The reproductive behaviour of an aphidophagous ladybeetle, Coccinella septempunctata (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

Abstract

Abstract. The reproductive behaviour of a ladybeetle, Coccinella septempunctata was studied in detail. Males became sexually mature within 8.8 ± 0.3 days at 27°C, while females took 11.2 ± 0.4 days. Males exhibited courtship display in five steps: approach, watch, examine, mount and copulatory attempt. A prominent rejection display was shown by certain females who had not matured sexually, had recently mated or were about to oviposit. Males appeared to recognize females through chemical and some visual cues, such as size and body shape, with the chemical cues possibly playing a more significant role. Multiple matings took place within the same day. There was a gradual decrease with time in reproductive parametres, such as the duration of copulation, the number of copulatory bouts and the latent period from first to subsequent matings on the same day. The interval between mating bouts slightly increased from first to subsequent matings. The sexual status of males and females affected the duration of copulation, which was greatest in the case of unmated males and virgin females. Multiple matings increased the oviposition period, fecundity and percent hatching of eggs.

Preference of the aphidophagous ladybird Propylea dissecta for two species of aphids reared on toxic host plants

“…Our finding agrees with that of Guroo et al (2017) who report similar preference indices for the larvae and adults of Coccinella septempunctata L. for L. erysimi when mixed with the toxic prey, Brevicoryne brassicae L.. However, C. septempunctata prefers to consume L. erysimi over other species of aphid (Omkar et al 1997; Table 1 Mean values of the β and C indices of P. dissecta provided with diets made of different proportions of the aphids A. craccivora and L. erysimi. The predator prefers A. craccivora if β is close to 1 and L. erysimi if β is close to 0; β close to 0.5 indicates no preference.…”

“…Giorgi et al (2009) review the evolution of food preferences in ladybirds. Previous studies on food preferences of predaceous ladybirds used single species of aphid separately (Omkar et al 1997(Omkar et al , 1999Omkar and Bind 1998;Omkar and Pervez 2001) and recorded their effect on development and reproduction (Pervez and Omkar 2004;Omkar and Mishra 2005). However, providing several food choices in the same microhabitat, i.e.…”

Effects of mixed prey on the development and demographic attributes of a generalist predator,Coccinella septempunctata(Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

“…Coccinella septempunctata Linnaeus, 1758 (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), the sevenspotted ladybird beetle, is a generalist and widely distributed (Omkar and Pervez 2000, 2004a. Its prey comprises 107 species and most are aphids (83 species).…”

Suitability of different artificial diets for development and survival of stages of the predaceous ladybird beetle Eriopis connexa

“…Food quality and choice has a direct impact on the growth, development and reproduction of insects, including predators (Omkar et al 1997(Omkar et al , 2006Omkar and Pervez 2001;Zanuncio et al 2002). Low-cost highquality foods can reduce the costs of producing predators and stimulate their use in biological control programs Vandekerkhove et al 2006).…”