Does the satiation hypothesis account for the differences in efficacy of coccidophagous and aphidophagous ladybird beetles in biological control? A test with Adalia bipunctata and Cryptolaemus montrouzieri

A. Magro (1) , J. Hemptinne , P. Codreanu , S. Grosjean (2) , A. Dixon

1 EDB - Evolution et Diversité Biologique
2 LMEE - Laboratoire de Mécanique et d'Energétique d'Evry

Mills (1982) formulated the satiationhypothesis in order to explain why ladybirdsare generally more effective in the biologicalcontrol of coccids than of aphids:aphidophagous ladybirds are supposedly lessefficient because they become more rapidlysatiated than coccidophagous ladybirds. If thisis true, the former should spend less timeeating than the latter. This hypothesis istested in this study using the coccidophagousCryptolaemus montrouzieri Mulsant(Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) and theaphidophagous Adalia bipunctata (L.) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae). Contrary to Mills'(1982) prediction the coccidophagous ladybirddid not feed continuously and even spent lesstime feeding than the aphidophagous ladybird.Furthermore, the gut capacity of C. montrouzieri is smaller than that of A. bipunctata.

Mots clés: Adalia bipunctata; Biological control; Coccinellidae; Coleoptera; Cryptolaemus montrouzieri

Domaines: Biodiversité et Ecologie

A. Magro, J. Hemptinne, P. Codreanu, S. Grosjean, A. Dixon. Does the satiation hypothesis account for the differences in efficacy of coccidophagous and aphidophagous ladybird beetles in biological control? A test with Adalia bipunctata and Cryptolaemus montrouzieri. BioControl, 2002, 47 (5), pp.537-543. ⟨10.1023/A:1016589724566⟩. ⟨hal-02062368⟩