Scymnus (Pullus) spicatus Poorani & Anuradha & Thanigairaj & Mol 2024, sp. n.
Creators: name: Poorani, J.
name: Anuradha, C.
name: Thanigairaj, R.
name: Mol, P. Prashina
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Coccinellidae
Scymnus
Scymnus spicatus

description: Scymnus (Pullus) spicatus Poorani, sp. n.
(Figs 6, 7)
Diagnosis. This species has a yellowish-testaceous ground colour with the elytra usually having a darker brownish or infuscate discal patch similar to S. victoris Motschulsky (Figs 6a, b; 7g, h); the discal brown area is paler or smaller (Fig. 6b) or obsolete in some specimens, externally resembling the immaculate form of S. coccivora Ayyar and S. dyadechkoi Ukrainsky, 2010 (= Scymnus utilis Hoàng, 1982). Males of this species can be easily separated from other congeners by the presence of a short, dark brown, triangular, tooth-like projection in the middle of the apical margin of abdominal ventrite 5 (Fig. 6d, f). The male genitalia (Fig. 6g –j) are also diagnostic.
Description. TL: 1.03–1.24 mm; TW: 0.77–0.90 mm; TL/TW: 1.26–1.41; EL/EW: 0.99–1.13; PL/PW: 0.36– 0.50. Male. Form broad oval, dorsum convex, with dense, silvery white pubescence, lateral sides of elytra with few erect marginal setae. Dorsum yellowish to reddish testaceous, elytra medially with a pale infuscate area or a clearly distinct dark brown patch covering most of elytra except lateral and apical margins; ventral side yellowish-testaceous except meso- and metaventrites and middle of abdominal ventrite 1 darker, brownish; legs paler yellowish. Head (Fig. 6c) 3.17–3.23x as wide as an eye, interocular distance 1.50–1.70x eye width; with shallowly impressed punctures. Elytral punctation dense, punctures more or less similar to those on pronotum, very shallowly impressed, separated by 1-4 diameters. Prosternal intercoxal process with a pair of carinae progressively divergent towards apex. Abdomen with six ventrites, posterior margin of ventrite 5 with a short, dark brown, triangular median tooth (Fig. 6d), ventrite 6 only narrowly visible and very shallowly emarginate. Tarsal claws trifid (Fig. 6o). Male genitalia (Fig. 6g –j) with penis guide of tegmen broadly lanceolate in ventral view (Fig. 6h), medially broadest and apically triangular with a very short, tubular apex; with a characteristic basal keel in lateral view (Fig. 6g); penis (Fig. 6i, k, l) with a prominent capsule (Fig. 6j), penis apex with a membranous flap (Fig. 6m) as illustrated.
Female. Externally similar to male except abdominal ventrite 5 posteriorly without a median tooth, ventrite 6 only slightly visible, apically arcuate. Female genitalia (Fig. 6n) and spermatheca as illustrated.
Etymology. The specific epithet is a Latin adjective in reference to the acutely pointed median tooth on the posterior margin of abdominal ventrite 5 in male.
Material examined. Holotype male, “ India: Tamil Nadu: Podavur, NRCB research farm, N°1047’20.16” E078°34’29.88”, Ex. Jack Beardsley mealybug on banana, R. Thanigairaj ”; Paratypes: with same data as holotype, except dates of collection 24.iv.19, 29.i.21, 28.vii.21, 11.viii.21 (ICAR-NBAIR).
Immature stages. Larva (Fig. 7a–d) and pupa (Fig. 7e, f) yellowish orange, with dense waxy filamentation on the dorsal and lateral sides as in other Scymnini.
Hosts / associated host plants. Scymnus (Pullus) spicatus sp. n. was collected as a predator of Jack Beardsley mealybug and F. virgata infesting banana in and around Trichy, Tamil Nadu. It was also found feeding on F. virgata infesting eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) in and around the banana orchards at the NRCB research farm.
Distribution. India: Tamil Nadu.
Notes. Indigenous natural enemies such as Mallada desjardinsi (Navás) (= M. boninensis (Okamoto)) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae), Cryptolaemus montrouzieri Mulsant (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), Spalgis epeus (Westwood) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) and some species of gnats (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) have been recorded earlier as predators of P. jackbeardsleyi in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, South India (Shylesha 2013; Mani et al. 2013).
description: Published as part of Poorani, J., Anuradha, C., Thanigairaj, R. & Mol, P. Prashina, 2024, Coccinellid predators of mealybugs infesting banana in South India, including a new species and a new record of Scymnus Kugelann (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), with notes on other natural enemies, pp. 525-544 in Zootaxa 5419 (4) on pages 535-538, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5419.4.3, http://zenodo.org/record/10798671