Fast–slow continuum in the life history parameters of ladybirds revisited

Abstract

A previous study of the rate of development of larvae of aphidophagous and coccidophagous ladybirds indicated that they both had the same lower developmental threshold (Ldt) but that the coccidophagous species developed more slowly than the aphidophagous species. The current analysis of the rates of development of the eggs of 48 species belonging to 8 tribes, which were kept at a range of different temperatures, indicates that ladybirds do not all have the same Ldt, but that the of eggs of aphidophagous Coccinellini develop faster than those of coccidophagous Chilocorini and more importantly those of the aphidophagous genus Scymnus and the coccidophagous Nephus, both belonging to the same robust tribe, the Scymnini, also differ, with those of the latter genus developing more slowly. Possible reasons for this are discussed.