''Cryptolaemus montrouzieri'', common name mealybug ladybird or mealybug destroyer, is a species of

ladybird Coccinellidae () is a widespread family of small beetles. They are commonly known as ladybugs in North America and ladybirds in the United Kingdom; "lady" refers to mother Mary. Entomologists use the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles ...

beetle native to eastern Australia. The beetle feeds on mealybugs and other scale insects, and is used to control those pests on citrus orchards worldwide.

Etymology

Étienne Mulsant Martial Étienne Mulsant (2 March 1797, Marnand, Rhône – 4 November 1880) was a French entomologist and ornithologist. Biography Initially employed in commerce, Mulsant wrote ''Lettres à Julie sur l'entomologie, suivies d'une description mét ...

described ''C. montrouzieri'', naming the new species after a Marist brother and

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

, Abbe Montrouzier, who wrote an "Insect Fauna of Woodlark Island".

Distribution

''Cryptolaemus montrouzieri'' is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It is now also present in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

(

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

and as far as Northern

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

), in

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

, in the

Afrotropical realm The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopi ...

, in the

Nearctic realm The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface. The Nearctic realm covers most of North America, including Greenland, Central Florida, and the highlands of Mexico. The parts of North America t ...

, and in the

Neotropical realm The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropics, tropical Ecoregion#Terrestrial, terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperat ...

Description

''Cryptolaemus montrouzieri'' can reach a length of about . Adults of this species have the typical ladybird shape but, unlike many of the often brightly coloured Coccinellidae, the elytra of these small ladybirds are predominantly dark brown and have no spots. Head, antennae, pronotum, the end of the elytra and the legs are orange-brown. Larvae can reach a length of . They show a waxy covering that makes them apparently look like the

mealybug Mealybugs are insects in the family Pseudococcidae, unarmored scale insects found in moist, warm habitats. Of the more than 2,000 described species, many are considered pests as they feed on plant juices of greenhouse plants, house plants and ...

s they prey on, a case of

aggressive mimicry Aggressive mimicry is a form of mimicry in which predation, predators, parasites, or parasitoids share similar signalling theory, signals, using a harmless model, allowing them to avoid being correctly identified by their prey or host (biolog ...

Biology

The adults and larvae of these insects eat scale insects, especially

s. Females lay their eggs among the egg sac of mealybugs. Larvae feed on mealybug eggs, young crawlers and their honeydew. They become adults in 24 days, after four larval stages and a pupal stage. The life span is two months.Mary Louise Flint, Steve H
Natural Enemies Handbook: The Illustrated Guide to Biological Pest Control
/ref>

Biological control agent

This species has been used as a

biological control agent Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, whether pest animals such as insects and mites, weeds, or pathogens affecting animals or plants by using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or ot ...

against

s and other

scale insect Scale insects are small insects of the Order (biology), order Hemiptera, suborder Sternorrhyncha. Of dramatically variable appearance and extreme sexual dimorphism, they comprise the infraorder Coccomorpha which is considered a more convenient g ...

s. It was introduced to

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. In

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

it was introduced in 1891 by

Albert Koebele Albert Koebele (28 February 1853 - 28 December 1924) was an economic entomologist and a pioneer in the use of biological controls to manage insect pests. Early career Koebele was born in Waldkirch, Germany, in 1853. There are no details about ...

to control the citrus mealybug. It has also been introduced to New Zealand for biocontrol. As biological control agent outside Australia, ''C. montrouzieri'' has the common name ''Mealy bug destroyer''. ''C. montrouzieri'' predates on mealybug and soft

parasites of ''

Araucaria cunninghamii ''Araucaria cunninghamii'' is a species of ''Araucaria'' known as hoop pine. Other less commonly used names include colonial pine, Queensland pine, Dorrigo pine, Moreton Bay pine and Richmond River pine. The scientific name honours the botanist a ...

'', and can be easily handled without dying or becoming inactive, making it a good biocontrol for use in plantations. Although they are less interested in other trees – by many multiples – they do hunt the same pests in

custard apple Custard apple is a common name for several fruits and may refer to Annonaceae, the custard apple family, which includes the following species referred to as custard apples: *''Annona cherimola'', a tree and fruit also called cherimoya *''Annona ...

and

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

plantations.

General and cited references

* Chako, M.K., P. Bhatt, L.V. Rao, A. Deepak Singh, M.B.E.P. Ramnarayana and K. Sreedharan, 1978. "The use of the lady bird beetle (''Cryptolaemus montrouzieri'' Mulsant) for the control of coffee mealybug". 'Journal of Coffee Research'' 8: 14–19 * Crowe, A. ''Which New Zealand Insect?''. Auckland, N.Z.: Penguin Books, 2002. p. 47 * Gordon, Robert D. (1985). "The Coccinellidae (Coleoptera) of America North of Mexico", ''Journal of the New York Entomological Society'', vol. 93, no. 1 * Korschefsky, R. / Schenkling, S., ed. (1931) Coccinellidae I, Coleopterorum Catalogus, Pars 118 * Mineo, G., 1967. "''Cryptolaemus montrouzieri'', Observations on morphology and bionomics". ''Bulletin of the Institute of Entomology and Agriculture'' 6: 99–143. * Murthy, M.S., 1982. ''Studies on the biology and habits of ''Cryptolaemus montrouzieri'' Mulsant (Coccinellidae: Coleoptera)''. MSc (Agriculture) Thesis, Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University, Hyderabad, India. * Ramesh, T., BabuK. M. Azam. "Biology of ''Cryptolaemus montrouzieri'' Mulsant occinellidae: Coleopterain relation with temperature". ''Entomophaga'' (1987) 32: 381. * Ślipiński, A. "Australian Ladybird Beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) Their biology and classification". ''Australian Biological Resources'', 2007, p. 94.

Citations

External links

Picture gallery
at www.brisbaneinsects.com—includes images of ''C. montrouzieri'' larva preying on sap-sucking bugs
Bug Guide

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2401586 Beetles described in 1850 Beetles of Australia Beetles of New Zealand Coccinellidae Taxa named by Étienne Mulsant