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Pest Control Lab
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The lab studies hormones and chemical communication in insects and applies the findings to pest control.
AboutAbout the lab
Uncovering how insects work and applying it to pest control.
The Pest Control Lab focuses on the unique biological systems of insects and on their defense mechanisms against other species and foreign substances.
Using physiological, biochemical, molecular biological, and morphological methods, the lab conducts basic research to clarify insect characteristics, including life history, physiology, and communication mechanisms.
Based on the knowledge gained from basic research, the lab aims to find the weaknesses of pests and put them to use in pest control.
Ultimately, the lab aims to contribute to building a symbiotic environmental system in which humans and other organisms, including insects, can coexist.
Key terms
- Juvenile hormone
- A hormone that determines whether an insect molts while remaining a larva or undergoes metamorphosis into a pupa or adult.
- Antimicrobial peptide
- A substance produced in the insect body that acts in defense against microbial infection (humoral immunity).
- Insecticide resistance
- The emergence of pest populations that are less affected by an insecticide after the same insecticide is used repeatedly.
- Pheromone
- A chemical substance that innately triggers specific behaviors or physical changes in other individuals of the same species.
NewsLab news
A paper re-evaluating the aggregation pheromone components of the Japanese subterranean termite was published in Applied Entomology and Zoology
Assistant Professor Yuki Mitaka received the Encouragement Award of the Japanese Society of Applied Entomology and Zoology
A paper identifying the sterols required by larvae of the tobacco cutworm was published in Applied Entomology and Zoology
A student received the English Oral Presentation Award at the annual meeting of the Japanese Society of Applied Entomology and Zoology
A paper on the response of subterranean termites to aggregation pheromones was published in Scientific Reports
ResearchResearch themes
The Pest Control Lab focuses on the unique biological systems and defense mechanisms of insects, and studies insect life history, physiology, and communication mechanisms. It aims to use the weaknesses of pests found through basic research for pest control.
*Illustrative imageHormonal control of molting and metamorphosis
The lab investigates, species by species, how molting hormone and juvenile hormone control molting and metamorphosis, the process by which larvae change into pupae and then adults. It aims to apply this to developing insecticides that act only on the target pests.
*Illustrative imageImmune mechanisms of beetles
In the red flour beetle, a type of beetle, the lab investigates how the expression of antimicrobial peptide genes is regulated. It has found that the regulatory mechanism differs from that of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, and it also uses RNA interference to examine the role of the cuticle as a barrier.
*Illustrative imageInsecticide detoxification and insecticide resistance
The lab focuses on detoxification enzymes, which convert toxins into less toxic substances in insects. In agricultural pests such as thrips, it investigates, from the standpoint of enzyme involvement, how insecticide resistance arises, which makes insecticides less effective.
*Illustrative imageChemical communication in termites
Using the Japanese subterranean termite, the lab studies the components and functions of the pheromones used to communicate with nestmates. It explores the evolutionary background of how social insects developed complex societies based on chemical communication.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Pest Control Lab consist of faculty, administrative staff, postdoctoral researchers, doctoral students, master's students, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- Associate ProfessorChieka Minakuchi
- Assistant ProfessorYuki Mitaka
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Insect Alentejo Algarve Portugal - Macro Photography Canon - panoramio” pictures Jettcom / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Hormonal control of molting and metamorphosis: “Dragonfly exuvia or empty exoskeleton” Hall Wild / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Immune mechanisms of beetles: “Tribolium castaneum87-300” Eric Day, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va / Public domain (cropped)
- Insecticide detoxification and insecticide resistance: “Thrips Pietermaritzburg” Alandmanson / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Chemical communication in termites: “Termitarium (Termite Nest)” Ibrahim Achiri / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Horticultural Science Lab): “Horticulture worker” Slience Suzuka / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Plant Pathology Lab): “Septoria lycopersici malagutii leaf spot on tomato leaf” Dr Parthasarathy Seethapathy, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Bugwood.org / CC BY 3.0 us (cropped)
- Related lab (Plant Physiology and Morphology Lab): “Coleus Leaf Trichomes (hairs on the leaves) via Electron Microscope” Swallowtail Garden Seeds from Santa Rosa, California / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Plant Gene Function Lab): “Water reflection of mountains, hut, green rice sheaves scattered in a paddy field and clouds with blue sky in Vang Vieng, Laos” Basile Morin / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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