Novius andamanicus (Weise)

Poorani, J., 2023, A review of the tribe Noviini (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) of the Indian subcontinent, Zootaxa 5311 (1), pp. 1-47 : 8-11

Novius andamanicus (Weise)

( Figs 5 , 6 )

Rodolia andamanica Weise, 1901: 93 .

Rodolia andamanica: Korschefsky, 1931: 98 .- Kapur, 1949: 535; 1967: 160.

Novius andamanicus: Pang et al. 2020: 18 .

Diagnosis. Length: 4.80–5.20 mm; width: 4.50–4.80 mm. Form ( Fig. 5a, c–e ) hemispherical, dorsum strongly convex and densely pubescent. Dorsal side reddish brown to testaceous, anterior angles of pronotum broadly rounded, elytra finely punctate. Abdominal postcoxal line ( Fig. 6b ) complete, shallowly semicircular; posterior margin of ventrite 5 broadly emarginate, that of ventrite 6 medially narrowly and more deeply emarginate ( Fig. 6a ). Male genitalia ( Fig. 6c–f ) as illustrated, penis ( Fig. 6e ) with an exceptionally long, thread-like apex. Female not studied.

Material examined. “Roepstorff/Andaman Islands/ Rodolia andamanica Wse, A.P. Kapur det. 1947”, 6 ex; ‘47469’, without other labels, 1 ex ( BMNH).

Distribution. India (Andamans); Philippines.

Prey. Icerya purchasi ( Daniel et al. 2020) .

Notes. It looks similar to Novius rubeus (Mulsant) ( Fig. 5b , BMNH), another Oriental species. Forrester’s (2008) illustrations of the male genitalia of N. rubeus look similar to those of N. andamanica and are likely to be misidentified. Kapur (1949) provided only truncated illustrations of the genitalia for N. andamanensis and the sole male specimen examined from Andamans has similar genitalia.

Figures

FIGURE 5. a. Novius andamanicus (Weise) (BMNH); b. Novius rubeus (Mulsant) (BMNH); c–e. Novius andamanicus (Weise) (from Andamans): c. dorsal view; d. lateral view; e. frontal view.

FIGURE 6. Novius andamanicus (Weise): a. abdomen, male; b. abdominal postcoxal line; c–f. male genitalia: c. tegmen, lateral view; d. tegmen, inner view; e. penis; f. penis capsule.