Alien vs. Predator - the native lacewing Chrysoperla carnea is the superior intraguild predator in trials against the invasive ladybird Harmonia axyridis

The alien invasive ladybird Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) (Coleoptera Coccinellidae) is a biological control agent of aphids and in the larval stage it is a very voracious and superior intraguild predator over most native ladybirds studied, except the large species Anatis ocellata (L.). We report the first aphidophagous insect - lacewing Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens) (Neuroptera Chrysopidae) - which is a superior intraguild predator, despite its smaller size, over the aggressive invasive ladybird H. axyridis in larval stage. We also observed high survival rate of hoverfly larvae Episyrphus balteatus (De Geer) and Epistrophe eligans (Harris) (Diptera Syrphidae), when exposed to ladybird larvae. Ladybird larvae were killed by lacewing larvae, individually paired in an empty Petri dish without food and water, in 50% of the cases when second instar larvae of both species were tested, in 94% of the cases with third instar larvae, and in 52% of the cases when third instar larvae of the lacewing were paired with much heavier fourth instar ladybird larvae. Larvae of the hoverflies E. balteatus were partially (27% of cases) and E. eligans strongly (76% of cases) protected against intraguild predation (= were not killed during experiment) by H. axyridis, but they never killed ladybird larvae. These results suggest that high biological diversity could be retained in crops and natural habitats, with possible synergistic effects on pests.