Alloneda dodecaspilota (Hope)

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 : 36-39

Alloneda dodecaspilota (Hope)

( Figs 20 , 21 )

Coccinella 12-spilota Hope, 1831: 31 ( Lectotype female, BMNH; Type locality: Nepal) .

Caria duodecimspilota: Mulsant 1850: 236 ; 1866: 172.

Aiolocaria dodecaspilota: Crotch 1874: 178 ; Korschefsky 1932: 277; Kapur 1963a: 26.

Palaeoneda dodecaspilota: Mader 1934: 302 .

Alloneda dodecaspilota: Iablokoff-Khnzorian 1979: 44 ; 1982: 252; Poorani 2002a: 321; Ren et al. 2009: 172.

Alloneda dodecastigma (sic): Iablokoff-Khnzorian 1979: 63.

Diagnosis. Length: 6.50–8.00 mm; width: 5.70–7. mm. Form ( Fig. 20a ) broadly circular, dorsum hemispherical, strongly convex. In live adults, ground colour bright lemon yellow with prominent black spots on pronotum and elytra ( Fig. 21b–f ), ventral side yellow except apical half of meso-and metaventrites and abdomen black. Head, pronotum and elytra with characteristic, strongly microreticulate sculpture between punctures. Posterior margin of ventrite 5 in female sinuate and produced medially backwards. Male genitalia ( Fig. 20g –i ) as illustrated; female genitalia with sperm duct originating below apex, ventrally on bursa, spermatheca ( Fig. 20f ) as illustrated.

Distribution. India: Northeastern region ( Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal); Bhutan; Nepal; Tibet; Myanmar; Thailand; China.

Prey/associated habitat. All known hosts are aphids and include Macrosiphoniella artemisiae (Boyer de Fonscolombe) , Rhopalosiphum maidis (Fitch) , Taoia indica (Ghosh & Raychaudhuri) , and Tuberculatus indicus Ghosh ; found on Alnus nitida and Juglans regia ; occasionally found in oak ( Quercus serrata ) farms ( Singh and Singh, 1985).

Devi (1989) recorded it as a predator of aphids infesting oak in Nagaland, particularly Eutrichosiphum dubium (van der Goot) (as Holotrichosiphon dubius ) on Quercus dealbata and Cervaphis quercus Takahashi on Quercus serrata .

Seasonal occurrence. Active during May–July, October–December in north and northeastern India ( Singh & Singh 1985; Devi 1989).

Notes. Kapur (1963a) recorded it from the Himalayas ( Sikkim). Miyatake (1985) and Ren et al. (2009) illustrated the male genitalia.

Figures

FIGURE 20. Alloneda dodecaspilota (Hope): a. adult, dorsal view; b. antenna; c. head; d. abdominal postcoxal line; e. prosternal process; f. spermatheca; g–i. male genitalia: g. tegmen, ventral view; h. penis; i. penis apex.

FIGURE 21. Alloneda dodecaspilota (Hope): a. Holotype (BMNH); b–f. Live adult (Sikkim, India).