Coelophora bissellata Mulsant

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 : 97-101

Coelophora bissellata Mulsant

( Figs 64–66 )

Coelophora bissellata Mulsant, 1850: 400 (Lectotype, OMNH; Type locality: le Bengale).— Poorani 2002a: 327.

Coelophora bisellata: Ślipiński et al. 2020: 36 .

Spilocaria bissellata: Timberlake 1943: 58 .

Lemnia (Spilocaria) bissellata: Iablokoff-Khnzorian 1979: 62 .

Lemnia bissellata: Hoang 1983: 74 ; Iablokoff-Khnzorian 1982: 218; Yu 2010: 74.

Diagnosis. Length: 4.90–5.70 mm; width: 5.30–5.50 mm. Form ( Fig. 64a, b ) round, dorsum strongly convex, glabrous. Head and pronotum creamy yellow or pale pink. Ground colour of elytra carmine red to orange yellow on disk and margins yellowish brown. Pronotum with two pairs of black spots on posterior margin, outer pair smaller, located on posterolateral corners and inner pair much larger, subtriangular to oval, situated in middle. Each elytron with four spots arranged in a 1-1-1-1 pattern and two common sutural spots, one in each half ( Figs 64a , 65o, q , 66a–d ). Colour pattern variable, pronotal and / or elytral spots sometimes fused to form larger maculae ( Fig. 64b ) or reduced in size ( Fig. 66e, f ) and / or number ( Figs 65p , 66g, h ), rarely lateral borders of elytra narrowly black. Ventral side with mouthparts and legs yellowish brown, meso-and metasternal epimera white, middle of prosternum, meso-and metasterna and middle of abdominal ventrites black and elytral epipleura yellowish brown. Male genitalia ( Fig. 64i–l ) and spermatheca ( Figs 62f , 64h ) as illustrated.

Immature stages: As in Fig. 65a–n .

Distribution. India: Widely distributed (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Punjab, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal); Nepal; Pakistan; Bangladesh; Bhutan; Thailand; Vietnam; China; Indonesia; The Philippines; New Guinea.

Prey / associated habitat. Aphidoidea: Adelges spp. , Aphis craccivora Koch , Aphis fabae Scopoli , Aphis gossypii Glover , Aphis kurosawai Takahashi , Brachycaudus helichrysi (Kaltenbach) , Ceratovacuna lanigera Zehntner , Ceratovacuna silvestrii (Takahashi) , Cervaphis quercus Takahashi , Cervaphis rappardi indica Basu , Macrosiphoniella yomogifoliae (Shinji) , Sitobion rosaeiformis (Das) , Melanaphis sacchari (Zehntner) , Myzus persicae (Sulzer) , Rhopalosiphum maidis (Fitch) , Rhopalosiphum rufiabdominalis (Sasaki) , Aphis (Toxoptera) aurantii Boyer de Fonscolombe , Aphis (Aphis) odinae (van der Goot) and Uroleucon sonchi . Acari: Raoiella indica Hirst (Tenuipalpidae) on areca palm.

Collected on sugarcane, rice, cowpea, Beta vulgaris , areca palm, sandal, Argemone sp. , Artemisia vulgaris , Eupatorium odoratum , Phragmites karka , Pterolobium indicum , Webera corymbosa , Quercus serrata , Bambusa sp. , and spruce. Hayat et al. (2017) recorded custard apple, walnut and wheat as host plants in Pakistan. Sajan et al. (2019) recorded it as feeding on aphids on Bidens pilosa in Nepal.

Seasonal occurrence. Collected during January,April–May, July–August (South India), and October–December (Eastern region). Active during April–October in Pakistan ( Hayat et al. 2017).

Natural enemy. Coccipolipus sp.

Notes. This is the best-known species of Coelophora of the Indian region. Kapur (1962) studied and illustrated the geographical variations in elytral pattern. The nominate form has four black spots on pronotum, two common or sutural spots and four other spots on elytron and the lateral pronotal spots are occasionally absent or in some cases, much larger and / or united to form a transverse basal band. Sicard (1910: 536) recorded the variety nudipennis in which elytral spots are absent. The other variations observed include: (a) first elytral spot joining anterior sutural spot, external margins of elytra bordered black; (b) intermediate conditions exist between these, notably elytral spots well developed with pronotal spots reduced in size or pronotal spots well developed with elytral spots reduced in size.

Puttarudriah & Channabasavanna (1953, 1955) provided brief notes on its bioecology. Rhamhalinghan (1989) described the immature stages. Yu (2010) illustrated the life stages.

Figures

FIGURE 62. Coelophora bissellata Mulsant: a. head; b. antenna; c. abdominal postcoxal line; d. prosternal process and mesoventrite; e. coxite; f. spermatheca; g–i. male genitalia: g. tegmen, ventral view; h. tegmen, lateral view; i. penis.

FIGURE 64. Coelophora bissellata Mulsant: a. adult, nominate form; b. adult, variant; c. head; d. antenna; e. maxilla; f. abdominal postcoxal line; g. coxite; h. spermatheca; i–l. male genitalia: i. tegmen, lateral view; j. tegmen, ventral view; k. penis; l. penis apex.

FIGURE 65. Coelophora bissellata Mulsant, life stages: a–k. larva; l–n. pupa; o–r. adult.

FIGURE 66. Coelophora bissellata Mulsant, adult, variants: a–d. fully spotted adult; e–h. adult with reduced spots.