General Information

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: RANGE worldwide COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Naturalised?; Land, horticultural SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Biocontrol - released 19?? KEY FEATURES: Deep red ladybird with black markings to 4mmBL. HEAD black. PRONOTUM hairy, black with some red-brown to red with black hind-margin. WING-COVER (each) hairy, red-brown with black margin dorsal, rear and sides to bar; 4 black spots - dorsally 1 semicircle on edge, central-forward 1 lunar, and central-posterior 2 fused into a bar.

Cook Islands Distribution

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

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW

Rodolia cardinalis (Mulsant, 1850)
SYNONYMS: Vedalia cardinalis; Novius cardinalis; Eurodolia cardinalis; Macronovius cardinalis

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

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
POSITIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Biocontrol - released 19??. Comments: Introduced to the Cook Islands, for control of Icerya seychellarum. Known to be established Aitutaki, low numbers on Rarotonga. (W&D79)

GENERAL NOTE: LADYBUG/LADYBIRD,The name originated in the Middle Ages, when the beetle was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and called "beetle of Our Lady."

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: UN-SPEC7974; Auckland Museum37; specimen, location?, 6/2004, Al Samuelson, ID 12/2004 list as Rodolia cardinalis. Aitutaki:DSIR60s;

References:
Special Reference: W&D79

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM05b, zD02

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