Hyperaspis paludicola Schwarz, 1878

Gordon, Robert & Davidson, John, 2008, A new prey record and range extension for Hyperaspis paludicola Schwarz and a new prey record for Microweisea misella (LeConte) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), Insecta Mundi 2008 (43), pp. 1-2 : 1-2

Hyperaspis paludicola Schwarz

Hyperaspis paludicola: Gordon 1985: 539 .

This is a small, elongate, parallel-sided, dorsoventrally depressed species. It is rarely collected and is known from a few localities in AL, FL, GA, and SC. No prey data are on record, but in 1997 many specimens were reared from the miscanthus mealybug, Miscanthicoccus miscanthi (Takahashi) (Pseudococcidae) , feeding on the leaf sheaths of Japanese silver grass, Miscanthus sinensis Andersson (Gramineae), new prey record. About 40 grass stems heavily infested with the mealybug were collected from a median strip in Reagan National Airport, Washington, D.C., in October 1977. They were brought into the lab in a perforated 50 gallon plastic bag. Opened leaf sheaths revealed a mass of mealybugs, white wax, an opaque viscous honeydew, and lady beetle pupae and larvae. The latter were white, elongate, flattened, and covered with powdery white wax. The pupae were light brown and remained in the white, split, last instar larval exuviae. Adults emerged one month later. The site was revisited Oct. 2006, when both mealybugs and lady beetles were still present in the leaf sheaths.

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