Agricultural Ecology LAB Yamagata Univ. 山形大学農業生態学分野

  How to identify a black soldier fly? The black soldier fly is a dark-colored fly with big eyes that can be easily confused with a wasp. However, it has only two wings unlike wasps that have four and it does not sting. How do they communicate? They communicate using tactile, visual, and olfactory sensory organs. They can detect beehives and organic materials that can be used to feed their offspring using olfactory organs. These organs also help detect pheromones released by males and females. The hair on their bodies acts as tactile organs, which allows them to detect vibrations caused by movements and sound. These flies can also detect shapes, patterns, colors, and movements. They use their antennae to identify volatiles chemicals in the surroundings. What is the size of a black soldier fly? The black soldier fly can grow up to 1 in (25 mm). Females are larger than males. Larvae that freshly emerge are around 0.04 in (1 mm) in length. The weight of a black soldier fly i...

A buterfly, Argyreus hyperbius, is also in preparation for the winter. They overwinter as pupae or larvae.This time I went to the field to collect Lacertidae, Takydromus tachydromoides, There were many of them hunting small locusts in the field, and I catched three of them. They can be used for experimnt to determine the BSF as a quality of their prey. On the way back to house my niece in low found the larbae of A. hyperbius, and the color and pattern is really making us interesting. What is the reason to be such appearance? there are no such color in the surrouding environment Is this warning color? but nothing like that color with toxicity here. ちょっと思い立ってカナヘビ採りへ、そうそうミズアブの幼虫を餌に与えて影響見るには、なかなか便利かなと思って。結構みつかりましたが、その帰り道。ツマグロヒョウモンの幼虫を見つけた。もうそろそろ越冬の準備なのかな。丸々した大きい幼虫がアスファルトをもぞもぞ移動していました。それにしてもなんでこんな色をしてるんだろう。擬態にしても、同じような色合いで毒がある虫はこの辺にはいないのに。

The objective of seed multiplication is to obtain a large quantity of identical seeds from a small quantity of the selected variety, in order to best satisfy the farmers for their crops. the quality of the seed is generally based on three tests: purity, germination and sanitary aspect The success of a cereal production depends largely on the quality of the seed. It is crucial for seed companies to maintain varietal purity and germination quality. After various controls at the level of the rice culture at the farmer-multiplier, other analyses are made on the seed lots. These are carried out from the time the batches are received from the farmer-multipliers and during all stages of the industrial process in the factory, from sorting to certification. "These are purity analyses in which we check that the size of the grain is that of the expected variety and that any impurities present in the lot correspond to the different standards dictated by the Technical Regulations for product...

  Today, I am gonna talk about permaculture. Well, my understanding of permaculture is not so many and I am still studying about it. Permaculture in simple definition is working with nature or the growth of the agricultural system in a sustainable way. Permaculture design is must pay attention to biodiversity, economics, and culture. Usually, the permaculture system uses a small area of land. However, because this nature-based agriculture uses narrow land but the results are still maximum. Mostly, this system is used on a household scale and to meet household needs. Permaculture is now widely developed in terms of design and methods. I learned that several countries such as Germany and the Netherlands have implemented no-dig farming as their agricultural base and the basic concept is almost the same as permaculture. Currently, our lab is studying useful insects such as ladybirds, black soldier fly, and small animals that are useful for agriculture. I think what we learn will be ver...

We some of the lab members had second vaccination at university. It was so hard situation for me because of side effects. I had heard some news that the side effects of the second vaccine are more serious. It was TRUE. The night after the vaccine, started to increase my body temperature. At midnight temperature already reached 38.5 ℃. And also my bone has pain and "Moderna arm". I could only lay on the bed the whole day by agony. My fever continues till next midnight. I thought my fever had gone down, but then I started to have terrible headaches. Again I spent the time on the bed the whole day. Finally, I recovered fully after 60 hours of vaccination. It was the worst experience in 2021 at least. I wish our painfulness contributes to making the situation better. 大学で二回目のワクチン接種を受けました。結論から言うと、副反応が本当きつかったです。二回目は一回目より副反応がきついと聞いていましたが、その通りです。接種日の夜から熱が上がり始めて、夜中には38.5℃に達しました。きつすぎてベッドに横になる事しかできません。全身の関節は痛むし、モデルナアームも発症しています。次の夜中は明朝まで高熱は続きました。熱が下がったと思ったら次はひどい頭痛です。またベットから動けず一日を過ごします。最終的...

Yesterday, I got snake fruit from the farmer near my home in Jakarta. My home is next door to the bio-conservation of snake fruit in Jakarta. Snake fruit it’s a mascot of the city along with the Bald Eagle. Actually, this fruit it’s quite rare to be found in any market in Indonesia even in Jakarta itself. Snake fruit has many varieties and this one is “Salak Condet” or Condet Snake Fruit. In my opinion, Salak Condet has the best taste along with all varieties of snake fruit I ever tasted. It tastes sweet, a little bit sour, and also there is a little bit sensation of bitter or “astringent” taste. Foreigners often said “Snake” fruit because of its scaly skin like a snake. If you have a chance to go to Jakarta make sure to taste this snake fruit, even I’m not sure if it’s available in any market here but you can still try the other varieties of snake fruit that often to be found in Indonesia

I am at home towen now.There are some plants in my home towen garden, and I pruned them today.Pruning a plant is the work of trimming the leaves and branches of a plant that has grown carelessly.I helped a little as a help, and then I did other support. When the plants became beautiful, the garden became beautiful, and the scenery became very good.When Pruning the plants brought out many insects in the plants.Weeding was also carried out at the same time, so many hidden creatures appeared in the garden.I can hear insects very well. Thank you for the reading. 今私は実家にいます。実家の庭には植木がいくつかあり、今日は植木の剪定をしました。植木の剪定とは、無造作に伸びてしまった植木の葉や枝を整える作業のことです。私は手伝いとして少しだけ手伝い、あとは他のサポートを行いました。植木が綺麗になると庭もきれいになり、景観がとても良くなりました。植木の剪定をしたことで植木の中にいた虫たちがたくさんでてきました。また、草取りも同時に行ったので庭には隠れていた生き物がたくさんでてきました。虫の鳴き声がとてもよく聞こえます。 Writer Mao Onodera

My graduation thesis theme is pests occurring in button mushroom cultivation. But nowadays, I am also thinking about experiment for investigating the effect of button mushroom root waste on growth of black soldier fly larvae. Black soldier fly larvae eat food waste, then offer good compost. Mushroom root waste is the part of mushroom body removed before mushroom products are lined up in supermarket. What will happen if we use root waste as feed for larvae? I was preliminary rearing larvae using button mushroom food waste only. The other day, many adults emerged. By the way, foreign researcher studied about effect of golden needle mushroom root waste on growth of black soldier fly larvae. In that study also, larvae consumed those root waste. Reference ・Minmin Cai・Ke Zhang・Weida Zhong・Nian Liu・Xiangji Wu・Wu Li・Longyu Zheng・Ziniu Yu・Jibin Zhang: Bioconversion-Composting of Golden Needle Mushroom (Flammulina velutipes) Root Waste by Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens, Diptera: Stratiom...