IS THE MULTICOLORED ASIAN LADYBIRD THE MOST ABUNDANT APHIDOPHAGOUS SPECIES IN AGRO-ECOSYSTEMS?

Abstract

peer reviewedThe Asian ladybird, Harmonia axyridis Pallas (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), has been introduced in Western Europe to control aphid and coccid populations in greenhouses. This exotic species rapidly adapted to temperate climatic conditions and invaded all Europe in few years. Now, H. axyridis is causing damages to the ecosystems through e.g. intraguild predation (IGP) with native species. We evaluated, in 2009 and 2010, the occurrence of aphid natural enemies (hoverflies, coccinellids and lacewings) in several agro-ecosystems (corn, wheat, potato, broad bean) in northern Wallonia (Belgium). Five dominating aphidophagous species were observed, in decreasing order of importance: Episyrphus balteatus (De Geer), Chrysoperla carnea sensus lato (Stephens), Coccinella septempunctata (Linné), Harmonia axyridis and Propylea quatuordecimpunctata (Linné). The Multicolored Asian ladybird represents 8,7% of all observed aphidophagous species and 23,9% of coccinellids. Moreover, H. axyridis occurrence is two-times less important than C. 7-punctata. These results highlight that this invasive species is currently not the most abundant in southern Belgium agro-ecosystems and would not influence other aphid predators in those particular ecosystems.Évaluation de l’impact des invasions de coccinelles asiatiques sur l’agriculture wallonne et prise en considération au sein de programmes de lutte intégré