Rove beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) as potential complements to ladybeetle control of soybean aphid Aphis glycines Matsumura (Sternorrhyncha: Aphididae) on its primary host, Rhamnus cathartica L.

The rove beetle and ladybeetle assemblages associated with Common Buckthorn (Rhamnus carthartica), the primary host of soybean aphid (Aphis glycines), were described and compared to further understand the predator regulation of this economically significant pest. Predatory beetles were trapped using pitfall and canopy pan-traps in buckthorn hedgerows (southern Ontario, Canada) during the spring and fall of 2009. The differences between ladybeetle and dominant rove beetle species’ temporal and microspatial distributions will be discussed, primarily concerning the potential for these two predator groups to complement each other. Preliminary results from spring 2009 will be presented.