Unconditioned and conditioned responses to colour in the predatory coccinellid, Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

Abstract

Abstract. We determined if mature ladybirds use colour to initially find suitable host plants. We also determined whether ladybird beetles are capable of associating characteristics such as colour with the presence of prey. Here, we show that the multicoloured Asian ladybird beetle, Harmonia axyridis, has a differential response to yellow compared to green colours. Naive ladybirds, of both sexes, make significantly more visits and spend more time on yellow vs. green coloured pillars. After pairing yellow and green col ours with the presence or absence of aphid prey, ladybirds alter their foraging behaviour. Beetles conditioned to having food on both pillar colours exhibited the same responses as naive beetles, while beetles conditioned to only yellow or green pillars did not exhibit a preference for visiting or spending time on different colours. However, there was a trend towards females spending more time on pillar colours on which they received reinforcement, and males spending more time foraging on colours opposite to that which they were reinforced. Thus, H. axyridis is capable of responding to cues such as colour, and its foraging behaviour can be altered as a result of prior experience.

Do flower mixtures with high functional diversity enhance aphid predators in wildflower strips?

“…The presence of this species might have resulted in hoverfl ies being equally distributed across the different treatments. Moreover, ladybeetles and hoverfl ies are sensitive to colour, especially yellow (Sutherland et al, 1999;Mondor et al, 2000). Hoverfl ies are also sensitive to fl owers with a contrasting UV-pattern (Koski & Ashman, 2014).…”

“…When traits are considered in the environment in which a plant grows, they may affect ecological processes, and are qualifi ed as functional (Dıáz & Cabido, 2001). Several studies have explored the effect of fl ower traits on the behaviour of natural enemies using laboratory experiments, monospecifi c plots in fi elds or plants in pots (Mondor & Warren, 2000;Schaller & Nentwig, 2000;Fiedler & Landis, 2007b;Miller et al, 2013;Van Rijn & Wäckers, 2016). The shape of the corolla is another fl ower trait, which determines how insects access the food provided by fl owers.…”

Behavioral and Immunological Features Promoting the Invasive Performance of the Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis

“…Although visual cues are likely to be involved (Lambin et al, 1996), olfactory cues are considered more important for prey location by H. axyridis (Obata, 1986;Mondor and Warren, 2000;Sloggett et al, 2011). When seeking prey, ladybeetles increase their walking speed and reduce their turning frequency.…”

Impact of Lambda-cyhalothrin on Intraguild Predation Among Three Mite Predators

“…Larvae and adults showed long and short distance visual perception (Lambin et al 1996), with adults exhibiting better visual perception than larvae. Mondor and Warren (2000) showed that adults were attracted to the color yellow more than to the color green. However, if they were conditioned to receiving food with one of the colors, then females tended to spend more time on the color associated with food.…”