Scymnus (Pullus) gucheng Yu

Yu, Guoyue, Montgomery, Michael E. & Yao, Defu, 2000, Lady Beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) From Chinese Hemlocks Infested With The Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, Adelges Tsugae Annand (Homoptera: Adelgidae), The Coleopterists Bulletin 54 (2), pp. 154-199 : 176-177

Scymnus (Pullus) gucheng Yu , new species

( Fig. 14)

Description. Male. Length 1.75 mm, width 1.20 mm. Form oval with sides weakly arcuate, dorsum moderately convex. Head reddish brown. Pronotum brown with large black basal marking, about 1/2 pronotal width, nearly reaching anterior margin. Scutellum black. Elytra black with apical 1/4 yellowish brown, except for black along suture narrowing gradually to apex, border between colors distinct. Underside black, except lateral areas of prothorax, apical 2 segments of abdomen brown. Legs yellowish brown, middle and hind coxae black. Interocular distance slightly less than 1/2 head width. Innerocular margins weakly arcuate. Frons weakly convex, finely, sparsely punctate, denser near eyes. Antenna 11­segmented, proportions as illustrated ( Fig. 14j). Maxillary palpus terminal segment nearly parallel­sided, slightly convergent anteriorly, length about 1.3 times width, distal side distinctly oblique. Pronotum punctation similar to head. Elytral punctation distinctly coarser, pubescence arranged in a weak S­form. Prosternal carinae moderately separated, slightly convergent anteriorly. Postcoxal line of first abdominal sternite complete, extending to about 3/5 sternite length; enclosed area finely punctate, posterior 1/2 smooth. Hind margin of fifth abdominal sternite truncate; sixth sternite apex slightly arcuate. Genitalia: Sipho ( Fig. 14a) relatively stout, strongly arcuate; siphonal capsule with slender inner process, indistinct outer process; apex of sipho ( Fig. 14g) without appendix except membrane on outside. Tegmen ( Fig. 14b, i) stout; median piece of tegmen widest at basal 1/3, converging gradually to teat­shaped tip in ventral aspect. In lateral aspect, median piece thickest at base, narrowing to sharp point. Lateral lobes of tegmen distinctly longer than median piece, long setae from near base to tip.

Distribution. China (Yunnan).

Type Series. Holotype: (Ƌ), Yunnan: Lijiang: Wenbishan (26.8 N, 100.2 E), VII­1997, Zhao L. leg. ( BAAF).

Etymology. The Chinese word ‘gucheng’ means ancient city and refers to the ancestral city of Lijiang, near the type locality.

Remarks. This species is similar to S. (P.) petalinus Yu (1995) from Taiwan, but is distinguishable from the latter by the lack of a thread­like appendix on the siphonal apex, the distinct convergence at the base of the median piece of tegmen, and the black suture reaching the apex.