Epilachna

Mexican bean beetle Epilachna varivestis, copyright Judy Gallagher.

Belongs within: Coccinellidae.

Epilachna is a cosmopolitan genus of larger, hairy ladybird beetles, all species of which are herbivorous.

Characters (from Ślipiński 2007): Length 5–10 mm. Head exposed; body oval and distinctly convex; winged; dorsum uniformly hairy. Elytra yellow to black, usually with distinct colour pattern. Eyes broadly separated, not emarginate. Antenna ten- or eleven-segmented; slightly shorter than head capsule; antennal club three-segmented, asymmetrical; antennal insertions distinct on frons. Mandible multidentate apically; terminal maxillary palpomere strongly securiform; mentum trapezoidal, narrowing anteriorly. Pronotal disc evenly convex to narrowly upturned external borders. Prothoracic hypomeron without fovea near anterior angles; prosternum long in front of coxae, arcuate; prosternal process narrow without distinct carinae. Anterior margin of mesoventrite weakly emarginate medially. Elytral epipleuron complete, not foveate. Protibia not angulate externally. Tibial spur formula 1-2-2; claws slit with additional basal tooth. Abdominal procoxal line recurved and almost complete.

<==Epilachna Chevrolat in Dejean 1836 (see below for synonymy) S07
    |--*E. borealis (Fabricius 1775) [=Coccinella borealis] S07
    |--E. boisduvali Mulsant 1850 (see below for synonymy) S07
    |--E. canina [incl. E. dregei] G01
    |--E. chrysomelina [=Coccinella chrysomelina; incl. C. bifasciata] G01
    |--E. corrupta WZ10
    |--E. cupicola G01
    |--E. dawkinsi Li 1993 S07
    |--‘Coccinella’ flavicollis Thunberg 1781 [=*Afissa flavicollis] S07
    |--E. galerucinoides Korschefsky 1934 [=E. (Solanophila) galerucinoides] S07
    |--E. godarti G01
    |--E. guttatopustulata (Fabricius 1775) (see below for synonymy) S07
    |--E. hirta [incl. E. insidiosa] G01
    |--E. infirma G01
    |--E. mexicana (Guérin-Méneville 1844) B14
    |--E. mjoebergi Weise 1923 [=Henosepilachna mjoebergi] S07
    |--E. paykulli G01
    |--E. punctipennis G01
    |--E. pustulosa TS01
    |--‘Henosepilachna’ signatipennis B88
    |--E. suffusa Crotch 1874 [=Henosepilachna suffusa; incl. E. terraereginae Blackburn 1895] S07
    |--E. sumbana Bielawski 1959 [incl. E. cucurbitae Richards 1983, Henosepilachna cucurbitae] S07
    |--E. urvillei Mountrouzier 1861 (see below for synonymy) S07
    |--E. varivestis B14
    |--E. vigintioctopunctata (Fabricius 1775) S07 (see below for synonymy)
    `--E. vigintisexpunctata (Boisduval 1835) (see below for synonymy) S07

Epilachna Chevrolat in Dejean 1836 [incl. Afissa Dieke 1947, Henosepilachna Li in Li & Cook 1961; Epilachninae, Epilachnini] S07

Epilachna boisduvali Mulsant 1850 [=Henosepilachna boisduvali; incl. E. montrouzieri var. fijiensis Crotch 1874, E. montrouzieri Fauvel 1862, E. boisduvali samoana Dieke 1947] S07

Epilachna guttatopustulata (Fabricius 1775) [=Coccinella guttatopustulata, Henosepilachna guttatopustulata; incl. Epilachna pandora Mulsant 1853, E. guttatopustulata var. tasmanica Crotch 1874, Coccinella tricincta Montrouzier 1855] S07

Epilachna urvillei Mountrouzier 1861 [=Henosepilachna urvillei; incl. E. moultoni manusensis Korschefsky 1933, E. moultoni Crotch 1874] S07

Epilachna vigintioctopunctata (Fabricius 1775) S07 [=Coccinella vigintioctopunctata S07, Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata S07; incl. Epilachna gradaria Mulsant 1850 S07, Coccinella pardalis Boisduval 1835 S07, E. vigintioctopunctata pardalis B88, C. sparsa Herbst 1786 S07, *Henosepilachna sparsa S07, Epilachna territa Mulsant 1850 S07, Coccinella undecimvariolata Boisduval 1835 S07, E. undecimvariolata S07]

Epilachna vigintisexpunctata (Boisduval 1835) [=Coccinella vigintisexpunctata, E. sparsa vigintisexpunctata, Henosepilachna vigintisexpunctata; incl. E. philippinensis australica Dieke 1947, Coccinella doryca Boisduval 1835, E. philippinensis Dieke 1947] S07

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B88] Bouček, Z. 1988. Australasian Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera): A biosystematic revision of genera of fourteen families, with a reclassification of species. CAB International: Wallingford (UK).

[B14] Bouchard, P. (ed.) 2014. The Book of Beetles: A lifesize guide to six hundred of nature's gems. Ivy Press: Lewes (United Kingdom).

[G01] Gorham, H. S. 1901. Descriptions of genera and species of Coleoptera from South Africa (continued). Annals and Magazine of Natural History, series 7, 7: 401–415.

[S07] Ślipiński, A. 2007. Australian Ladybird Beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae): Their biology and classification. Australian Biological Resources Study: Canberra.

[TS01] Tsurusaki, N., Y. Shirai, S. Nakano, N. Fujiyama, S. Kahono & H. Katakura. 2001. B-chromosomes in the Indonesian populations of a phytophagous ladybird beetle “Epilachna vigintioctopunctata”. Special Publication of the Japan Coleopterological Society 1: 65–71.

[WZ10] Wood, D. M., & M. A. Zumbado. 2010. Tachinidae (tachinid flies, parasitic flies). In: Brown, B. V., A. Borkent, J. M. Cumming, D. M. Wood, N. E. Woodley & M. A. Zumbado (eds) Manual of Central American Diptera vol. 2 pp. 1343–1417. NRC Research Press: Ottawa.