Cold tolerance and supercooling points of two ladybird beetles (Col.: Coccinellidae): Impact of the diet.

Cold tolerance and supercooling points of two ladybird beetles (Col.: Coccinellidae): Impact of the diet. Cryobiology. 2019 Oct 24;: Authors: Pourani MS, Mahdian K, Izadi H, Basirat M, Sahhafi SR Abstract Ladybird beetles have successfully been used to control different pests. Cheilomenes sexmaculata (Fabricius) and Oenopia conglobata contaminata)Menetries((Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) are two dominant and efficient predators of the common pistachio psylla, Agonoscena pistaciae (Hem.: Psyllidae) in Iran. In the current study, the impact of two diets, i.e., nymphs of A. pistaciae and eggs of Ephestia kuehniella Zeller (Lep.: Pyralidae), were investigated on the cold hardiness, supercooling point (SCP), and lethal temperature of different life stages of the coccinellids. The results suggested that the eggs of E. kuehniella are a suitable diet for both predators. In general, beetles of O. conglobata contaminata were more cold tolerant than those of C. sexmaculata. The SCP of the adults of C. sexmaculata, feeding on psyllid was about -15 °C, whereas the SCP of the beetles, feeding on the eggs of flour moth, was about -19 °C. However, the diets had no significant effects on the SCP of O. conglobata contaminata. For both ladybird beetles, eggs were the most sensitive stage, and adulthood was the most tolerant developmental stage. No eggs survived at zero and subzero temperatures. The survival of C. sexmaculata increased from 6.25% for ...
Source: Cryobiology - Category: Biology Authors: Tags: Cryobiology Source Type: research