Horniolus nepalensis ( Canepari, 1997 ) Poorani, 2022

Poorani, J., 2022, A review of Horniolus Weise (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) from the Indian region, including descriptions of two new species, Zootaxa 5104 (4), pp. 545-556 : 553

Horniolus nepalensis ( Canepari, 1997) comb. n.

( Fig. 5 )

Platynaspis nepalensis Canepari, 1997: 20 , 45 (Holotype female; MHNG).

Platynaspis nepalensis Canepari, 1997 , described from Nepal, is transferred to Horniolus . Canepari’s illustrations and the images of the holotype female (obtained through the courtesy of Dr. Giulio Cuccodoro, MHNG) ( Fig. 5 ) clearly establish it as a species of Horniolus . The dorsal habitus ( Fig. 5a ) of P. nepalensis is reminiscent of some of the known species of Horniolus such as H. hisamatsui and H. sonduongensis (as illustrated by Szawaryn & Větrovec 2020) in having a discal black spot on each elytron. The abdominal postcoxal lines ( Fig. 5c ) are deeply semicircular and complete and typical of Horniolus . The female genitalia ( Fig. 5d ) (illustrated in Canepari 1997: p. 40, Figs 123–125) with intricately coiled spermatheca and the elongate triangular coxites are characteristic of Horniolus and not found in any of the Platynaspis species of this region or elsewhere, all of which have broad and transverse coxites. Only Crypticolus , a genus of Platynaspini from Madagascar, has elongate triangular coxites with a complex, distally coiled spermatheca ( Ślipiński & Tomaszewska 2002).

Figures

FIGURE 5. Horniolus nepalensis (Canepari): a. holotype female (MHNG), dorsal view; b. holotype labels; c. holotype female, abdomen; d. female genitalia, glued to card (Image credit: Giulio Cuccodoro, MHNG).