Stethorus (Allostethorus) pauperculus (Weise)

(Figs 11a–h, 12a–j)

Scymnus (Stethorus) pauperculus Weise, 1895: 155 .

Stethorus pauperculus: Weise 1900: 440.– Kapur 1948: 309.

Diagnosis. Length: 1.00– 1.20 mm; width: 0.80–0.90 mm. Form elongate, somewhat narrowly oval; dorsum moderately convex and densely pubescent with silvery white hairs (Fig. 11a–c). Abdominal postcoxal lines fairly deeply semicircular (Fig. 11d, e) extending beyond middle to nearly two-thirds of the length of ventrite 1, enclosed area with few punctures confined to the anterior inner half. Male genitalia (Fig. 11f–h) diagnostic, as illustrated.

Immature stages. Immature stages as illustrated in Fig. 12a–g.

Material examined. INDIA: Tamil Nadu: Podavur, NRCB Research Farm, N10°47'20.16" E078°34'29.88", 18.xi.16, 13.iii.24, 8.ix.25, on banana, R. Thanigairaj, 30 ex. (ICAR-NRCB) .

Distribution. India: Widely distributed (Bihar; Delhi; Karnataka; Kerala; Gujarat; Maharashtra; Tamil Nadu; West Bengal); Pakistan; Middle East (Yemen) (Kapur 1948).

Biology. Commonly collected on banana and several other host plants, including brinjal, Calotropis gigantea, coconut, etc.; Oligonychus indicus (Hirst) on bajra, maize, sorghum; Oligonychus sp. on arecanut, banana; Tetranychus truncatus on bhindi, cowpea; T. macfarlanei Baker and Pritchard on Amaranthus sp.; T. okinawanus on cowpea; Tetranychus sp. on bhindi; predatory on Eutetranychus orientalis, Tetranychus ludeni; collected on Andropogon, banana, bhindi, coconut, ridge gourd, soyabean, sugarcane (prey not known) (Kapur 1948; Gupta 1985; Vidya 2018; Vidya et al. 2022).

Barcode sequence. A barcode sequence of the material collected on banana is deposited in GenBank (accession number MF188881.1).

Notes. It is the most common Stethorus species with a pan Indian distribution on various crops, besides banana. The key diagnostic characters are the deeply semicircular abdominal postcoxal lines extending beyond middle to nearly two-thirds of the length of ventrite 1 and the male genitalia.