Calvia andrewesi (Weise)

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 : 52

Calvia andrewesi (Weise)

( Figs 31 , 197 )

Anisocalvia andrewesi Weise, 1908: 220 (Lectotype female, BMNH; Type locality: Anamalai Hills); Booth 1997: 929.

Calvia andrewesi: Korschefsky 1932: 521 ; Booth 1997: 929; Poorani 2002a: 322.

Diagnosis. Length: 5.50–6.00 mm; width: 5.20–5.50 mm. Form broadly oval to subcircular, dorsum strongly convex, glabrous. Ground colour yellowish ( Figs 31a , 197f–i ) or reddish brown ( Fig. 31c ) or dark brown with paler elytral margins ( Fig. 31b ), elytra unmarked or yellow with black spots arranged in a 1-2-2-1 pattern ( Fig. 31a ). Elytra with strong dual punctation ( Fig. 31f ). Abdominal postcoxal line incomplete ( Fig. 31d ), parallel to posterior margin of ventrite 1. Male genitalia ( Fig. 31h–k ) and spermatheca ( Fig. 31g ) as illustrated.

Life stages. Life stages as illustrated in Fig. 197 .

Distribution. India: Endemic to the Western Ghats (Anamalai Hills, Nilgiris).

Prey / associated habitat. Collected in association with Greenidea sp. (Aphididae) on jack fruit (label data).

Seasonal occurrence. Collected in April, January (label data).

Note. It is a variable species, very similar to Calvia punctata (Mulsant) , a species found in north and northwestern India and the Himalayas, in terms of size and dual punctation of elytra, but differs from it by the more rounded and strongly convex form. Iablokoff-Khnzorian (1979, 1982) considered it as a synonym of the latter, but Booth (1997) confirmed it as a valid species based on the more strongly rounded and convex form and the distinct male genitalia and designated a lectotype.

Figures

FIGURE 31. Calvia andrewesi (Weise): a–c. adult variants, dorsal view; d. abdomen, male; e. ventrite 5 and 6, female; f. elytral punctation; g. spermatheca; h–k. male genitalia: h. tegmen, lateral view; i. tegmen, ventral view; j. penis; k. penis apex.

FIGURE 197. Calvia andrewesi (Weise), life stages: a, b. larva; c. prepupa; d, e. pupa; f–i. live adult.