Parasitoids of the Harlequin Ladybeetle Harmonia axyridis (Pallas, 1773) (Coleotera: Coccinellidae)

Abstract

The harlequin ladybeetle Harmonia axyridis is a rapidly spreading invasive ladybug species. Parasitoids can be considered in view of the possible use of these organisms for the regulation of H. axyridis population size. The species did not experience considerable parasitoid pressure in the invaded territories during the first years after the beginning of the global invasion in 1996, but the share of parasitoid-infected insects in the invasive populations increased considerably on all continents several years after the invasion started. Data on the biology of all H. axyridis ladybeetle parasitoids known to date are summarized in this study, and the role of these organisms in the regulation of invasive H. axyridis population sizes is described.