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Assessment of the biological control capability of Hippodamia variegata (Col.: Coccinellidae) using functional response experiments

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Abstract

Lady beetles are among the most successful predators of aphids in different environments. The functional responses of different life stages of Hippodamia variegata (Goeze) towards cotton aphids were examined in two different set-ups, a two-dimensional Petri dish set-up with detached leaves and a three-dimensional set-up with whole plants. In addition, the functional responses in two-dimensional set-ups towards cotton aphids and the pea aphids were compared. H. variegata exhibited a functional type II response to both cotton aphids and pea aphids irrespective of life stage and spatial scale of the set-up. Females and fourth instars generally had higher search rates than third instars whereas handling times were consistently lower for the fourth instar stage compared with the preceding juvenile stage and with females. The spatial dimensions did not have any significant influence on the functional responses towards cotton aphids, except for third instars which in the three-dimensional set-up reduced their search rate and increased their handling time. Fourth instars reacted in the same way to both Aphis gossypii and Acyrthosiphon pisum whereas the functional response parameters for third instars and females were significantly different on the two prey species. Our study, a part of this first-step evaluation of H. variegata as a biocontrol agent against A. gossypii and A. pisum under field condition, suggest that the voracity of all tested stages of H. variegata towards both aphid species hold good promises for a use of especially fourth instars and females in inundative biocontrol.

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Acknowledgements

The editor and several anonymous reviewers are thanked for valuable comments, criticism and suggestions to previous versions of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Protection, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Islamic Republic of Iran

    Hossein Madadi & Emad Mohajeri Parizi

  2. Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, University of Tehran, Karaj, Islamic Republic of Iran

    Hossein Allahyari

  3. Department of Integrated Pest Management, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Aarhus University, Research Centre Flakkebjerg, 4200, Slagelse, Denmark

    Annie Enkegaard

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  1. Hossein Madadi
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  2. Emad Mohajeri Parizi
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  3. Hossein Allahyari
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  4. Annie Enkegaard
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Correspondence to Hossein Madadi.

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Communicated by: J. R. Bell

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Madadi, H., Mohajeri Parizi, E., Allahyari, H. et al. Assessment of the biological control capability of Hippodamia variegata (Col.: Coccinellidae) using functional response experiments. J Pest Sci 84, 447–455 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-011-0387-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-011-0387-9

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