Chapter 2
Lady Beetles; Lots of Efforts but few
Successes
Hossein Madadi
2.1 Introduction, Why Lady Beetles Are so Important?
Undoubtedly, the family Coccinellidae has been considered as important and wellknown predators of sap feeder pests. This easily identified group contains 6000
described species world widely (Biranvand et al. 2016; Giorgi and Vandenberg
2009). Adults are generally convex and oval, brightly colored; their body size ranges
from 0.8 to 10 mm (Triplehorn and Johnson 2005). Their tarsal formula is 3-3-3 or
4-4-4 that separate them from similar Chrysomelids (Triplehorn and Johnson 2005;
Hodek et al. 2012). The life span includes seven stages, egg, four larval instars, pupa
and Adult. Larvae are elongate, vigorous and their body covered by hairy tubercles
or different patterns characterize them. Most ladybirds overwinter as adults in
different sites. The food habits of lady beetles are various from carnivory (mostly)
to herbivory (subfamily Epilachninae), and even fungivory has been identified
among lady beetles (Coccinellinae: Tribe Psylloborini). Prey types are different,
but most Coccinellids prefer coccids or aphids. This family has been divided into
seven subfamilies; among them subfamily Coccinellinae is a very important in aphid
biocontrol. One of the main species of this group is Hippodamia vareigata
(Kontodimas and Stathas, 2005). This is a Palearctic species that has been reported
from different parts of the world (Franzmann 2002), including many parts of Iran
(Yaghmaee and Kharazi Pakdel 1995; Lotfalizadeh 2001; Haghshenas et al. 2004;
Jafari et al. 2008b; Ansari pour and Shakarami, 2012). The striking point is that this
species is the dominant species of lady beetles in most parts and crops. It attacks
many aphid species and also feeds on non-aphid pest species (Asghari et al. 2012).
Many studies have been conducted on different biological aspects of H. variegata in
H. Madadi (*)
Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran
e-mail: hmadadi@basu.ac.ir
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. Karimi, H. Madadi (eds.), Biological Control of Insect and Mite Pests in Iran,
Progress in Biological Control 18, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63990-7_2
23
Lady Beetles; Lots of Efforts but few
Successes
Hossein Madadi
2.1 Introduction, Why Lady Beetles Are so Important?
Undoubtedly, the family Coccinellidae has been considered as important and wellknown predators of sap feeder pests. This easily identified group contains 6000
described species world widely (Biranvand et al. 2016; Giorgi and Vandenberg
2009). Adults are generally convex and oval, brightly colored; their body size ranges
from 0.8 to 10 mm (Triplehorn and Johnson 2005). Their tarsal formula is 3-3-3 or
4-4-4 that separate them from similar Chrysomelids (Triplehorn and Johnson 2005;
Hodek et al. 2012). The life span includes seven stages, egg, four larval instars, pupa
and Adult. Larvae are elongate, vigorous and their body covered by hairy tubercles
or different patterns characterize them. Most ladybirds overwinter as adults in
different sites. The food habits of lady beetles are various from carnivory (mostly)
to herbivory (subfamily Epilachninae), and even fungivory has been identified
among lady beetles (Coccinellinae: Tribe Psylloborini). Prey types are different,
but most Coccinellids prefer coccids or aphids. This family has been divided into
seven subfamilies; among them subfamily Coccinellinae is a very important in aphid
biocontrol. One of the main species of this group is Hippodamia vareigata
(Kontodimas and Stathas, 2005). This is a Palearctic species that has been reported
from different parts of the world (Franzmann 2002), including many parts of Iran
(Yaghmaee and Kharazi Pakdel 1995; Lotfalizadeh 2001; Haghshenas et al. 2004;
Jafari et al. 2008b; Ansari pour and Shakarami, 2012). The striking point is that this
species is the dominant species of lady beetles in most parts and crops. It attacks
many aphid species and also feeds on non-aphid pest species (Asghari et al. 2012).
Many studies have been conducted on different biological aspects of H. variegata in
H. Madadi (*)
Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran
e-mail: hmadadi@basu.ac.ir
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. Karimi, H. Madadi (eds.), Biological Control of Insect and Mite Pests in Iran,
Progress in Biological Control 18, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63990-7_2
23