Harmonia eucharis (Mulsant)

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 : 131-137

Harmonia eucharis (Mulsant)

( Figs 90–94 )

Ballia eucharis Mulsant, 1853a: 167 ; 1866: 191 (as Pelina ).—Crotch 1874: 127; Weise 1895a: 132.

Harmonia eucharis: Iablokoff-Khnzorian 1979: 71 ; Poorani 2002a: 331; Ren et al. 2009: 194; Yu 2010: 125.

Ballia christophori Mulsant, 1853a: 163 ; 1866: 188 (as Pelina ).—Crotch 1874: 126; Gordon 1987: 14.

Ballia dianae Mulsant, 1853a: 164 .—Crotch 1874: 127; Gordon 1987: 15.

Ballia dianae var. saundersii Crotch, 1874: 127 .— Gordon 1987: 15.

Ballia brahmae Mulsant, 1853a: 164 ; 1866: 189 (as Pelina ).— Korschefsky 1932: 278.

Ballia gustavi Mulsant, 1853a: 165 ; 1866: 190 (as Pelina ).— Gordon 1987: 15.

Ballia montivaga Mulsant, 1853a: 167 ; 1866: 191 (as Pelina ).—Crotch 1874: 127; Gordon 1987: 15.

Ballia testacea Mulsant, 1853a: 169 ; 1866: 192 (as Pelina ).— Gordon 1987: 15.

Pelina mayeti Mulsant, 1866: 189 .—Crotch 1874: 127; Gordon 1987: 15.

Ballia mayeti var. perplexa Crotch, 1874: 128 .

Pelina zephyrinae Mulsant, 1866: 190 .—Crotch 1874: 128; Gordon 1987: 15.

Neda bayaderae Mulsant, 1866: 200 .—Crotch 1874: 127 (as Ballia ).— Korschefsky 1932: 278; Gordon 1987: 15.

Diagnosis. Length: 6.50–10.50 mm; width: 5.70–7.70 mm. Form broad oval, dorsum convex and glabrous. Elytra pale yellowish brown, nominate form ( Figs 91c , 93f , 94g, h ) pale yellowish with 4–5 black spots on elytra; elytral pattern highly variable ( Figs 90a, b , 91 , 92 ), elytral variations include yellow without black spots, yellow with pale brown spots, pale brown with creamy yellow spots, yellow with basal two-thirds black, dark reddish brown with black lateral borders and other intermediate forms. Abdominal ventrite 5 and 6 emarginate in male, that of female medially projecting backwards and subtruncate, respectively. Abdominal postcoxal line incomplete with a curved associated line ( Fig. 90c ). Male genitalia ( Figs 90e–h ), and spermatheca ( Fig. 90d ) as illustrated.

Immature stages. Life stages ( Figs 93 , 94 ) as illustrated.

Distribution. India: Very common in northeastern and northwestern region (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh); Himalayas; Pakistan; Bhutan; Nepal. Introduced in the USA (North Carolina) for the management of balsam woolly aphid ( Adelges piceae (Ratzeburg)) , but did not establish.

Prey/associated habitat. Aphidoidea: Aphis cf. fabae Scopoli , Aphis cf. gossypii Glover , Aphis spiraecola Patch , Brachycaudus helichrysi (Kaltenbach) , Brevicoryne brassicae (Linnaeus) , Cervaphis quercus Takahashi , Cervaphis rappardi indica Basu , Cinara sp. , Dreyfusia (as Adelges ) knucheli (Schneider-Orelli & Schneider) , Dysaphis sp. , Eriosoma lanigerum (Hausmann) , Eulachnus thunbergii Wilson , Hyalopterus pruni (Geoffroy) , Macrosiphoniella pseudoartemisiae Shinji , Macrosiphoniella yomogifoliae (Shinji) , Mollitrichosiphum alni Ghosh et al. , Myzus persicae (Sulzer) , Myzus varians Davidson , Myzus sp. , Phorodon cannabis Passerini , Pineus sp. , Rhopalosiphum nymphaeae (Linnaeus) , Tuberculatus indicus Ghosh. Associated with Aphis craccivora Koch. Cicadellidae : Idioscopus shillongensis Viraktamath ( Ghorpade 1979b) . Coccidae : Eulecanium tiliae (Linnaeus) (as E. coryli (Linnaeus)) .

Associated with aphids and/or scales infesting apple, peach, plum, quince, apricot, almond, cherry and Spiraea sp. ; adelgids infesting silver fir, blue pine, and spruce. Most prevalent in coniferous forests and oak farms in the northeastern region; associated with Juglans regia , Alnus nitida , Alnus nepalensis , Quercus incana , Q. dilatata , Litsea polyantha , Clerodendron viscosum , Pinus khasya , Artemisia vulgaris , Colocasia antiquorum and Prunus sp.

Seasonal occurrence. Active during late March–August in north and northwestern India. Has only one generation per year; adults hibernate during winter months in northwestern region ( Nagarkatti & Ghani 1972). Abundant on various species of aphids during October–November in northwestern and northeastern regions ( Singh & Singh 1988).

Natural enemies. Phalacrotophora indiana Colyes and an indeterminate nematode ( Nagarkatti & Ghani 1972).

Notes. It is highly polymorphic, as evident from the numerous varieties and synonyms. Numerous colour variants are found in nature and one variant is strikingly similar to a form of H. sedecimnotata (F.) ( Fig. 102b ). Ghani (1962) carried out breeding experiments and found that the various morphs interbred freely and concluded they were only varieties or colour forms of a single species.

Its biology on adelgids was studied in detail by Nagarkatti & Ghani (1972) who described and illustrated the immature stages. Ghani (1962), Ren et al. (2009) and Yu (2010) illustrated some of the common colour morphs. Phaloura & Singh (1991) studied the larval chaetotaxy and Singh & Phaloura (1990) provided a field key to the larval stages. Details of its biology, hosts and predatory potential are available in many publications (see Ghosh et al. 1976; Ghorpade 1979b; Chakrabarti et al. 1995; Phaloura & Singh 1993).

Figures

FIGURE 90. Harmonia eucharis (Mulsant): a, b. adult, dorsal view; c. abdominal postcoxal line; d. spermatheca; e–h. male genitalia: e. tegmen, lateral view; f. tegmen, ventral view; g. penis; h. penis apex.

FIGURE 91. Harmonia eucharis (Mulsant), polymorphic forms.

FIGURE 92. Harmonia eucharis (Mulsant), polymorphic forms.

FIGURE 93. Harmonia eucharis (Mulsant), life stages: a, b. eggs; c. early stage larva; d. full grown larva; e. pupa; f. adult, nominate form.

FIGURE 94. Harmonia eucharis (Mulsant), life stages: a–e. larva; f. pupa; g, h. adult, nominate form.

FIGURE 102. Harmonia sedecimnotata (Fabricius):a.adult, nominate form; b. adult, variant similar to H.eucharis; c. abdominal postcoxal line; d. spermatheca; e–h. male genitalia: e. tegmen, lateral view; f. tegmen, ventral view; g. penis; h. penis apex.