author(s)
Predation efficacy of ladybird beetle (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) against wheat aphid under laboratory conditions

abstract
To evaluate predatory efficacy of Coccinella septempunctata (L) on wheat aphid (Schizaphis graminum), research was conducted in a laboratory at 27±2 ⁰C temperature and 62±5% relative humidity (RH) at Entomological Research department, Ayub Agricultural Research Institute, Faisalabad during research period 2016 to 2017. The predatory efficacy of male and female adults was found to be 806.50 ± 2. 61 and 923.50 ± 1.71 aphids respectively. The results revealed that the 4th instars larvae with the highest predation performance while the 1st larval instars reported the lowest. The female beetles were found to be more cogent in aphid predation as compared with the males. The larval maximum duration was found to be 12.12 and average duration was of 11.61 days. The pupal stage was maximum 4.03 and average duration 3.65 days. The average development period was recorded 18.82 days. The results indicate that the duration of fourth instar was nearly equal to the first instar. While second instar ccupied minimum duration period.