Platynaspis flavoguttata (Gorham, 1894)

Poorani, J., 2014, Redescription of Platynaspisflavoguttata (Gorham) (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae) and notes on nomenclature of Platynaspiskapuri Chakraborty & Biswas, Biodiversity Data Journal 2, pp. 1096-1096 : 1096

Platynaspis flavoguttata (Gorham, 1894)

Scymnus? flavoguttatus Gorham 1894: 208 (BMNH).

Pharus flavoguttata : Weise 1895: 157.

Platynaspis flavoguttata : Sicard 1913: 501. - Korschefsky 1932: 232.

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: A.N. Reddy; individualCount: 5; sex: 2 females, 1 male; Location: country: India; stateProvince: Karnataka; verbatimLocality: Sagara: Mulllumane; verbatimElevation: 589 m; verbatimLatitude: 14.33°N; verbatimLongitude: 74.79°E; Event: samplingProtocol: Sweep net; eventDate: 2012-11-24; Record Level: institutionCode: National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Insects (NBAII) Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: H.J. Bremer; individualCount: 3; sex: 1 male, 2 females; Location: country: Sri Lanka; stateProvince: Southern Province: Galle District; verbatimLocality: Habaraduwa; Event: eventDate: 1982-08-20 / 1982-09-04; Record Level: institutionCode: National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Insects (NBAII)

Description

Form (Fig. 1) broad oval, moderately convex, densely pubescent with a mixture of yellow and dark brown hairs. Head luteous yellow with a longitudinal median reddish brown band or reddish brown with a pair of yellowish lateral spots or fully reddish brown, with a mixture of short, recumbent white hairs and much longer, suberect dark brown to black hairs. Pronotum dark reddish brown with three luteous yellow markings on posterior margin, median spot somewhat spindle-shaped, constricted towards both ends, lateral spots subtriangular; pubescence similar to head with a mixture of short, recumbent white hairs and long, suberect dark brown hairs. Each elytron with three spots in a 2-1 arrangement, first two spots positioned in anterior half just before middle, discal one transverse, not touching sutural line, lateral spot circular, touching lateral margin of elytron, posterior spot placed in apical 1/3 before apical margin, not touching lateral margin; pubescence with a mixture of short, yellowish recumbent hairs more or less confined to elytral spots, and a mixture of short, recumbent and much longer, dark brown, suberect hairs on darker areas of elytra. Ventral side reddish castaneous except antennae, mouthparts, and legs lighter yellowish brown, with yellowish white, recumbent pubescence, lateral margins of epipleura with dark brown erect hairs. Head (Fig. 1b) with clypeal margin deeply, semicircularly emarginate, punctures dual, with dark brown hairs arising out of slightly larger punctures, separated by 2-5 diameters. Pronotum with dual punctures similar to head, punctures denser, more closely placed than those on head. Elytra with dual punctures, punctures separated by 2-4 diameters, dark hairs arising from larger punctures. Epipleura foveolate on level of mid and hind legs to receive tibial apices. Abdomen with five ventrites, abdominal postcoxal lines on ventrite 1 as in Diomus Mulsant (Fig. 2a), short, extending posteriorly to hind margin and merged with hind margin of ventrite 1; posterior margin of ventrite 1 medially slightly concave. Posterior margin of ventrite 5 broadly arcuate in female, truncate in male. Male genitalia (Fig. 2b, c, d) as illustrated; tegmen in lateral view (Fig. 2b) with parameres much broader than penis guide, paddle-like, apically obliquely transverse, with elongate hairs; penis guide in inner view (Fig. 2c) lanceolate in outline, progressively broadened up to a little beyond middle, apical third triangular, gradually narrowed to a bluntly rounded apex; penis (Fig. 2d) with a prominent, broad basal capsule.

Diagnosis

This species has a distinctive dorsal colour pattern by which it can be differentiated from the other known Indian species of the genus. The male genitalia also are diagnostic.

Distribution

India (Karnataka), Myanmar ( Korschefsky 1932, Poorani 2002); Sri Lanka (new distribution record).

Ecology

Not known.

Biology

Gorham (1894) observed the specimens of Platynaspis flavoguttata "living in amity with red ants in a hole in Terminalia paniculata".

Notes

The specimens examined from Sri Lanka (Fig. 1d) show some minor variations in the dorsal colour pattern and the size and shape of the elytral spots as follows: head more or less fully brown; pronotum reddish brown with subtriangular, luteous yellow lateral markings; elytron with the discal spot in the anterior half distinctly more rounded, apical spot more transverse and roughly crescent-shaped.