Cheilomenes Chevrolat

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 : 71-72

Genus Cheilomenes Chevrolat

Cheilomenes Chevrolat in Dejean, 1836: 435.

Type species: Coccinella lunata Fabricius 1775 , designated by Crotch 1874: 179.

Chilomenes: Crotch 1874: 179 . Unjustified emendation.

Menochilus Timberlake, 1943: 40 . Replacement name for Cheilomenes sensu Mulsant 1850 .

Diagnosis. Form broad oval to slightly elongate. Anterior clypeal margin semicircularly arcuate between lateral projections ( Fig. 46a ). Antenna ( Fig. 46b ) 11-segmented, shorter than interocular distance, scape broader than long, with inner side strongly rounded and produced and outwardly carinate. Inner ocular margins straight. Terminal maxillary palpomere securiform ( Fig. 46c ). Pronotum with anterior margin trapezoidally excavated and slightly convex, anterior angles narrowly rounded; sides gently arched with lateral borders narrowly upturned. Elytra narrowly expanded on the sides, not marginated. Prothoracic hypomeron lacking a fovea, prosternal process with a pair of short, abbreviated carinae reaching up to middle of prosternum ( Fig. 46d ); anterior margin of mesoventrite weakly emarginate. Elytral epipleura very slightly foveate to receive meso- and metatibial apices. Abdominal postcoxal line incomplete, with a short, oblique lateral line ( Fig. 46e ). Meso- and metatibial apices with a pair of spurs. Male genitalia ( Fig. 46f–j ) with penis apex greatly attenuated, long and thread-like. Female genitalia ( Fig. 46k ) with sperm duct very long and coiled ( Fig. 46l, m ).

Distribution. This genus is widely distributed in the Oriental, Australasian and Afrotropical regions ( Ślipiński et al. 2020).

Affinities. Tomaszewska et al. (2021) included it in the Coccinella- group of genera based on their phylogenetic analyses and recovered it as a distinct clade including Elpis Mulsant and Menochilus Timberlake. The generic limits of Cheilomenes and its related genera, Elpis and Cydonia Mulsant , were discussed by Fürsch (1989) and Ślipiński et al. (2020).

Ślipiński (2007) used the name Menochilus for this genus in his review of Australian genera of Coccinellidae , but Ślipiński et al. (2020) used the name Cheilomenes in their conspectus of Coccinellini of Australo-Pacific region and the same is followed here.

Included species. In South Asia, this genus is represented by Cheilomenes sexmaculata (Fabricius) , probably the most widespread and well-studied species of the Oriental and Indian region.

Figures

FIGURE 46. Cheilomenes sexmaculata (F.): a. head; b. antenna; c. maxilla; d. prosternal process; e. abdominal postcoxal line; f–j. male genitalia: f. tegmen, lateral view; g. tegmen, ventral view; h, i. penis, variants; j. penis apex; k. female genitalia; l, m. spermatheca.