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Lady Beetle Release Controls Aphids on Potted Plants

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Lady Beetle Release Controls Aphids on Potted Plants Y u -r y" X 7m An adult Hippodamia convergens feeds on a melon aphid. Jill Rentner samples lady beetles on a chrysanthemum plant. Lady beetle release controls aphids on potted plants Mary Louise Flint P Steve H. Dreistadt P Jill Rentner a Michael P. Parrella Releases of convergent lady The convergent lady beetle, Hippo- ture warms up (fig. 1).This aggregat- beetles collected in mountain durniu convergens (Coleoptera: ing habit allows collectors to harvest aggregations significantly Coccinellidae) is the least expensive and package large numbers of conver- reduced aphid numbers on and most widely released aphid gent lady beetles for sale in nurseries predator in the United States. This and through garden supply catalogs chrysanthemum and rose plants lady beetle is unusual because a large and other outlets across the country. in pots. Preflying the beetles portion of its California population Despite widespread use, the Uni- before release, or rearing them in migrates to the mountain ranges when versity of California has historically a laboratory, did not clearly aphid populations in the Central Val- recommended against releasing aggre- reduce dispersal. Because of their ley drop in summer. The beetles spend gation-collected H. convergens because sensitivity to insecticides, care the winter in massive mountain aggre- they were believed to require a sub- must be taken when releasing gations, taking in water but consum- stantial flight (normally acquired lady beetles into treated ing no aphids, and fly back down to when they return to the valley in the environments. the valley in March when the tempera- spring) before they will consume sig- CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURE, MARCH-APRIL 1995 5 DEC Beetles were marked with lacquer to distinguish treatments, and 14 to 20 beetles from each treatment were re- leased per pot once at dusk on groups of five or six pots. Each pot contained MIGRATE TO VALLEY FLOOR either four chrysanthemum plants or one rose plant. Each group of pots was replicated six to eight times in a ran- domized block design and separated from other groups by 10 meters of down canyons to foothills and aggregations become larger gravel surface. Every 12 to 24 hours SEPT for 3 or 4 days after release, beetles In the early spring after temperatures were collected and counted on plants each 65°F adults mate and migrate to the valley floor feed and lay eggs - :- in one or more previously unsampled Both larvde and adults feed & pots from each replicate (fig. 2). This voraciously on aphids In early summer when aphid numbers decline experiment was conducted on chry- santhemums in May, July and Septem- ber of 1993 with beetles collected from winter, early summer and late summer MIGRATE TO aggregations respectively, and was MOUNTAINS conducted once in April on roses. A large portion of both stored and flown lady beetles dispersed from JUNE plants within the first 24 hours. More flown than stored beetles were recov- ered on chrysanthemums at 9 of 13 postrelease sample times, but differ- Fig. 1. The annual cycle of convergent lady beetle migration and aggregation In Califor- ences were statistically significant in nia allows collectors to harvest large numbers for sale with minimal effort. From UC only three instances, twice when more ANR Publication 3312, lntegrated Pest Management for Alfalfa Hay. flown beetles were recovered and once when more stored beetles were recov- nificant numbers of aphids. Therefore preflying lady beetles collected in ered (fig. 2). In the one rose trial, sig- it was believed that releases of aggre- mountain aggregations would reduce nificantly more stored than flown gation-collected lady beetles would their dispersal. In this and subsequent beetles were recovered 12 hours after not be effective because they would studies we released beetles on potted release (P < 0.05, t-test). More flown disperse before feeding on aphids. roses (Rosa sp.) infested with rose However, these recommendations aphids (Macrosiphum rosae) and on pot- were based mostly on field observa- ted chrysanthemums (Dendranthema tions made in the 1910s and 1920s grandiflora) infested with melon aphids rather than on replicated field trials. (Aphis gossypii). All experiments were Some lady beetle suppliers suggest conducted outdoors on a gravel sur- that preflying beetles before release in- face at the UC Davis Arboretum hold- creases retention, but no research had ing area with lady beetles collected been carried out to verify this claim. from the same aggregation site in The purpose of our research was to Placer County, California by a com- determine (1 if preflying aggregation- mercial lady beetle supplier. collected lady beetles decreases their Prior to release, adult lady beetles tendency to fly away; (2) if laboratory- from aggregations were either re- reared lady beetles are less likely to fly moved from cold storage (40" to 50"F), away than aggregation-collected ones; allowed to fly outdoors for 1week in a (3) if lady beetle releases can control lO-feet-by-lO-feet-by-8-feet, screen- aphid populations; and (4) the impact wall cage, and sprayed daily with di- Fig. 2. Number of Hippodamia convergens adults recovered at intervals after a single on lady beetle survival of insecticides luted honey (flown); or removed from release outdoors on potted chrysanthe- commonly used on ornamental plants. cold storage about 8 hours before re- mums infested with Aphis gossypii. Num- lease, confined with honey and water, ber of beetles at 0 hours indicates number Preflying lady beetles of beetles released. *Recovery of flown and sprayed with 7Up soda, as recom- and stored beetles was significantly differ- We used mark-release-recapture ex- mended by some lady beetle suppliers, ent (P< 0.05) on only 3 of 13 postrelease periments to test the hypothesis that immediately after release (stored). sample dates. 6 CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURE, VOLUME 49, NUMBER 2 beetles were present at the next 5 sample times, but the difference was significant only at 36 hours after beetle release (P< 0.05, t-test). These data suggest no strong effect of preflying, but larger-scale trials are needed to confidently determine whether allowing beetles to feed and fly prior to release can reduce their dispersal. Clearly, preflying requires considerable extra effort and expense, which may not be justified by a mar- ginal increase in retention. Dispersal tendency Although aggregation-collected lady beetles were believed to require a substantial flight period before settling down to feed on aphids, it has been suggested that later generations of lady beetles, reproducing in the Cen- tral Valley without long-range flight to the mountains, have less tendency to Aggregation-collected and laboratory-reared lady beetles were released into experimen- fly. For this reason there has been tal plots of aphid-infested roses and chrysanthemums. The lady beetles significantly re some interest in rearing H. convergens duced the numbers of aphids. in insectaries to produce commercially available, nondispersing lady beetles laboratory-reared lady beetles, we for mass release. conducted a mark-release-recapture To compare the dispersal tenden- study during May of 1993 on melon cies of aggregation-collected versus aphid-infested potted chrysanthe- mums, following the basic procedures just described for preflying. We made one release at dusk of lady beetles that were either first-generation offspring of lady beetles collected in a Davis al- falfa field and reared in the laboratory on aphids (reared); or aggregation- collected lady beetles that were flown (flown); or aggregation-collected beetles 8 hours after removal from the refrigerator (stored). Fourteen beetles from each treatment were released at the base of the plants in each pot, pots were placed in groups of five, and each group was replicated six times. Every 12 to 24 hours for 3.5 days after release, beetles were collected and counted on plants in one previously Rose aphid populations increased on rose Fig. 3. Number of Hippodamia convergens unsampled pot from each replicate. buds in control plots, but fell significantly adults recovered at intervals after a single Differences between treatments where lady beetles were released onto release outdoors on potted chrysanthe- were not clear cut. Almost half of the potted rose shrubs. mums infested with Aphis gossypii. Num- reared beetles dispersed within 24 ber of beetles at 0 hours indicates number of beetles released. There was no signifi- hours. Although reared beetles at 48 hours (fig. 3). Small differences in cant difference (P > 0.05 t-tests) in the showed less tendency to disperse, dispersal are likely to be of little prac- number of beetles recovered at any there were no statistically significant tical value, given the substantial effort sample time between reared, flown or stored beetles except at 48 hours when differences between retention of and cost needed to rear lady beetles significantly more flown than stored stored, flown and reared beetles at any compared to the inexpensive, easily beetles were recovered (P= .05). sample times in this experiment except collected aggregation beetles. For a CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURE, MARCH-APRIL 1995 7 beetle, Cyptolaemus montrouzieri, costs because beetles were confined with approximately 10 cents per beetle, or leaves in containers and exposed about 200 times as much. through a combination of ingestion, contact and inhalation. However, Reduction in aphid populations these results illustrate the need to con- To determine if releases of H. sider the impact of previous pesticide convergens would control aphids, we treatments before releasing lady compared aphid populations on re- beetles for control. lease and nonrelease plants. Lady beetles were released once and Conclusions sampled as described above on groups Releases of aggregation-collected of aphid-infested potted chrysanthe- Hippodamia convergens significantly re- mums or roses. Figures 2 and 3 show duced populations of melon aphids on numbers of lady beetles released on potted chrysanthemums and of rose each trial date.
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