Development of two species of aphidophagous ladybird beetles (coleoptera: coccinellidae) on essential and alternative foods

Food plays very indispensable role in the development of an organism as it provides energy to cart out daily activities. Ladybird beetles are commonly known as the Farmer’s Friends as they are known to feed on a wide variety of insect pests. According to their feeding habits they can be classified into different types viz., aphidophagous, feeding on aphids, coccidophagaous, feeding on coccids and phytophagous feeding on plants. Cheilomenes sexmaculata Fabricius and Coccinella septempunctata Linnaeus are the most popular aphidophagous ladybird beetles of the Indian region. Apart from feeding on aphids both of them are also known to feed upon psyllids, white flies, mealybugs, tingids, leaf and plant hoppers, mites and early instar lepidopteran larvae. Our study deals with the survival of C. sexmaculata and C. septempunctata on eight species of aphids as well as on honey and mealy bugs when provided as alternative foods under aphid scare conditions.