Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods) ➔ Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods) ➔ Class Insecta (Insects) ➔ Order Coleoptera (Beetles) ➔ Family Coccinellidae (Ladybirds)

Novius cardinalis (Mulsant, 1850)

Vedalia Beetle

Synonyms and other combinations:

Vedalia cardinalis Mulsant, 1850 | Rodolia aegyptiaca Sicard, 1907 | Rodolia cardinalis (Mulsant, 1850) |

  • Rodolia cardinalis  2690
    Novius cardinalis (Mulsant, 1850)    Vedalia Beetle 
    Rodolia cardinalis
    ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma; 2009-03-27 11:16:11
    Image number: 2690

    ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma
    2009-03-27 11:16:11

  • Rodolia cardinalis  2691
    Novius cardinalis (Mulsant, 1850)    Vedalia Beetle 
    Rodolia cardinalis
    ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma; 2009-03-27 11:13:53
    Image number: 2691

    ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma
    2009-03-27 11:13:53

  • Rodolia cardinalis  2682
    Novius cardinalis (Mulsant, 1850)    Vedalia Beetle 
    Rodolia cardinalis, det. Gerhard Katschak
    ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma; 2007-03-12 12:15:18
    Image number: 2682

    ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma
    2007-03-12 12:15:18
    det. Gerhard Katschak

Further vernacular names:
Cardinal Ladybird
Distribution:
Originally native to Australia, the ladybird Novius cardinalis, which is used for biological pest control, has spread to almost all continents (except Antarctis).
Habitat:
Citrus orchards and other areas where Cottony Cushion Scales (Icerya purchasi) are found.
Description:
Body length 2 - 4 mm; upper side shortly hairy; head and rear part of the pronotum black; wing covers red with black spots, rarely only red; legs black with brown tarsi; antennae brown.
Biology:
Both larvae and imagines of the Vedalia Beetle (Novius cardinalis) feed predatory on scale insects. The main prey is the Cotony Cusion Scale (Icerya purchasi), for whose biological control the ladybird species was first successfully used in citrus plantations towards the end of the 19th century.
Novius cardinalis is a multivoltine species that can develop up to 12 generations per year under optimal conditions. Under laboratory conditions the development time from egg to adult beetle was determined. This was only 18 - 19 days at 26 °C. At 14 °C the development period was significantly longer with 79 days.


References, further reading, links:
  1. de Jong, Y.S.D.M. (ed.) (2013) Fauna Europaea version 2.6.2 Web Service available online at https://fauna-eu.org/
  2. E.E. Grafton-Cardwell, P. Gu, G.H. Montez: Effects of temperature on development of vedalia beetle, Rodolia cardinalis (Mulsant), Biological Control 32 (2005) 473–478.