foodplants. Additionally, it was found that many species of Lepidoptera insects can utilize more species as foodplants according to the chemical substances in the plants and environments in addition to the foodplants noted in the literature. Also, it is thought that more species can be identified with a survey of various woody and herbaceous plants.
Mt. Gyeryong National Park, a mountainous place between the Charyung Mountains and the Noryung Mountains, was designated as a National Park on December 31 in 1986. Various types of insects inhabit the area, as a wide range of wild plants are distributed in the park. The southern part of the temperate zone and in the middle part of the temperate zone are overlapping, and any plants exist at the northern limit line of the southern part of the temperate zone and the southern limit line of the middle part of the temperate zone on the Korean Peninsula (Yang et al. 2004, Oh and Beon 2009, Jeon et al. 2012). More than 180,000 species belong to Lepidoptera around the world, and it is the second largest group in Insecta following Coleoptera. Among them, 11% are butterflies, with moths making up the rest (Schappert 2000). Nielsen and Common (1991) described how the evolution of the mouth is one of the major elements of success in Lepidoptera; the adults of most species in existence eat honey, the juice of ripe fruit, or other liquids. Additionally, as most larvae of all species are phytophagous which eat plants and use all of the parts of plants (Ayberk et al. 2010), with high production power, they are considered as vermin due to the hypertrophy of many species (Gillott 2005). Almost half of insects in existence on earth eat live vegetables, and
more than 400,000 species of phytophagous insects eat about 300,000 species of vascular plants (Schoonhoven et al. 2005). Among them, Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) is the largest group of phytophagous insects for which all species in the group eat plants. They are a taxonomic group with a closer relationship with plants than other taxonomic groups, and they have special relationship with angiosperm (Ayberk et al. 2010). Phytophagous insects including Lepidoptera can be divided into three groups according to the scope of their food selection: monophagous, oliphagous, and polyphagous (Harborne 1993, Min 1997, Schoonhoven et al. 2005) or into the two groups of specialists and generalists (Stamp and Bowers 1992, Min 1997). Insects that eat one species or a closely related species are monophagous, and many Lepidoptera larvae fall under this category. Insects that eat species in the same family, although they may eat several species, are oliphagous. For instance, the cabbage white butterfly (
The survey lasted three years, from 2009 to 2011. Twenty-one surveys in total, seven times per year, were conducted between April and June of each year, when the larvae are hatched and start to eat leaves (Table 1). The survey was done on Donghaksa trails and Gapsa trails in Mt. Gyeryong National Park in Korea (Donghaksa: N36°21′11.97″, E127°13′12.23″ to N36°21′32.44″, E127°14′26.80″; Gapsa: N36°21′55.16″, E127°11′15.54″ to N36°22′11.08″, E127°10′52.83″) (Fig. 1). The major trees around the trails were numbered, and the same trees were investigated every year. 92 individuals from 25 species were investigated in the Donghaksa area, and 100 individuals from 23 species were investigated in the Gapsa area (Table 2).
After investigating trees on the right and left sides of each survey point, larvae were collected from each tree by shaking the trees and were delivered to a laboratory. The collected larvae were cultured in petri dishes (diameter: height = 100:15 mm). A 90 mm filter paper (Advantec, Tokyo, Japan) was positioned, and 1 ml of distilled water was added every day to maintain the humidity level. Clean leaves of foodplants were given. The general conditions of culturing were maintained as follows: Temperature (Temp.) 27℃, relative humidity (RH) 70%, and light intensity (Lux, lm/m2) 12000 ± 100 at day time. At night, they were maintained as follows: Temp. 27℃, RH 70%, and Lux 0 using a thermo-hygrostat. The total LD (light/dark) was 14:10. Only the larvae which became adults in the foodplant were confirmed as insects using the foodplant as a
[Table 1.] Survey periods of this study
Survey periods of this study
hostplant, and a species list was made according to the taxonomy of the Check List of Insects from Korea (The Entomological Society of Korea and Korean Society of Applied Entomology 1994).
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Appearance of Lepidoptera Larvae over Time
When surveying Lepidoptera larvae in trees on the trails around Donghaksa and Gapsa from 2009 to 2011, 377 individuals and 21 species in 8 families were identified. The species were
[Table 2.] List of the investigation tree species
List of the investigation tree species
[Table 3.] List of Lepidopteran larvae collected from Mt. Gyeryong National Park
List of Lepidopteran larvae collected from Mt. Gyeryong National Park
found at Donghaksa and 130 at Gapsa.
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Appearance of Lepidoptera Larvae by Foodplants
During the survey of Lepidoptera larvae in trees on the trails around Donghaksa and Gapsa from 2009 to 2011, 21 Lepidoptera insect species were identified in 21 species of trees, including
[Fig. 3.] Foodplants of Lepidoptera larvae investigated in Gapsa area of Mt. Gyeryong National Park.
However, out of the 12 foodplants identified in this study, only two species,
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Appearance of Major Species and Ecological Characteristics
Major species identified in this survey were
and Europe, and adults appear from June to October. Although the larvae are known to mainly eat
[Table 4.] Individual numbers and appearance rate of major species
Individual numbers and appearance rate of major species
these plants have similar chemical compositions despite the fact that they belong in different taxonomical groups fairly distant from the main foodplant. It is known that the chemical compositions of plants play important roles in the selection of food by phytophagous insects (Jaenike 1990).
This research was carried out over a period of three years, from 2009 to 2011. Twenty-one surveys in total, seven times per year, were conducted between April and June of each year on major trees on trails around Donghaksa and Gapsa at Mt. Gyeryong National Park in Korea in order to identify the foodplants of Lepidoptera larvae and the characteristics of their appearances. From the survey, 377 individuals and 21 species in 8 families, including