Coccinella Linnaeus

POORANI, J., 2023, An illustrated guide to lady beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) of the Indian Subcontinent. Part 1. Tribe Coccinellini, Zootaxa 5332 (1), pp. 1-307 : 77-78

Genus Coccinella Linnaeus

Coccinella Linnaeus, 1758: 364 .

Type species: Coccinella septempunctata Linnaeus, 1758 , by subsequent designation of Latreille 1810: 432.— Iablokoff-Khnzorian, 1979: 66; 1982: 341.

Coccinella (Dobzhanskia) Iablokoff-Khnzorian, 1970: 70 . Type species: Coccinella undecimpunctata Linnaeus , by original designation.

Diagnosis. Form broad oval to distinctly more elongate oval, dorsum moderately to strongly convex, glabrous. Head black, usually with a pair of paler spots, one on either side of eyes. Antenna 11-segmented, shorter than head capsule width, with a distinct three-segmented club. Pronotum black with anterolateral angles pale yellow or red, sometimes joined together by a narrow median band along the anterior margin. Elytra orange yellow to red, with black spots or other patterns. Interspaces between punctures on head and pronotum with reticulate microsculpture. Prothoracic hypomeron without foveae, prosternal process narrow, flat, with a pair of convergent or parallel carinae. Mesoventrite with anterior margin scarcely or not emarginate. Middle and hind tibiae with a pair of apical spurs. Tarsal claws appendiculate. Abdominal postcoxal lines incomplete, always with an oblique dividing line. Female genitalia with spermatheca typically having small, wart-like projections on proximal half, nodulus and ramus well-differentiated, infundibulum present.

The frontal spots, pronotal pattern and the incomplete postcoxal line divided by an oblique line readily distinguish this genus from its relatives. The external markings usually suffice for identifying the species, though some are highly polymorphic.

Distribution. This genus contains about 50 species occurring primarily in the Holarctic region ( Ślipiński et al. 2020) and extending to the Orient, Africa and the Pacific. The species are primarily aphidophagous and frequent grasses, herbs and other low growing vegetation ( Gordon & Vandenberg 1995).

Affinities. Tomaszewska et al. (2021) recognized the Coccinella- group of genera in a clade comprising a mixture of Old World and Nearctic genera forming six subclades. They recovered Coccinella as a weakly supported, paraphyletic sister group of Lioadalia , an African genus.

Included species. About a dozen species are found in the Indian subcontinent and only Coccinella transversalis and C. septempunctata have a wide distribution throughout the region, with the latter being more predominant in the northern and cooler parts of India.