Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 April 2025 | 17(4): 26908–26911

 

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) 

https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9378.17.4.26908-26911

#9378 | Received 23 August 2024 | Final received 31 March 2024 | Finally accepted 11 April 2025

 

 

First report of Jauravia assamensis Kapur, 1961 (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) from West Bengal, India

 

Tamoghno Majumder 1         , Aloy Adak 2          & Kusal Roy 3        

 

1,3 Department of Entomology, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia, West Bengal 741252, India.

2 Department of Agricultural Meteorology and Physics, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia, West Bengal 741252, India.

1 tamoghnomajumder28@gmail.com (corresponding author), 2 aloyadak@gmail.com, 3 roy.kusal@bckv.edu.in

 

 

 

Editor: Aparna Kalawate, Zoological Survey of India, Pune, India.                  Date of publication: 26 April 2025 (online & print)

 

Citation: Majumder, T., A. Adak & K. Roy (2025). First report of Jauravia assamensis Kapur, 1961 (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) from West Bengal, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 17(4): 26908–26911. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9378.17.4.26908-26911

  

Copyright: © Majumder et al. 2025. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.

 

Funding: Not funded by any external organization.

 

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

 

Acknowledgements: The authors humbly acknowledge the laboratory facility rendered by the Department of Agricultural Entomology, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Nadia, West Bengal.

 

 

Abstract: The genus Jauravia Motschulsky, 1858 (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) is distributed in India and nearby countries like Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Nepal. The species, Jauravia assamensis Kapur, 1961 is reported from Assam, Manipur, and Maharashtra. In the present study, we are reporting this species for the first time from West Bengal.

 

Keywords: Coccinellinae, Darjeeling, description, distribution, Kalimpong, new record, ladybird beetle, predator, Sticholotidini, taxonomy.

 

 

 

A well-known and significant major group, ladybird beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) are sometimes referred to as ladybirds or lady beetles. The vivid colours of ladybirds, which are often red, orange, and black, greatly contribute to their appeal. Their wide appeal is manifested in the commercial and charitable organisations that use them as a motif. Coccinellidae is a speciose family of beetles with a worldwide distribution, currently including about 6,000 species classified in 370 genera (Ślipiński 2007). The Indian subcontinent is enriched with ladybird diversity, which houses more than 400 extant species belonging to 79 genera and 22 tribes (Poorani 2002). The coccinellid fauna of India is widespread and diversified. The composition of predatory coccinellids varies widely among various crop ecosystems. The vast variation in climate and vegetation at various altitudes and large land area are the key factors responsible for such an expanded biodiversity of coccinellids in West Bengal. West Bengal has a tropical climate. Based on soil characterisation, rainfall, temperature, and terrain, six main agro-climatic zones (hill zone, terai zone, old alluvial zone, new alluvial zone, red & laterite zone, and coastal & saline zone) have been identified in West Bengal. Looking at the unbounded alteration in climate at diverse elevations, there is very little work on taxonomy as well as biodiversity of coccinellids in West Bengal.

The genus Jauravia was erected by Motschulsky (1858) with two species Jauravia pallidula and Jauravia limbata. Kapur (1946) conducted and published a taxonomic revision of this genus with 11 species. According to Poorani (2002) 15 species of this genus are known from the Indian sub-continent. Earlier Jauravia assamensis Kapur was reported from Assam (Kapur 1961), Manipur (Chakrabarti et al. 2012), Maharashtra (Patil & Gaikwad 2023), and Sundarbazar (Sajan et al. 2018) from Nepal. The present study documents the existence of J. assamensis for the first time from West Bengal, India along with its illustration of diagnostic characteristics and short notes.

 

Materials and Methods

Study area: A single specimen was collected from Kalimpong district of West Bengal, India by the first author. The geocoordinate of the sampling place was 27.263–27.375 0N & 88.650–89.477 0E (Image 1).

Insect sampling method: The ladybird specimen was collected by a ‘sweep sampling method’, as suggested by Gadagkar et al. (1990). The collected ladybird beetle was brought to the laboratory for identification.

 

Preservation and identification of specimens

Immediately after field collection, the insect was put into killing jars. The specimen was euthanized with the fumes of ethyl acetate present in the killing jar. The killed insect was put in the glass vial, labelled properly, and brought to the laboratory. Later, the beetle was stretched and glued to the triangular card point. The beetle specimen was meticulously examined under a stereoscopic trinocular microscope OPTIKA SZM-T, fitted with camera for studying its morphological characters. Photographs of the habitus and different body parts were taken by using Samsung S22 Ultra smartphone. Later the images were edited in Adobe Photoshop 2020 and arranged in CorelDRAW 2018. Measurement was taken by ocular micrometer fitted in the eyepiece of microscope. Drawings were done by smart pen with the software PENUP of Samsung S22 Ultra smartphone. For dissection, the methodology described by Majerus & Kearns (1989)  was used. Terminology used for adult morphology largely follows Ślipiński (2007).

 

Result and Discussion

A single notable individual of the ladybird species was encountered near the Bindu Village, Kalimpong (Image 1 & 2). The specimen was collected from a banyan tree. The species was confirmed as J. assamensis which is a first confirmed record for West Bengal, India.

 

Species account

Family: Coccinellidae Laterile, 1807

Subfamily: Coccinellinae Laterile, 1807

Tribe: Sticholotidini Weise, 1901

Genus Jauravia Motschulsky, 1858

 

Jauravia assamensis Kapur, 1961

Material examined

West Bengal, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Bindu Village, 27.263–27.375 0N & 88.650–89.477 0E, 600m, 14.xi.2022, coll. Tamoghno Majumder, 1 female, Banyan tree.

 

Description

Body length 1.960 mm and body width 1.862 mm. Form almost semi-rounded, dorsal side of the body mostly convex, and with sparse greyish pubescence (Images 1(1,2); Figure 1(1)). Head and pronotum orange in colour with lightly distributed punctures (Image 2(2)). Prosternal carinae present, straight and slightly diverging anteriorly (Images 2(6); Figure 1(5)).  Elytra orange in colour with distinguishable kidney-shaped black markings (Image 2(1,2,3)). Markings are rounded at both ends and its outer arc extends parallel to the elytral epipleuron (Images 2(2); Figure 1(1)). Elytral epipleuron is moderately broader (Image 2(4)). Scutellum very small. Antennae composed of 11 antennomeres, terminal antennomere narrowed apically (Images 2(5); Figure 1(3)). Mouthparts (Labium, maxilla, labrum, mandible) as illustrated (Image 2(7–10)). Eyes approximately oval, moderately small, widely separated, interocular distance about 3x as wide as an eye (Figure 1(2)). Ventral side of the body light orange in colour. Abdominal postcoxal line incomplete, reaching posterior margin of abdominal ventrite 1 and running along posterior margin, then almost touching lateral margin (Images 2(11); Figure 1(4)).

It is recorded from Assam, Manipur, and Maharashtra. Kapur (1961) specified J. assamensis is closely related to Jauravia quadrinotata Kapur in general appearance, but is easily distinguished from it by the following charcters: (i) J. assamensis is slightly smaller in size than J. quadrinotata; (ii) pattern of the black elytral markings in the two species is quite distinct; in J. quadrinotata there are two rounded spots on each elytron while in J. assamensis there is a well-defined, elongate, kidney-shaped elytral marking which does not show any tendency to break up into spots; and (iii) punctation on the elytra is coarser and sparser in J. quadrinotata than J. assamensis. The holotype of J. assamensis was recorded as feeding on aphids from Assam (Kapur 1961). This species was observed to be preyed upon Aphis gossypii (Glover 1877)  and Myzus persicae (Sulzer, 1776)  from Manipur (Chakrabarti et al. 2012). Detailed descriptions and illustrations of the habitus, genitalia, and the immature stages of J. assamensis were provided by earlier researchers (Kapur 1961; Patil & Gaikwad 2023). The present study unveiled a current new habitat, range extension, and new diagnostic characteristics like the antenna and abdominal post-coxal line of this species, which were not illustrated by earlier researchers.

 

 

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References

 

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Kapur, A.P. (1946). VIII—A revision of the genus Jauravia Mots. (Coleoptera Coccinellidæ). Annals and Magazine of Natural History 13(98): 73–93.

Kapur, A.P. (1961). A New Species of the Genus Jauravia Mots. From India (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae). Records of Zoological Survey of India 59(1–2): 71–73. https://doi.org/10.26515/rzsi/v59/i1-2/1961/161573

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Patil, P.B. & S.M. Gaikwad (2023). New record of Jauravia assamensis Kapur (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) from peninsular India. Indian Journal of Entomology 85(3): 737–739. https://doi.org/10.55446/IJE.2021.365

Sajan, K.C., K. Kafle & A. Khadka (2018). Records of ladybeetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) from hilly regions of Nepal. Indian Journal of Entomology 80(4): 1236–1248. https://doi.org/10.5958/0974-8172.2018.00242.0

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