SEASONAL DISTRIBUTION AND AERIAL MOVEMENT OF ADULT COCCINELLIDS ON FARMLAND

Seasonal and spatial aspects of coccinellid populations were studied o n Rothamsted farm using a network of sticky traps in 1991 and 1992. Se asonal aerial population dynamics of Coccinella septempunctata and Pro pylea quatuordecimpunctata were similar in both years, but the populat ion size of the former was smaller in 1992. The seasonal population dy namics of Adalia bipunctata differed between the two years with a much larger population in 1992. All the species showed aggregated distribu tions on the farm, but A. bipunctata was the most strongly aggregated in both years. The study indicated that C. septempunctata was less dis criminating in its use of habitats for feeding and breeding than were A. bipunctata and P. quatuordecimpunctata which mainly exploited non-c rop habitats along hedgerows and grass banks.