Hippodamia tredecimpunctata (Linnaeus)

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 : 153

Hippodamia tredecimpunctata (Linnaeus)

( Fig. 106c, d )

Coccinella tredecimpunctata Linnaeus, 1758: 366 (Type locality: Europe).

Hippodamia tredecimpunctata: Mulsant 1850: 10 ; 1866: 8; Korschefsky 1932: 331; Kotwal et al. 1984: 1011–1012; Poorani 2002a: 333; Biranvand et al. 2021: 300.

Diagnosis. Length: 6.10–6.20 mm; width: 3.20–3.40 mm. Form elongate, elytra distinctly narrowed in the apical third, dorsum moderately convex, glabrous ( Fig. 106c, d ). Head black with a triangular yellow marking. Pronotum yellow with a median subquadrate to trapezoidal black macula and two smaller spots on either side, sometimes all fused. Scutellar shield black. Elytra yellow with 13 black spots of variable size or without any spots. Legs with black femora and orange tibiae. Abdominal postcoxal lines absent. Genitalia not studied.

Distribution. India (Himachal Pradesh; presumed to be present in the colder parts of the northwestern region); Nepal; Tibet; Europe; Russia; Middle East; Central and East Asia; Northern Africa; Nearctic region (Biranvand et al. 2021).

Notes. It is superficially similar to H. variegata , the most common species in India and can be separated from it by the absence of abdominal postcoxal lines ( Iablokoff-Khnzorian 1982). See Biranvand et al. (2021) for more details and illustrations.

Figures

FIGURE 106. a. Hippodamia arctica (Schneider) (BMNH); b. Hippodamia heydeni Weise (Photo courtesy: K.V. Makarov); c, d. Hippodamia tredecimpunctata (Linnaeus) (BMNH).