Prey-Dependent Life Attributes of an Aphidophagous Ladybird Beetle,Propylea dissecta(Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

Larval Life History Responses to Food Deprivation in Three Species of Predatory Lady Beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

“…The eggs of the parents that were fed B. brassicae hatched earlier compared to those fed A. pomi. Such an effect of parental diet on the embryogenesis has been reported by many workers, like Pervez and Omkar (2004) for P. dissecta, Kaluskov and Hodek (2004) for C. septumpunctata, and Jalali et al (2009) for A. bipunctata. The incubation period of H. variegata eggs has been reported to last for 3.35 days (Jafari 2011), 2.6 days (Lanzoni et al 2004), 2.42 days (Wu et al 2010), and 2.8 days (ElHag and Zaitoon 1996) under different rearing conditions on different preys.…”

“…Varied palatability of the two aphid prey species for the coccinellid predators may be attributed to the species specific alkanes present on the surface of the aphids (Liepert and Dettnere 1996) and differences in the wax patterns of the aphids that could be used in the recognition and determination of palatability (Kosaki and Yamaoka 1996). Higher palatability of B. brassicae for A. tetraspilota and H. variegata larvae may be attributed to their nutrient contents, which probably ease digestion (Pervez and Omkar 2004). Reduced consumption of some aphids has been ascribed to certain alkaloids and other allelochemicals not suitable for the constitution and metabolism of the ladybeetles (Okamoto 1966 (ElHag and Zaitoon 1996), and 9.4 days for H. variegata reared on Myzus persicae (Lanzoni et al 2004).…”

“…The effect of varying prey species on prepupal and pupal periods is known for many other coccinellid predators, such as C. septumpunctata (Omkar and Srivastava 2003;Kalushkov and Hodek 2004), A. bipunctata (Jalali et al 2009), C. sexmaculata (Omkar and Bind 2004), and P. dissecta (Pervez and Omkar 2004), to mention a few. The effect of varying prey abundance levels was also found to be significant on the prepupal and pupal periods of both A. tetraspilota and H. variegata; increasing prey density decreased the respective developmental periods.…”

“…Higher fecundity for females reared on more suitable and abundant aphid species has been reported to be due to increased prey consumption leading to higher conversion of food to eggs (Baumgartner et al 1987;Pervez and Omkar 2004). Kalushkov and Hodek (2004) reported that essential aphid foods affected adult weight at eclosion and hence fecundity of ladybeetles.…”

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

“…It is likely that A. craccivora raised on this host plant will be toxic for predators that prefer this aphid when feeding on other hosts. For instance, A. craccivora, infesting Dolichos lablab, is palatable for the predatory ladybird, Propylea dissecta (Mulsant) and is preferred over other aphids (Omkar and Pervez 2001;Chaudhary et al 2016) and is highly nutritious (Pervez and Omkar 2004;Omkar and Mishra 2005).…”