Cryptogonus nitidus Kapur

POORANI, J., 2024, An illustrated guide to lady beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) of the Indian Subcontinent. Part 3. Tribe Aspidimerini, Zootaxa 5431 (1), pp. 1-89 : 36

Cryptogonus nitidus Kapur

( Fig. 26 )

Cryptogonus nitidus Kapur, 1948: 104 .— Poorani 2002: 345.

Diagnosis. Length: 3.20 mm; width: 2.00 mm. Form elongate, oblong oval, dorsum convex and pubescent. Dorsal side dark brown to black, somewhat shiny; elytra with four yellow spots arranged in a 2-2 pattern, first pair below basal margin, second pair below midline, forming a rectangular pattern ( Fig. 26a–e ). Ventral side dark except legs lighter reddish brown. Abdominal postcoxal line ( Fig. 26f ) incomplete. Female genitalia ( Fig. 26g ) as illustrated with distinctly transverse coxites.

Type material examined. Holotype female, “Type (red bordered circular label)/Fry Coll. 1905-110/ India Or. Manipur / Cryptogonus nitidus sp. n., TYPE, A.P. Kapur, 1947” ( BMNH).

Distribution. India (Manipur; Tripura); Nepal (Canepari 2003); Myanmar.

Notes. Kapur (1948) created the nitidus group to include this unique species and mentioned it was similar to the orbiculus group in terms of pronotum and prosternal carinae but “distinct from all of them by the elongate oval form of the body, very coarse punctation and short, rather suberect pubescence, and the shining upper surface of the body”. The female specimen examined from northeastern India (Tripura) ( Fig. 26d, e ) has slightly smaller elytral spots than the holotype ( Fig. 26a–c ) but fits Kapur’s (1948) description. The male of Cryptogonus nitidus has not been documented so far. It is superficially similar to C. quadriguttatus , but it has a distinctly narrower, slightly more elongate and oblong oval form with comparatively less fine and more widely separated elytral punctures. It appears to be quite rare with a very restricted distribution. Cryptogonus quadriguttatus has a distinctly broader, more robust and convex body; the elytra are almost rounded with the spots forming a squarish pattern, and the elytral punctures are fine and dense; and it is one of the most common species of Cryptogonus in northeastern India. See Kapur (1948) for detailed description.

Figures

FIGURE 26. Cryptogonus nitidus Kapur: a–c. holotype (BMNH): a. dorsal view; b. lateral view; c. frontal view; d, e. female, NE India: d. dorsal view; e. lateral view; f. abdomen; g. female genitalia.