Sticholotis rugicollis Korschefsky

Poorani, J. & Booth, R. G., 2006, New synonymies in Oriental Sticholotidini (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae: Sticholotidinae), Zootaxa 1139, pp. 27-33 : 28-30

Sticholotis rugicollis Korschefsky , stat. rev. ( Figs. 1–4)

Sticholotis quadrisignata rugicollis Korschefsky, 1934: 6 (Syntype, USNM; Type locality: Fraserpet, Karnataka, India).­ Poorani, 2002: 366.

Sticholotis gomyi Chazeau in Chazeau et al., 1974: 268 (Holotype ♂, MNHN, Paris; Type locality: Réunion Island). New Synonym.

Diagnostic description: Length 1.6–1.8 mm, width 1.3–1.6 mm. Form ( Fig. 1) short oval, convex, dorsum glabrous. Head and pronotum dark reddish brown to testaceous. Ground colour of elytra dark pitchy brown, with two yellow to reddish spots on each elytron, distinctly separated or longitudinally fused at middle, forming an elongate, medially constricted marking, this marking sometimes much wider; lateral borders of elytra occasionally lighter than disk. Ventral side uniform dark reddish to testaceous brown. Elytral punctation dual, fine and coarser punctures intermixed, coarser punctures fewer, characteristically arranged in 4–6 irregular, short rows around middle of elytra. Prosternal process large, quadrate and subtrapezoidal. Male genitalia ( Figs. 2–4 ) diagnostic, tegmen with a funnel­shaped basal lobe ( Fig. 3 ), sipho ( Fig. 4 ) stout.

Specimens examined: Three syntypes with the same data (except for the dates 3.i.31, 17.i.31 and 9.v.30): “Fraserpet, Coorg, FRI Sandal insect survey, 3.i.31 / 470/ Typus (red label)/ S. rugicollis mi. (in Korschefsky’s handwriting)/ Korschefsky collection 1952” (USNM). Several examples from Bangalore, Karnataka.

Distribution: India: Karnataka. Réunion Island.

Remarks: Korschefsky (1934) described Sticholotis quadrisignata rugicollis from the southern Indian state of Karnataka. Examination of the syntypes of this species in the Korschefsky collection, USNM, showed that it was a distinct species. Specimens of this species were not deposited in the Natural History Museum, London, despite the comments to that effect in the original paper. This species is very different from S. quadrisignata Weise (1895) , also distributed in the Oriental region (Type locality: Vietnam). The latter is much larger in size, with its body outline nearly circular and the dorsum is more strongly convex. The elytra are black with four reddish spots arranged in two rows, the first pair very near or almost touching the anterior / basal margin of elytra and the second pair in the posterior half. The elytral punctation in S. quadrisignata is also characteristic, with two curved rows of very coarse punctations in the middle of elytra, one on either side of the sutural line. Besides these, there are several scattered coarse punctations in the middle of elytra and the lateral margins.

The elytral punctation of S. rugicollis also is rather characteristic, but very different from that of S. quadrisignata in the following ways: the elytral punctation is clearly dual with fine and coarser punctures intermixed, but the coarser punctures are much fewer in number and more or less confined to the middle of elytra and characteristically arranged in 4–6, somewhat irregular but clearly visible rows on either side of suture, the rows being apparent even in dorsal view in some very dark coloured Indian examples seen by the senior author. The funnel­shaped basal lobe of male genitalia is diagnostic. In view of these differences, S. rugicollis is elevated to a distinct species (status revised).

Sticholotis gomyi Chazeau (in Chazeau et al., 1974), described from the island of Réunion, has identical external appearance and male genitalia, except for some minor differences in the apical portion of the sipho. The elytral punctation described by Chazeau et al. (1974) also matches that of S. rugicollis . Hence, S. gomyi is reduced to a new junior synonym of S. rugicollis (new synonym).

Another species of this region, Sticholotis rufoplagiata ( Motschulsky, 1866) , originally described from Sri Lanka, appears very similar to S. rugicollis . The habitus illustration given by Bielawski (1960) is similar to that of S. rugicollis forms with fused elytral spots, but the elytral spot is anteriorly clearly confluent with the elytra in the former. The male genitalia of S. rufoplagiata were not illustrated by Bielawski (1960).

Biology / hosts: The specimens examined were collected in association with diaspine scales such as Hemiberlesia lataniae (Signoret) , Pinnaspis strachani (Cooley) and Melanaspis glomerata (Green) (Homoptera: Diaspididae ) on agave, sugarcane, and teak in and around Bangalore, India.

Figures

FIGURES 2 – 4. Sticholotis rugicollis Korschefsky, male genitalia: 2. Tegmen, lateral view; 3. Tegmen, ventral view; 4. Sipho.