An illustrated guide to the lady beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) of the Indian Subcontinent. Part II. Tribe Chilocorini Author POORANI, J. text Zootaxa 2023 2023-11-27 5378 1 1 108 https://www.mapress.com/zt/article/download/zootaxa.5378.1.1/52353 journal article 294804 10.11646/zootaxa.5378.1.1 8a6ca207-2c3f-4770-bfd4-f83ad6e6e426 1175-5334 10208917 68976F75-EC46-480B-AB8A-061B1441A958 Chilocorus melas Weise ( Figs 37 , 38 ) Chilocorus melas Weise, 1898: 229 . Chilocorus melas : Korschefsky 1932: 243 ; Booth 1998: 364 ; Poorani 2002: 311 ; Pang et al. 2004: 28 ; Kovář 2007: 593 ; Ren et al. 2009: 132 ; Li et al. 2018: 9 . Chilocorus gressitti Miyatake, 1970a: 330 .— Hoáng 1983: 18 . Synonymized by Booth 1998: 364 . Diagnosis. Length: 3.10–3.80 mm ; width: 2.90–3.70 mm . Form ( Fig. 37a–c ) round, dorsum hemispherical and strongly convex. Head dark brown to blackish with an anterior yellowish brown area in females, largely yellowish in males; pronotum almost wholly blackish to dark brownish or piceous (only anterior margin lighter brown), parts of ventral side also blackish or piceous; elytra finely punctate, sides of elytra with generally slightly coarser and more strongly impressed punctures than those on disk. Abdominal postcoxal line incomplete ( Fig. 37d ). Male genitalia ( Fig. 37e–h ) diagnostic, as illustrated. Female genitalia ( Fig. 37i ) and spermatheca ( Fig. 37j ) as illustrated. It can be separated from C. nigrita , the most widespread Indian species , by the more or less completely black head and pronotum, the stronger and coarser punctation on the sides of the elytra and the male genitalia ( Booth 1998 ). Life stages. Life stages ( Fig. 38 ) as illustrated, larva ( Fig. 38a ) distinct from C. nigrita in having a dark head and two transverse black bands, one anterior and one posterior. Distribution. India : Limited to north-eastern region ( Sikkim ; West Bengal ). Bhutan . Thailand . Vietnam . Malaysia . Indonesia . China ( Booth, 1998 ). Prey/associated habitat . Hemiptera : Coccidae : Coccus viridis (Green) on citrus (label data). Seasonal occurrence. Collected during March. Notes. This species belongs to the nigrita -species group and is similar to C. nigrita in general appearance except for the coloration of the head and pronotum. It was originally described from Indonesia ( Java ) and it has a very limited distribution in the Indian mainland and is confined to the north-eastern region. For more detailed description / illustrations, see Miyatake (1970a) (as C. gressitti ), Booth (1998) and Li et al. (2018) .