Rodolia cardinalis ( Mulsant, 1850 )

Romanowski, Jerzy, Ceryngier, Piotr, Větrovec, Jaroslav & Szawaryn, Karol, 2019, The Coccinellidae (Coleoptera) from Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Zootaxa 4646 (1), pp. 101-123 : 117

Rodolia cardinalis ( Mulsant, 1850)

Vedalia cardinalis Mulsant 1850: 906 .

= Rodolia aegyptiaca Sicard 1907: 67 .

Material examined. Total of 66 specimens (55 adults, 11 larvae) collected mostly from C. equisetifolia , Tamarix sp., A. salicina and Nicotiana glauca Graham at 10 sites: Barranco de las Penitas (05.VIII.2017), Barranco de los Gutierres (25.III.2017) , Caleta de Fuste (13.II.2017, 30.III.2017) , Corralejo (30.IX.2016) , Costa Calma (30. IX.2016, 08.II.2017, 10– 11.02.2017, 21–22.III.2017, 27.III.2017), Grandtarajal (03.VIII.2017) , La Lajita (12. II.2017, 23.III.2017) , La Pared (20.II.2016, 30.IX.2016, 26.III.2017, 05.VIII.2017, 07.VIII.2017) , Marcos Sanches (23.III.2017) , Montaña Cardon (23.III.2017) and Tarajalejo (24.III.2017) .

Distribution. This species, native to Australia, was first introduced to California for the control of Icerya pur- chasi in citrus orchards ( Doutt 1964). Recognized as a very successful biological control agent, R. cardinalis was used in many subsequent introductions, resulting in its wide distribution in warmer regions throughout the world ( Kovář 2007; Michaud 2012). The presence of R. cardinalis on several Canarian islands, but not on Fuerteventura, was indicated by Oromí & Báez (2010).