Cryptolaemus
{{Short description|Genus of beetles}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Coccinellidae - Cryptolaemus montrouzieri.JPG
| image_caption = Cryptolaemus montrouzieri
| display_parents = 2
| taxon = Cryptolaemus
| authority = Mulsant, 1853
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = {{center|See text}}
}}
The genus Cryptolaemus consists of predatory beetles of the family Coccinellidae,[https://www.biolib.cz/en/taxon/id270802/ Biolib] whose larvae and adults mostly prey upon scale insects on ornamental plants.{{Cite web|url=http://www.entomology.wisc.edu/mbcn/kyf205.html|title=Know Your Friends - Mealybug Destroyer|publisher=www.entomology.wisc.edu University of Wisconsin|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216004540/http://www.entomology.wisc.edu/mbcn/kyf205.html|archive-date=2012-02-16|url-status=dead}}
Taxonomy
There are seven species in the genus, in two groups, all originally from eastern Australia, New Guinea, and Indonesia.[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-entomological-research/article/review-of-the-genus-cryptolaemus-coleoptera-coccinellidae-with-particular-reference-to-the-species-resembling-c-montrouzieri-mulsant/0AA709235A54333E3EE7F45D26F47ADD A review of the genus Cryptolaemus (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) with particular reference to the species resembling C. montrouzieri Mulsant] Of these, Cryptolaemus montrouzieri Mulsant, 1850 is the most well-known.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Wikispecies-inline|Cryptolaemus|Cryptolaemus}}
- {{Commons-inline|italic=yes}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q939518}}
Category:Taxa named by Étienne Mulsant
{{Coccinellidae-stub}}