Micraspis yasumatsui Sasaji

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 : 192

Micraspis yasumatsui Sasaji

( Figs 136 , 137 )

Micraspis yasumatsui Sasaji, 1968: 131 (Holotype male, Kyushu University; Type locality: Bangladesh).— Poorani 2002a: 335; Poorani et al. 2023: 463 .

Diagnosis. Length: 6.20 mm; width: 4.50 mm. Form ( Fig. 136a ) circular, slightly longer than broad, dorsum moderately convex, glabrous. Head and pronotum yellowish-orange, elytra brighter reddish or orange, pronotum with indistinct pale brown markings, elytra usually lacking the black sutural stripe of other Micraspis species, sometimes with a pale brown sutural stripe ( Fig. 137a ). Male genitalia slightly variable, that of examples from Uttar Pradesh ( Fig. 136h–k ), Nagaland ( Fig. 137b–e ) and Tripura ( Fig. 137g –i ) illustrated here. Female genitalia ( Fig. 136e ) and spermatheca ( Fig. 136f, g ) as illustrated.

Distribution. India: Eastern and northeastern regions (Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal); Bangladesh.

Prey/associated habitat. Common on rice and sugarcane in eastern and northeastern India. Collected on banana (label data). Feeds on Aphis gossypii , Myzus persicae and Bemisia tabaci infesting chillies ( Gurung et al. 2019).

Seasonal occurrence. Collected during May (West Bengal).

Notes. Sasaji (1968 c) described it from Bangladesh and illustrated the male genitalia. Micraspis shafeei Afroze & Haider, 1998 is most likely to be a synonym of M. yasumatsui as it is described as devoid of pronotal and elytral markings though the illustrations are poor and inconclusive. However, its type material is not traceable and is presumed to be lost. Micraspis yasumatsui has been widely misidentified and reported in Indian literature also as Micraspis crocea (Mulsant) , a pale species distributed only in the Philippines.

Figures

FIGURE 136. Micraspis yasumatsui Sasaji (Uttar Pradesh): a. adult, dorsal view; b. head; c. prosternal process; d. abdominal postcoxal line; e. female genitalia; f, g. spermatheca, variants; h–k. male genitalia: h. tegmen, lateral view; i. tegmen, ventral view; j. penis; k. penis apex.

FIGURE 137. Micraspis yasumatsui Sasaji, variants: a. adult (Nagaland); b–e. male genitalia: b. tegmen, ventral view; c. tegmen, lateral view; d. penis; e. penis apex; f. adult (Tripura); g–i. male genitalia: g. tegmen, lateral view; h. tegmen, ventral view; i. penis.