Synonycha grandis (Thunberg)

(Figs 195, 196)

Coccinella grandis Thunberg, 1781: 12 (Lectotype male, UUZM; Type locality: China).

Synonycha grandis: Mulsant, 1850: 230; 1866: 165; Crotch 1874: 171; Korschefsky 1932: 268; Poorani 2002a: 341.

Diagnosis. Length: 10.50–15.00 mm; width: 9.00– 11.50 mm. Form very large and round, dorsum strongly convex and glabrous. Ground colour bright red, orange or yellow, pronotum with a large trapezoidal median black marking on basal margin, elytra with 13 black spots-three common spots on suture, rest arranged in a 1-2-2 pattern on each elytron (Fig. 196k–l). Ventral side uniformly reddish or yellowish brown. Tarsal claw stout, double (Fig. 195c). Abdominal postcoxal line (Fig. 195a, b) incomplete without an associated line. Male genitalia (Fig. 195d–g) and spermatheca (Fig. 195h, i) as illustrated.

Immature stages. Eggs yellow and spindle shaped, laid in large groups (Fig. 196a). Larva greyish black with yellow pattern (Fig. 196b–e). Pupa (Fig. 196f) yellowish orange to reddish with black maculation.

Distribution. India: Widely distributed, more common in the southern and northeastern regions (Andamans, Karnataka, Manipur, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Sikkim); Sri Lanka; Nepal; Malaysia; Philippines; New Guinea; Japan; China; Taiwan. Widely distributed in the Oriental region.

Prey/associated habitat. Found in large numbers on bamboo, and rarely in crop ecosystems. Collected in association with aphids infesting bhendi, lablab and Quercus serrata. The adults survive on aphids infesting cowpea, groundnut, cotton, pea, rose, jack, brinjal, cabbage, radish, mustard, citrus, sorghum, etc. in the laboratory, but apparently bamboo aphids are essential/preferred food (Puttarudriah & Channabasavanna 1952, 1953).

Recorded hosts include the following: Hemiptera: Aphididae: Aphis craccivora Koch, Aphis gossypii Glover, Astegopteryx (as Oregma) bambusae (Buckton), Astegopteryx spp., Pseudoregma alexanderi (Takahashi), Pseudoregma bambusicola (Takahashi), Pseudoregma bucktoni Ghosh et al., sugarcane woolly aphid (Ceratovacuna lanigera Zehntner), Ceratovacuna silvestrii (Takahashi), Tuberculatus indicus Ghosh.

Seasonal occurrence. Collected round the year; particularly abundant during July–December in and around Bangalore (Puttarudriah & Channabasavanna 1953); June–August in eastern region (West Bengal).

Natural enemies. Tetrastichus sp. (Puttarudriah & Channabasavanna 1953); Coccipolipus synonychae (Ramaraju & Poorani 2012).

Notes. This is one of the largest ladybirds of the world and India. It is commonly found on ornamental and wild bamboo in association with various bamboo aphids. Stebbing (1903) illustrated the adult with brief notes. Puttarudriah & Channabasavanna (1952, 1953) and Puttarudriah & Maheswari (1966) studied its biology, hosts and feeding potential. Deng et al. (1987) studied its potential as an augmentative bioagent for controlling sugarcane woolly aphid (Ceratovacuna lanigera) in China. See Ren et al. (2009) and Yu (2010) for more illustrations.