Behavioral Features AggregationĪggregation is one of the most basic social behaviors. This paper considers the immunological and behavioral traits that make H. axyridis with other coccinellid beetles help to determine the basis of its unique invasive success. Invading populations often undergo rapid evolutionary changes associated with their introduction, particularly life history traits ( Lambrinos, 2004). axyridis is a widely-used model species for research, especially studies concerning the effects of invasive species when they are introduced into new environments ( Roy and Wajnberg, 2008 Sloggett et al., 2011).

axyridis on agriculture, mainly due to its spectacular voracity, predation capacity, and effectiveness in suppressing plant pests ( Riddick, 2017). However, several reports also highlight the positive effects of H. axyridis include aggregation in buildings and in some agricultural settings, such that the species is considered both an urban and agricultural pest. Further effects caused by the introduction of H.

Such declines are partially explained by exploitative competition for shared prey and interference competition via intraguild predation ( Smith and Gardiner, 2013). Multi-year surveys have documented the decline of native coccinellid species in concert with the establishment of H. axyridis is highly fertile and the eggs show high viability ( Santos et al., 2014). It is an excellent example of an efficient invasive species, being one of the most abundant ladybird species in various agricultural ecosystems including corn, soybean, wheat, corn, broad bean, potato, and cotton ( Gardiner et al., 2011 Vandereycken et al., 2013a, b). axyridis is native to continental, temperate and subtropical parts of East and Central Asia and has been introduced into North America, Europe and Russia since the beginning of the Twenty-fifth century as a biological control agent against aphid and/or coccid pests ( Roy et al., 2016). The harlequin ladybird Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), which is also known as the multicolored or Asian ladybird, has emerged as a powerful model in which to test hypotheses explaining why some species are successful invaders, while others, even closely related ones, are not. axyridis to outcompete native ladybird species in newly-colonized areas.īiological invasions are attracting scientific interest because invasive species can cause extensive economic losses and negatively affect the biodiversity of newly-colonized areas. axyridis eggs or larvae, supporting the hypothesis that intraguild predation plays a role in the ability of H. These parasites can infect and kill native ladybird species feeding on H. The chemical defense compound harmonine and the antimicrobial peptides are thought to confer resistance against the abundant microsporidia carried by H. axyridis, which encompasses a broader spectrum of antimicrobial peptides (and higher inducible expression levels) compared with native ladybird beetles such as Adalia bipunctata and Coccinella septempunctata. We also highlight the superior immune system of H. In particular, we consider (1) the aggregative behavior and the particular role of long-chain hydrocarbons (2) the importance of sex pheromones and non-volatile chemicals in mate location and selection (3) the use of allelochemicals for prey location and (4) the nature of chemicals that protect against natural enemies. We discuss the behavioral traits and associated semiochemicals that promote the invasive success of H. In this review, we evaluate behavioral and immunological features that may play a role in the invasive performance of this model species. The harlequin ladybird Harmonia axyridis is now established as a model to test hypotheses explaining why some species become successfully invasive, while others, even closely related ones, do not. 4Department Bioresources, Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology, Giessen, Germany.3Institute for Insect Biotechnology, Justus Liebig University of Giessen, Giessen, Germany.2Department of Entomology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany.

1Laboratory of Functional and Evolutionary Entomology, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liege, Gembloux, Belgium.

Verheggen 1, Heiko Vogel 2 and Andreas Vilcinskas 3,4 *

Asian lady morph age