Global Advanced Research Journal of Microbiology Vol. 1(2) pp. 027-032, March, 2012 Available online http://www.garj.org(garjm) Copyright © 2012 Global Advanced Research Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Polymorphism of Adalia bipunctata Mulsant (Col.: Coccinellidae) in Center of Iran

Zare, M. 1 ,R. Jafari 2*, L. Dehghan Dehnavi 3, S.Javan1

1.Department of Entomology, Fars Science and Research Branch,Islamic Azad University,Fars Province, Marvdasht ,Iran,

2. Islamic Azad University, Boroujerd Branch, Faculty of Agriculture Science, Boroujerd, Iran. 3.Department of Entomology,Islamic Azad University,Arak

Accepted 12 Mach, 2012

In this study the polymorphism in elytra coloration pattern in two spotted ladybird Adalia bipunctata (Col.:Coccinellidae) was studied during 2009-2010 in Mehriz region(Yazd province, Iran). A. bipunctata has different color morphs and shows great variation of pattern. The polymorphism exhibited by the two-spotted ladybird in which specimens have a red ground color and black spots (the typical morphs) or a black ground color with red spots (the melanic morphs) is a well known phenomenon. Altogether 17 morphs of A. bipunctata were collected and identified. External characters plus characteristics of the male and female genitalia were used in order to diagnose. Polymorphism of A. bipunctata was recorded for the first time from this region. A. bipunctata was predator of aphids, pseducos and psyllids on fruit trees. Some morphs of A. bipunctata were also sent to Dr.Helmut fursch in Germany for identification or confirmation. The Our results of this study show that 17 different morphs of A. bipunctata existed in the area. Keywords: Adalia bipunctata, polymorphism,

INTRODUCTION Ladybird beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) are known to be voracious predators of plant pests such as aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) (Hodek 1973; Gordon 1985). Coccinellids, the most widespread and abundant predator in many agricultural regions, are known to have the strongest impact on aphid species(Hodeck $ Honek, 1996).

Color polymorphism, consisting of the presence of dark (melanic) and light (non-melanic) forms, in *Corresponding author E-mail: jafari_po@yahoo.com

populations of a species, are widespread in several insect taxa including moths, ladybeetles, spittlebugs, hoverflies, bumble bees and beetles.

Two-spotted ladybird beetles Adalia bipunctata is an example where the whole complex of problems has been shown in a single species. Populations of A.bipunctata has polymorphism. In principle, part of the population has a predominantly dark design (dark forms), while the other part has a design consisting only of individual spots (light forms).(Hodek, 1973). Individuals of this species with length 3.80 to 5.00mm,witdth 2.90 to 3.70mm. and dorsal color pattern highly variable. The two-spotted ladybird shows color polymorphism; a number of

028 Glo. Adv. Res. J. Microbiol. genetically distinct morph exist(Majerus, 1994), which can be classified broadly into those that are predominantly black with red spots (melanics), and those that are red with black spots (non-melanics). They can be black with usually 4 or 6 red spots, called melanic morph, or red with two black spots, called non-melanic (De Jong and Brakefield, 1998).

The frequency with which the various morphs occurs varies geographically, and has been described by clines (Benham et al., 1974; Muggleton et al., 1975; Brakefield, 1984a).

The clinal variation has been the subject of study in a number of countries, and several selection pressures have been proposed to influence the relative fitness of the color morphs, and hence their relative frequency (for a review, see Majerus, 1994)

The variable color pattern and wide distribution of A. bipunctata have caused several names to be proposed by a variety of authors, both American and European. The synonymy listed here is not complete, see Leng (1920) and Korschef sky (1932), for a complete synonymy(Gordon, 1985).

One hypothesis to explain these differences involves the thermal biology of the beetles. A black surface absorbs radiation (including sunlight) more efficiently, so the melanic ladybirds can warm up faster and reach higher body temperatures. When sunshine is limiting for ladybird activity, the black ones may have a thermal selective advantage (de Jong, Gussekloo and Brakefield, 1996).

More recently, the local differences in frequency of color morphs have become less pronounced. This could be possible because of the climate change (de Jong and Brakefield, 1998).

A visual polymorphism exists in A. bipunctata (two-spotted ladybird) in which there are a number of morphs for the pattern and color of the elytra and pronotum. These morphs are under the control of at least II alleles at a single locus, and the elytral color patterns range from black with two red spots (sublunata) to all red (impunctata). The black forms (melanics) are dominant to the red forms (non-melanics) (Lusis, 1928, 1932). In Europe the most frequent melanic morphs are 4-maculata and 6-pustulata (black with four and six red spots, respectively) and the commonest nonmelanic is typical (red with two black spots). Nearly all populations are polymorphic. In the British Isles the percentage of melanics in

populations varies geographically, and exceeds 90 per cent in Manchester and Glasgow

(Bishop, Cook and Muggleton, 1978; Creed, 1971). It seems probable that a number of factors are responsible for maintaining the polymorphism (Muggleton, 1978) and that a major factor determining the frequency of melanics is their more efficient absorption of solar radiation, resulting in a relatively greater activity (Lusis, 1961; Muggleton, Lonsdale and Benham,

1975). Creed (1971, 1975) however, has argued against the dominating

importance of heat absorption and has suggested that the melanics are more tolerant of air pollution. MATERIALS AND METHODS The ladybird beetle A. bipunctata typically has six elytral color morphs Adults of A. bipunctata were collected from April, 2009 to Septamber,2010 on Walnut, Apricot, Pomegranate, Peach and alfalfa in Mehriz region. The morphs of each male and female founded. The ladybird beetle A.bipunctata typically has 17 elytral color morphs. The study was conducted to collect difference morphs of A. bipunctata from 5 localities at different altitudes (from 1420 to 2420 m) in the Mehriz region. Each locality was repeatedly sampled throughout 18 month (from April,2009 to September, 2010). Samples were collected from a wide variety of terrestrial habitat throughout in each locality to ensure that the overall landscape of that locality was represented. Adult specimens were collected with a standard sweeping net and a hand-held aspirator. In some localities more then one method was used for insect collection. Adult insects collected from various habitats were killed in a cyanide bottle and pinned. Each specimen was tagged with the information about host plants, locality, and date. To protect the specimens from the insect pests, naphthalene tablets were added to collection boxes. Immature stages were collected directly from the habitats and preserved in 70% ethyl alcohol in bottles. Each bottle was labeled with information of host, area and date from which it was collected. The Mehriz region is divided into five regions.

The present study was undertaken to explore and prepare an inventory of the difference morphs of A. bipunctata, found at different

Zare et al. 029

Figure 1 Locations of A. bipunctata collected in the Mehriz region, Iran

altitudes in Mehriz region at 31° 04' 34" to 31° 57' 25"N latitude and at 54° 13' 01" to 54° 55' 07" E longitude (Figure 1).

This covers an area of 6,700 km², while the total cultivated area was 14,000 hectares. Wheat, alfalfa, pistachio, almond, pomegranate, walnut, apricot and peach are the major crops. The climate of Mehriz is temperate. The whole Mehriz region has many rare species of flora and fauna. The goal of this paper is study the polymorphism in elytral coloration pattern in A. bipunctata Coccinellids (Col.: Coccinellidae) in the Mehriz region. Identification of Specimens The collected Ladybirds were taken to laboratory. The adult species A.bipunctata were carefully studied for all details under binocular microscope. The insects were separated into different morphs with the help of available keys. The insects, which could not be identified in the

laboratory were sent to Dr.Helmut fursch in Germany(Ladybird specialist). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The 2-spotted ladybird A. bipunctata occurred abundantly in the sampling sites. Seventeen different clearly separable color pattern morphs of A. bipunctata were observed and identified from the Mehriz region, Iran .A. bipunctata and seventeen morphs identified were recorded for the first time from Mehriz region. According to the background pigmentation and the spots on the elytra, these 17 morphs can be categorized as follows:

1) Black, separated 4 red-spotted: The wing case has black background with 2 red spots on each wing case. Legs and underside of abdomen are black and each elytron have two red markings . The first red marking is at the forward angle and second is central of elytron.

2) Black, separated 4 red-spotted:

030 Glo. Adv. Res. J. Microbiol.

Elytral Coloration Polymorph in A.bipunctata

Fig. 2 . Elytra1 color patterns of A. bipunctata a-q.

The wing case has black background with 2 red spots on each wing case. Each elytron have two red markings. The first red marking is large and at the upper part of elytron and second is central of elytron.

3) Black, separated 4 red-spotted: The wing casings has black background with

2 red spots on each wing case. Each elytron have two red markings. The first red marking is

upper part of elytron and this spot is large, black and has a cycle-shape halo in center and second is central of elytron.

4)Black, separated 4 pale red - spotted: The wing case has black background with pale red spots on each wing case. Each elytron have two red markings. The first red marking is

irregular,large and at the upper part of eleytron and second is central of elytron. Pronotum white with black spots, a black m-mark.

5) Black, separated 4 red-spotted: The wing casings has black background with 2 red spots on each wing case. Each elytron have two red markings. The first red marking is ring shape at the upper part of elytron and second is central of elytron.

6) Red, separated 2 black-spotted: The wing case with red back ground and there is a small black spots on each wing case. The red marking is at the upper part of elytron. Pronotum white with black spots, a black m-mark.

7) Red, separated 2 black-spotted: The wing case with red background and there is a single black spot on middle of each elytron, around spot yellow and has a cycle-shape halo. Pronotum white with black spots, a black m-mark.

8)Pale red, separated 10 black-spotted: The wing casings has pale red background with 5 black spots on each wing case and there is a single black spot on middle of each elytron and there are 4 pale black marking around of spot. Pronotum white with black spots, a black m-mark.

9) Pale red, separated 4 black-spotted: The wing casings has pale red background with 4 black spots on each wing case and there is a single black spot on middle of each elytron and there is a pale black marking around of spot. Pronotum white with black spots, a black m-mark.

10) Red, separated 2 black-spotted: It is Typically red with two black spots. There is a single black spot on middle of each elytron. Pronotum white with black spots, a black m-mark.

11) Pale red, separated 2 eyed black -spotted: The wing case with 2 pale red background and there is a single eyed black spot in the middle of each elytron. Pronotum white with black spots, a black m-mark.

12) Pale red, separated 10 eyed black -spotted: The wing case with pale red background with 5 eyed black spots on each wing case and five eyed black markings on wing case concentrated front of elytron. Pronotum white with black spots, a black m-mark.

13)White, separated 10 black-spotted: The wing case has white background and there are 5 black spots on each wing case. The first black marking

Zare et al. 031 is at the forward angle and second, third, fourth and fifth are central and toward of eleytron. Pronotum white with black spots, a black m-mark.

14)White, separated 16 black-spotted: The wing case has white background and there are 8 black spots on each wing case. Pronotum white with black spots, a black m-mark.

15)White, separated 10 black-spotted: The wing case has white background and there are 5 black spots on each wing case. The first and second black spots are at the front and third, fourth and fifth are central of elytron. Pronotum white with black spots, a black m-mark.

16)White, separated 4 black-spotted: The wing case has white background and there are 2 black spots on each wing case. The first red spot is at the forward angle and second is central of elytron Pronotum white with black spots, a black m-mark.

17)Pale red, separated 4 black-spotted: The wing case has white background and there are 2 black spots on each wing case. The first and second black spots are front of elytron. Pronotum white with black spots, a black m-mark. CONCLUSION The Our results of this study show that 17 different morphs of A. bipunctata existed in the area. The present study was the first attempt to describe the polymorphism in A. bipunctata in Mehriz region. The object of this study was to explore, identify and prepare inventory of A. bipunctata morphs in the Mehriz region. Although the present paper makes a good contribution to our knowledge of 2-spotted ladybird morphs in Iran, which will be helpful for the future researchers working on A .bipunctata polymorphism of this region. The data are not very extensive Accordingly, pigmentation variations of the A. bipunctatain Mehriz region should be studied in detail in the future. Although color polymorphism in this ladybird is inherited polygenically (Majerus, 1998), The genetic basis and the pattern of inheritance of polymorphism in Mehriz region populations should be studied, because the genetic control of the inherited traits in geographically separated populations is expected to differ due to various effects of evolutionary influences.

032 Glo. Adv. Res. J. Microbiol. REFERENCES Benham BR, Lonsdale D, Muggleton J (1974). Is

polymorphism in two-spot ladybird an example of non-industrial melanism. Nature, 249: 179-180.

Bishop JA, Cook LM, Muggleton J (1978). The response of two species of moths to industrialisation in north west England. I. Polymorphism for melanism. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B, 281, 489-515.

Brakefield PM (1984). Ecological studies on the polymorphic ladybird Adalia bipunctata in The Netherlands. I. Population biology and geographical variation of melanism. Jour. Anim. Ecol. 53:761-774.

Creed EK (1971). Melanism in the two-spot ladybird, Adalia bipunctata, in Great Britain. In Ecological Genetics and Evolution, ed. E. R. Creed, pp. 134-151. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.

Creed E (1975). Melanism in the two-Spot ladybird: the nature and intensity of selection. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B, 190, 135-148.

Dejong PW, Brakefield PM (1998) Climate and Change in Clines for Melanism in the Two-Spot Ladybird Adalia bipunctata (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae). Biological Sciences, Proc. R. Soc. London series B 265, 39-43. 93:1-912.

De Jong PW, Gussekloo SW, Brakefield PM (1996). Differences in thermal balance, body temperature and activity between non-melanic and melanic two-spot ladybird beetles (Adalia bipunctata) under controlled conditions. J. Exp. Biol. 199,2655-2666.

Gordon RD, (1985).The Coccinellidae (Coleoptera) of

America North of Mexico.Jou.New York Entomol.Soc. 93:1-912.

Hodek I (1973). Biology of Coccinellidae. Czechoslovak. Academy of Science Prague, 260pp..

Korschefsky R (1931). Coleopterorum Catalogus . Pars 118 .Coccinellidae .l. Berlin, 224pp.

Lusis JJ (1961). On the biological meaning of color polymorphism of lady beetle Adalia bipunctata L. Latvia Entomologist 4, 3–29.

Majerus MEN (1994). Ladybirds (New Naturalist Series). London: HarperCollins. 359pp.

Majerus MEN (1998). Melanism. Evolution in Action. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press. xiii 338 pp.

Muggleton J, Lonsdale D, Benham BR (1975). Melanism in Adalia bipunctata L. (Col., Coccinellidae) and its relationship to atmospheric pollution. J appl Ecol, 12, 451-464.

Muggleton, J. 1978. Selection against the melanic morphs of Adalia bipunctata (two-spot ladybird): a review and some new data. Heredity, 40,269-280.