Monotypic prey-mediated development, survival and life table attributes of a ladybird beetle Anegleis cardoni (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) on different aphid species

Abstract

Successful mass production of biocontrol agents is a prerequisite to their effective use in the field. Thus in the present study the suitability of ten aphid species of a ladybird beetle Anegleis cardoni (Weise) in terms of growth, development, survival and mortality life table attributes was assessed for the purpose of mass production. The study revealed that the developmental duration of the immature stages of A. cardoni was shortest when fed on Uroleucon compositae (Theobald), Rhopalosiphum maidis (Fitch), Hyadaphis coriandri (Das) and Myzus persicae (Sulzer) in comparison with other aphid species. Immature survival, development rate, adult weight and growth index were also highest when A. cardoni larvae were fed on these aphids, while lowest when fed on Hysteroneura setariae (Thomas) and Ceratovacuna silvestri (Takahashi). Any larva of A. cardoni did not reach adult stage when fed on Aphis nerii Boyer de Fonscolombe; therefore it may be considered as a toxic prey. Life table data revealed that the overall mortality prior to adult stage was lowest in U. compositae and highest in C. silvestri. The first instars suffered the highest mortality in comparison with other instars on all the aphid species tested. However, the life expectancy for each aphid species as prey revealed a continuous decline with the advancement of age. Thus among all the ten aphid species tested, U. compositae, R. maidis, H. coriandri and M. persicae were found equally suitable for mass production of A. cardoni.