Invasion of the Asian Ladybird Harmonia axyridis (Pallas, 1773) in the European Part of Russia

Ilia Zakharov,Alexey Sazhnev,Alexandr Ruchin,Leonid Egorov,Denis Romanov

doi:10.3389/fcosc.2021.739313

Abstract

The natural range of the Asian ladybird Harmonia axyridis (Pallas, 1773) covers the territories of China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, and Russia (Far East, Southern Siberia, and Altai). Since the early 1980's, the global invasion of H. axyridis began, first on the territory of the United States, from where the Asian ladybird spread to South America, Africa, and Europe. By 2016, this species occupied all of Western Europe with the exception of its northern and southern regions. Penetration of H. axyridis on the territory of the Russian Federation (Kaliningrad) was discovered in 2010, and since 2011, the species has spread to the Black Sea coast. This report presents our data on the distribution of Harmonia axyridis in central Russia, from its western borders, to the Volga River. The occupation of this huge territory by this species occurred mainly in the last 3 years−2018–2020. The rate of movement of the species on the territory of the European part of Russia is about 200 km/year.

Highlights

The natural range of the Asian ladybird Harmonia axyridis (Pallas, 1773) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) covers the following territories: North-Eastern and Central China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, Eastern Kazakhstan, and in Russia—the Far East, southern Siberia, Tyva, and Altai (Orlova-Bienkowskaja et al, 2015; Blekhman and Goryacheva, 2017; Andrianov et al, 2018)
The presence of H. axyridis was recorded during the implementation of special collections of coccinellids or when collecting other insects
Beetles H. axyridis were collected at the stages of imago, pupae, and last instar larvae

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The natural range of the Asian ladybird Harmonia axyridis (Pallas, 1773) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) covers the following territories: North-Eastern and Central China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, Eastern Kazakhstan, and in Russia—the Far East, southern Siberia, Tyva, and Altai (Orlova-Bienkowskaja et al, 2015; Blekhman and Goryacheva, 2017; Andrianov et al, 2018). In Europe, invasive populations of H. axyridis were discovered in the early 2000’s (Adriaens et al, 2003), and by 2016, this species occupied all of Western Europe except for its northernmost and southernmost regions (Roy et al, 2016). In the European part of Russia, the occurrence of H. axyridis was observed from 2004 to 2006 in the territory of the Belgorod Region (Binkovskaya, 2004; Orlova-Bienkowskaja, 2013). The presence and reproduction of H. axyridis have been observed since 2011 on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus (Orlova-Bienkowskaja, 2013; Ukrainsky, 2013) and since 2012–2013 in the Krasnodar Territory (Korotyaev, 2015a,b). The discussed species captured this huge territory mainly in the last 3 years−2018–2020

MATERIALS AND METHODS

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT