Cook Islands Biodiversity Database

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Cryptolaemus montrouzieri

Mealybug Ladybird

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Mealybug Ladybird

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Australia - s.Asia; EXOTIC EXOTIC N.America - Caribbean, Pacific, incl. Cooks

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native, or Introduced - Recent?, Naturalised; Land, horticultural

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Biocontrol - released 1939

KEY FEATURES: Ladybird to 4.5mmBL. HEAD under pronotum, yellowish-brown. PRONOTUM pale hairs, yellowish-brown. WING-COVER each dark green with pale hairs and yellowish-brown patch at rear (=apex). LARVAE white, spiky, mealybug-mimic; and it feeds on mealybugs.

Enlarged Image of 'Cryptolaemus montrouzieri'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
++

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Cryptolaemus montrouzieri Mulsant, 1853
SYNONYMS: Cryptolaemus montrousieri [original mis-spelling]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; ARTHROPODA; ATELOCERATA; HEXAPODA; INSECTA; PTERYGOTA; Coleoptera; COCCINELLIDAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
POSITIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Biocontrol - released 1939. Comments: Introduced from New Zealand to the Cook Islands 1939, for control of Mealybugs (Pseudococcus spp.). Possibly established prior to this release (1935 and probably earlier). (W&D79)

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: specimen, Avatiu, 1977/Dec, Krauss, in BPBM ID G.A.Samuelson 1978; specimen+photo, 1999, BESO #562, with ID as Epilachna vigintioctopunctata;

References:
Special Reference: W&D79

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zD02, zupD05b

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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