Curinus coeruleus (Mulsant)

Orcus coeruleus Mulsant, 1850: 472 . Curinus coeruleus: Crotch 1874: 190 .

This coccinellid has been introduced twice, once in 1991 and again in 1992, in various localities on the west coast of New Caledonia (Nouméa, Païta, Bouloupari, Koumac), in an attempted classical biological control program against the invasive psyllid Heteropsylla cubana . The introduced population came from Thailand (Chazeau et al. 1992). The natural range encompasses Central and South America (Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil, Chile, and Cuba) and it is also recorded from Hawaii, Indonesia and Thailand following introductions for biocontrol. Further postrelease evaluations failed to document the establishment of this species in the wild (Gatimel 2005). We conclude that it is not established, because of unsuitable climatic conditions.