Chilocorus flaviceps (Miyatake), 2023

POORANI, J., 2023, An illustrated guide to the lady beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) of the Indian Subcontinent. Part II. Tribe Chilocorini, Zootaxa 5378 (1), pp. 1-108 : 39

Chilocorus flaviceps (Miyatake) , comb. n.

( Fig. 31 )

Phaenochilus flaviceps Miyatake, 1970b: 111 .— Poorani 2002: 313; Giorgi & Vandenberg 2012: 248 .

Diagnosis. Length: 4.00 mm; width: 3.70 mm. Form nearly hemispherical, dorsum strongly convex and glabrous. Head and anterior and anterolateral corners of pronotum broadly reddish or yellowish testaceous, elytra black to piceous ( Fig. 31a, c ). Ventral side including legs yellowish testaceous except elytral epipleura largely blackish, inner side lighter. Outwardly similar to the more commonly collected C. nigrita but differs in possessing a narrow frons and divergent eyes, slender terminal maxillary and labial palpomere and elongate basal tooth of tarsal claw, and can be reliably separated mainly by the male genitalia ( Fig. 31e–g ).

The holotype male of Phaenochilus flaviceps Miyatake ( Fig. 31a, b ) (Tamil Nadu / Coimbatore, BPBM) (Image courtesy: Hiroyuki Yoshitomi , Ehime University ) and the specimen from Bihar (BMNH, examined) ( Fig. 31c, d ) are illustrated here.

Distribution. India: Bihar; Kerala; Tamil Nadu.

Notes. This is one of three known Indian species of the erstwhile Phaenochilus (now part of Chilocorus ) with black to piceous elytra ( Giorgi & Vandenberg, 2012). Following Li et al. (2020b), it is transferred to Chilocorus (comb. n.). It may have a wider distribution in India, but likely to be misidentified as Chilocorus nigrita , in view of its resemblance to the latter. Miyatake (1970b) described it from South India (Tamil Nadu) and it appears to be a rare species and it is also likely that specimens may be mixed up with Chilocorus nigrita , a commonly collected species. Specimens from Bihar (BMNH, examined) identified as Phaenochilus flaviceps by R. G. Booth and P. Łączyński were also examined.

Figures

FIGURE 31. Chilocorus flaviceps (Miyatake): a, holotype male (BPBM); b. label data of holotype; c. adult, dorsal habitus (BMNH); d. label data; e–g. male genitalia: e. tegmen, lateral view; f. tegmen, ventral view; g. penis. (Photo courtesy: a, b. Hiroyuki Yoshitomi, Ehime University; c, d. Keita Matsumoto (BMNH); e–g. illustrations redrawn from Miyatake 1970b).