Coccinella (Coccinella) marussii Kapur, 1973

Kovář, Ivo, 2005, Revision of the Palaearctic species of the Coccinella transversoguttata species group with notes on some other species of the genus (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 45, pp. 129-164 : 32-37

Coccinella (Coccinella) marussii Kapur, 1973

( Figs. 1 -29, 75-76, 83-85, 93)

Coccinella marussii Kapur, 1973: 374 .

Material examined. INDIA: KASHMIR, Srinagar env., vii.1995, 1 J, R. Sauer lgt. ( NMPC) . PAKISTAN bor.: BALTISTAN province, Karakoram Mts. , Hushe valley , Nangbrok r., Bondid creek, ca 3500 m a.s.l., 31.vii.1999, 2♀♀ (head lost in one specimen), M. Šlachta lgt. ( CMSC, NMPC) ; Hushe valley , Nangbrok r., Bondid creek, ca 4000 m a.s.l., 2.viii.1999, 1 ♀, M. Šlachta lgt. ( CMSC) ; Hushe vall., ca 3500 m a.s.l., Apobrock vall., 10.ix.2001, 2 JJ, M. Šlachta lgt. ( CMSC, NMPC) .

Redescription. Body subovate, in male 1.37-1.42 times and in female 1.37-1.43 times as long as wide, slightly convex. Upper surface not much shiny, finely and densely punctate, rudimentary pubescent, setae shorter than diameter of punctures.

Head black, eye canthus and rather large roundly triangular to rhombo-trapezoidal spot on each side of frons white-yellow, the spot being close to inner orbit of eye but not touching it. Mouthparts black, mandible with outer portion of base whitish translucent, apex and narrow inner edge red-brown; labial palpi and tips of apical maxillary palpomeres brown. Antenna pale brown, scape black, apical antennomere more or less infuscate. Pronotum black, anterior corners each with quadrangular white-yellow spot, the spots interconnected in male by narrow white-yellow anterior border. Elytra orange-red, with narrow sutural band and nine moderately large black spots corresponding to spots ½ (scutellar), 1 (humeral), 2 (lateral), 3 (discal) and 4+5 (marginal + apical) of the basic pattern. Scutellar spot large, roundly trapezoidal to pentagonal, gradually or suddenly narrowing towards black sutural band, the latter sometimes slightly widened before elytral apex; humeral spot quadrangularly rounded, its antero-lateral part covering humeral bulge; lateral spot smallest of all, round to irregularly longitudinally oval, situated at about one-third of elytral length near lateral margin but not touching it; discal spot large, transversely oval, situated somewhat obliquely behind the level of midlength of lateral spot and closer to suture than to lateral margin; preapical spot composed of two confluent ones (marginal and apical), transversely oval, subequal in size to discal spot, and situated transversely in posterior third of elytron closer to lateral than to sutural margin. Underside and legs black, small area at antero-lateral corners of propleura apricot, elytral epipleura orange-red, mesepimera, metepimera, and sometimes narrow stripe at posterior end of metepisternum yellow-white. In male, anterior face of fore coxa with large yellow-white spot and ventral face of front femur with narrow yellow-white stripe. Tarsomere 3 and basal portion of tarsomere 4 of all tarsi brown, tarsal claws brown to red-brown, black at the base.

Head 1.3 times as wide as long, 0.54-0.57 times as wide as pronotum. Apex of clypeus truncate, straight or indistinctly concave in middle. Antero-lateral corners asymmetrical, triangular, moderately prominent anteriorly, depressed ventrally, parallel-sided. Clypeus moderately transverse, convex, fronto-clypeal furrow rather distinct, widely V-shaped. Frons 0.54-0.58 times as wide as head, transversely flat. Eyes small, widely oval. Inner orbits slightly more arcuate in anterior half than in posterior one, subparallel. Long portion of temples behind eyes straight, parallel, then widely arcuate, strongly narrowing towards occipital aperture. Surface granulate-reticulate, rather coarsely punctate, covered with short pubescence. Punctures 0.9-1.2 times as large as eye facets, setae along orbits as long as 3-4 diameters and on clypeal margin as 6-7 diameters of eye facet. Antenna as in Fig. 4 .

Pronotum trapezoidal, 1.83 (1.80-1.84) times as wide as long, moderately convex. Anteri- or margin of pronotum deeply and rather narrowly emarginate, the emargination trapezoidal, moderately convex in middle. Anterior corners prominent, their inner margin flatly S-shaped. Outer margin rather widely arcuate, meeting the inner one at sharp, nearly rectangular, subsymmetrical angle. Pronotum widest just before posterior corners. Posterior corners widely obtusangulately arcuate, situated at posterior 0.45 of pronotal length. Distance between anterior and posterior corners equal to 0.75 of pronotal length. Lateral margins nearly regularly arcuate or gradually somewhat more slightly so in posterior one third, converging anteriorly, not reflexed, rather strongly bordered. Base widely arcuate, sides gradually straightened, slightly emarginate before posterior corners. Surface finely granulate-reticulate, finely and densely punctate. Punctures 0.9-1.2 times as large as eye facets, irregularly spaced, separated by 1-2.5 diameters, becoming somewhat denser and separated by 0.9-2 diameters basally. Scutellum small, equilaterally triangular, at base as wide as 0.08-0.10 of pronotal width. Surface densely covered with small inequal punctures, interstices between punctures smooth.

Elytra widely oval, in male 1.07-1.15 times and in female 1.08-1.15 times as long as wide, rather slightly convex, in both sexes about 2.5-2.8 times as long as high, nearly regularly or indistinctly more strongly convex in posterior 0.4 of elytral length (lateral view). Elytral base slightly concave, humeral angle widely arcuate, not projecting anteriorly, its inner margin scarcely depressed. Humeral bulge slightly developed, small. Outline of the disc rather widely and regularly convex in caudal view, in short lateral portion gradually straightened and in anterior 0.4 of elytra distinctly depressed under humeral bulge. Comparatively wide longitudinal furrow near lateral margin under humeral bulge is distinctly dilated in the reach of the lateral black spot, occupying about half of its width. Lateral margins widely arcuate, somewhat less so in anterior third than in posterior two thirds, narrowly reflexed and moderately bordered. Apex of elytra acuminate, scarcely caudate. Surface with traces of reticulation consisting of very dense micropunctures, finely punctate. Punctures smaller, sparser and somewhat shallower than on pronotum, 0.7-0.9 times as large as eye facets, separated by 1.5-4 diameters, becoming coarser, 1.2-2 times as large as eye facets and separated by 0.9-1.5 diameter along lateral margins.

Ventral surface moderately shiny, covered with dense, greyish-white, on distal part of tibiae pale ochraceous pubescence. Setae usually as long as 4-6 diameters, in middle of metasternum and of abdominal ventrites as 3-4 diameters, and on lateral parts of body at most as 6- 8 diameters of eye facet. Propleura horizontal, in anterior half widely longitudinally excavated, gradually impressed towards antero-lateral corners of prosternum, forming indistinct groove for reception of antennal tip. Surface obsoletely reticulate, shallowly punctate, punctures equal to eye facets or indistinct; small area close to antero-lateral corners of prosternum with fine dense oblique wrinkles. Epipleuron about 1.55 (1.47-1.69) times as wide as base of mesosternum, feebly sloping dorso-laterally, rather deeply and widely excavated in anterior 0.7. Surface obsoletely rugose, densely covered with shallow punctures of inequal size but usually larger than eye facets. Prosternum moderately convex in middle, its anterior margin rather deeply semi-elliptically emarginate. Basisternal lobes rather narrow, flattened, at the narrowest part distinctly more than twice as wide as prosternal process. Prosternal process narrow, only finely saddle-shaped behind midlength, apex semicircular. Prosternal carinae parallel, reaching anterior third of length of prosternum. Surface of prosternum finely transversely wrinkled, finely and rather densely punctate, punctures becoming obsolete postero-laterally. Mesosternal process at base 1.18 (1.06-1.29) times as wide as long in middle, rather strongly convex. Anterior margin moderately carinulate, straight or very shallowly emarginate in middle. Surface without wrinkles or indistinctly transversely wrinkled, sometimes obsoletely reticulate, coarsely and nearly regularly punctate. Punctures separated by their diameter, becoming denser towards base, 1.2-1.5 times as large as eye facets. Metasternum 3.97 (3.75-4.26) times as long as mesosternal process, rather strongly transversely convex, flattened posteromedially. Medial longitudinal sulcus complete, slightly impressed except for anterior portion. Precoxal bulge well developed, transverse. Surface finely transversely wrinkled and finely punctate. Wrinkles becoming finer and very dense antero-laterally. Punctures along medial sulcus inequal in size and distribution, 0.6-1.2 times as large as eye facets, somewhat deeply impressed, usually sparse, becoming somewhat denser and shallower to indistinct along lateral margins. Abdominal ventrites 1-4 in medial third distinctly transversely convex, sides flattened. Ventrite 1 only finely saddle-shaped medially, with surface rather coarsely densely punctate; punctures 1.2-1.5 times as large as eye facets, separated by 0.25-0.5 their diameter, becoming smaller and sparser postero-medially. Femoral line V-shaped, inner part strongly arcuate at basal half, then gradually straightened, shortly broken before meeting straight line before posterior margin of ventrite 1, and nearly crossing the outer, strongly oblique and nearly straight lateral line. Posterior margin of ventrite 5 in female straight, in male widely shallowly emarginate, that of ventrite 6 in female arcuate and distinctly acuminate, in male narrowly rather deeply arcuately emarginate. Moreover, ventrite 6 in male with shallow transversely oval impression in the middle. Legs long, slender, distal end of hind femora reaching a little over the outer margin of epipleuron. Hind tibia 7.44-8.02 times as longer as wide, outer margin feebly arcuate, inner one nearly straight. Tarsus moderately slender, tarsomere 3 reaching only a little over the midlength of the free part of tarsomere 2. Tarsal claw moderately slender, rather slightly curved dorsally, with sharp basal tooth situated submedially.

Male genitalia. Tegmen moderately sized. Median lobe of aedeagus in larger basal portion subrectangular, in smaller apical one hastate, extended well beyond apices of parameres. Hastate portion rhomboid and dilated at base, passing into narrow, tongue-shaped apex, distinctly shorter than half of hastate portion. Dorsal margin slightly sinuate with apex sharply pointed, feebly curved ventrally. Paramere thick, finger-shaped, only slightly curved at basal 0.4. Basal piece of aedeagus quadrangular, bearing large triangularly acuminate appendix. Trabes robust, gradually more strongly curved distally, nearly as long as basal piece and paramere combined. Sipho moderately long. Siphonal capsule robust with inner hook-shaped projection strong, curved dorsally, dorsal rib well developed, irregularly semicircular. Siphonal tube moderately slender, in basal third irregularly semicircularly rounded, forming rather sharp angle, apex of sipho only slightly dilated at the base. Preapical supporting sclerites parallel-sided dorsoventrally and narrowed laterally, bearing two inequal interconnected membranose swellings at each side, not extremely enlarged. Proximal pair of swellings subtriangular, without free portion, distal one oval, partly free. Terminal ampulla of sipho moderate in size, subtriangular.

Female genitalia. Genital plate (hemiventrite 9) robust, about twice as long as wide, asymmetrically pear-shaped with rather thick, strongly curved basal portion. Stylus well developed, conical, bearing 4 setae. Spermatheca semicircular, nodulus short, much shorter than ramus, cornu moderately enlarged medially. Infundibulum about as long as spermatheca, with body cylindrical, equally enlarged at both ends, campaniform distal end rather short.

Length. Males (n = 3) 4.87-5.28 mm; females (n = 3) 5.13- 5.35 mm. KAPUR (1973) gives 5.4 mm.

Variability. Black spots on elytra discrete ( Fig. 83 ) or gradually confluent in a pattern of ½ +S, 1+2+3 and 4+5 ( Fig. 84 ) or of 1+2+3+S+ ½ +S+3+2+1 ( Fig. 85 ) to form a tricuspidate or anchor-like pattern in anterior half of elytra. Spots on posterior half of elytra invariably confluent.

Distribution. Known material of C. marussii is extremely limited, coming only from the mountainous parts of northernmost Pakistan and Kashmir.

Discussion. The species has been known only from the female holotype deposited in Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, Trieste, Italy. Although I have not studied the type, the identity of the examined material is doubtless given the locality. It is a characteristically coloured species with the tips of hind femora visible from above, and related to C. magnopunctata Rybakow, 1889 , in having similar siphonal structures. The hastate portion of median lobe, howev- er, much resembles that of C. transversoguttata . FÜRSCH (1981) also recorded C. marussii from Turkey but the material belongs to another, undescribed species; this new species is described below.

Figures

Figs. 1-11. Coccinella marussii Kapur, 1973. 1 – form of body, dorsal view; 2 – ibidem, lateral view; 3 – head; 4 – antenna; 5 – pronotum; 6 – prosternum; 7 – abdominal ventrite 1; 8 – abdominal ventrites 5-6 of male; 9 – abdominal ventrites 5-6 of female; 10 – hind tibia and tarsus; 11 – tarsal claw.

Figs. 75-96. 75-82 – colour pattern of pronotum. 75-76 – Coccinella marussii Kapur, 1973. 75 – male; 76 – female. 77 – C. hodeki sp. nov., male. 78-79 – C. magnopunctata Rybakow, 1889. 78 – male; 79 – female. 80-82 – C. t. transversoguttata Faldermann, 1835. 80-81 – male; 82 – female. 83-92 – colour pattern of elytra. 83-85 – C. marussii; 86 – C. hodeki sp. nov.; 87-88 – C. magnopunctata; 89-92 – C. t. transversoguttata. 93-96 – outline of median lobe of aedeagus and paramere. 93 – C. marussii; 94 – C. hodeki sp. nov.; 95 – C. magnopunctata; 96 – C. t. transversoguttata. Scale lines = 0.5 mm.