John Losey
Associate Professor of Entomology at Cornell University
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Over the
past twenty years several native species of coccinellids (aka
ladybugs) that were once very common have become extremely rare.
During this same time several ladybug species from other places have
greatly increased both their numbers and range. Besides being
incredibly cool and charismatic ladybugs are also essential predators
in both farms and forests that keep us from being overrun with pests
(like aphids and mealybugs). In many areas the native ladybugs are
being replaced by exotic ones. This has happened very quickly |
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and we
don't know how this shift happened, what impact it will have (e.g.,
will the exotic species be able to control pests as well as our
familiar native ones always have?) and how we can prevent more native
species from becoming so rare. My research in insect conservation biology focuses on the assessment of the current status of both native and exotic lady beetles and the determination of the impact of recent trends in the composition of lady beetle species (e.g. a higher proportion of exotic species and individuals) on the ability of this group to suppress pest populations. To be able to help these and other ladybug species scientists need to have detailed information on which species are still out there and how many individuals are around. Entomologists at Cornell can identify the different species but there are too few of us to sample in enough places to find the really rare ones. We are developing a citizen science program to teach the public about the importance of biodiversity and conservation and to recruit them in our search for rare ladybugs. For more information see our Lost Ladybugs website. |