Megalocaria Crotch

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 : 174

Genus Megalocaria Crotch

Megalocaria Crotch, 1871: 6 .

Type species: Neda reichei Mulsant, 1850 , by monotypy.— Ślipiński et al. 2020: 78.

Archaeoneda Crotch, 1874: 169. Type species: Coccinella tricolor Fabricius, 1787 , by original designation.—Synonymized by Iablokoff-Khnzorian 1982: 520.

Diagnosis. Size large (9–18 mm long), form round, dorsum strongly convex and glabrous. Head with eyes strongly divergent apically, closer near vertex than near clypeus; anterior clypeal margin straight between lateral projections ( Fig. 123c ); antennal grooves straight and long, reaching distinctly beyond eyes. Antenna 11-segmented ( Fig. 123b ), with a large scape and three-segmented club. Prothoracic hypomeron without foveae. Prosternal process with parallel carinae. Anterior margin of mesoventrite deeply emarginate. Elytra broadly explanate, without a marginal bead; epipleuron broad and concave, not foveolate. Middle and hind tibiae with a pair of apical spurs. Tarsal claw appendiculate.Abdominal postcoxal line ( Fig. 123d ) incomplete, approaching posterior margin, without an associated line. Female genitalia with a distinct, prominent infundibulum.

Distribution. About 20 species are known exclusively from the Old World (Africa, Asia and the Australo-Pacific region) ( Ślipiński et al. 2020).

Affinities. Tomaszewska et al. (2021) included it under the Synonycha- group of genera and recovered it as a sister-group of Synonycha . The composition of Megalocaria and its distinctiveness from related genera such as Docimocaria , Anisolemnia , Synonycha and other large-bodied Coccinellini are not clear and need further study ( Ślipiński et al. 2020).

Included species. Megalocaria includes some of the largest known ladybird beetles, some reaching up to 18 mm in length and is represented by two species in the Indian subcontinent, M. dilatata (F.) and M. reichei pearsoni Crotch , the first being more widespread and the second rare and restricted to the Eastern Himalayas.

Figures

FIGURE 123. Megalocaria dilatata (Fabricius): a. adult, dorsal view; b. antenna; c. head; d. abdominal postcoxal line; e. female genitalia: spermatheca; f–h. male genitalia: f. tegmen, ventral view; g. penis; h. penis apex.