Environmental Entomology (1998) 27, 902-909

S.D. Eigenbrode, C. White, M. Rohde and C.J. Simon (1998)
Behavior and effectiveness of adult Hippodamia convergens (Coleoptera : Coccinellidae) as a predator of Acyrthosiphon pisum (Homoptera : Aphididae) on a wax mutant of Pisum sativum
Environmental Entomology 27 (4), 902-909
Abstract: Adult females of the coccinellid predator Hippodamia convergens (Say) spent more time walking and less time grooming on a line of peas, Pisum sativum L. that has reduced waxbloom on all parts of the plant (due to the mutation wel) compared with a near-isogenic sister fine with normal waxbloom. H. convergens walking was distributed over all parts of the low-wax plants, whereas on normal-wax plants walking occurred mostly on stems and the edges of leaves and stipules. The beetles were able to generate 30 times the adhesive traction force on leaf surfaces of low-wax plants compared with normal-wax plants. In cage studies, H. convergens (4 adults per plant) were more effective at reducing population growth of pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris), on low-wax plants than on normal-wax plants, but only at initial aphid densities of 10 aphids per plant. At higher initial densities (20 and 40 aphids per plant), differential impact of H. convergens was not observed or disappeared after 4-5 d. The results indicate that reduced waxbloom in peas could improve the effectiveness of H. convergens on peas at low prey densities.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Sanford D. Eigenbrode

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
environment/habitat manipulation
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Acyrthosiphon pisum	Pea (Pisum sativum)
Hippodamia convergens (predator)	Acyrthosiphon pisum	Pea (Pisum sativum)