Search

Monochamus alternatus (Hope) is a severe wood‐boring pest in coniferous forests and a major vector of pine wilt disease in East Asia. Harmonic radar is a powerful tool for studying the dispersal behavior of insects and it could be applied to control pine wilt disease. In this study, we validated the application of harmonic radar for analyzing the dispersal behavior of M. alternatus beetles in a field environment. We determined the wing capacities of the beetles and the effects of electronic tagging and marking on their movement, flight ability, survivorship, and food consumption in the laboratory to confirm the suitability of this technique. The detection rate and recovery rate for beetles were analyzed separately using radar on caged pine stands and in the field environment. The results showed that the minimum wing capacity of the Japanese pine sawyer was 24.9 mg, which was seven times the weight of the electronic tag (3.5 mg). Marking and tagging the beetles had no significant adverse effects on their movement, flight capacity, food consumption, and survivorship. The detection rate using the radar system and recovery rate based on visual observations of the beetles in caged pines were both 95.6%. However, in the field environment, the detection and recovery rates were only 55.6% and 37.8% after one week, respectively, and 33.3% and 7.8% after two weeks. Harmonic radar is a promising technique for studying the dispersal behavior of the Japanese pine sawyer, but its performance is not satisfactory and major improvements are required for both the radar system and electronic tags. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The establishment of agricultural economies based upon domestic animals began independently in many parts of the world and led to both increases in human population size and the migration of people carrying domestic plants and animals. The precise circumstances of the earliest phases of these events remain mysterious given their antiquity and the fact that subsequent waves of migrants have often replaced the first. Through the use of more than 1,500 modern (including 151 previously Uncharacterized specimens) and 18 ancient (representing six East Asian archeological sites) pig (Sus scrofa) DNA sequences sampled across East Asia, we provide evidence for the long-term genetic continuity between modern and ancient Chinese domestic pigs. Although the Chinese case for independent pig domestication is supported by both genetic and archaeological evidence, we discuss five additional (and possibly) independent domestications of indigenous wild boar populations: one in India, three in peninsular Southeast Asia, and one off the coast of Taiwan. Collectively, we refer to these instances as "cryptic domestication," given the current lack of corroborating archaeological evidence. In addition, we demonstrate the existence of numerous populations of genetically distinct and widespread wild boar populations that have not contributed maternal genetic material to modern domestic stocks. The overall findings provide the most complete picture yet of pig evolution and domestication in East Asia, and generate testable hypotheses regarding the development and spread of early farmers in the Far East. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]