An extensive survey of predatory Coccinellid beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) was conducted in the Chitral District, Pakistan, over a period of 7 months (April through October, 2001). A total of 2600 specimens of Coccinellids were collected from 12 different localities having altitudes from 1219.40-2651.63 m. Twelve different species belonging to 9 genera of 3 tribes and 2 sub-families were ...

The slippery zone in pitchers of the carnivorous plant Nepenthes alata bears scattered prominent lunate cells and displays continuous epicuticular crystalline wax coverage. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of the surface anisotropy, caused by the shape of lunate cells, on insect attachment ability. Traction tests with ladybird beetles Coccinella septempunctata were performed i...

Purposeful attraction and aggregation of adult Coccinellidae at target sites would be useful for sampling purposes and pest suppression. We field-tested 1) lures in yellow and black pyramidal traps and 2) pyramidal traps that had been painted one or two colors (without lures) to determine if lures or trap color affected capture of adult Coccinellidae. In only one experiment with lures did a sin...

Traction experiments with adult seven-spotted ladybird beetles Coccinella septempunctata (L.) were carried out to study the influence of surface structure on insect attachment. Force measurements were performed with tethered walking insects, both males and females, on five different substrates: (i) smooth glass plate, (ii) smooth solid Al(2)O(3) (sapphire) disc, and (iii-v) porous Al(2)O(3) dis...

The family Coccinellidae (Coleoptera) includes important predatory natural enemies in agricultural crops. To survive, this group uses different occurring resources across the landscape; therefore, landscape can influence community agroecosystems. In context, work aims to evaluate response of context within a gradient distances from vineyards managed under sustainable production methods. For tha...

the distribution pattern of pest population is one of the factors not only effects on sampling program and data analysis method, but also can be used to measure the density of pests and their natural enemies. thus, the spatial distribution pattern of the pea aphid, acyrthosiphon pisum harris (hem.: aphididae) and its two major predators, hippodamia variegata goeze (col.: coccinellidae) and cocc...