Microcaria Crotch

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 : 192-194

Genus Microcaria Crotch

Microcaria Crotch, 1871: 7 .

Type species: Coccinella (Daulis) mulsanti Montrouzier, 1861 , designated by Rye 1873: 329.

Bothrocalvia Crotch, 1874: 143 . Type species: Coccinella albolineata Gyllenhal in Scĥnherr, 1808, by original designation.— Synonymized by Ślipiński et al. 2020: 89.

Diagnosis. Form broad oval to rounded, dorsum strongly convex and glabrous. Anterior clypeal margin straight between lateral projections.Antenna 11-segmented with a long, three-segmented club. Terminal maxillary palpomere securiform. Prothoracic hypomeron with foveae near anterolateral corners. Prosternal process with distinct carinae. Anterior margin of mesoventrite medially deeply emarginate. Middle and hind tibiae with a pair of apical spurs. Elytra with lateral margins narrowly raised, epipleuron distinctly foveate on level with hind coxae. Male genitalia with penis guide robust and broad, parameres densely setose, penis consisting of more than one sclerite distinctly separated by membranes and enlarged near the middle. Spermatheca with nodulus and ramus differentiated though short and almost subequal in length, infundibulum present.

Distribution. It is widely distributed in the Oriental and Australasian regions, extending from China and India to Australia, to the Pacific Islands ( Ślipiński et al. 2020).

Affinities. Ślipiński et al. (2020) synonymized Bothrocalvia with Microcaria and observed Microcaria is externally identical to Coelophora and separated from the latter only by the male and female genitalia but placed at least one Australo-Pacific species, Microcaria salomonensis (Korschefsky) , having aberrant male and female genitalia, in Microcaria . In the phylogenetic analysis by Tomaszewska et al. (2021), Microcaria was grouped with Calvia (in part) and Coelophora (in part). Microcaria is differentiated from Coelophora by the penis consisting of a medially expanded single sclerite and the spermatheca with a cornu only weakly C-shaped and a distinctly projecting ramus ( Ślipiński et al. 2020). Ślipiński et al. (2020) mentioned that infundibulum is absent in Microcaria , but it is clearly present in M. albolineata (Gyllenhal) , the most common species of the genus in India.

Included species. Three species, M. albolineata (Gyllenhal) , M. pupillata (Swartz) and M. lewisii Crotch , are known from the Indian Subcontinent.