Palaeoneda Crotch, 1871

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 : 227

Genus Palaeoneda Crotch

Palaeoneda Crotch, 1871: 5 . Type species: Neda auriculata Mulsant, 1866: 195 (by subsequent designation of Crotch 1874: 178) (= Coccinella miniata Hope, 1831: 30 ).

Diagnosis. Form large, dorsum strongly convex and glabrous. Anterior clypeal margin of head semicircularly emarginate between lateral projections. Pronotum with sides nearly straight, anterolateral angles acutely pointed. Elytra with anterior margin much broader than pronotum, broadest at base, narrowed towards apex in posterior half, lateral margins broadly explanate. Mesoventrite medially deeply emarginate. Epipleura wide but not foveolate. Abdominal postcoxal line incomplete with an associated line.

Distribution. Eastern Himalayas ( India; Nepal; Bhutan; China).

Affinities. Tomaszewska et al. (2021) included it in the Synonycha -group of genera. In morphological analyses, they found support for a sister relationship of Aiolocaria with Palaeoneda Crotch. In terms of size, Palaeoneda ranks among the largest Coccinellini of this region along with Synonycha , Callicaria , Megalocaria and Aiolocaria .

Included species. It is a monotypic genus known by its type species, P. auriculata (Mulsant) .