STATUS AND SPREAD OF THE PALEARCTIC LADY BEETLES HIPPODAMIA VARIEGATAAND PROPYLEA-QUATUORDECIMPUNCTATA (COLEOPTERA, COCCINELLIDAE) IN PENNSYLVANIA, 1993-1995

The adventive lady beetles Hippodamia variegata and Propylea quatuorde cimpunctata were detected in Pennsylvania in 1992 and 1993, respective ly. Surveys of these aphid predators were conducted during 1993-1996 t o document their westward dispersion from counties bordering on the De laware River; their distribution in eastern Pennsylvania is mapped for the first three seasons. Twelve coccinelline Coccinellidae, both indi genous and nonindigenous species, were col lected during the first thr ee seasons; the number of sites at which each was found is recorded. O ur surveys document explosive colonization of the state by Harmonica a xyridis, corroborate evidence of a precipitous decline in numbers of C occinella novemnotata in much of eastern North America, and support th e idea that Hippodamia convergens is no longer a dominant coccinellid in herbaceous habitats in the northeastern states.