Chilocorus melas Weise

POORANI, J., 2023, An illustrated guide to the lady beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) of the Indian Subcontinent. Part II. Tribe Chilocorini, Zootaxa 5378 (1), pp. 1-108 : 52

Chilocorus melas Weise

( Figs 37, 38)

Chilocorus melas Weise, 1898: 229 .

Chilocorus melas : Korschefsky 1932: 243; Booth 1998: 364; Poorani 2002: 311; Pang et al. 2004: 28; Kovář 2007: 593; Ren et al. 2009: 132; Li et al. 2018: 9.

Chilocorus gressitti Miyatake, 1970a: 330 .— Hoáng 1983: 18. Synonymized by Booth 1998: 364.

Diagnosis. Length: 3.10–3.80 mm; width: 2.90–3.70 mm. Form ( Fig. 37a–c) round, dorsum hemispherical and strongly convex. Head dark brown to blackish with an anterior yellowish brown area in females, largely yellowish in males; pronotum almost wholly blackish to dark brownish or piceous (only anterior margin lighter brown), parts of ventral side also blackish or piceous; elytra finely punctate, sides of elytra with generally slightly coarser and more strongly impressed punctures than those on disk. Abdominal postcoxal line incomplete ( Fig. 37d). Male genitalia ( Fig. 37e–h) diagnostic, as illustrated. Female genitalia ( Fig. 37i) and spermatheca ( Fig. 37j) as illustrated.

It can be separated from C. nigrita , the most widespread Indian species, by the more or less completely black head and pronotum, the stronger and coarser punctation on the sides of the elytra and the male genitalia ( Booth 1998).

Life stages. Life stages ( Fig. 38) as illustrated, larva ( Fig. 38a) distinct from C. nigrita in having a dark head and two transverse black bands, one anterior and one posterior.

Distribution. India: Limited to north-eastern region (Sikkim; West Bengal). Bhutan. Thailand. Vietnam. Malaysia. Indonesia. China ( Booth, 1998).

Prey/associated habitat. Hemiptera : Coccidae : Coccus viridis (Green) on citrus (label data).

Seasonal occurrence. Collected during March.

Notes. This species belongs to the nigrita -species group and is similar to C. nigrita in general appearance except for the coloration of the head and pronotum. It was originally described from Indonesia (Java) and it has a very limited distribution in the Indian mainland and is confined to the north-eastern region. For more detailed description / illustrations, see Miyatake (1970a) (as C. gressitti ), Booth (1998) and Li et al. (2018).