Notes on coccinellid beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) from forest ecosystem of Uttarakhand, India

Abstract

Present study on diversity of coccinellid beetles comprises a significant group of predatory beetles which are being utilized in biological control of insect pests from more than one hundred years ago throughout the world. An extensive survey and collection of coccinellid beetles was carried out by following the sweep net and handpicking method during a period of two years, June 2016 to May2018, in Uttarakhand, India. Collection of beetles was also made at different altitudes. All the collected beetles have been identified up to species level. In total, fifteen species of coccinellid beetles were identified as Aiolocaria hexaspilota (Hope), Anegleis cardoni (Weise), Brumoides suturalis (Fabricius), Coccinella septempunctata Linnaeus, C. transversalis Fabricius, Harmonia dimidiata (Fabricius), Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata (Fabricius), Hippodamia variegata (Goeze), Illeis confusa Timberlake, Menochilus sexmaculatus (Fabricius), Micraspis allardi (Mulsant), Micraspis univittata (Hope), Oenopia sexareata (Mulsant), Platynaspidius saundersi (Crotch) and Propylea dissecta (Mulsant). H. vigintioctopunctata is phytophagous while I. confusa is mycophagous; all other species are predatory feeding on mealy bugs and aphids occurring on forest tree species. Out of all identified species, four species A. hexaspilota , I. confusa , O. sexareata and P. saundersi have been recorded for the first time from Uttarakhand.