Calvia punctata (Mulsant)

POORANI, J., 2023, An illustrated guide to lady beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) of the Indian Subcontinent. Part 1. Tribe Coccinellini, Zootaxa 5332 (1), pp. 1-307 : 57-62

Calvia punctata (Mulsant)

( Fig. 39 )

Harmonia punctata Mulsant, 1853a: 143 (Lectotype, UCCC; Type locality: India); 1866: 69.

Anisocalvia punctata: Crotch 1874: 144 ; Gordon 1987: 17.

Calvia punctata: Korschefsky 1932: 524 ; Bielawski 1963a: 17–18; Booth 1997: 928; Poorani 2002a: 323.

Propylea obversepunctata Mulsant, 1853a: 156 ; 1853b: 28; 1866: 151; Crotch 1874: 144 (as Anisocalvia ); Synonymized by Bielawski 1963a: 17; Gordon 1987: 17.

Diagnosis. Length: 5.00– 5.80 mm. Form elongate oval, moderately convex, and glabrous. Head yellowish, interspaces between punctations strongly microreticulate. Pronotum black, external borders yellowish, interspaces between punctations smooth and shiny. Elytral pattern highly variable ( Fig. 39a–f ), ground colour of elytra dull yellow to black, elytral pattern usually yellow with six black spots arranged in 3-2-1 pattern or with the number of spots reduced or occasionally fully black with only external margins dark reddish brown to yellow; elytral punctures distinctly dual, large, deep punctures intermixed with finer punctures. Abdominal postcoxal line ( Fig. 39g ) incomplete. Male genitalia ( Fig. 39i–k ) and spermatheca ( Fig. 39h ) as illustrated.

Distribution. India: North and northwestern regions (Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand); Pakistan; Nepal; Afghanistan; Also recorded from the Central Asian States of the former Soviet Union ( Iablokoff-Khnzorian 1982).

Prey/associated habitat. Mainly aphidophagous. Recorded hosts include: Aphididae : Aphis gossypii Glover , Aphis craccivora Koch , Acyrthosiphon gossypii Mordvilko , Chromaphis juglandicola (Kaltenbach) , Myzus persicae (Sulzer) . Undetermined aphids, psyllids, and scale insects (Booth 1997); feeds on Comstockaspis perniciosa (Comstock) (Diaspididae) in Pakistan ( Irshad 2001). Found feeding on scale insects on walnut tree and other wild vegetation in Pakistan (Khan et al. 2006). Collected on apple, pear, plum, walnut, almond, mustard and willow ( Kundoo 2019; label data).

Seasonal occurrence. Collected during March, May–July, and August–September (label data).

Notes. Bielawski (1963b) described it and illustrated the colour morphs and the genitalia. Booth (1997) included it in his key to the Indian species and illustrated the male genitalia. There are many variants and all are not illustrated here.

Figures

FIGURE 39. Calvia punctata (Mulsant): a–f. adult, polymorphic forms; g. abdominal postcoxal line; h. female genitalia: spermatheca; i–k. male genitalia: i. tegmen, ventral view; j. penis; k. penis apex.