Caenorhabditis japonica

C. japonica is a small, free-living round worm which appears to be closely-associated with shield, or stink, bugs. Frequently, these insects can be found on cabbage plants and the worms have been reported feeding in the bug's nest on dead eggs and adult bugs. C. japonica has only been isolated on the Japanese islands of Saga and Shikoku. The biology of C. japonica is similar to that of C. elegans with the exception that C. japonica has both male and female adults unlike the hermaphroditic species such as C. elegans and C. briggsae.

C. japonica was first described by Kiontke, Hironaka & Sudhaus in 2002 (Kiontke and Sudhaus, 2006). The sequenced strain DF5081 was derived from a wild isolate DF5080 isolated from a dead shield bug (Parastrachia japonensis) in Takeo, Japan by Toyoshi Yoshiga. The wild isolate was inbred for 20 generations in the lab of David Fitch by transferral of a single plugged gravid female per generation.