The genus Harmonia (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae) in the Middle East region
Biranvand Amir, Nedvěd Oldřich, Tomaszewska Wioletta, Al Ansi Amin N., Fekrat Lida, Haghghadam Zahra Majob, Khormizi Mehdi Zare, Noorinahad Sara, Şenal Derya, Shakarami Jahanshir, Haelewaters Danny
Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 59(1): 163-170, 2019
Published online: 17th April 2019
Published in print: 10th August 2019
Views: 1372
Abstract: he harlequin ladybird, Harmonia axyridis (Pallas, 1773), is native to Asia but
has been introduced to many countries, both intentionally and unintentionally.
In the Middle East region, H. axyridis was so far only known from Iran and
Turkey. This study reports H. axyridis for the first time from a country with a
hot desert climate, Saudi Arabia. The single specimen that was found is most
likely the result of unintentional release. Successful spreading of H. axyridis
in Saudi Arabia will be limited because of high temperatures during summer and
scarcity of prey (aphids). New records from Iran and Turkey suggest fast
spreading of H. axyridis in these parts of the Middle East. In addition, we also
present new records from Iran and Turkey for H. quadripunctata (Pontoppidan,
1763), the other species in the genus that occurs in the Middle East region.
A key and illustrations are provided for both species.
Key words: Coccinellidae, distribution, hot desert climate, morphology, non-native species