Release of the Flightless Strain of Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) Against Two Aphid Species on Komatsuna (Brassica rapa var. perviridis) in Open Fields.

Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and Lipaphis erysimi (Kaltenbach) are important pests of Brassica leafy vegetables, especially in Japan, the United States, and India. In Japan, because most of the nonheading Brassica vegetables are considered minor crops, the number of commercially available pesticides against these aphids is limited. Here, we evaluated the effect of releasing adults of a flightless strain of the multicolored Asian ladybird, Harmonia axyridis Pallas, on these aphid species on a nonheading Brassica cultivar in open fields. Three weeks after, ladybirds were released onto aphid-infested plants at a rate of two adults per m2, only 4-12% equal numbers of aphids were found on plants with ladybirds as without ladybirds in all three trials. The result indicates that H. axyridis adults are the effective biocontrol agents against aphids on the plants.