Iran. One goal of this this review is to consider those studies, their strengths and
weakness.
Lady beetles can be found within many agroecosystems, orchards, greenhouses,
pastures, parks, countryside and even urban environments. Because of brightly
colored bodies and easy identification, most people are familiar with them and
know some things about them. Most researchers consider them as a voracious
predatory group that could be useful in some cases in suppressing pest populations
substantially. Literately, there are some characters attributed to an efficient natural
enemy. Some of the most important desirable properties enumerated for a biocontrol
agent are high fecundity rate, weather concordance with prey habitat, direct numerical response to prey increase, high searching rate, ability to disperse within host
habitat, patch time allocation behavior, high consumption rate, mass rearing simplicity and synchrony with host physiology, especially for parasitoids.
Lady beetles have many biological properties making them effective candidates
for biological control projects. Some species (e.g., Stethorus species are monophagous or oligophagous and prey on a few mite species) while most others are
generalist aphidophagous or coccidophagous species. It should be noted that prey
types of lady beetles are not limited to mites, aphids and coccids. Spotted lady beetle,
Colemegilla maculata (Degeer) is an effective natural enemy of eggs and larvae of
Colorado potato beetle –Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say- in North America and
Canada (Arpaia et al. 1997). Furthermore, it has been documented that other
Coccinellid species frequently feed on psyllids, whiteflies, thrips, eggs and early
larvae of Lepidoptera, and even alfalfa weevil, Hypera postica (Gyllenhal) small
larvae opportunistically (Edward 2009). Many Coccinellids are voracious predators
both as adults and prematures e.g., one Hippodamia variegata fourth instar larvae
can kill up to 112.2 Æ 2.05 and 114 Æ 2.15 fourth instar cotton aphid and pea aphid
nymphs during 24 h under laboratory conditions (Madadi et al. 2011). Consequently,
the fourth instar larvae or females have been suggested as releasing stages. The life
history studies of lady beetle show that most of them are active during the growing
season and multivoltine. Furthermore, they could be reared under laboratory conditions on relatively simple diets. Most Coccinellids do not have special requirements
for mass production. Recently, there are some attempts to rear them on artificial diets
(Mirkhalilzadeh et al. 2013). Many Coccinellid species could use pollen or other
non-prey foods besides natural prey allowing them to survive in the absence of
their prey.
2.2 The Most Important Lady Beetles Species Reported
from Iran
There are many studies conducted on faunistic of lady beetle species and determining the dominant species in different parts of Iran, but some of them are old
conference papers or simple checklists which were not available digitally. Here we
24
H. Madadi
weakness.
Lady beetles can be found within many agroecosystems, orchards, greenhouses,
pastures, parks, countryside and even urban environments. Because of brightly
colored bodies and easy identification, most people are familiar with them and
know some things about them. Most researchers consider them as a voracious
predatory group that could be useful in some cases in suppressing pest populations
substantially. Literately, there are some characters attributed to an efficient natural
enemy. Some of the most important desirable properties enumerated for a biocontrol
agent are high fecundity rate, weather concordance with prey habitat, direct numerical response to prey increase, high searching rate, ability to disperse within host
habitat, patch time allocation behavior, high consumption rate, mass rearing simplicity and synchrony with host physiology, especially for parasitoids.
Lady beetles have many biological properties making them effective candidates
for biological control projects. Some species (e.g., Stethorus species are monophagous or oligophagous and prey on a few mite species) while most others are
generalist aphidophagous or coccidophagous species. It should be noted that prey
types of lady beetles are not limited to mites, aphids and coccids. Spotted lady beetle,
Colemegilla maculata (Degeer) is an effective natural enemy of eggs and larvae of
Colorado potato beetle –Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say- in North America and
Canada (Arpaia et al. 1997). Furthermore, it has been documented that other
Coccinellid species frequently feed on psyllids, whiteflies, thrips, eggs and early
larvae of Lepidoptera, and even alfalfa weevil, Hypera postica (Gyllenhal) small
larvae opportunistically (Edward 2009). Many Coccinellids are voracious predators
both as adults and prematures e.g., one Hippodamia variegata fourth instar larvae
can kill up to 112.2 Æ 2.05 and 114 Æ 2.15 fourth instar cotton aphid and pea aphid
nymphs during 24 h under laboratory conditions (Madadi et al. 2011). Consequently,
the fourth instar larvae or females have been suggested as releasing stages. The life
history studies of lady beetle show that most of them are active during the growing
season and multivoltine. Furthermore, they could be reared under laboratory conditions on relatively simple diets. Most Coccinellids do not have special requirements
for mass production. Recently, there are some attempts to rear them on artificial diets
(Mirkhalilzadeh et al. 2013). Many Coccinellid species could use pollen or other
non-prey foods besides natural prey allowing them to survive in the absence of
their prey.
2.2 The Most Important Lady Beetles Species Reported
from Iran
There are many studies conducted on faunistic of lady beetle species and determining the dominant species in different parts of Iran, but some of them are old
conference papers or simple checklists which were not available digitally. Here we
24
H. Madadi