Coelophora inaequalis (Fabricius)

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 : 106-107

Coelophora inaequalis (Fabricius)

( Fig. 70 )

Coccinella inaequalis Fabricius, 1775: 80 (Lectotype female, BMNH; Type locality: ‘Nova Hollandia’).

Coelophora inaequalis: Mulsant, 1850: 404 ; Crotch 1874: 153; Korschefsky 1932: 292; Pope, 1989: 665; Poorani 2002a: 328; Ślipiński et al. 2020: 36–37.

Coelophora vidua Mulsant, 1850: 393 .—Synonymized by Poorani et al. 2008: 592.

Diagnosis. Length: 4.30–6.00 mm; width: 3.50–5.50 mm. Form broad, almost circular, convex and glabrous. Dorsal colour pattern highly variable, the form illustrated here ( Fig. 70a ) superficially resembles C. bissellata with a pair of black spots on pronotum and nine black spots on elytra. Abdominal postcoxal line incomplete ( Fig. 70c ). Male genitalia ( Fig. 70f, g ) and spermatheca ( Fig. 70d, e ) diagnostic.

Distribution. India (Andamans); Sri Lanka; Southeast Asia ( Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines); New Guinea; New Caledonia; Micronesia; Australia; Introduced in New Zealand, Hawaii and Florida ( Gordon 1985; Pope 1989).

Notes. Pope (1989) and Ślipiński et al. (2020) described and illustrated this species in detail. It is not known from the Indian mainland and the specimens studied were collected from the Andaman Islands.

Figures

FIGURE 70. Coelophora inaequalis (Fabricius): a. adult (India); b. adult (Malaysia); c. abdomen; d, e. spermatheca; f, g. male genitalia: f. tegmen, ventral view; g. penis.