Calvia shiva Kapur

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 : 64

Calvia shiva Kapur

( Fig. 41 )

Calvia shiva Kapur, 1963a: 40 (Holotype male, BMNH; Type locality: Singhik, Sikkim).—Booth 1997: 926; Poorani 2002a: 323.

Calvia durgae Kapur, 1963a: 42 (Holotype female, BMNH; Type locality: Singhik, Sikkim).— Synonymized by Booth 1997: 926.

Calvia trilochana Kapur, 1963a: 42 (Holotype male, BMNH; Type locality: Singhik, Sikkim).— Synonymized by Booth 1997: 926.

Calvia pinaki Kapur, 1963a: 43 (Holotype male, BMNH; Type locality: Singhik, Sikkim).— Synonymized by Booth 1997: 926.

Calvia pasupati Kapur, 1963a: 45 (Holotype male, BMNH; Type locality: Singhik, Sikkim).— Synonymized by Booth 1997: 926.

Calvia connexa Miyatake, 1985: 17 (Type locality: Godavari , Nepal).— Synonymized by Booth 1997: 926.

Calvia schiva (sic): Kovář 2007: 608.

Diagnosis. Length: 4.40 mm; width: 3.60 mm. Form ( Fig. 41a–c ) short oval, moderately convex. Ground colour straw yellow. Pronotum with ill-defined pale brown markings. Elytra yellowish brown, with three pale brown longitudinal stripes of progressively reducing width on each elytron, two dorsal and not reaching apex and one on outer margin reaching apex; one stripe along sutural line reaching apex. This is a highly polymorphic species ( Fig. 41a–c ) and can be differentiated from the other species of this region by the single spur on mesotibiae and lack of spurs on metatibiae. Male genitalia ( Fig. 41d–f ) as illustrated.

Distribution. India (Manipur, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, northeastern region); Nepal; Bhutan.

Prey/associated habitat: Aphidophagous, known hosts include Cervaphis quercus Takahashi , Mollitrichosiphum alni Ghosh et al. , and Tuberculatus indicus Ghosh. Very commonly collected on Juglans regia .

Notes. A highly variable species that can be positively identified only by the male genitalia. Its generic placement is somewhat uncertain and the presence of a single mesotibial spur in C. shiva is most unusual in Coccinellidae / Coccinellini and it differs from other Indian Calvia spp. in lacking the metatibial spurs (Booth 1996).

See Kapur (1963a), Miyatake (1985) and Booth (1997) for detailed description / illustrations of the variants and / or genitalia.

Figures

FIGURE 41. Calvia shiva Kapur: a–c. adult, variants; d–f. male genitalia: d. tegmen, lateral view; e. tegmen, ventral view; f. penis.