Calvia sykesii (Crotch)

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 : 67

Calvia sykesii (Crotch)

( Fig. 42 )

Anisocalvia sykesii Crotch, 1874: 146 (Lectotype male, UCCC; Type locality: Assam).

Calvia sykesii: Korschefsky 1932: 529 ; Booth 1997: 930; Poorani 2002a: 324.

Diagnosis. Length: 6.30–6.54 mm, width: 5.20–5.35 mm. Form elongate, oblong oval, dorsum strongly convex, almost gibbous. Ground colour lime green in live specimens ( Fig. 42a–e ), dead specimens pale greenish brown / greenish yellow / yellowish with pale reddish-brown markings as follows: pronotum with a median M-shaped brownish red marking; each elytron with an oblique, V-shaped marking near humeral callus and three small reddish-brown spots on disc, roughly forming a triangle. Abdominal postcoxal line incomplete. Male genitalia ( Fig. 42f–h ) as illustrated.

Distribution. India: Northeastern region (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, West Bengal); Nepal; Bhutan; Mount Everest.

Prey/associated habitat. Predatory on adelgids and other aphids; associated with Pineus sp. (label data); collected from cabbage fields ( Kapur, 1963a), and Quercus forest (Canepari, 1997); Taoia indica (Ghosh & Raychaudhuri) .

Seasonal occurrence: Collected during February–June, November, December (data labels).

Notes. It is a distinctive species common in the northeastern parts of India and the live adult is very characteristic and lime green in colour and dead specimens are yellowish brown to dull straw yellow. Kapur (1963) commented on its type locality “Dukhun”, which was changed by Korschefsky to “Deccan”. Iablokoff-Khnzorian’s (1982) record from Tamil Nadu in southern India is wrong and most likely to be a case of misidentification or mislabelling.

Figures

FIGURE 42. Calvia sykesii Crotch: a–d. live adult; e. adult, dorsal view; f–h. male genitalia: f. tegmen, ventral view; g. penis; h. penis apex.