Illeis 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 : 157-159

Genus Illeis Mulsant

Psyllobora (Illeis) Mulsant, 1850: 166, 1026 ; 1866: 127.

Type species: Coccinella cincta Fabricius, 1798: 77 , by subsequent designation of Korschefsky 1932: 558.

Illeis: Crotch 1871: 4 ; Korschefsky 1932: 558; Timberlake 1943: 42; Bielawski 1961a: 353–368; Iablokoff-Khnzorian 1979: 63; 1982: 282.

Leptothea Weise, 1898: 227.— Korschefsky 1932: 558; Bielawski 1961a: 354. Type species: Psyllobora galbula Mulsant , by original designation. Synonymized by Timberlake 1943: 42.

Illeis (Leptothea) : Iablokoff-Khnzorian 1979: 63; 1982: 282.

Diagnosis. Small to medium sized beetles, usually pale yellow to bright yellow, with or without black spots on the pronotum ( Fig. 110a, b ). Form broad oval to elongate oval, dorsum weakly to moderately convex, glabrous. Head ( Fig. 110c ) narrowed in front of antennal insertions, concealed by anterior margin of pronotum at rest; anterior clypeal margin weakly arcuate with lateral projections reduced or absent. Mandibles ( Fig. 110g ) bifid apically with microdenticulation along the incisor edge, molar part with a basal tooth. Antenna ( Fig. 110d ) long, loosely segmented, at least twice as long as interocular distance. Terminal maxillary palpomere ( Fig. 110e ) extremely strongly transverse and securiform. Pronotum much narrower at base than elytra at shoulders. Anterior margin of pronotum shallowly and evenly emarginate in middle, posterior margin finely grooved in front of scutellar shield, lateral sides upturned. Prothoracic hypomeron without foveae. Prosternal process short, carinate. Tibial spur formula 0-0-0. Tarsal claws appendiculate. Abdominal postcoxal line ( Fig. 110h ) incomplete, short and apically recurved. Male genitalia ( Fig. 110i–k ) with penis guide apically symmetrical, penis apex variously modified.

Distribution. This genus is mainly Oriental and Australasian in distribution.

Affinities. Illeis was originally included under the tribe Halyziini / Psylloborini , now subsumed in the tribe Coccinellini based on combined phylogenetic analyses of morphological and molecular characters ( Seago et al. 2011; Tomaszewska et al. 2021). Tomaszewska et al. (2021) included Illeis in the Synonycha- group of genera and found it forming a separate subclade with the other genera of the erstwhile Halyziini such as Psyllobora , Oxytella , Illeis , Vibidia , Macroilleis , and Halyzia . The species of these genera are mycophagous and commonly associated with powdery mildews and other fungal infestations on various hosts.

Included species. About half a dozen species are known from this region. One species, Illeis kapuri Anand et al. 1990 (described from Himachal Pradesh, northwestern India) is transferred to Ortalia Mulsant (new combination) and will be treated in detail in another publication (in preparation). The holotype of I. kapuri deposited at NPC ( Fig. 120 ) has a distinctly pubescent dorsum and belongs to the genus Ortalia and conspecific specimens from Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh were also examined.

Figures

FIGURE 110. Diagnostic characters of Illeis: a, b. adult; c. head; d. antenna; e. maxilla; f. labium; g. mandible; h. abdominal postcoxal line; i–k. male genitalia: i. tegmen, ventral view; j. tegmen, lateral view; k. penis; l. female genitalia: spermatheca.

FIGURE 120. Holotype of Illeis kapuri Anand (NPC–IARI) (Image credit: Nithya Chandran, IARI, New Delhi).