Chrysocoris purpureus Westwood

Gupta, Ruchie & Pathania, P. C., 2017, Report on Hemipteran pest diversity on apple plantations (Malus domestica Borkh.) in Jammu and Kashmir State of India, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 117 (4), pp. 356-356 : 356-

Chrysocoris purpureus Westwood (Plate-1, Figure. f)

Taxonomic status: Hemiptera : Geocorisae: Scutelleridae

Distribution: Sikkim, Kolkata, Assam, Pondicherry and Jammu and Kashmir (Gupta, 2013).

Present Locality: The pest has been recorded from Mandi and Budhal areas of Jammu Province of Jammu and Kashmir State .

Host Plants: Poplar, Jatropha, Shisham, litchi, citrus and apple (( Nair, 1970; Chhetry, 2009; Kalia & Lal, 1999; Gupta, 2013).

Diagnostic features: Body iridescent bluish green with golden tinge bearing dark spots; medium sized, 15- 17 mm long, shield shaped, head smaller than the pronotum, roughly triangular with poster lateral margin slightly bulged for the placement of the compound eyes, impunctate. Head continuous with the pronotum, eyes prominent, do not touch the pronotum; ocelli two, small, oval, inwardly directed, basal in position; antennae 5-segmented, longer than the head, visible dorsally, filiform, dark brown, antennal segments finely pubescent, arising ventrally between the bucculae and the compound eye, pronotum large, broad, roughly hexagonal, punctuate, anteriorly proclinate, posteriorly bulged; scutellum large and extending to the apex of the abdomen, U-shaped, convex, covering most of the abdomen, posteriorly decumbent, punctuate except on a raised convex area at the proximal end; wings visible only at the edge of the abdomen, corium of hemi elytra narrow and do not extend to the anal margin of the wing; legs unequal, metalegs largest, pubescent, coxae circular, front coxae smaller, trochanter light brown, femur longer little broader, light brown, distal end black; tibia black, spiny, tarsi 3-segmented, claws two, apical arolia present; abdomen ventrally finely pubescent, orange, 5 black spots on elytra, one at each abdominal segment; seven abdominal segments visible ventrally.

Damage: The pest is a sap sucker and sucks sap from soft parts of apple plants.