Chilocorus yunlongensis Cao & Xiao

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 : 72

Chilocorus yunlongensis Cao & Xiao

( Figs 51 , 52 )

Chilocorus yunlongensis Cao & Xiao, 1984: 117 .

Chilocorus yunlongensis : Cao et al. 1992: 159; Pang et al. 2004: 29; Kovář 2007: 594; Li et al. 2018: 6 .

Diagnosis. Form somewhat cordiform ( Fig. 51a, b ), distinctly narrowed apically in female ( Fig. 51b ), broader in male ( Fig. 51a ); dorsum convex and glabrous. Dorsal side black except anterolateral borders of pronotum slightly paler. Ventral side black, mouthparts, antenna and legs yellowish testaceous, abdomen yellowish testaceous except abdominal ventrite 1 medially dark brown to black. Elytral punctation fine on disc, distinctly coarser and more closely spaced on lateral sides. Abdominal postcoxal lines ( Fig. 51e–g ) incomplete; posterior margin of ventrite 6 shallowly emarginate in male ( Fig. 51e ) and arcuate in female ( Fig. 51f ). Coxites ( Fig. 51h ), spermatheca ( Fig. 51i ) and male genitalia ( Figs. 52a–d ) as illustrated.

Distribution. India: Meghalaya (new record); China.

Material examined. INDIA: Meghalaya CIE 18126 / Shillong, 21.v.86, no D28/ Chilocorus sp. nr. braeti Ws. det. R.G. Booth, 1986 / Pres. By Comm. Inst. Ent. BM 1986, 1 female, 1 male; INDIA CIE A19155 / Chilocorus sp. nr. braeti Ws. det. R.G. Booth, 1987 / Pres. By Comm. Inst. Ent. BM 1987–1, 1 female ( BMNH).

Notes. It was originally described from Yunnan, China. It is added to the Indian fauna of Chilocorini based on three specimens collected from Shillong in the north-eastern state of Meghalaya ( BMNH, examined). These specimens bear the label “ Chilocorus sp. nr. braeti Ws. , det. R.G. Booth, 1987”. The females are very similar to C. braeti in having a cordiform body outline, but C. braeti differs in having the elytra more distinctly narrowed towards the apices with much finer elytral punctation and the genitalia also are different. Li et al. (2018) treated this species in their revision of Chinese Chilocorus , but the habitus and male genitalia illustrations are not adequate to enable its unequivocal identification. Some specimens identified as ‘ C. braeti ’ in the collections of the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, appear to be misidentified and are likely to belong to this species.

Figures

FIGURE 51. Chilocorus yunlongensis Cao & Xiao: a. male, dorsal view; b. female, dorsal view; c. lateral view; d. frontal view; e. abdomen, male; f. abdomen, female; g. abdominal postcoxal line; h. coxites; i. spermatheca.

FIGURE 52. Chilocorus yunlongensis Cao & Xiao, male genitalia: a. tegmen, lateral view; b. tegmen, ventral view; c. penis; d. penis apex.