ADAPTIVE FEATURES OF THE PREDATORY LADYBIRD BEETLES IN UNCERTAIN AND COMPETITIVE HABITATS

The predatory species of ladybird beetles forage in habitats where aph id colonies show a patchy distribution in space and time. In an uncert ain environment the numerical response of the females to aphid density suffers from unstable food source and sharing of the habitat by diffe rent ladybird species. As a result, the reproductive effort of a preda tory ladybird species is threatened by the intraspecific and interspec ific competitions. It is imperative that ladybird species should synch ronize their reproduction and development of progeny with phenology of prey populations in order to overcome the risks of their habitats. Th is paper brings together the results of several studies to present an account of the adaptive mechanisms evolved by the predatory species of ladybirds to cope with the risks inherent in their life cycle.