Establishment of Chilocorus spp. (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) in a Carica papaya L. orchard infested by Aonidiella orientalis (Newstead) (Hemiptera: Diaspididae)

Releases of two coccinellid predators, (Chilocorus baileyi (Blackburn) and Chilocorus circumdatus Gyllenhal, of oriental scale (Aonidiella orientalis) onto papaya resulted in successful establishment of the predators with a new generation being produced. Both coccinellids took 5 weeks from egg to adult in the field. Use of the coccinellids offers a potential control method for this scale on the few occasions when the established parasitoids fail to control the scale and scale numbers become large on limited numbers of papaya trees.