Dataset Information

Discovery of a New World ladybird beetle Nephaspis indus Gordon, 1996 (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae: Scymnini) on the Island of Taiwan.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Nephaspis indus Gordon, 1996 was imported into Taiwan from Hawaii in 1990 as a biological control agent for the spiralling whitefly, Aleurodicus dispersus Russell, 1965 (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae). However, its establishment was not known prior to this study.

New information

Nephaspis indus Gordon, 1996, a natural enemy of Aleurodicus dispersus Russell (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) native to the Neotropical region, is recorded as established in Taiwan for the first time. The present paper provides a detailed further description and illustrations of the adult. Diagnostic characters for the genus and species are given and the nomenclature of this species is also discussed.

SUBMITTER: Chen X

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5136668 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Discovery of a New World ladybird beetle <i>Nephaspis indus</i> Gordon, 1996 (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae: Scymnini) on the Island of Taiwan.

Chen Xiaosheng X Xie Xiufeng X Ren Shunxiang S Wang Xingmin X

Biodiversity data journal 20161117 4

<h4>Background</h4><i>Nephaspis indus</i> Gordon, 1996 was imported into Taiwan from Hawaii in 1990 as a biological control agent for the spiralling whitefly, <i>Aleurodicus dispersus</i> Russell, 1965 (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae). However, its establishment was not known prior to this study.<h4>New information</h4><i>Nephaspis indus</i> Gordon, 1996, a natural enemy of <i>Aleurodicus dispersus</i> Russell (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) native to the Neotropical region, is recorded as established in Taiwa ...[more]

PMID: 27932925

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Project description:The tribe Coccinellini is a group of relatively large ladybird beetles that exhibits remarkable morphological and biological diversity. Many species are aphidophagous, feeding as larvae and adults on aphids, but some species also feed on other hemipterous insects (i.e., heteropterans, psyllids, whiteflies), beetle and moth larvae, pollen, fungal spores, and even plant tissue. Several species are biological control agents or widespread invasive species (e.g., Harmonia axyridis (Pallas)). Despite the ecological importance of this tribe, relatively little is known about the phylogenetic relationships within it. The generic concepts within the tribe Coccinellini are unstable and do not reflect a natural classification, being largely based on regional revisions. This impedes the phylogenetic study of important traits of Coccinellidae at a global scale (e.g. the evolution of food preferences and biogeography).We present the most comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of Coccinellini to date, based on three nuclear and one mitochondrial gene sequences of 38 taxa, which represent all major Coccinellini lineages. The phylogenetic reconstruction supports the monophyly of Coccinellini and its sister group relationship to Chilocorini. Within Coccinellini, three major clades were recovered that do not correspond to any previously recognised divisions, questioning the traditional differentiation between Halyziini, Discotomini, Tytthaspidini, and Singhikaliini. Ancestral state reconstructions of food preferences and morphological characters support the idea of aphidophagy being the ancestral state in Coccinellini. This indicates a transition from putative obligate scale feeders, as seen in the closely related Chilocorini, to more agile general predators.Our results suggest that the classification of Coccinellini has been misled by convergence in morphological traits. The evolutionary history of Coccinellini has been very dynamic in respect to changes in host preferences, involving multiple independent host switches from different insect orders to fungal spores and plants tissues. General predation on ephemeral aphids might have created an opportunity to easily adapt to mixed or specialised diets (e.g. obligate mycophagy, herbivory, predation on various hemipteroids or larvae of leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae)). The generally long-lived adults of Coccinellini can consume pollen and floral nectars, thereby surviving periods of low prey frequency. This capacity might have played a central role in the diversification history of Coccinellini.