The ladybeetle fauna (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) in olive orchards on the island of Pašman (Croatia)

Abstract: Ladybeetles are important predators of olive pests and have a certain role in biological control. They are usually used as biological control agents of scale insects, mealybugs, thrips, and mites. They feed on several harmful insects on olives. A preliminary study on the Coccinellids population was carried out in 2014 on the Island of Pašman (Croatia) in fifteen olive groves. Insects were collected by mechanical knockdown technique, using sweep net method and by visual inspection. Sampling was done every fifteen days between the beginning of May until the end of September. During this research, a total of 80 individuals belonging to 4 subfamilies, 10 genera and 12 species were caught. The most abundant species in the olive canopy was Chilocorus bipustulatus L., while on weeds Scymnus apetzi (Mulsant) was considered as dominant coccinellid with 42 specimens.