The Asian Lady Beetle (Harmonia Axyridis) is an invasive species to North American and other part of the world. It outcompetes other lady beetle species and is negatively impacting native beetle species’ population. Its toxic hemolymph makes it less desirable to birds and other predatory insect. Its characteristic of swarming and molting can cause allergies in humans. H. Axyridis has some natural predators and there may be some solutions to prevent its unchecked growth.
3 The Asian Lady Beetle (Harmonia Axyridis) is an invasive species to the United States. It was introduced to the United States in 1988 by the USDA to combat agricultural pests such as aphids. 4 (Labrie, et al. 2006) However, H. Axyridis began to overtake domestic insects and became a pest itself. Overtime, the H.…show more content… Axyridis is able to compete successfully against other species of lady beetles by maturing faster and eating more. It also occasionally engages in predation and cannibalism of other beetle larvae. In addition, the presence of Isopropyl Methoxy Pyrazine in its hemolymph ensures that it is not attractive to birds and other insects as prey (Rhule et al 2006). This confers a biological advantage to H. Axyridis that allows it to spread and dominate as an invasive species.
There are some biological methods of managing the spread of H. Axyridis. The usage of parasitic mites and natural predators such as wasps has shown promise. Pesticides can be used, but can be more potentially damaging than beneficial to the ecosystems that H. Axyridis inhabit. Therefore, increased cultivation of the Braconid Wasp may be more desirable.
H. Axyridis is not leaving the United States or the rest of the world anytime soon. However, it can be mitigated to be less of an ecological concern. Using its natural predator, the Braconid Wasp can help in that goal. Over time, H. Axyridis will be absorbed into the ecosystems that it has invaded and other organisms will adapt. For now, perhaps the Braconid Wasp can
