Ladybird Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University of Luc know, Lucknow-226007, India.
J Insect Sci. 2013;13:24. doi: 10.1673/031.013.2401.
Laboratory experiments were conducted to determine the functional and numerical responses of fourth instar larvae, adult male, and adult female ladybird beetles, Anegleis cardoni Weise (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), to different densities of aphids, Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae), on the bottle gourd, Lagenaria vulgaris Seringe (Cucurbitales: Cucurbitaceae). The results revealed a density dependent, Type II functional response of A. cardoni. Prey consumption increased curvilinearly with an increase in prey density for all three predatory stages. Numerical responses revealed significant increases in oviposition with increases in prey density. The food exploitation efficiency and the efficiency of conversion of ingested food decreased with increases in prey density. The attack rate was highest for adult females, followed by fourth instar larvae and adult males. Prey consumption was highest and handling time lowest in fourth instar larvae, followed by adult females and males. Therefore, fourth instar larvae of A. cardoni may be considered the most efficient predatory stage in aphid management strategies.
实验室实验旨在确定第四龄幼虫、雄性成虫和雌性成虫蜡蚧轮枝菌（鞘翅目：瓢虫科）对葫芦上不同密度棉蚜（半翅目：蚜科）的功能和数量反应。结果表明，蜡蚧轮枝菌呈密度依赖型，Ⅱ型功能反应。对于所有三个捕食阶段，猎物消耗随猎物密度的增加呈曲线增加。数值反应表明，随着猎物密度的增加，产卵量显著增加。随着猎物密度的增加，食物利用率和摄入食物的转化效率降低。攻击率以雌性成虫最高，其次是第四龄幼虫和雄性成虫。第四龄幼虫的猎物消耗最高，处理时间最短，其次是雌性成虫和雄性成虫。因此，在蚜虫管理策略中，第四龄幼虫可能被认为是最有效的捕食阶段。
