Lepidopterans such as Helicoverpa armigera are emerging pests of corn in Korea, causing huge yield losses and deteriorating the quality of the corn crop. We monitored four major lepidopteran pests in major corn growing areas of Korea by employing sex pheromone traps from 2012 to 2015 to understand population dynamics. H. armigera, Ostrinia furnacalis, Spodoptera litura, Spodoptera exigua and Mythimna separata were collected from April to October. Among these species, H. armigera was found to be the main pest based on crop damage intensity (80–90% of the total damage). H. armigera was generally observed during the earing stage of corn and would migrate to other fields during September to October for overwintering. We also tested select insecticides against larvae of H. armigera in the laboratory. The most effective insecticide was indoxacarb, which was applied at specific times to manage H. armigera in cornfields. Optimal timing of spraying was estimated at about 70 days after planting (earing season) to control for H. armigera. Additionally, two species of parasitoid (Therion circumflexum and Ophioninae sp.) were identified from H. armigera. However, more extensive surveys are needed to organize a control program based on natural enemies.

To identify the species of Trichogramma occurring in the corn fields of Korea as egg parasitoids of Ostrinia furnacalis, we sequenced the full-length of ITS2 nuclear rDNA from 112 parasitoids collected during this study. As a reference to distinguish species, we also retrieved full-length ITS2 sequences of 60 Trichogramma species from the NCBI GenBank database. On the basis of the size and 3′terminal sequence pattern of the ITS2 sequences, the Trichogramma samples collected in this study were divided into three groups (K-1, -2, and -3). Evolutionary distances (d) within and between groups based on ITS2 sequences were estimated to be ≤0.005 and ≥0.080, respectively. In the net average distance between groups or species, the d value between K-1 and T. ostriniae, K-2 and T. dendrolimi, and K-3 and T. confusum was the lowest, with values of 0.016, 0.001, and 0.002, respectively. In the phylogenetic tree, K-1 and K-2 were clustered with T. ostriniae and T. dendrolimi, respectively. However, K-3 was clustered with three different species, namely, T. confusum, T. chilonis, and T. bilingensis. NCBI BLAST results revealed that parasitoids belonging to K-1 and K-2 showed 99% identity with T. ostriniae and T. dendrolimi, respectively. Parasitoids in K-3 collected from Hongcheon showed 99-100% identity with T. confusum and T. chilonis, and one parasitoid in K-3 collected from Gochang had 98% identity with T. bilingensis, T. confusum, and T. chilonis. On the basis of these results, we infer that the species of Trichogramma collected in this study are closely related to T. ostriniae (K-1) and T. dendrolimi (K-2). However, it was not possible to distinguish species of K-3 using the ITS2 sequence alone.