Exploratory Analysis of Color Forms’ Variability in the Invasive Asian Lady Beetle Harmonia axyridis (Pallas 1773)

Abstract

The Asian ladybird (Harmonia axyridis Pallas), native to Asia, is one of the 100 most invasive species in the world and has spread worldwide. This study aimed to characterize color forms of H. axyridis in Croatia and to analyze the variability of wing shape between populations and indicated forms. Geometric morphometric methods were used to analyze a total of 129 left and right wings in males and 126 left and right wings in females of H. axyridis collected from four different sites in Croatia. The results show a significant difference in wing shapes between the studied forms. Each form had its own specific morphotype that likely originated under the influence of genetic changes in the species. This study demonstrates that the use of geometric morphometric analysis is effective in studying the variability in H. axyridis populations. As this study is the first of its kind, for further clarity, it is necessary to conduct additional studies on a larger number of sites and an equal number of individuals of all forms.

Root elongation test on seeds of Sinapis alba reveals toxicity of extracts from thirteen colour forms of the Asian multi‐coloured ladybird, Harmonia axyridis

“…Differences in voracity, larval body mass, longevity, and fecundity were found between two laboratory strains (colour forms) of H. axyridis (Soares et al, 2001). Moreover, the hind wing shape slightly differs between the three most common forms (Lemic et al, 2021). The ability to regenerate an amputated leg is higher in melanic ladybirds, suggesting pleiotropic effects of melanism on processes involved in regeneration (Wang et al, 2015).…”

Identifying Morphs of the Yellow-Legged Hornet (Vespa velutina) and Other Pests of Quarantine Importance with Geometric Morphometrics

“…The ability of these methods to accurately identify specimens varies with the taxonomic group, body part, degree of divergence among the candidate taxa, and sampling, e.g., [51,73,74]. Despite its potential, GMM has only been applied to the identification of intercepted quarantine species or assessed for accuracy in that context in a few cases (e.g., [75] on snails, [76] on lady beetles). Our results suggest that the standard use of wing landmarks to assess shape differences of different populations has the potential to be used to make quick and inexpensive preliminary identifications to exclude potentially invasive species at ports of entry where molecular sequencing is impractical and where taxonomic experts are unavailable.…”