JOURNAL OF LIAONING TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY
(NATURAL SCIENCE EDITION)
LIAONING GONGCHENG JISHU DAXUE XUEBAO (ZIRAN KEXUE BAN)
辽宁工程技术大学学报（自然科学版）
Feeding Paradigm of Coccinella septempunctata L. (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) on Parasitized Mustard Aphid, Lipaphis erysimi (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in Free Choice feeding trial
Muhammad Umar Farooq*, Usman Khalique, Zainab Saeed, Bibi Hajra, Adnan Yaseen, Sumbal Noor, Aqila Azam, Aiman, Abdul Basit, Faisal Hafeez
Abstract
Understanding the interaction among natural enemies is a holistic approach to developing a more effective biological control program. The one crucial interaction is the consumption of parasitized prey by a predator. For instance, feeding on a parasitized aphid could affect predator and parasitoid species. The Ladybeetle, Coccinella septempunctata is a well-known natural predator of multiple agricultural pests including aphids. The current study evaluated the prey preference or aphidophagous behaviour of C. septempunctata on healthy and parasitized aphids in laboratory conditions at Temp. 25±2°C and R.H. 65±5%. The mustard aphid, Lipaphis erysimi, cabbage aphid; Brevicoryne brassicae and parasitized mustard aphid, Lipaphis erysimi were used in the study. Research work revealed the free choice feeding relationship between coccinellid beetle and different aphid species. The mean consumption of mustard aphids was statistically higher i.e., 193.19 followed by cabbage (150.70) and parasitized mustard aphids (70.79). Female lady-beetle consumed more parasitized aphids (32.12) as compared to males and all larval stages. Specifically, male consumed 22.35 aphids while the consumption by larval stages was 6.56 aphids for the 4th instar followed by 3rd instar= 6.42, 2nd instar= 2.17 and 1st instar= 1.17. Adults of C. septempunctata were found to be more voracious, consuming more aphids than any of the larval instar stages. Manly’s Preference Index indicated that healthy mustard aphid were highly preferred by all stages of C. septempunctata, followed by cabbage aphids, while parasitized mustard aphids were the least preferred. The least preference of C. septumpunctata towards parasitized aphids suggests that biological control programs can be optimized by targeting non-parasitized aphid populations. This could enhance the effectiveness of natural predators and reduce the risk of disrupting parasitoid populations.
Keywords: Coccinellids, parasitized aphid, preference, predation, biological control