Title: Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae): Smelling the rat in native ladybird declines
Abstract:of the effects of H. axyridis on other coccinellids is generally bleak.This negative view has exerted an infl uence on the general public, often via the press (e.g., Roy et al., 2006), and on policy m...of the effects of H. axyridis on other coccinellids is generally bleak.This negative view has exerted an infl uence on the general public, often via the press (e.g., Roy et al., 2006), and on policy makers (Ehlers, 2011;Klapwijk, 2013).Gozlan et al. (2013) found that of fi ve non-native species, H. axyridis was the most researched in Britain, although it was assessed by them as only the third-ranked ecological threat.All these observations argue for the best possible assessment of the threat posed by H. axyridis.In this paper, I argue that the picture painted is too bleak.To illustrate this point, I look at one case of an H. axyridis-associated native ladybird decline in detail, that of the 2-spot ladybird, Adalia bipunctata (L.).This species is often argued to be most at threat from H. axyridis.IRead More