Genus Vol. 10 (1): 103-108 Wroc‡aw, 31 III 1999 Chiridopsis nigropunctata n. sp. and notes on Ch. selecta (W ) EISE (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae) LECH BOROWIEC1 and HEMANT V. GHATE2 1Zoological Institute, University of Wroc‡aw, Sienkiewicza 21, 50-335 Wroc‡aw, Poland, e-mail: [email protected] 2Department of Zoology, Modern College, Shivajinagar, Pune 411 005, India ABSTRACT. Chiridopsis nigropunctata new species is described from Maharashtra Atate, India. Ch. selecta (WEISE, 1905) is a distinct species, not a variety of Ch. bistrimaculata (BOHEMAN, 1855) and Ch. binduta (MAULIK, 1919) is its new synonym. Lectotype is designated for Chirida selecta WEISE. Key words: entomology, taxonomy, new species, new synonymy, Oriental Region, Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Cassidinae, Chiridopsis. The genus Chiridopsis SPAETH, 1922 comprises 59 species, 24 of them occur in Oriental Region, and 17 are recorded from India (BOROWIEC in press). Descrip- tion of a new species from India and redescription of Ch. selecta (WEISE, 1905) is given below. Chiridopsis nigropunctata n. sp. ETYMOLOGY Named after black marked punctures of lateral part of elytral disc. DIAGNOSIS At first glance it is very similar to Ch. coorta (SPAETH, 1926) from Laos and Vietnam. Both species have immaculate elytra (in Ch. nigropunctata sometimes one or two very small spots occur on each elytra, but these spots are not or only 104 LECH BOROWIEC, HEMANT V. GHATE slightly larger than the largest black elytral punctures) and elytral punctures, at least in lateral part of disc, marked with black; Ch. coorta differs in ventrites partly black (uniformly yellow in Ch. nigropunctata) and all elytral punctures marked with black (only lateral punctures in Ch. nigropunctata). Ch. bistri- maculata (BOHEMAN, 1855) is also similar. Ch. bistrimaculata has always three, small to large, black spots on each elytron (in Ch. nigropunctata elytra are immaculate, or with extremely small spot on humerus, or with additional very small spot in the middle of elytron); in Ch. bistrimaculata punctures are often without black centre, if they are marked then black occurs only in marginal four 1 2 3 4 1-2. Chiridopsis nigropunctata (holotype), 3-4. Ch. selecta (specimen from Godavari, Nilgiri Hills): 1, 3 (cid:150) body in dorsal view, 2, 4 (cid:150) body in lateral view CHIRIDOPSIS NIGROPUNCTATA N. SP. 105 rows (in Ch. nigropunctata 7-8 marginal rows are marked with black). Humeral angles in Ch. bistrimaculata are slightly more angulate than in Ch. nigropunctata, and clypeus is less convex. Ch. ventralis (BOHEMAN, 1855) sometimes has elytra immaculate or with only two very small spots on each elytron but differs in slimmer body, ground colour of elytra green-yellow, ventrites mostly black and elytral punctures never marked with black. DESCRIPTION Length: male: 6.9-7.1 mm, female: 7.2-7.6 mm; width: male: 5.6-5.8 mm, female: 5.5-5.8 mm; length of pronotum: male and female: 2.5-2.6 mm; width of pronotum: male: 4.1-4.2 mm, female: 4.1-4.4 mm; length/width ratio: male: 1.21- 1.23, female: 1.28-1.33. Males slightly stouter than females. Pronotum yellow, only basal margin black. Elytra yellow, crenulate basal margin black, usually without spots, sometimes humerus with very small black spot, and occasionally an extremely small black spot also occurs in the middle of elytron (fig. 1). Punctures in lateral part of disc and in marginal interval with black centre (at least 7 external rows have some punctures marked with black). Head, ventrites and legs yellow. Antennae yellow, only last segment more or less infuscate, especially dorsally. Pronotum elliptical, with maximum width in the middle, sides broadly rounded. Disc convex, smooth and glabrous. Explanate margin distinctly bordered from disc, smooth and glabrous. Scutellum large, triangular, without transverse sulci. Base of elytra distinctly wider than pronotum, humeral angles regularly rounded. Disc strongly convex, with top of convexity in postscutellar point, without impressions (fig. 2). Puncturation regular, rows distinct on whole length of disc, in two internal rows punctures small and dense, distance between punctures as wide as to thrice wider than puncture diameter. On sides of disc, especially in its 5 6 5-6. Chiridopsis nigropunctata, male genitalia: 5 (cid:150) dorsal, 6 - lateral 106 LECH BOROWIEC, HEMANT V. GHATE anterolateral part, punctures coarse to very coarse but sparser than in internal rows. On slope punctures gradually smaller. Marginal row distinct, with large punctures, as large as to slightly larger than in anterolateral part of disc. Intervals flat, in sutural half of disc four to five times wider than rows, in lateral part of disc as wide as to twice wider than rows, only marginal interval broad, more than twice wider than submarginal row. Surface of intervals smooth and glabrous. Explanate margin broad, c. thrice narrower than disc of elytron, declivous, its surface smooth and glabrous. Apex of elytral margin with several short setae. Ventrites with no diagnostic characters. Clypeus distinctly convex, more convex than in all related species, its surface smooth and glabrous. Third antennal segment c. 1.5 times longer than the second, fourth segment c. 1.5 times longer than the third. Male genitalia: stout, in basal part slightly narrower than in apical, apical process emarginate (fig. 5); in lateral view aedeagus swollen in basal half, ventral surface without distinct carina (fig. 6). Host plant: Convolvulaceae: Argyreia elliptica. TYPES Holotype male: (cid:147)India, Satara Dist., Kas, IX 1998, Rahul MARATHE(cid:148); 9 paratypes: the same data; one paratype: (cid:147)India, Kas lake, Satara Dist., VIII 1997, R. MARATHE(cid:148) (holotype and 9 paratypes preserved at the Department of System- atic Zoology and Zoogeography, University of Wroc‡aw, Poland; two paratypes in Manchester Museum, England). Chiridopsis selecta (WEISE, 1905) Chirida selecta WEISE, 1905: 128. Chirida bistrimaculata var. selecta: SPAETH, 1914: 125. Chirida binduta MAULIK, 1919: 423, n. syn. Chiridopsis binduta: BOROWIEC, 1990 a: 698, 1996 b: 30; BOROWIEC and TAKIZAWA, 1991: 638. Chiridopsis promiscula [sic!]: TAKIZAWA, 1980: 31(larva, misidentification). WEISE (1905) described Ch. selecta from Nilgiri Hills in SW India. SPAETH (1914) placed it in synonymy of Ch. bistrimaculata (Boh.). We have examined three syntypes of Ch. selecta preserved in Museum f(cid:252)r Naturkunde in Berlin and, in our opinion, it is a distinct species not a variety of Ch. bistrimaculata and Chirida binduta MAULIK, 1919 (type examined!, preserved in British Museum, London), is its junior synonym. Its redescription is given below. DIAGNOSIS It belongs to the group of species with three black spots on elytron. At first glance it is very similar to Ch. bistrimaculata but Ch. selecta has suture with black margin while in Ch. bistrimaculata it is not marked with black. Elytral CHIRIDOPSIS NIGROPUNCTATA N. SP. 107 spots in Ch. selecta are usually smaller than in Ch. bistrimaculata. Pronotum in Ch. bistrimaculata is uniformly yellow while in Ch. selecta there is a black stripe in front of scutellum. The black marked punctures in Ch. selecta occupy almost whole anterolateral part of disc while in Ch. bistrimaculata at the most marginal four rows have some punctures marked with black. Ch. selecta has apex of elytral margin with rows of moderately long setae, while in Ch. bistrimaculata the setae are very short, hardly visible. Specimens of Ch. selecta with reduced or obsolete pronotal spot and black sutural margin, and punctures marked with black only in two marginal rows, are extremely similar to Ch. bistrimaculata and differ only in longer apical setae and slimmer aedeagus with prominent carina along ventral side (in Ch. bistrimaculata aedeagus has no distinct carina on ventral side, like in Ch. nigropunctata n. sp.). Ch. promiscua (BOHEMAN, 1855) has the same combi- nation of characters with three spots on each elytron, pronotum with median stripe and elytral suture marked with black but differs in smaller size, elytral spots usually larger and sutural stripe wider than in Ch. selecta. In Ch. promiscua punctures of lateral part of disc are never marked with black. DESCRIPTION Length: male: 6.2-6.8 mm, female: 7.1-8.1 mm; width: male: 5.4-6.1 mm, female: 5.8-6.4 mm; length of pronotum: male and female: 2.1-2.6 mm; width of pronotum: male: 3.8-4.2 mm, female: 4.1-4.7 mm; length/width ratio: male: 1.13- 1.15, female: 1.18-1.27. Males distinctly stouter than females. Pronotum yellow, basal margin black, in front of scutellum more or less defined median stripe, sometimes reduced to very narrow, short median line, occasionally obsolete. Elytra yellow, crenulate basal margin black, each elytron with three black spots, sutural margin narrowly black. Punctures in lateral part of disc and in marginal interval with black centre (at least two, usually 6-7 external rows have some punctures marked with black). Occasionally black markings of punctures and suture are obsolete and only punctures in marginal row have rudimentary blackish markings. Head, ventrites and legs yellow. Antennae yel- low, only last segment more or less infuscate, especially dorsally. Pronotum elliptical, with maximum width slightly behind the middle, sides broadly rounded. Disc convex, smooth and glabrous. Explanate margin distinctly bordered form disc, smooth and glabrous. Scutellum large, triangular, without transverse sulci. Base of elytra distinctly wider than pronotum, humeral angles more narrowly rounded than in precedent species. Disc strongly convex, with top of convexity in postscutellar point, without impressions. Puncturation regular, rows distinct on whole length of disc, in two internal rows punctures small and dense, distance between punctures as wide as to thrice wider than puncture diameter. On sides of disc, especially in its anterolateral part, punctures coarse (but slightly smaller than in precedent species) but sparser than in internal rows. On slope punctures distinctly smaller than in anterior part of disc, sometimes almost obsolete. Marginal row distinct, with large punctures, as large as to 108 LECH BOROWIEC, HEMANT V. GHATE slightly larger than in anterolateral part of disc. Intervals flat, in sutural half of disc five to six times wider than rows, in lateral part of disc as wide as to twice wider than rows, only marginal interval broad, more than twice wider than submarginal row. Surface of intervals smooth and glabrous. Explanate margin broad, c. thrice narrower than disc of elytron, declivous, its surface smooth and glabrous. Apex of elytral margin with row of moderately long setae. Ventrites with no diagnostic characters. Clypeus less convex than in precedent species, its surface smooth and glabrous. Third antennal segment c. 1.3 times longer than the second, fourth segment c. 1.6 times longer than the third. Male genitalia: very similar to precedent species, slightly slimmer, ventral surface with prominent carina. TYPES Lectotype (present designation): (cid:147)Anamalais ANDREWES(cid:148) (cid:147)Chirida selecta m.(cid:148) (Museum f(cid:252)r Naturkunde, Berlin); two paralectotypes: the same data (Mu- seum f(cid:252)r Naturkunde, Berlin). DISTRIBUTION India: Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to express our sincere thanks to Dr. R. J. ALDRIDGE (British Musuem, Natural History, London), Dr. M. UHLIG and Dipl. Biol. H. WENDT (Museum f(cid:252)r Naturkunde, Berlin) for their help during stay of the senior author in these museums. REFERENCES BOROWIEC, L., 1990. New records and new synonyms of Asiatic Cassidinae (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae). Pol. Pismo Entomol., 59: 677-711. -, 1996. New records of Asiatic Cassidinae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Anns. Upper Siles. Mus., Entomol., 6-7: 5-47. -, in press. World catalogue of Cassidinae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). BOROWIEC, L., TAKIZAWA, H., 1991. Notes on chrysomelid beetles (Coleoptera) of India and its neighboring areas. Part 10. Jpn. J. Ent., 59: 637-654. MAULIK, S., 1919. The Fauna of British India. Coleoptera. Chrysomelidae (Hispinae and Cassidinae). Taylor and Francis, London, 1919: 439 pp. SPAETH, F., 1914. Chrysomelidae: 16. Cassidinae. In: W. JUNK, S. SCHENKLING, Coleopterorum Catalogus, Pars 62, Berlin, 182 pp. TAKIZAWA, H., 1980. Immature stages of some Indian Cassidinae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), Insecta Matsumurana, N.S., 21: 19-48. WEISE, J., 1905. Zweites Verzeichniss der Hispinen und Cassidinen aus Vorder-Indien. Deutsche Entomol. Zeitschr., 1905: 113-129.