Scientific name

Harmonia dimidiata (Fabricius) [=Coccinella dimidiata Fabricius, Leis dimidiata (Fabricius)]

Common name

Fifteen-spotted ladybird

Taxonomic position

Coleoptera: Coccinellidae: Coccinellinae: Coccinellini

Diagnosis

Length 6.65-7.45 mm, width 6.30-6.80 mm. Form round and large, strongly convex. Head yellow. Pronotum yellow with a pair of black spots, often fused into a single marking with a median emargination. Elytra orange-yellow with thirteen black spots arranged in a 1-3-2-1/2 pattern; elytral pattern variable, posterior two-thirds of elytra black and anterior portion yellowish, with or without humeral black spots. Elytral epipleura (Fig. 4) entire and broad, inner carinae reaching elytral apex. Postcoxal line on first abdominal segment (Fig. 2) incomplete, with an oblique, lateral dividing line. Male genitalia (Figs. 5, 6) and female spermatheca (Fig. 3) as illustrated.

 Figs. 1-6. 1. Prosternal intercoxal process; 2. Abdominal postcoxal line; 3. Spermatheca; 4. Epipleuron; 5. Tegmen, ventral view; 6. Penis (sipho)

Images

Adult of Harmonia dimidiata  Adult of Harmonia dimidiata  Adult

Distribution

India: Widely distributed from Kashmir to Assam and the Himalayas (Assam; Himachal Pradesh; Jammu & Kashmir; Manipur; Punjab; Uttar Pradesh; Sikkim; West Bengal). Pakistan. Bhutan. Nepal. Vietnam. Japan. China. Taiwan. Introduced into and established in North America and Far Eastern Russia.

Prey / Associated habitat

HEMIPTERA: Aphidoidea: Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris), Adelges sp., Aiceona litseae Basu & Hille Ris Lambers, Aphis craccivora Koch, Aphis glycines Matsumura, Aphis gossypii Glover, Aphis pomi De Geer, Aphis spiraecola Patch, Brevicoryne brassicae (Linnaeus), Cervaphis rappardi indica Basu, Eriosoma lanigerum (Hausmann), Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Thomas), Myzus ornatus Laing, Myzus persicae (Sulzer), Mollitrichosiphum alni Ghosh et al., Rhopalosiphum maidis (Fitch), Schizaphis graminum (Rondani), Tuberculatus indicus Ghosh. Margarodidae: Drosicha dalbergiae (Green) on almond. Psyllidae: Diaphorina citri Kuwayama. LEPIDOTERA: Saturniidae: Antheraea assamensis (Helfer) (muga silkworm).

Associated with aphids infesting mustard, apple, Lathyrus sativus, and Litsea polyantha; adelgids on silver fir; most common in oak (Quercus serrata) forests (Singh & Singh, 1985).

This species has been introduced in Far Eastern Russia from China and found to be very effective in controlling aphids infesting melon, cucumber and peppers in greenhouses. In Far Eastern Russia, M. persicae and S. graminum were found to be the best hosts for laboratory breeding. It can be bred throughout the year as the adults do not undergo diapause and also have a weak migratory activity (Kuznetsov & Pang Hong, 2002).

Seasonal occurrence

March-September, November.

References

  • Bielawski, R. 1972. Die Marienkafer (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) aus Nepal. Fragmenta Faunistica, 18: 283-312.
  • Chakrabarti, S., Ghosh, D. & Debnath, N. 1988. Developmental rate and larval voracity in Harmonia (Leis) dimidiata (Col., Coccinellidae), a predator of Eriosoma lanigerum (Hom., Aphididae) in Western Himalaya. Acta Entomologica Bohemoslovaca, 85, 335-339.
  • Gordon, R.D. 1985. The Coccinellidae of America, north of Mexico. Journal of the New York Entomological Society, 93: 1-912.
  • Kuznetsov, V.N. & Pang Hong, 2002. Employment of Chinese Coccinellidae in biological control of aphids in greenhouse in Primorye. Far Eastern Entomologist, 119: 1-5.
  • Phaloura, S.P.S. & Singh, T. 1993. Biological observations on three species of aphidophagous coccinellids of genus Harmonia Mulsant. Journal of Insect Science, 6: 246-249.
  • Sasaji, H. 1971. Fauna Japonica. Coccinellidae (Insecta: Coleoptera). Academic Press of Japan. 340 p.
  • Sasaji, H. 1977. Larval characters of Asian species of the genus Harmonia Mulsant. Memoirs of the Faculty of Education, Fukui University Series II, 27: 1-17.
  • Semyanov, V.P. 1996. The method of breeding and longtime storage of tropical ladybird species Leis dimidiata (Fabr.) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae). Entomologicheskoe Obozrenie, 75(3): 714-720. [In Russian].
  • Semyanov, V.P. 1999. Biology of ladybirds (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae) from South-East Asia. I. Leis dimidiata (Fabr.). Entomologicheskoe Obozrenie, 78(3): 537-544. [In Russian].
  • Singh, T. & Phaloura, S.P.S., 1990. A field key to the larvae of four species of genus Harmonia Mulsant (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae). Journal of Entomological Research, 14: 89-90.