Biodiversity Data Journal :
Data Paper (Biosciences)
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Corresponding author: António Onofre Soares (antonio.oc.soares@uac.pt)
Academic editor: Pedro Cardoso
Received: 01 Nov 2021 | Accepted: 22 Nov 2021 | Published: 16 Dec 2021
© 2021 António Soares, Isabel Borges, Hugo Calado, Paulo Borges
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Soares AO, Borges I, Calado HR, Borges PAV (2021) An updated checklist to the biodiversity data of ladybeetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) of the Azores Archipelago (Portugal). Biodiversity Data Journal 9: e77464. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.9.e77464
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A recently-published review from 2021 presents a comprehensive checklist of ladybeetles of Portugal, including the Azores and Madeira Archipelagos. Until then, the available information was very scattered and based on a single revision dating back to 1986, a few international catalogues and databases, individual records and studies on communities of agroecosystems. However, no information was available on faunal composition across the Azorean islands and their habitats, using standardised inventories. Here, we present data about the biodiversity of ladybeetles and their distribution and abundance in five Islands of the Azores (Faial, Graciosa, Pico, São Jorge and São Miguel). Surveys included herbaceous and arboreal habitats from native to anthropogenic-managed habitats: ruderal road vegetation, vegetable garden, mixed forest of endemic and non-native host plants, coastal prairies, coastal mixed vegetation, cornfields and urban areas. We aimed to contribute to the ongoing effort to document the terrestrial biodiversity of Portugal, including the Archipelago of the Azores, within the research project AZORESBIOPORTAL–PORBIOTA (ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000072).
In this study, a total of 1,487 specimens of Coccinellidae belonging to 19 species are reported for several habitats. The listed species are from one single sub-familiy (Coccinellinae) and six tribes; Chilocorini (one species), Coccidulini (three species), Coccinellini (six species), Noviini (one species), Scymnini (seven species), Stethorini (one species). The number of species collected per island differed; Faial (10 species), Graciosa (four species), Pico (seven species), São Jorge (seven species) and São Miguel (12 species). For six species, new island records are given. Currently, the number of species known to occur in the Azores are 32, including two doubtful records. The majority of species are Scymnini, being Scymnus (Scymnus) interruptus (Goeze, 1777) and Scymnus (Scymnus) nubilus Mulsant, 1850, the most abundant species (relative abundance 71.1%). This database will be the baseline of a long-term monitoring project allowing assessment of the impact of ongoing global changes in the distribution and abundance of ladybeetles.
Arthropoda, Ladybeetles, Azores, Faial, Graciosa, Pico, São Jorge, São Miguel
Insects, like other taxonomic groups, are at high risk of extinction (
The family Coccinellidae contains between 6000 and 7000 described species (
Despite being very diverse in terms of morphology, life history traits, habitat use and food relationships (see
Over the past 30 years, rapid declines of formerly common native ladybird species - including in North America (
We aimed to contribute to characterise the richness and abundance of ladybeetles in several herbaceous and arboreal habitats, from native to anthropogenic-managed habitats. We also aimed to contribute to address two key shortfalls: i) the need for improving current information on the local and regional distribution of Azorean arthropods (the Wallacean shortfall); and ii) the need for collecting abundance data for future monitoring purposes (the Prestonian shortfall) (see
In addition, we provide an updated checklist of Azorean ladybeetles with their known distribution in the nine Azorean islands.
AZORESBIOPORTAL–PORBIOTA: inventory of ladybeetles of the Azores (Portugal)
António O. Soares, Isabel Borges and Hugo R. Calado collected the samples and managed the database. Paulo A.V. Borges assisted us in managing the database to GBIF.
We focused the inventory on five islands of the Azores (Table
List of studied islands, habitats and localities with indication of elevation and geographical coordinates (datum WGS84).
Island | Habitat | Locality | Elevation (m) | Latitude | Longitude |
Faial | Citrus orchard | Castelo Branco | 57 |
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Corn field | Cedros | 166 |
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Coastal mixed vegetation | Norte Pequeno | 12 |
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Coastal prairies | Pasteleiro | 67 |
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Coastal prairies | Praia do Almoxarife | 5 |
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Coastal prairies | Varadouro | 8 |
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Mixed forest of endemic and non-native host plants | Varadouro | 175 |
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Mixed forest of endemic and non-native host plants | Norte Pequeno | 128 |
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Ruderal road vegetation | Pasteleiro | 93 |
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Ruderal road vegetation | Varadouro | 198 |
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Urban poplar grove | Angústias | 39 |
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Vegetable garden | Feteira | 37 |
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Graciosa | Abandoned vineyards | Beira Mar | 10 |
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Coastal prairies | Beira Mar | 7 |
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Coastal prairies | Beira Mar | 21 |
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Coastal prairies | Sta. Cruz da Graciosa | 25 |
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Coastal Prairies, dominated by Canica sp. | Carapacho | 17 |
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Pasture: Medicago sativa L. | Jorge Gomes | 58 |
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Nerium oleander L. and Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L. | Alto do Sul | 29 |
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Ruderal road vegetation: herbaceous vegetation | Bom Jesus | 9 |
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Ruderal road vegetation: herbaceous vegetation | Bom Jesus | 13 |
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Ruderal road vegetation: herbaceous vegetation | Bom Jesus | 19 |
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Ruderal road vegetation: herbaceous vegetation | Jorge Gomes | 69 |
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Trees of Tamarix sp. | Bom Jesus | 8 |
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Vegetable garden | Porto da Barra | 8 |
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Pico | Citrus orchard | Sete Cidades | 119 |
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Citrus orchard | Terra do Pão | 55 |
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Corn field | Monte | 69 |
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Corn field | São Vicente | 113 |
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Corn field | Sete Cidades | 116 |
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Coastal prairies | Madalena | 3 |
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Coastal prairies | Madalena | 8 |
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Evergreen forest | Toledos | 15 |
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Evergreen of endemic and exotic forest | Campo Raso | 36 |
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Pine trees | Sete Cidades | 29 |
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Pine trees | Sete Cidades | 884 |
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Ruderal road vegetation | Farrobo | 114 |
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Ruderal road vegetation: Arundo donax L. | Silveira | 90 |
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Ruderal road vegetation: Evergreen of endemic and exotic Forest | Cachorro | 26 |
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Ruderal road vegetation: Herbaceous plants | Cachorro | 26 |
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Ruderal road vegetation: Tamarix sp. | Madalena | 3 |
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Vegetable garden: cabbage | São Mateus | 48 |
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Vegetable garden: cabbage | São Vicente | 113 |
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São Jorge | Citrus orchard | Fajã de S. Amaro | 60 |
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Citrus orchard | Fajã de S. Amaro | 78 |
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Coastal herbaceaous plants: Erica and Myrica | Portinho da Queimada | 18 |
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Coastal prairies | Queimada | 14 |
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Coastal prairies | Velas | 27 |
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Coastal prairies: Tamarix sp. | Velas | 34 |
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Vegetable garden: cabbage, bean and cucumber | Urzelina | 60 |
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Vegetable garden: cabbage, bean and cucumber | Velas | 40 |
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Wood: Acacia trees | Urzelina | 59 |
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Wood: Pinus trees | Urzelina | 58 |
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São Miguel | Ruderal road vegetation: Arundo donax L. | Arrifres | 130 |
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Ruderal road vegetation: Arundo donax L. | Calhetas | 18 |
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Ruderal road vegetation: Arundo donax L. | São Roque | 13 |
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Ruderal road vegetation: Arundo donax L. | São Roque | 13 |
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Ruderal road vegetation: Arundo donax L. | São Roque | 14 |
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Coastal prairies | Fenais da Luz | 30 |
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Coastal prairies | Pópulo | 30 |
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Coastal prairies | Rabo de Peixe | 18 |
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Coastal prairies | Rabo de Peixe | 35 |
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Coastal prairies | Relva | 30 |
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Coastal prairies | Relva | 30 |
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Coastal prairies | Santa Clara | 30 |
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Coastal prairies | Santa Clara | 30 |
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Coastal prairies | São Roque | 13 |
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Corn field | Fenais da Luz | 18 |
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Corn field | Ribeira Seca | 18 |
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Corn field | São Sebastião | 87 |
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Pine trees | São Sebastião | 76 |
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Pine trees | São Sebastião | 76 |
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This study was financed by FEDER in 85% and by Azorean Public funds by 15% through the Operational Programme Azores 2020, under the following projects AZORESBIOPORTAL–PORBIOTA (ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000072) and under the project ECO2-TUTA (ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000081) and by the Official Forestry Services from the Regional Government of the Azores, through the research projects PICA (Utilização de agentes de controlo biológico para o combate a populações de afídeos em plantas endémicas produzidas em viveiro) and PICONIA (Controlo biológico de populações de pragas de plantas endémicas produzidas em viveiro). Isabel Borges was funded by a PhD grant from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) (POCI 2010).
Five Islands of the Azores (Portugal): São Miguel, Graciosa, Faial, Pico and So Jorge.
The sampling programme in Faial, Graciosa, Pico and São Jorge consisted of travelling through each Island by car, for 3 to 4 days depending on the size of the Island. For São Miguel, we also included results taken in 2012 (
Azores Islands (Portugal): Faial, Graciosa, Pico, São Jorge and São Miguel
36.906 and 39.589 Latitude; -24.961 and -31.311 Longitude.
The sampling programme targeted labybeetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)
Rank | Scientific Name | Common Name |
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family | Coccinellidae | Ladybeetles/ ladybirds/ ladybird beetles/ ladybugs |
There are no trait data associated.
20 April 2012 to 6 July 2020
The following data table includes all the records for which a taxonomic identification of the species was possible. The dataset submitted to GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) is structured as a sample event dataset, with two tables: in the current event table, the data in this sampling event resource have been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwCA), which is a standardised format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data file contains 98 records (eventID). This IPT (integrated publishing toolkit) archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download from
Column label | Column description |
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id | Unique identification code for species abundance data. Equivalent here to eventID. |
eventID | Identifier of the events, unique for the dataset. |
samplingProtocol | The sampling protocol used to capture the species. |
samplingEffort | The numeric amount of time spent in each sampling. |
eventDate | Date or date range the record was collected. |
year | Year of the event. |
month | Month of the event. |
day | Day of the event. |
habitat | The habitat of the sample. |
fieldNumber | An identifier given to the event in the field. Serves here as a link between field notes and the Event. |
locationID | Identifier of the location. |
islandGroup | Name of archipelago. |
island | Name of the island. |
country | Country of the sampling site. |
countryCode | ISO code of the country of the sampling site. |
stateProvince | Name of the region of the sampling site. |
municipality | Municipality of the sampling site. |
locality | Name of the locality. |
verbatimLocality | The original textual description of the place. |
maximumElevationInMetres | The upper limit of the range of elevation (altitude, usually above sea level), in metres. |
locationRemarks | Details on the locality site. |
verbatimCoordinates | The verbatim original spatial coordinates of the Location. |
decimalLatitude | Approximate centre point decimal latitude of the field site in GPS coordinates. |
decimalLongitude | Approximate centre point decimal longitude of the field site in GPS coordinates. |
geodeticDatum | The ellipsoid, geodetic datum or spatial reference system (SRS) upon which the geographic coordinates given in decimalLatitude and decimalLongitude are based. |
coordinateUncertaintyInMetres | Uncertainty of the coordinates of the centre of the sampling plot. |
coordinatePrecision | Precision of the coordinates. |
georeferenceSources | A list (concatenated and separated) of maps, gazetteers or other resources used to georeference the Location, described specifically enough to allow anyone in the future to use the same resources. |
The following data table includes all the records for which a taxonomic identification of the species was possible. The dataset submitted to GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) is structured as a sample event dataset, with two tables: in the current occurrences table, the data in this sampling event resource have been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwCA), which is a standardised format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data file contains 218 records (occurrenceID). This IPT (integrated publishing toolkit) archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download from
Column label | Column description |
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id | Unique identification code for species abundance data. Equivalent here to eventID. |
type | Type of the record, as defined by the Public Core standard. |
licence | Reference to the licence under which the record is published. |
institutionID | The identity of the institution publishing the data. |
collectionID | The identity of the collection publishing the data. |
institutionCode | The code of the institution publishing the data. |
collectionCode | The code of the collection where the specimens are conserved. |
datasetName | Name of the dataset. |
basisOfRecord | The nature of the data record. |
occurrenceID | Identifier of the record, coded as a global unique identifier. |
recordedBy | A list (concatenated and separated) of names of people, groups or organisations who performed the sampling in the field. |
individualCount | A number or enumeration value for the quantity of organisms. |
organismQuantityType | The type of quantification system used for the quantity of organisms. |
lifeStage | The life stage of the organisms captured. |
establishmentMeans | The process of establishment of the species in the location, using a controlled vocabulary: 'native', 'introduced', 'endemic', "uncertain". |
eventID | Identifier of the events, unique for the dataset. |
identifiedBy | A list (concatenated and separated) of names of people, groups or organisations who assigned the Taxon to the subject. |
dateIdentified | The date on which the subject was determined as representing the Taxon. |
identificationRemarks | Comments or notes about the Identification. |
scientificName | Complete scientific name including author and year. |
kingdom | Kingdom name. |
phylum | Phylum name. |
class | Class name. |
order | Order name. |
family | Family name. |
genus | Genus name. |
specificEpithet | Specific epithet. |
taxonRank | Lowest taxonomic rank of the record. |
scientificNameAuthorship | Name of the author of the lowest taxon rank included in the record. |
A total of of 1,487 specimens of Coccinellidae belonging to 19 species were sampled (see Table
List of species with indication of number of individuals collected from each island. FAI - Faial; GRA - Graciosa; PIC - Pico; SJG - São Jorge; SMG - São Miguel. * refers to new species records for the island.
Species | Tribe | FAI | GRA | PIC | SJG | SMG | Total |
Adalia bipunctata (Linnaeus, 1758) | Coccinellini | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Adalia decempunctata (Linnaeus, 1758) | Coccinellini | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
Chilocorus bipustulatus (Linnaeus, 1758) | Chilocorini | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 25 |
Clitostethus arcuatus (Rossi, 1794) | Scymnini | 0 | 0 | 32 | 1 | 0 | 33 |
Coccinella undecimpunctata Linnaeus, 1758 | Coccinellini | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
Myrrha octodecimguttata (Linnaeus, 1758) | Coccinellini | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Nephus (Geminosipho) reunioni (Fürsch 1974) | Scymnini | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Nephus (Nephus) voeltzkowi Weise, 1910 | Scymnini | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 147 | 158 |
Novius cardinalis (Mulsant, 1850) | Noviini | 5 | 0 | 29 | 6 | 0 | 40 |
*Oenopia doublieri (Mulsant, 1846) | Coccinellini | 6* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
*Propylea quatuordecimpunctata (Linnaeus, 1758) | Coccinellini | 1* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Rhyzobius chrysomeloides (Herbst, 1792) | Coccidulini | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 25 |
Rhyzobius litura (Fabricius, 1787) | Coccidulini | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 63 | 64 |
*Rhyzobius lophanthae (Blaisdell, 1892) | Coccidulini | 0 | 0 | 3* | 3 | 0 | 6 |
Scymnus (Pullus) subvillosus (Goeze, 1777) | Scymnini | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
*Scymnus (Pullus) suturalis Thunberg 1795 | Scymnini | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6* | 6 |
Scymnus (Scymnus) interruptus (Goeze, 1777) | Scymnini | 20 | 21 | 22 | 25 | 322 | 410 |
Scymnus (Scymnus) nubilus Mulsant, 1850 | Scymnini | 66 | 149 | 218 | 35 | 180 | 648 |
*Stethorus pusillus (Herbst, 1797) | Stethorini | 5 | 2* | 26 | 6 | 4 | 43 |
Propylea quatuordecimpunctata (Linnaeus, 1758), despite being previously listed to the Azores, but without island details by
Currently, the number of known species of ladybeetles in the Azores is 32 species (
Current checklist (by alphabetic order) of the Azorean ladybeetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae). Doubtful records are marked with an asterisk (*). COL. – establishment means, in which INTRO is an exotic species introduced in the Azores, NAT is a native non-endemic species and MAC is an endemic species from Macaronesia. The names of the islands are as follows: AZ- recorded for Azores with no mention to the island; COR - Corvo; FLO - Flores; FAI - Faial; PIC - Pico; GRA - Graciosa; SJG - São Jorge; TER, Terceira; SMG - São Miguel; SMR - Santa Maria.
Scientific name | Col. | AZ | COR | FLO | FAI | PIC | GRA | SJG | TER | SMG | SMR |
Adalia bipunctata (Linnaeus, 1758) | INTR | FAI | SMG | ||||||||
Adalia decempunctata (Linnaeus, 1758) | INTR | COR | FLO | FAI | PIC | GRA | SJG | TER | SMG | SMR | |
Ceratomegilla undecimnotata (Schneider, 1792) | INTR | SMG | |||||||||
Chilocorus bipustulatus (Linnaeus, 1758) | INTR | SMG | SMR | ||||||||
Clitostethus arcuatus (Rossi, 1794) | INTR | FAI | PIC | GRA | SJG | TER | SMG | SMR | |||
Coccinella septempunctata Linnaeus, 1758* | INTR | TER | SMR | ||||||||
Coccinella undecimpunctata Linnaeus, 1758 | INTR | COR | FLO | FAI | PIC | GRA | SJG | TER | SMG | SMR | |
Delphastus catalinae (Horn, 1895) | INTR | SMG | |||||||||
Eriopis connexa (Germar, 1824)* | INTR | SMG | |||||||||
Hippodamia variegata (Goeze, 1777) | INTR | AZ | |||||||||
Myrrha octodecimguttata (Linnaeus, 1758) | INTR | SMG | SMR | ||||||||
Nephus (Bipunctatus) bisignatus (Boheman, 1850) | INTR | SMR | |||||||||
Nephus (Geminosipho) reunioni (Fürsch, 1974) | INTR | SMG | |||||||||
Nephus (Nephus) flavopictus (Wollaston, 1854) | MAC | SJG | TER | SMG | |||||||
Nephus (Nephus) voeltzkowi Weise, 1910 | INTR | COR | GRA | SJG | TER | SMG | |||||
Novius cardinalis (Mulsant, 1850) | INTR | COR | FLO | FAI | PIC | GRA | SJG | TER | SMG | SMR | |
Oenopia doublieri (Mulsant, 1846) | INTR | FAI | TER | ||||||||
Pharoscymnus decemplagiatus (Wollaston, 1857) | MAC | AZ | |||||||||
Propylea quatuordecimpunctata (Linnaeus, 1758) | INTR | FAI | |||||||||
Rhyzobius chrysomeloides (Herbst, 1792) | NAT | SMG | |||||||||
Rhyzobius forestieri (Mulsant, 1853) | INTR | SMG | |||||||||
Rhyzobius lophanthae (Blaisdell, 1892) | INTR | FLO | PIC | GRA | SJG | TER | SMG | SMR | |||
Rhyzobius litura (Fabricius, 1787) | NAT | FAI | GRA | TER | SMG | SMR | |||||
Scymniscus helgae (Fürsch, 1965) | INTR | FLO | TER | SMR | |||||||
Scymnus (Neopullus) haemorrhoidalis Herbst, 1797 | INTR | SMR | |||||||||
Scymnus (Pullus) subvillosus (Goeze, 1777) | NAT | FAI | SJG | TER | SMG | SMR | |||||
Scymnus (Pullus) suturalis Thunberg, 1795 | INTR | FAI | TER | SMG | SMR | ||||||
Scymnus (Scymnus) interruptus (Goeze, 1777) | NAT | COR | FLO | FAI | PIC | GRA | SJG | TER | SMG | SMR | |
Scymnus (Scymnus) nubilus Mulsant, 1850 | NAT | COR | FLO | FAI | PIC | GRA | SJG | TER | SMG | SMR | |
Scymnus (Scymnus) rubromaculatus (Goeze, 1777) | NAT | AZ | |||||||||
Scymnus (Scymnus) schmidti Fürsch, 1958 | INTR | AZ | |||||||||
Stethorus pusillus (Herbst, 1797) | NAT | FLO | FAI | PIC | GRA | SJG | TER | SMG | SMR |
Doubtful records include Eriopis connexa (Germar, 1824) and Coccinella septempunctata Linnaeus, 1758. We never collected these species in our extensive sampling programmes. With regard to E. connexa, it could result from misidentification given that this Neotropical species was never recorded outside its native region. In the case of C. septempunctata, although its previous presence in the Azores is well documented, its extinction may have occurred after the end of the cultural cycle of cereals, these being preferential habitats of the species (
The three Islands with highest economic activity are the ones with more species recorded (S. Miguel -22; Terceira - 16 and Faial - 13). The exception is Santa Maria that also has many species recorded (17), that can be explained by the proximity to S. Miguel and commercial exchanges between both Islands.
Interestingly, the same Islands are also the most diverse in the native fauna: S. Miguel - 7; Terceira - 6; Faial - 5; Santa Maria - 5. Only S. Jorge Island also has similar native species richness (five species) (Table
Five alien species to the Palearctic Region were introduced in this region, as biological control agents of crop pests: Delphastus catalinae (Horn, 1895), Nephus (Geminosipho) reunioni (Fürsch, 1974), Novius cardinalis (Mulsant, 1850), Rhyzobius forestieri (Mulsant, 1853) and Rhyzobius lophanthae (Blaisdell, 1892) (
The majority of the specimens was collected on herbaceous plants, including coastal prairies and ruderal road vegetation.
This study was financed by FEDER in 85% and by Azorean Public funds by 15% through the Operational Programme Azores 2020, under the following projects AZORESBIOPORTAL–PORBIOTA (ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000072) and under the project ECO2-TUTA (ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000081) and by the Official Forestry Services from the Regional Government of the Azores, through the research projects PICA (Utilização de agentes de controlo biológico para o combate a populações de afídeos em plantas endémicas produzidas em viveiro) and PICONIA (Controlo biológico de populações de pragas de plantas endémicas produzidas em viveiro). Isabel Borges was funded by a PhD grant from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) (POCI 2010).