Propylea dissecta (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 : 242-245

Propylea dissecta (Mulsant)

( Figs 173 , 174 )

Lemnia (Vola) dissecta Mulsant, 1850: 377 (Type locality: “les Indes Orientales”).

Lemnia dissecta: Mulsant 1866: 249 .

Propylea japonica ab. dissecta: Korschefsky 1932: 531 .

Propylea dissecta: Crotch 1874: 158 ; Miyatake 1985: 15; Canepari 1997: 48; Poorani 2002a: 339.

Propylaea fallax Yablokov —Khnzoryan 1977: 61; Iablokoff-Khnzorian 1982: 171.

Diagnosis. Length: 3.54–4.50 mm; width: 2.95–3.60 mm. Form broad oval to elongate oval, dorsum moderately convex with explanate elytral margins, glabrous. Head anteriorly yellow, with a wavy black marking in posterior half, females often with an additional black macula on frons connected to the basal macula. Pronotum with a large, transverse black macula of variable size and shape on posterior margin. Elytra yellow / orange with an anchor-shaped black marking ( Fig. 173a, b, e ) that is variously reduced ( Fig. 174m, n ), sutural line with a black stripe; commonly collected forms ( Fig. 173c, d ) with plain yellow elytra, with only the sutural black stripe anteriorly widened; several intermediate forms found. Ventral side yellow to yellowish brown, except meso-and metaventrites, and middle of abdominal ventrites black, femora of legs dark brown. Abdominal postcoxal line ( Fig. 173g ) incomplete. Male genitalia ( Figs 173i–n ) and spermatheca ( Fig. 173h ) as illustrated.

It can be distinguished from P. japonica by its much broader body outline and the pair of roundish to elongate oval periscutellar spots on either side of scutellar shield though the male genitalia are quite similar to those of P. japonica .

Immature stages. Eggs yellow, spindle shaped, laid in small groups ( Fig. 174a ). Larva black with yellow or white or orange maculae ( Fig. 174b–j ). Pupa (Fig. k, l) yellow.

Distribution. India:Widely distributed (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Meghalaya, Pondicherry, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand); Pakistan; Bangladesh; Bhutan; Nepal; Sri Lanka; Myanmar; Laos.

Prey/associated habitat. Aphididae : Rhopalosiphum maidis (Fitch) ; Lophopidae : Pyrilla perpusilla (Walker) ; Ortheziidae : Insignorthezia insignis (Browne) ; Pseudococcidae : Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green) ; Noctuidae : Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) ; Xylorictidae : Opisina arenosella Walker. Commonly found on rice, maize, sorghum and grasses. Collected on lablab, cabbage, hibiscus, cotton, and coconut. Found feeding on aphids infesting Bidens pilosa and weeds in Nepal ( Sajan et al. 2019).

Seasonal occurrence. Collected almost throughout the year; April and October (Assam).

Notes. It is the most common and widely distributed species of Propylea in mainland India and records of P. japonica from peninsular India are most likely to be based on P. dissecta . The common colour morph of P. dissecta with almost immaculate elytra with only a sutural black stripe is frequently misidentified and referred in literature from this region as Micraspis discolor , but can be readily distinguished by the much broader scutellar shield (very small in Micraspis ), elongate oval terminal antennomere, prothoracic hypomeron with deeply impressed anterior inner corners, and other generic characters.

It was originally described by Iablokoff-Khnzorian (1977). Also illustrated by Ren et al. (2009) and Yu (2010).

Figures

FIGURE 173. Propylea dissecta: a–e. adult, variants; f. antenna; g. abdominal postcoxal line; h. spermatheca; i–n. male genitalia: i. tegmen, lateral view; j. tegmen, ventral view; k, m. penis, variants; l, n. penis apex.

FIGURE 174. Propylea dissecta (Mulsant), life stages: a. egg; b–j. larva; k, l. pupa; m, n. adult, variants.