To quantify the role of non-crop plant flowers as a source of
complementary food for immature coccinellids, first instar larvae
(n = 30 replicates per treatment) of C. sanguinea or H. axyridis were
held individually in 10 mL plastic vials, as above. All larvae were
provided with one of the following diets: (a) weed flowers; (b)
weed flowers plus frozen A. kuehniella eggs ad libitum; and (c) frozen
A. kuehniella eggs ad libitum. Flowers from two weed species (B.
pilosa and A. conyzoides) were selected and all treatments included
water that was replenished daily. Larval survival and development
were monitored daily. Statistical analysis was performed as above;
Kaplan–Meier analysis was used to estimate survival curves and
the log-rank test was applied to compare survival rates.