Microcaria lewisii

Microcaria lewisii (Crotch)

(Fig. 139)

Bothrocalvia lewisii Crotch, 1874: 143 (Holotype, UCCC; Type locality: China).— Poorani 2002a: 322; Shantibala & Singh 1991: 39–43; Ren et al. 2009: 176.

Calvia lewisi: Korschefsky 1932: 524.

Diagnosis. Length: 5.80–6.50 mm; width: 5.00– 5.50 mm. Form broad oval, dorsum strongly convex and glabrous. Ground colour creamy whitish to yellowish in live specimens, darker yellowish in preserved specimens. Head and pronotum creamy whitish yellow to yellow, pronotum with a roughly M-shaped reddish-brown marking, elytra with three reddish brown or ochreous stripes forming a characteristic pattern as illustrated (Fig. 139a–d), first one parallel to suture, second Y-shaped with a shorter branch arising from its apex, third nearer lateral margin and anteriorly joined with the second stripe. Genitalia not studied.

Distribution. India: Manipur, Nagaland (Shantibala & Singh 1991); Nepal; Bhutan; Myanmar.

Prey / associated habitat. Predatory on pine aphids such as Cinara (Schizolachnus) orientalis (Takahashi) and Eulachnus thunbergii Wilson on Pinus khasya (Devi 1989).

Seasonal occurrence. Collected during August and November (Devi 1989). Shantibala & Singh (1991) reported this species from an altitude of 500–2000 m from the northeastern region of India. It looks somewhat similar to a common variant of Harmonia eucharis (Mulsant), one of the most common species in northeastern India but it has a distinctly broader oval form.

Notes. Devi (1989) included it in her Ph.D. dissertation on Coccinellidae of northeastern India with details on its distribution and hosts. Illustrated by Ren et al. (2009) and Yu (2010).