Chilocorus pakistanensis (Ahmad & Ghani)

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 : 61

Chilocorus pakistanensis (Ahmad & Ghani)

( Figs 44 , 45 )

Simmondsius pakistanensis Ahmad & Ghani, 1966: 9 .— Poorani 2002: 314; Kovář 2007: 595.

Chilocorus pakistanensis : Li et al. 2020b: 461.

Diagnosis. Length: 3.60–4.50 mm; width: 2.90–3.20 mm. Form ( Fig. 44 , 45a–c ) elongate oval, dorsum moderately convex. Head ( Fig. 45b, c ) blackish blue with greyish hairs; pronotum and elytra metallic greenish blue to blue, glabrous. Antenna ( Fig. 45d ) short, with 7 antennomeres, antennomeres 4–7 forming a somewhat fusiform club. Maxilla ( Fig. 45e ) dark brown to black, cylindrical, apical margin obliquely transverse. Tarsal claws sickle-shaped / falciform with weak basal teeth. Abdominal postcoxal lines ( Fig. 45f ) incomplete. Male genitalia ( Figs. 45g –i ) as illustrated. Coxites elongate triangular, spermatheca ( Fig. 45j ) as illustrated.

Distribution. India (Uttarakhand; Jammu & Kashmir); Pakistan.

Prey / associated habitat. The type specimens were found “feeding on Parlatoria oleae (Colvee) on Pinus excelsa ” ( Ahmad & Ghani 1966) . Feeds on Aphis pomi and scale insects on apple ( Maqbool et al. 2020). Other known hosts include Aonidiella orientalis (Newstead) , Comstockaspis perniciosa , Leucaspis coniferarum Hall & Williams ( Diaspididae ).

Seasonal occurrence. In Kashmir, India, adults were observed to emerge in May and started overwintering in September ( Maqbool et al. 2020).

Natural enemies. Dinocampus coccinellae (Schrank) ( Hymenoptera : Braconidae ) ( Maqbool et al. 2018), Tetrastichus epilachnae Giard ( Hymenoptera : Eulophidae ).

Notes. This was the type species of Simmondsius Ahmad & Ghani (1966) , a genus described from Pakistan and now subsumed into Chilocorus . Simmondsius was erected based on the antenna with seven antennomeres and falciform tarsal claws and Li et al. (2020b) recently reduced it to a synonym of Chilocorus based on their combined molecular and morphological analysis of the tribe Chilocorini . It was not listed in the annotated checklist of Coccinellidae from Pakistan by Ali et al. (2018).

Orcus nepalicus Canepari 2012 , described from Nepal as the “most western species of the genus Orcus ”, is described as ‘dorsally black with blue metallic sheen’ and the ventral side is also largely blackish-brown.The description and the male genitalia illustrations given by Canepari (2012) indicate it is most likely to be a synonym of C. pakistanensis , a species distributed in the same geographical range. The type of O. nepalicus could not be studied for confirming this.

Figures

FIGURE 44. Chilocorus pakistanensis (Ahmad & Ghani), adult: a. dorsal view; b. frontal view; c. rear view; d. lateral view (Image credit: Aamir Maqbool, University of Kashmir).

FIGURE 45. Chilocorus pakistanensis (Ahmad & Ghani): a. adult, lateral view; b. head and pronotum; c. adult, frontal view; d. antenna; e. maxilla; f. abdomen, female; g–i. male genitalia: g. tegmen, ventral view; h. tegmen, lateral view; i. penis; j. spermatheca.