Egg cannibalism is common in Coccinellidae, but its biological consequences have not been fully explored. We examined egg cannibalism by neonates, fourth instars, and adults of Hippodamia convergens Guerin-Meneville for effects on development, reproduction, and progeny fitness. We also tested female adults for ability to avoid cannibalizing their own eggs and first-instar larvae, and both sexes for changes in cannibalism propensity following mating, all in the presence of ad libitum food [larvae: eggs of Ephestia kuehniella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), adults: Schizaphis graminum (Rondani)]. Cannibalism by neonates reduced developmental time and increased male body size. Cannibalism in the fourth instar accelerated pupation and led to the production of eggs that hatched faster, regardless of which parent cannibalized. However, egg fertility was improved only by maternal cannibalism in the fourth instar. Females recognized their own egg clusters, sometimes added eggs to them, and preferentially cannibalized nonfilial clusters. Most gravid females cannibalized a first-instar larva within 30 min, whether filial or not. Adult egg cannibalism was similar for virgin males and females, but declined after mating in males, and increased in females, although it had no effect on fecundity or fertility. Daughters of cannibal pairs were heavier than those of other mating combinations, but offspring of noncannibal parents had the fastest development. Reproductive females appeared to use egg cannibalism to reduce risk for their own eggs, increasing the number cannibalized with the number laid. Thus, egg cannibalism in coccinellids varies with life stage, sex, and reproductive condition, independent of food availability, and benefits are life stage specific.

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This study assessed the effect of parasitism of Nephus includens (Col.: Coccinellidae) larvae by Homalotylus flaminius (Hym.: Encyrtidae) on the predation rates of the predator on the cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover (Hem.: Aphididae) by deriving functional responses for second- and fourth-instar predators at prey densities ranging from 10 to 80 aphids per arena. The relationship between the functional and numerical responses of adult females of N. includens also was determined for prey densities ranging from 10 to 140 aphids per arena. Predation rates of unparasitized and parasitized second-instar N. includens were both fit by a type II functional response model with parameters as follows: unparasitized (a = 0.0768 hours(-1) and T(h) = 0.975 h) and parasitized (a = 0.0787 hours(-1) and T(h) = 0.8823 hours). Predation rates of unparasitized and parasitized fourth-instar N. includens were fit by type III and II models, respectively, with the following parameters: unparasitized (b = 0.1702 hours(-1) and T(h) = 0.2369 hours) and parasitized (a = 0.038 h(-1) and T(h) = 0.539 h). The unparasitized fourth-instar was the most voracious stage, having the highest attack rate and lowest handling time. Considering these attributes, it would seem to be the most effective stage of this predator against A. gossypii. Adult female lady beetles (N. includens) showed a type III functional response and their numerical response increase to prey density was curvilinearly related to prey density, with the highest number of eggs being produced at highest prey densities. The maximum saturation level for both predation and egg production for adult females occurred at a prey density of 120 aphids. Thus, a ratio 1:120 (predator:prey) should be used when releasing this species for augmentative biological control. Release of either fourth-instar or adult stage N. includens should be minimized the potentially negative effect of parasitism by H. flaminius on early developmental stages, and hence increase its efficiency in biocontrol programs.

Host-plant resistance has been a fundamental component of aphid management in cereal crops. Over decades, various sources of resistance to greenbug, Schizaphis graminum (Rondani), were bred into cultivars of sorghum, Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench, to counter recurring virulent greenbug biotypes. The recent invasion of sugarcane aphid, Melanaphis sacchari (Zehntner), raised questions about plant-mediated interactions between the two aphids and the possibility of using greenbug antibiosis against sugarcane aphid. The present work was undertaken to characterize the impact of PI 550610 resistance to 'biotype I' greenbug, expressed in seed parental line KS 116B, on aphid life histories and to observe plant-mediated interactions between aphid species in its presence and absence. At 23°C, sugarcane aphid nymphs matured 1.5 d faster than greenbug nymphs on susceptible hybrid P8500, but at similar rates on the resistant line, which delayed maturity by 1-1.5 d in both species and increased juvenile mortality by three- to fourfold. Sugarcane aphid reproductive rate was double that of greenbug on susceptible sorghum (4.45 vs. 2.30 nymphs per female per day), but not significantly different on the resistant one (3.09 vs. 2.27). Thus, PI 550610 expresses antibiosis, not tolerance, to these aphids. Coinfestation of P8500 had a positive effect on greenbug intrinsic rate of increase (rm), which changed to negative on KS 116B, whereas the rm of sugarcane aphid was unaffected by coinfestation with greenbug on either cultivar. The results indicate that KS 116B will be useful for producing sugarcane aphid-resistant hybrids, and that PI 550610 antibiosis changes the sugarcane aphid-greenbug interspecific relationship from commensalism to amensalism.

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