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Host‐plant specificity limits the geographic distribution of thistle feeding ladybird beetles
Author(s) -
Koizumi Tatsuya,
Fujiyama Naoyuki,
Katakura Haruo
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
entomologia experimentalis et applicata
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.765
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1570-7458
pISSN - 0013-8703
DOI - 10.1046/j.1570-7458.1999.00575.x
Subject(s) - thistle , coccinellidae , biology , peninsula , host (biology) , botany , asteraceae , cirsium arvense , tephritidae , ecology , pest analysis , predation , predator
The relationships between two phytophagous ladybird beetle species, Epilachna pustulosa Kôno and E. niponica Lewis (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae), and their main host plants, thistles ( Cirsium spp., Asteraceae) were investigated in Oshima Peninsula, southern Hokkaido, northern Japan. Epilachna pustulosa was found feeding on Cirsium kamtschaticum in the northernmost part of the peninsula, whereas E. niponica was confined to the Ohno Plain and adjacent areas in the southernmost part, and occurred mainly on C. alpicola . No thistle feeding epilachnines were found in the middle part of the peninsula despite the abundance of another thistle species, C. grayanum . Both beetle species showed lower adult preference and reduced growth performance on C. grayanum compared to their respective host plants under laboratory conditions. We concluded that the distribution of thistle feeding epilachnines in Oshima Peninsula was principally determined by the availability of appropriate host plants.