Ladybird
Ladybug beetles are the most prominent of which are frequently small gardens. Their color can vary from bright red to black. Some may have stains, some may have stripes while others lack them. They prefer to feed on aphids so they act as powerful agents of biological control. Since the abundance of aphids and ladybugs at risk face a number of challenges to their survival. When the aphid population decline question of staying alive becomes more intense. intraspecific and interspecific competition increases. Cannibalism is very common among ladybirds and may help their survival to some extent, in the absence of aphids.
Cannibalism is the act of killing and eating whole or part of an individual belonging to the same species. It is an alternative measure of survival when food is essential is lacking. Cannibalism was first studied by Fox and mammals is now known to be very common occurrence in ten insect orders. Ladybugs do not hesitate to devour the eggs, young larvae in the absence of aphids. Cannibalism does not mean that a dead person can be consumed. The newly hatched larvae tend to look for food and when that did not get their regular food, aphids, the eggs will cannibalize conspecifics nearby. Eggs are nutritious, rich source of protein, containing yolk can be easily consumed by newly hatched larvae. A ladybug larva can transform from one phase to the next stage of cannibalizing the eggs, but its growth period is prolonged.
When a larva feed on aphids tends to complete its development as soon as possible and before the collapse of the population of aphids. It was shown that the ladybugs all larval stages, males and females consume eggs, when the prevailing scarcity of aphids. Ladybugs prefer to cannibalize the eggs of the same species, rather than eggs of other species. Ladybugs female recognize their own eggs because of their smell of eggs and tend to consume the eggs of other female conspecifics.
When the aphid population collapses increases competition among larvae. The larvae are under intense pressure to stay alive. To complete the development and transformation into an adult, the larva removes all their potential competitors of cannibalism. It ‘s interesting to note that one always prefers to cannibalize a larva larva larva-brother instead of a sibling. Eat a larva is not an adequate diet. The development period is prolonged and the weight gained by larvae is also not satisfactory. Cannibalism is fundamentally dependent on density. When the density of individuals increases the chances of cannibalism also increase. Bigger and stronger larva eats the smallest and the larva lean easily stay afloat.
pupa cannibalism has also been recorded in ladybirds. Hungry beetle larvae also eat the prepupae, pupae and newly emerged adults in the absence of basic foods. But this kind of cannibalism needs further investigation.
food shortages, increased density of individuals, the body size of the individual are the main factors are responsible for the presence of cannibalism in ladybirds. The basic question of cannibalism is to increase the chances of survival in the battle of hunger.







































