We investigated the status of infestation by a tracheal mite, Locustacarus buchneri, in natural populations of a Japanese native bumblebee species, Bombus hypocrita, collected on Hokkaido Island and in the Aomori prefecture between 1997 and 2001. We also investigated mite infestation in commercial colonies of the European bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, imported from the Netherlands and Belgium, and the Japanese native species, B. ignitus, imported from the Netherlands, between 1997 and 2001. We detected mites in natural populations of the two B. hypocrita subspecies and in the commercial colonies. Analysis of variations in 535 bp sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) gene showed that the mite haplotypes in the native populations and in the imported colonies did not overlap in 1997–1999, but in 2000–2001 some mites possessing European CO1 haplotypes were detected in the natural populations of Japanese native bumblebees. In addition, many mites possessing Japanese haplotypes were detected in the imported commercial colonies from Europe. Considering the fact that the Japanese native bumblebees, B. hypocrita, were once exported to Europe for commercialization, these results suggest that bumblebee commercialization has caused overseas migration and cross‐infestation of parasitic mites among natural and commercial colonies. However, because the Japanese and European CO1 haplotypes were closely related, there was a possibility that the European haplotypes found in the mites in the Hokkaido Island revealed native variation. To clarify the status of mite invasion, further detailed analysis of genetic variation of the mite, using other genetic markers on additional samples, need to be performed.

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Ecological changes caused by the insecticide imidacloprid and a pollutant from antidandruff shampoos (zinc pyrithione) were monitored in experimental paddies throughout a cultivation period. A total of 88 species were observed, with 54 of them aquatic. Plankton, nekton, benthic, and terrestrial communities from imidacloprid fields had significantly less abundance of organisms compared with control and shampoo-treated fields, either for the entire period or during early stages. The absence of Chironomus yoshimatsui and typical paddy ostracods from imidacloprid fields was most remarkable; as a consequence, green algae blooms (Spirogyra sp.) developed, which in turn hampered the establishment of weeds. Such changes occurred while residues of imidacloprid in water were present at levels greater than 1 microg/L. The overall diversity was similar in all fields and increased constantly until the end of the study. Phytophagous insects dominated in early communities, gradually giving way to predators and scavengers during late stages, but imidacloprid fields had a lower proportion of the latter trophic group. Multivariate analyses helped to describe and differentiate the communities between treatments and control. Hazard- and risk-assessment methods overestimated the effects of zinc pyrithione but failed to predict imidacloprid impacts, probably because of deficiencies in the exposure and relevant toxicity data used.

We studied the genetic basis of resistance to two new acaricides, chlorfenapyr and etoxazole, which have different chemical structures and modes of action in the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch. The resistance ratios calculated from the LC50s of resistant and susceptible strains were 483 for chlorfenapyr and >100,000 for etoxazole. Mortality caused by the two acaricides in F1 progeny from reciprocal crosses between the resistant and susceptible strains indicated that the modes of inheritance of resistance to chlorfenapyr and etoxazole were completely dominant and completely recessive, respectively. Mortality in F2 progeny indicated that for both acaricides, the resistance was under monogenic control. Repeated backcross experiments indicated a linkage relationship among the two acaricide resistances and malate dehydrogenase, although phosphoglucoisomerase was not linked with them. The recombination ratio between the resistances was 14.8%. From this result, we suggest that heavy spraying of the two acaricides will lead to apparent cross-resistance as a consequence of crossing over; the two resistance genes are so close to each other that it would be difficult to segregate them once they came together on the same chromosome.

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