Behavioral responses to specific prey and host plant species by a generalist predatory coccinellid (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri Mulsant)

Field evaluation of Cryptolaemus montrouzieri (Mulsant) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) as biological control agent of the mealybug Delottococcus aberiae De Lotto (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae)

“…In order to locate their prey, C. montrouzieri larvae require physical contact whereas adults use visual and chemical stimuli (Heidari and Copland, 1992;Kairo et al, 2013). The wax secretions and honeydew produced by mealybugs act as both attractants and oviposition stimulants for C. montrouzieri females (Merlin et al, 1996), which are able to lay viable eggs as long as they can prey on mealybugs (Finlay-Doney and Walter, 2012). A single adult female lays about 400 eggs in 40 days of oviposition (Babu and Azam, 1987;Siddhapara et al, 2013) and this quantity can increase if multiple mating occurs (Xie et al, 2014).…”

Effects of mating patterns on reproductive performance and offspring fitness in Cryptolaemus montrouzieri

“…Cryptolaemus montrouzieri Mulsant (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) is an effective predator of mealybugs, and is widely used in biological control projects around the world (Jiang et al, 2009;Finlay-Doney & Walter, 2012). The mating behavior has been studied in some ladybird beetles (Haddrill et al, 2007(Haddrill et al, , 2013Omkar et al, 2010;Omkar & Jyotsna, 2012) but no information is available for C. montrouzieri.…”

Footprints of the lady beetles Cryptolaemus montrouzieri and Tenuisvalvae notata affect their foraging behavior and predation rate

“…In the heterospecific interactions, C. montrouzieri females altered their walking behavior when exposed to footprints of T. notata females. Previous studies have shown that C. montrouzieri is capable of detecting the chemical trails of other species (Finlay‐Doney & Walter, 2012; Urbina et al, 2018). The possible attraction of C. montrouzieri to footprints of T. notata , as identified in this work, may be related to its capacity to locate the competitor in the same area, and might indicate possible negative effects of the exotic species C. montrouzieri on the indigenous T. notata .…”

“…Prior to the predation experiment, two adult lady beetles ( C. montrouzieri or T. notata ) were placed in each Petri dish and allowed to walk around freely inside the arena for 24 h to leave their footprints. Meanwhile, the first‐ and second‐instar lady beetles were starved for 2 h, and older larvae and adults were starved for 24 h before the test (adapted from Sengonca et al, 1995) in order to equalize hunger level and induce predation across the various treatments during the assay (Chong & Oetting, 2007; Finlay‐Doney & Walter, 2012; Barbosa et al, 2014).…”