#Coccinella septempunctata in garden skin#

septempunctata develop into light orange pupae at high temperatures and dark-brown or blackish ones at low temperatures ( Majerus and Kearns, 1989). The colour of the pupa is variable in some species and C. This stage is not completely immobile because it is able to raise and lower the fore region in response to perceived danger ( Majerus and Kearns, 1989). At 20☌, the pupal stage lasts for 8.4 days.

#Coccinella septempunctata in garden skin#

The final larval skin of the pre-pupa sheds right back to the point of attachment. The tip of the abdomen is attached to the plant substrate it is immobile and hunched. The fourth instar larva does not feed for at least 24 hours pre pupation. Rhoades (1996) published a key to the first and second instars that does not rely on colour patterns of live larvae, rather the relative placement and characteristics of the prominent setae on the tergum of the abdomen. One hundred and thirty-four to two hundred and fifty individuals of S. Larvae reared at 23☒☌ and LD 16:8 on Acyrthosiphon pisum required an average of 13.1 days to complete development, compared to 16 days on Rhopalosiphum maidis ( Obrycki and Orr, 1990). Prey density, temperature ( Majerus and Kearns, 1989) and prey species ( Obrycki and Orr, 1990) can affect the length of the larval stage. There are three moults and four larval instars. The fluid from their gut is regurgitated into the aphid allowing some pre-digestion before the body fluid of the aphid is sucked in. The larvae suck body fluid from aphids and as they grow, they will also eat legs and antennae. They eat the egg shells, those of neighbouring larvae and any infertile eggs. The larvae remain on the eggs for approximately 1 day post egg hatch. pruni in the field ( Varvara et al., 1982). septempunctata pair was 284 and 524, respectively, feeding on Hyalopterus pruni and Schizaphis graminum under laboratory conditions, compared with 213 eggs/pair on H. Eggs take approximately 4 days to hatch, although increasing ambient temperature reduces the length of the egg stage at 15☌ eggs take 10.3 days to hatch, compared to 1.8 days at 35☌ ( Majerus and Kearns, 1989). septempunctata, like most ladybird species, fix their eggs at one end so they are in an upright position.

The eggs are elongate, oval and laid on plants, often near to prey. septempunctata passes through three stages: egg, larva and pupa, to develop into an adult.