Harmonia axyridis Pallas, a coccinellid native to Asia, was discovered in South Dakota in 1996, but its relative abundance, distribution and habitat use in the state had remained undetermined. Therefore, we sampled for H. axyridis in various habitats in eastern and central South Dakota in 2000 and 2001. Harmonia axyridis was found only in eastern South Dakota, but it was the third-most abundant coccinellid, accounting for 16 percent of 2624 coccinellids sampled by timed searches, sweepnetting, and blacklight and Malaise trapping. The relatively high abundance of H. axyridis in our samples was due primarily to its large numbers in blacklight traps, which yielded similar captures of H. axyridis in both years. Adult H. axyridis were sampled from many habitats, and larvae were found on maize and ornamental plants. The first ebony morph of H. axyridis from eastern North America was discovered while sampling an autumnal aggregation. Timed searches, monitoring autumnal aggregations, and blacklight traps were relatively efficient for sampling H. axyridis, whereas sweepnetting and Malaise trapping were not.
Species 1: Coleoptera Coccinellidae Harmonia axyridis (multicolored Asian lady beetle, Asian lady beetle)
Keywords: geographic expansion
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