A 13-YEAR SURVEY OF THE APHIDOPHAGOUS COCCINELLIDAE IN MAIZE FIELDS IN EASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA

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Abstract
Coccinellids are a conspicuous group of aphidophagous predators in maize, Zea mays L., in the Northern Great Plains of the United States. Numerous studies have been conducted on the ecology of coccinellids in maize in North America (Ewert and Chiang 1966a, 1966b; Smith 1971; Foott 1973; Wright and Laing 1980; Corderre and Tourneur 1986; Corderre et al. 1987). However, there have been few long-term surveys of coccinellids in maize. Foott (1973) reported on the abundance of coccinellid species inhabiting maize in eastern Canada over a 4-year period; no surveys of this type have been reported for the Northern Great Plains. We sampled coccinellids in maize fields at three sites in eastern South Dakota for 13 consecutive years to determine the species inhabiting the crop and levels of variation in their abundances among sites and years.