At the University of Georgia, researchers have studied invasive ladybugs and developed new models to help explain how these particular insects have spread so quickly, as well as their impact on native species. In the past couple of years, people have begun to notice increasingly numbers of ladybugs accumulating in their homes around fall. These are no ordinary ladybugs, but Asian lady beetles. These insects are native to eastern Asia, however they were introduced to the United States as a biocontrol for aphids and have sine spread throughout the country and Canada. Assistant Research Scientist Richard Hall, of the UGA Odum School of Ecology was motivated to learn more about these creatures when he found them swarming in his own home. Hall knew that the Asian lady beetle had arrived to his native England in 2004, and it was already found all over the U.K.--data collected showed this to be one of the fastest documented invasions ever by an insect. He also knew that in the United States the beetle had excluded indigenous ladybugs from parts of their original range. Hall has published two papers in the journals Biology Letters and Ecology, that discuss how this insect could have invaded the U.K. so quickly and the impacts on the native species. Hall states that the qualities that make this insect a goos biocontrol also makes it a good invader. Meaning because it has multiple generations per year, tolerates wide ranges of environmental conditions, and has a died of aphids and other ladybugs--"it eats its own competition."
This article was very interesting, for the past 2 years ladybugs have been infesting either at my own house or in my dorm room on campus and I have always wondered why there numbers kept increasing. This article also shows that although it can be beneficial to introduce a new species into a new environment to take care of a problem, we must be willing to live with the ramifications of our decisions, and in this case infestation. Also, people don't normally think or care about something like this, believing that it will have no serious impact on there lives and in fact it does.
Image Credit: courtesy of University of Georgia
ScienceDaily April 1st 2011
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This topic relates back to class with the concept of niches. Hall explains that when an invader expands into an open niche, with no native competitors present, invasion happens faster than if a competitor was already there; native competitors slow the rate of invasion. If the invader can also eat its competition as well, it not only gains another food source but it also reduces its numbers for other food resources. Furthermore, if said food resource is a rich source of nutrition, the invader can then multiply faster and completely destroy its competition altogether. it becomes a battle for survival, between the invading Asian lady beetles against the common ladybugs. This is also the opposite of the case study from Chapter 10 with the comb jelly being accidentally introduced into the Black Sea because of the discharge of ballet water from cargo ships. The whole ecosystem suffered greatly because of this one mishap, because something that didn't belong was introduced. The comb jelly ate all the zooplankton, fish eggs and young fish, completely destroying the food chain. The only difference between the two cases is that the Asian lady beetle was introduced to a new environment one purpose to care care of a problem while the comb jelly was introduced accidentally, thus causing problems.
This article was very interesting, for the past 2 years ladybugs have been infesting either at my own house or in my dorm room on campus and I have always wondered why there numbers kept increasing. This article also shows that although it can be beneficial to introduce a new species into a new environment to take care of a problem, we must be willing to live with the ramifications of our decisions, and in this case infestation. Also, people don't normally think or care about something like this, believing that it will have no serious impact on there lives and in fact it does.
Image Credit: courtesy of University of Georgia
ScienceDaily April 1st 2011
Article found at:
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