Some experiments indicate the ability of coccinellids to significantly suppress aphid abundance. Exclusion of predators by caging aphid-infested plants has repeatedly resulted in higher aphid populations and greater aphid population growth rates. However, aphidophagous coccinellids have never proved effective in controlling aphid populations in the field. To resolve this apparent contradiction,...

1. Pea aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum Harris; Hemiptera: Aphididae) exhibit transgenerational wing polyphenism, in which unwinged females produce genetically identical winged offspring in response to environmental cues such as overcrowding and predation risk that indicate poor habitat quality. 2. Laboratory experiments were carried out to explore the intensity of the wing polyphenic response of pe...

During the past four decades, several species of aphidophagous Coccinellidae became established in North America, including Coccinella septempunctata, Harmonia axyridis, Hippodamia variegata, and Propylea quatuordecimpunctata. After their establishment, unknown circumstances favoured a rapid increase in population densities and distribution of H. axyridis and C. septempunctata at localities hun...

This account shows the distribution of elastic elements in hind wings in the scarabaeid Pachnoda marginata and coccinellid Coccinella septempunctata (both Coleoptera). Occurrence of resilin, a rubber-like protein, in some mobile joints together with data on wing unfolding and flight kinematics suggest that resilin in the beetle wing has multiple functions. First, the distribution pattern of res...

A microsporidium from H. convergens was transmitted horizontally to three non-target coccinellids (Adalia bipunctata L., Coccinella septempunctata L. and Harmonia axyridis Pallas) under laboratory conditions. The effects of microsporidiosis on larval development, larval mortality, sex ratio, fecundity and adult longevity were examined. For all beetle species, larval development was prolonged as...

Red imported Þre ants, Solenopsis invicta (Buren) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), are an invasive species found in high densities throughout southeastern agricultural systems. We tested the hypothesis that Þre ants tend cotton aphids, Aphis gossypiiGlover (Homoptera: Aphididae), and thus release them from predation by lady beetle larvae, Coccinella septempunctata L. and Hippodamia convergens Guerin-...

Development and reproductive potential of the Coccinella septempunctata L. (CSL) was conducted under laboratory conditions to determine its fecundity and longevity on natural and artificial diets. Tests were made on laboratory rearing materials and all development stages were carefully recorded. Success ratios in these experiments were a matter of logistic and synchronization of these life cycl...

Woolly apple aphid, Eriosoma lanigerum (Hausmann), has become a pest of increasing importance in Washington apple orchards in the past decade. The increase in aphid outbreaks appears to be associated with changes in pesticide programs and disruption of biological control. We sampled woolly apple aphid colonies in central Washington apple orchards for natural enemies of this pest from 2006 to 2...