Analysis of the aggregation behavior in the larvae of Harmonia axyridisPallas (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) to prey colony

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Abstract
Summary: The searching and handling behaviors of Harmonia axyridis larvae to the colony of Rhopalosiphum padi were experimentally examined and the processes of their aggregation to the prey colony was analyzed.All the instar larvae searched for the prey at random and they have no preference to the prey colony, but except the 1st instar they tend to aggregate to the plants with prey colonies. The 1st instar larvae tend to stay on the plants they once located. The 2nd to 4th instar larvae often emigrate from the plants without prey colony but seldom emigrate from the plants with prey colonies, and consequently, they aggregate to the plants with prey colonies. The expense of time to eat prey (in the 2nd and 3rd instars) and the change of searching behavior for the prey after feeding (in the 3rd and 4th instars) are responsible for the larval concentration to prey colony as a trapping effect for predators to prey colony.