Illeis bielawskii Ghorpade

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 : 159

Illeis bielawskii Ghorpade

( Figs 111 , 112 )

Illeis bielawskii Ghorpade, 1976: 579 (Holotype male, UASB; Type locality: Karnataka).— Iablokoff-Khnzorian 1979: 64 (synonymy with I. bistigmosa ); Poorani 2002a: 333 (as a synonym of I. bistigmosa ); Poorani & Lalitha 2018: 113 (status restored).

Diagnosis. Length: 2.70–4.35 mm; width: 2.15–3.60 mm. Form ( Figs 111a, b ; 112e, f ) broad oval, dorsum moderately convex and glabrous. Eyes broadly separated. Pronotum plain yellow, without any basal black spots. Elytra lemon yellow, with (rarely without) two prominent greyish discal patches, lateral margins of pronotum and elytra transparent. Ventral side uniformly pale yellow. Male genitalia ( Fig. 111d–f ) and spermatheca ( Fig. 111c ) as illustrated.

Immature stages. Eggs whitish, spindle shaped, laid in groups. Larva ( Fig. 112a, b ) lemon yellow, with a short median black macula on head, narrow transverse black maculae on sides of thoracic segments and four rows of black spots on abdominal segments. Pupa ( Fig. 112c, d ) pale greyish with yellow and black markings.

Distribution. India: Very common in peninsular / south India (Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu); Nepal; Sri Lanka; Thailand; Indonesia; Malaysia; China.

Prey/associated habitat. Feeds on powdery mildews ( Oidium sp. , Phyllactinia sp. , and others) infesting Nyctanthes arbor-tristis , mulberry, castor, sunflower, chillies, Rosa sp. , Xanthium strumarium , Dalbergia sissoo , etc. ( Ghorpade 1976; label data).

Seasonal occurrence. Present throughout the year, active during October–March and after rainy season (June– August) in South India.

Natural enemy. Nothoserphus mirabilis Brues.

Notes. Ghorpade (1976) described it from Karnataka, South India. Illeis bielawskii belongs to the bistigmosa group of species and Iablokoff-Khnzorian (1979) synonymized it with I. bistigmosa . Poorani & Lalitha (2018) treated it as a valid species in view of the following differences from I. bistigmosa : “larger size, broader and more rounded body outline, absence of pronotal spots, yellowish elytra with greyish discal patches and the male genitalia, particularly the tegmen which is subparallel for nearly two-thirds of its length and thereafter gradually narrowed towards apex in lateral view and the penis apex”.

Figures

FIGURE 111. Illeis bielawskii Ghorpade: a, b. adult, dorsal view; c. female genitalia: spermatheca; d–f. male genitalia: d. tegmen, lateral view; e. tegmen, ventral view; f. penis.

FIGURE 112. Illeis bielawskii Ghorpade, life stages: a, b. larva; c, d. pupa; e, f. adult.