Epilachna dives Erichson, 1847

González, Guillermo & Větrovec, Jaroslav, 2021, New species and records of Neotropical ladybirds (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), Revista Chilena de Entomología (Rev. Chil. Entomol.) 47 (2), pp. 331-374 : 359

Epilachna dives Erichson, 1847 ; 184; Mulsant 1853: 165; Crotch 1874: 55; Korschefsky 1931:

61; Blackwelder 1945: 441; Gordon 1975: 52; Jadwiszczak & Wegrzynowicz 2003: 58. First record for Bolivia.

Specimens examined. BOLIVIA: 1 ♂ “ Villa Tunari / 18.9.2005 / Bolivie / lgt. Kondler”, “ ♂ 1990” ( JVC) . PERU: 1 ♀ “ Peru, Cusco / Agnas [ Aguas ] Calientes / 18.1.2009 / lgt. M. Krejčíř ”, “ ♀ 1935” ( JVC) .

Remarks. Epilachna dives is a highly variable species, both in habitus and in the genitalia of males and females. Described from Peru, Gordon (1975) states that it could be a variation or a subspecies of Toxotoma flavofasciata (Laporte, 1840) (as Epilachna flavofasciata ), but indicates that specimens with transverse bands as in the latter species have not been found in Epilachna dives . As Gordon (1975) stated for T. flavosfasciata , E. dives is a fluid group in which each locality has variations of habitus and distinctive appearance, while the genitalia also vary within each locality, not being possible to detect geographical trends, and that it is prudent to treat or as a single species until there are more antecedents. The specimen from Bolivia is entirely coincident both in the habitus and in the female genitalia with specimens from Peru.