LadyBird Beetles And Their Association With Aphid Within Tribhuvan Universiy Premises Kitipur, Nepal

Abstract

Ladybird beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) are economically important predators of pests species viz. aphids. This research aimed to explore species diversity of ladybird beetles,found association with their aphid prey species and temperature in Tribhuvan University area premises, Kirtipur. It also compared feeding efficiency among two selected coccinellid predators. Visual observation was done for ladybird beetles and aphid prey species from 14 May to 9 November, 2019 in summer, rainy and autumn seasons, collected and identified. A total of 17 species of lady bird beetles belonging to 12 genera and four tribes (Coccinellini, Epilachni, Sticholotini and Noviini) under the subfamily Coccinellinae of order Coleoptera were reported. The Shannon Diversity index (H) was 1.25 with C. septempunctata (71.78%) as the most dominant species. Seasonally, the diversity was highest in autumn (H=1.51) as compared to rainy (H= 0.96) and summer (H= 0.85). The diversity was highest in agricultural land (H=1.44, J=0.56) followed by garden (H=1.36, J=0.69), planted forest (H=1.25, J=0.70) and grassland (H=0.96, J=0.38). The abundance of ladybird beetles showed significant positive relation with temperature and summer season. The prey aphids associated with beetle fauna were Macrosiphoniella pseudoartemisiae, M. yomogifoliae, Rhopalosiphum maidis, Aphis gossypii and Macrosiphum rosae. The feeding efficiency experiment conducted in room temperature, the efficient predator of Lipaphis erysimi was found C. septempunctata (34.40 ± 1.67) than P. luteopustulata (29.15 ± 1.84). Since ladybird diversity is high in T.U., especially highly abundant C. septempunctata, it can be used for biological control of mustard aphid pests.