Rodolia iceryae Janson, 1887

Hounkpati, Kwevitoukoui, Forrester, Juanita A. & Mchugh, Joseph V., 2019, Neotype designation for Rodolia iceryae Janson in Ormerod, 1887 (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), Zootaxa 4563 (2), pp. 396-400 : 397-398

Rodolia iceryae Janson, 1887

( Figs. 1–9 )

Rodolia iceryae Janson in Ormerod, 1887: 30 ; original description;

Rodolia obscura Weise, 1898: 524 ; synonymized by Raimundo & Alves, 1978: 35. Type material: NEOTYPE (♂, MRAC) here designated to avoid ambiguity about the identity of this species whose type material is lost. The neotype ( Figs. 1–9 ) has been point mounted on a pin with a genitalia vial and four labels with the following data: “Pietermaritzburg / Natal 3-4-1957 / Hunt // COLL. MUS. CONGO / ex. coll. Dr. Breuning // Rodolia iceriae Jans. / det. H. Fürsch 1973 // NEOTYPE ♂ / Rodolia iceryae Janson ”. The neotype label is on red paper.

Type locality: South Africa

This specimen was selected as the neotype for several reasons. It was determined by Dr. Helmut Fürsch, a taxonomic authority of Afrotropical Coccinellidae . The specimen closely matches the original description of the species. It was collected from the same region as the originally described type specimen.

Diagnosis. Rodolia iceryae can be separated from other species of Novinii by the following combination of characters: length 3-5 mm; body hemispherical, widest just posterior to middle ( Fig. 1 ); shiny; dorsal surfaces pubescent; base of the elytra with a large semicircular blood-red spot, enclosing the scutellum; head concealed from above; humeral angles somewhat produced anteriorly, rounded, and slightly elevated.

Rodolia iceryae may be diagnosed by the structure of the male genitalia. The lateral lobes (= parameres) of this species are similar to those of Rodolia insularis Weise, 1895 in that they are medially constricted. However, the setae on the distal 25% of the parameres are notably shorter in R. iceryae than in R. insularis . Rodolia iceryae has a very short, narrow penis (= sipho) with a bifurcation just proximal to the apex. The only other species of Rodolia that have a similar penis are R. argodi Sicard, 1909 , and R. occidentalis Weise, 1898 . However, R. iceryae is readily distinguished from both of them in that the apex of the penis of R. iceryae is strongly curved, so much so that it almost forms a complete circle.

Figures

FIGURES 1–5. Neotype, Rodolia iceryae Janson in Ormerod, male: 1. Dorsal habitus, 2. Ventral habitus, 3. Specimen labels, 4. Lateral habitus, 5. Tegmen, lateral view.

FIGURES 6–9. Neotype, Rodolia iceryae Janson in Ormerod, male genitalia: 6. Tegmen, ventral view, 7. Tegmen, lateral view, 8. Penis (= sipho), lateral view, 9. Apex of penis.