Eur. J. Entomol. 90 (4): 383-402, 1993
Foraging behaviour of ladybird larvae (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)
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Coccinellids, particularly their larvae are very voracious. Their foraging behaviour has been extensively studied in an attempt to determine their potential for controlling pest aphids, which occur in patches that are relatively short lived and within which the aphids are not uniformly distributed but clumped. In seeking aphid prey ladybirds like other insect predators forage both extensively and intensively, and use visual and olfactory cues for orientation. Intensive search follows an encounter with an aphid and serves to keep the predator in the vicinity of a cluster of prey. The success of larvae in capturing prey is dependent on abiotic and biotic factors such as plant structure, species of aphid attacked, the predator, in particular its age, level of hunger and genetic characteristics, and intra- and interspecific competition.
It is suggested that the poor progress in developing a foraging theory for insect predators, and ladybirds in particular, is a consequence of having mainly concentrated on the foraging behaviour of the most voracious stage, the larva. The behaviour of larvae serves to keep them within the patch selected by the adult. Thus for a better understanding we need information on the cues used by ladybird adults to assess the quality of patches of prey.
Keywords: Coccinellidae, predator, Aphidae, foraging behaviour, search strategy, prey detection, learning, environmental factor, predatory efficiency
Accepted: September 25, 1993; Published: December 30, 1993 Show citation
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