• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.27-32
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• 2012

The aim of this study is to develop indoor-rearing methods of the diving beetles. In nature, both the adult diving beetle and its larvae are voracious aquatic predators. The larvae beetles hunt relatively bigger size of tadpoles and small fish for food source. However, due to difficulties of the food supplement for rearing diving beetles at indoor-condition further motivated us to develop new artificial food. Three separate experiments were performed. In the first experiment, adult beetles were provided with one of the several food choice treatments to self-compose their preferred foods that are affordable on the market at lower price. The second experiment was also to develop artificial diet that is possible for rearing larvae beetle under indoor condition. The larvae beetles were restricted to raw squid, artificial food source and mosquito larvae as a control at the first stadium and small fish and raw squid during second to third stadium duration. According to our result, adult beetles selected a food that made of boiled squid and dead small fish while, the young larvae consumed small fish, mosquito larvae and raw squid. Although, the larval food restriction on law squid caused noticeable decrease in survival, the result still supported the possible survival rate of keeping larvae at indoor condition. Moreover, pupation rate experiments, in which groups of larvae were placed at different mats, natural soil and fermented sawdust, showed that 80% of diving beetles pupated on the sawdust. This result indicates that female beetle preferentially selected to oviposit along soft and moist area.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.335-341
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• 2007

The main habitats of diving beetles in agricultural ecosystems were identified as ponds, irrigation channels, and reservoirs, where the water system is maintained throughout the year. Four species, Cybister japonicus, Cybister brevis, Hyphydrus japonicus and Noterus angustulus, were selected as biological indicators which can be used to evaluate the healthiness of the agricultural ecosystem. The species number of 4 indicator species, the species number of diving beetle species, and the diversity index were used as factors for environmental evaluation. The evaluation was classified into grades $I{\sim}IV$. The non-fertilizer and non-pesticide agricultural practicing area and the sustainable agricultural practicing area were evaluated as grades $I{\sim}II$, and the general agricultural area to be relatively fine with a grade II. However, the analysis indicated the agricultural areas near a residential area and an industrial complex to be poor with a grade of IV, suggesting that immediate improvement in the agricultural environment is needed.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.332-342
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• 2013

We collected zooplankton from May to October, 2011, with the aim of understanding the zooplankton community distribution and food web interaction between the open water and littoral (aquatic plants) zones in two small reservoirs with different land covers (Sobudang, Myeongdong). Small-sized reservoirs are more abundant in South Korea, and a total of 51 and 65 species of zooplankton were identified at the two small reservoir (Sobudang and Myeongdong), where zooplankton densities were more abundant in the littoral zone than in the open water zone. Cladocerans and copepods densities were also higher in the littoral zone, in contrast, rotifers showed higher densities in the open water zone (t-test, P/0.05). Epiphytic zooplankton dominated at the littoral zone (Lecane, Monostyla, Alona and Chydorus) because aquatic plants provided refuge spaces for attachment. Some rotifers (e.g. Brachionus, Keratella and Polyarthra) were more abundant in the open water zone because of their small size, which might help them to go unnoticed by predators. In two-way ANOVA, rotifers related to two reservoirs or habitat space (littoral zone and open water zone), but cladocerans and copepods showed a statistically significant relationship on only two reservoirs. The results of stable isotope analysis showed that zooplankton in the littoral zone tended to depend on organic matter attached to aquatic plants as a food source, which indicates the avoidance of competition of zooplankton with other macro-invertebrates (e.g. Damselfly larva, Cybister brevis and Neocardina denticulate). As a result, zooplankton community distribution is determined by not only habitat space (aquatic plant zone and open water zone) but also by food source (phytoplankton).