• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.59 no.2
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• pp.139-143
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• 2020

A survey was conducted among pet owners visiting pet hospitals, using a pet animal app, or being involved in pet breeding, who had the awareness of and intention to purchase animal feed containing edible insects, as well as functional pet food. Results showed that 89.5% of survey participants were pet owners such as those of dogs, cats etc., of whom 55.6% knew about this type of pet food. Nearly half (48.5%) of respondents had an intention to purchase edible insect-based pet food, while the rest of them (51.5%) did not. The two main reasons for deciding to buy it were the excellent nutritional value of insects, and low allergenicity. The most significant reason for refusing purchase was a strong aversion to insects as food.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.59 no.3
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• pp.169-175
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• 2020

We developed an evaluation index for selecting pet insect species. As an expert opinion survey, the Delphi method was used to establish evaluation items. Using AHP (analytic hierarchy process), evaluation criteria for selecting pet insects were proposed. And then based on application testing, we established a scoring system.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.335-340
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• 2013

As the market of educational pet insects is expanding, understanding the consumer needs became more crucial. To achieve the ideal analysis on the market, this research monitored the behavior of consumers. The posting on the blogs of consumers, who have visited insect museums and farms, or have bought insects were collected as data. Moreover, the informational contents, photographs and texts, were analyzed. The results showed that the family-unit visitors with elementary school lower graders were the main type of visitors for their children's education. The visiting areas were concentrated in Seoul and the Metropolitans of Gyeonggi province, and the visits were mostly occurred during their children's vacation period. The analysis of posted photographs showed the visitors' high interest in the hands-on program. According to the texts on visitors' blogs, especially, the largest number of visitors satisfied with the variety of program. It implies the necessity of development in diverse and differentiated hands-on program. Otherwise, the programs available to connect insects to other animals and plants should be introduced to reduce aversion against insects, which was reported as the strongest dissatisfaction. In conclusion, diversification on insect species and development in systematized hands-on program seem to be required for the continuous growth of educational pet insects market.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.7-13
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• 2015

In an effort to obtain foundational data required to evaluate the therapeutic effect of educational insect rearing, this study surveyed current educational pet insect rearing practices in Korea and examined the expected psychological effects from participating in the activity. Data were collected from those who visited the special insect exhibition in May 2013 using a self-reporting survey. The results indicated that 48.3% of the responders had experienced insect rearing, and that rhino and stag beetles were the most commonly reared insects. Most of the respondents (83.1%) reported they were not currently rearing any insects, which suggested that insect rearing tends to be a one-time experience. Expected psychological effects could be divided into emotional (56.3%) and cognitive (41.8%) effects, and these varied by age and gender. The differences in expected psychological effects were particularly clear between adults and adolescents, the latter of whom were the main participants in the activity. It is therefore necessary to develop standardized manuals and care programs for more diverse insect species with which to help keep up consumer interest in educational insect rearing. These efforts will help champion the psychotherapeutic effects of educational pet insect rearing and enhance its role as a learning aid.

• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.21-27
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• 2024

Harmful pet insects, if not controlled, can negatively affect people, plants and their surrounding environment. In Vietnam, all crops are regularly impacted by pest insects. In serious cases, crops can be totally destroyed by insect pests. Harmful insects that damage crops often grow fast and increase rapidly. Therefore, research on insects is crucial for managing pests, protecting crops, and forecasting pest situation in the following years. This study aimed to collect data regarding changes of pests on rice and corn as two main crops in four provinces in Red River Delta of Vietnam, including Thai Binh, Nam Dinh, Ha Nam, and Hung Yen, from 2018 to 2022. Primary data were collected from reports of government agencies and official statistics. Based on these data, this study evaluated changes of pest insects in five years, discussed reasons for such changes and response methods, and forecasted pest's behavior in the following years. Significant findings of this study include the fact that Vietnam has to face many difficulties to develop its agricultural sector. For insect management, an essential action is to do ground surveys to gather all related data including weather data, pesticide data, crop yield, and product quality. This information is meaningful for finding out causes of changes, understanding relationships between insects and surrounding factors, and predicting the situation in the following years.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.60 no.4
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• pp.493-502
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• 2021

We examined American consumers' perceptions and attitudes toward edible insect-based pet food. In this study, 16 Americans in Korea who owned dogs were categorized into two groups, and focus-group discussions were conducted under three conditions. First, we observed the free association perception of edible insect-based pet food, and attitudes were analyzed after providing a newspaper article related to it. Finally, consumer attitude was examined in the context of purchasing. The study found that the participants had high awareness of the eco-friendliness of edible insects and showed a positive attitude toward news articles related to it. However, when it came to purchasing, they considered nutritional and health functional values compared to environmental values. Meanwhile, the rejection of insects was nevertheless the most important negative factor in pet food, as in general food. The results are significant in confirming the possibility of using insect-based pet food by examining the perceptions and attitudes toward the environmental, nutritional, and health functional values of edible insects under three conditions for American consumers.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.31 no.2 s.161
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• pp.189-196
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to find out the purchasing practices and consumer's needs for pet dog apparel to provide useful information for the manufacture of pet dog's apparel. Data were obtained from 203 consumers who have purchased dog apparel(55 male, 148 female). 57.9% of them were 20-30 years old, 27.9% were living in houses, 54.3% were apartment residents. The kinds of dog included were Shihtzu, Martise, and Yorkshireterrier, and 2/3 of the respondents own a single dog, the remainder have at least two dogs. The most important factor to consider when purchasing dog apparel was size, followed by comfort, design, and materials in that order, Most of the apparel was purchased with convenience as the primary consideration, and the average price was 10-30 thousands won, and the items were purchased at pet beauty shops or specialty shops. For materials, it showed that the majority preferred cotton or a cotton mixture which was woven or woven with knit. The survey revealed that the main purposes for the apparel were, in order, to protect the dog from cold weather and direct sunlight, to be good looks and to memorialize a special day. Consumers put the apparel on their dogs 1-3 times per week, on average, and also when they went out for a walk. They were satisfied with the design, color and quality of the material now on the market, but unsatisfied with size and price. They have a preference for cute, but simple designs and a functional style. The respondents wanted to have material that was mild or neutral, stain-resistant, and something that would repel insects.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.90-94
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• 2015

Several insects have been shown to exert a strong influence positively on peoples' emotions. Insect-mediated mental healthcare program was designed to help meet the physical, behavioral and developmental needs of adolescents. They were provided with an insectmediated mental healthcare program for a total of 10 sessions, one session per wk, at 1 h per session, accompanied by a pre- and post-test for emotion. Significant differences and correlations were found according to the individual participants' planning, subjective quality of life, self-reported depression and self-worth, respectively. The results indicated that adolescents who participated in the insect-mediated healthcare program group once showed significant improvement in their planning, subjective quality of life and self-worth. However, most of all participants' self-reported depression was not influenced. These findings suggest that pet-insects positively affect adolescent's emotional health via an insect-mediated healthcare program.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.95-102
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• 2000

Experiments related to the field of sericulture started in the years 1900, in Korea. The sericultural experimental station in Korea was first organized among agricultural fields in Korea, indicating that sericulture in Korea was regarded as an important field of agriculture. Sericulture has been devoted to a great deal for the improvement of Korean economy during the past 100 years even under the coarse social circumstances caused particularly by the Korean War, However, the traditional Korean sericulture, aimed to produce silk yarn, was weakened, because of several reasons such as diminishment in silk consumption, increased labor charge in Korea, and so on. After this difficulty time, the Korean sericulture was revolutionized by shifting into functional sericulture from 1995, and the Korean sericulture now plays an important role for the improvement of human health. Mulberry tree, silkworm, and silk have a boundless potential to be developed as resources. We expect the know-how obtained through silkworm research would expand to the other insect research too. Thus, an area of entomological industry is hoped to prosper owing to insect research as well as sericulture. Mulberry tree is known to possess many bio-active substances, so it can be utilized as a resource for substitute medicine and a raw material for the functional food. In addition, an invention of genetically engineered mulberry variety, which will produce more bioactive substances, is expected. Silkworm is one of the most extensively studied insect organisms on the genome so far, Thus, silkworm is expected to be an "insect bio-factory", enabling mass-production of useful proteins by transformation, in which useful foreign genes are assimilated into silkworm. Silk can be transformed into several phases, because it possesses useful functional groups, which are sensitive to chemical reaction. Also, because silk fibrin itself is protein, it has a superior applicability as tissue membrane. Due to this usefulness, many researchers are now working on the silk as food, cosmetic, medical resource, and bioengineering resource, and even an expanded application is expected using silk in the future. Until now, the researches on insects were largely focused on the prevention of the damage caused by pest, instead of a beneficial aspect. However, insects are thought to be the fourth natural resource in the world, possessing unlimited potential as world resources in the near future. Therefore, our entomological research effort should be focused on the subject with potential for industrialization. Such subject includes selecting the insect species useful for environmental evaluation, construction of environment-friendly agricultural ecosystem, pollen mediation, pet, and advanced bio-resources.

• Food Science and Industry
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.188-202
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• 2022

In the insect industry, as the scope of application of insects is expanded from pet insects and natural enemies to feed, edible and medicinal insects, the demand for quality control of insect raw materials is increasing, and interest in securing the safety of insect products is increasing. In the process of expanding the industrial scale, controlling the temperature and humidity and air quality in the insect breeding room and preventing the spread of pathogens and other pollutants are important success factors. It requires a controlled environment under the operating system. European commercial insect breeding facilities have attracted considerable investor interest, and insect companies are building large-scale production facilities, which became possible after the EU approved the use of insect protein as feedstock for fish farming in July 2017. Other fields, such as food and medicine, have also accelerated the application of cutting-edge technology. In the future, the global insect industry will purchase eggs or small larvae from suppliers and a system that focuses on the larval fattening, i.e., production raw material, until the insects mature, and a system that handles the entire production process from egg laying, harvesting, and initial pre-treatment of larvae., increasingly subdivided into large-scale production systems that cover all stages of insect larvae production and further processing steps such as milling, fat removal and protein or fat fractionation. In Korea, research and development of insect smart factory farms using artificial intelligence and ICT is accelerating, so insects can be used as carbon-free materials in secondary industries such as natural plastics or natural molding materials as well as existing feed and food. A Korean-style customized breeding system for shortening the breeding period or enhancing functionality is expected to be developed soon.