Relationships between aphids and ladybeetles on alfalfa stands in northeastern Spain

Aphids are one of the main pests of alfalfa in Spain. The relationship between aphids and ladybeetles has been determined. Alfalfa was sampled by sweep-netting along its productive period in several commercial stands each year between 2010-2020. Acyrthosiphum pisum and Therioaphis trifolii were the most abundant aphid species, peaking in the 2^nd and 4^th intercut, respectively. Coccinella septempunctata and Hippodamia variegata were by far the coccinelid prevalent species. There were positive correlations between the abundance of C. septempunctata and A. pisum at the 2^nd intercut; H. variegata and T. trifolii at the 4^th intercut; and H. variegata and the total number of aphids in the 5^th intercut.