An illustrated guide to lady beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) of the Indian Subcontinent. Part 1. Tribe Coccinellini Author POORANI, J. text Zootaxa 2023 2023-08-18 5332 1 1 307 http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5332.1.1 journal article 264199 10.11646/zootaxa.5332.1.1 66e0ec51-d494-43d4-965e-a2cd1462ef54 1175-5326 8261502 424F7439-4095-46A5-93E3-C4130E3B6D9A Coelophora biplagiata (Swartz) ( Fig. 63 ) Coccinella biplagiata Swartz , in Scĥnherr, 1808: 196 ( Type locality: China ). Lemnia biplagiata : Mulsant 1850: 383 : 1866: 252 ; Yu 2010: 72 . Coelophora biplagiata : Crotch 1874: 149 ; Poorani 2002a: 327 ; Kovář 2007: 613 . Diagnosis. Length: 5.50–6.50 mm ; width: 4.40–5.50 mm . Form ( Fig. 63a ) broadly circular, convex. Body broadly oval, strongly convex, dorsum glabrous. Head light yellow. Pronotum black, lateral sides yellowish confluent along cephalic border. Elytra black with a broad reddish patch, irregular in outline, situated in the anterior half of elytra. Male genitalia ( Fig. 63b–e ) as illustrated. FIGURE 62. Coelophora bissellata Mulsant : a. head; b. antenna; c. abdominal postcoxal line; d. prosternal process and mesoventrite; e. coxite; f. spermatheca; g–i. male genitalia: g. tegmen, ventral view; h. tegmen, lateral view; i. penis. FIGURE 63. Coelophora biplagiata : a. adult, dorsal view; b–e. male genitalia: b. tegmen, lateral view; c. tegmen, ventral view; d. penis; e. penis apex. Distribution. India : Northeastern region ( Manipur , Assam ); Nepal ; Myanmar ; Thailand ; China ; The Philippines ; Korea ; Japan ; Introduced in Far Eastern Russia . Prey/associated habitat. Known hosts include: Aphididae : Aphis craccivora Koch , Aphis gossypii Glover , Ceratovacuna lanigera Zehntner , Aphis (Toxoptera) aurantii Boyer de Fonscolombe ; Diaspididae : Chrysomphalus aonidum (Linnaeus) , Lepidosaphes beckii (Newman) . Collected on sugarcane and in association with indeterminate aphids infesting pigeonpea, Vigna sp. and Argemone sp. Can develop well on Schizaphis graminum (Rondani) , Aphis glycines Matsumura , Aphis fabae Scopoli , Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris) , Macrosiphum rosae (Linnaeus) , and A. craccivora in the laboratory and greenhouse conditions ( Kuznetsov & Pang 2002 ). Feeds on aphids on Bidens pilosa , Thuja compacta and Prunus persicae in Nepal ( Sajan et al. 2019 ). Introduced in Far Eastern Russia from China and found to be very effective in controlling aphids infesting melon, cucumber and peppers in greenhouses ( Kuznetsov & Pang 2002 ). Seasonal occurrence. Collected during March, July–August, September–October ( Assam , northeastern region). Note : Most of the Indian records of C. biplagiata are suspect and most probably refer to C. saucia , a similar looking, more widely distributed species. Sasaji (1971) and Yu (2010) provided a detailed description with illustrations. See Semyanov (2001) and Kuznetsov & Pang (2002) for biology, prey and use in pest management.