National Pusa Collection Research Articles

A new species of leafhopper genus Sophonia (Evacanthinae: Cicadellidae: Hemiptera) from India.

A new evacanthine leafhopper of the tribe Nirvanini, Sophonia submodesta sp. n. (Himachal Pradesh: Nauni), is described and illustrated from India. An annotated key is provided for the identification of all 17 species known under the genus Sophonia reported from the Indian subcontinent. Type material is deposited in the National Pusa Collection, Division of Entomology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR-IARI), New Delhi, India.

Bambuphaga, a new bamboo feeding-leafhopper genus (Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae: Punctulini) from India.

A new genus of bamboo feeding leafhopper, Bambuphagan. gen. (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Delcephalinae)with Bambuphaga balajiin. sp. from India (Andhra Pradesh) as the type species is described, illustrated, placed in the tribe Punctulini and an annotated checklist to the tribe is provided. The type specimens and material examined are deposited in the National Pusa Collection (NPC), Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, India.

First record of leafhopper genus Satsumanus Ishihara from India (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae) with description of a new species.

The leafhopper genus Satsumanus Ishihara of tribe Opsiini is newly reported from India based on a new species, Satsumanus chajingensis Rajgopal & Stuti sp. nov. (Manipur: Imphal West), here described and illustrated. Materials are deposited in the National Pusa Collection, Division of Entomology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, India. Photographic illustrations, a species checklist, key to species of the genus and distribution map are provided.

First record of the ant genus Agraulomyrmex Prins, 1983 (Formicidae: Formicinae) from India, with description of a new species

ABSTRACT The formicine ant genus Agraulomyrmex Prins, 1983 is recorded from Damoh, Madhya Pradesh, India, and a new species Agraulomyrmex damohensis sp. nov. is described based on a single worker specimen. This genus is reported outside of the Afrotropical region for the first time. The new species is compared with the two described species of the genus from Africa and it differs from them by having nine segmented antennae. This species has been placed in genus Agraulomyrmex based on the structure of the mesosoma (i.e. absence of mesometanotal suture and metanotal groove), presence of nine segmented antennae without distinct club, and absence of ocelli. Holotype is deposited in the National Pusa Collection, Division of Entomology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India. http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:8F948505-D833-47BE-B324-63B113034CFC

A new bamboo-feeding species, Mohunia manohari sp. nov., (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae) and first record of the genus from India.

A new record for the leafhopper genus Mohunia Distant from India is provided with description of Mohunia manohari sp. nov. (Arunachal Pradesh: Basar). Type material is deposited in the National Pusa Collection, Division of Entomology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, India. Illustrations habitus and male genitalia of healthy and parasitized males are given along with an annotated checklist to species of the genus.

Moths (Insecta: Lepidoptera) of Delhi, India: An illustrated checklist based on museum specimens and surveys.

BackgroundThere have been several recent checklists, books and publications about Indian moths; however, much of this work has focused on biodiversity hotspots such as North-east India, Western Ghats and Western Himalayas. There is a lack of published literature on urban centres in India, despite the increased need to monitor insects at sites with high levels of human disturbance. In this study, we examine the moths of Delhi, the national capital region of India, one of the fastest growing mega-metropolitan cities. We present a comprehensive checklist of 338 moths species using 8 years of light trapping data (2012-2020) and examining about 2000 specimens from historical collections at the National Pusa Collection of ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi (NPC-IARI) spanning over 100 years (1907-2020). The checklist comprises moths from 32 families spanning 14 superfamilies with Noctuoidea (48.5%) and Pyraloidea (20.4%) being the the two most dominant superfamilies. We provide links to images of live individuals and pinned specimens for all moths and provide detailed distribution records and an updated taxonomic treatment.New informationThis is the first comprehensive annotated checklist of the moths of Delhi. The present study adds 234 species to the biodiversity of moths from Delhi that were not reported previously, along with illustrations for 195 species.

New record of the genus Baseprocessa (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Coelidiinae) from India with description of a new species

The coelidiinae leafhopper genus Baseprocessa Fan Li is newly recorded from India based on the description of B. patkaensis Meshram sp. nov. and a proposed new combination, B. serratispatulata (Viraktamath Meshram) comb. nov. Materials are deposited in the National Pusa Collection, Division of Entomology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, India. Photographic illustrations, checklist and key to species of this genus along with a distribution map are also provided.

New Species and New Records of Caddisflies (Insecta: Trichoptera) from India.

In the publication by Kaur et al. (2020), the depository for the holotype of Chimarra gangtokensis new species was given as "(NPC)", but no corresponding explanation for this acronym was provided in that publication. Therefore, the name of the species is unavailable (International Code of Zoological Nomenclature 1999, Art. 16.4.2). We clarify here that the holotype is a male deposited in the National Pusa Collection, Division of Entomology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, New Delhi (NPC). The purpose of this note is to validate the name of the new species from the publication date of this erratum by a reference to the original description and diagnosis as an indication (International Code of Zoological Nomenclature 1999, Art. 13.1.2).

Two new species of bamboo-feeding leafhopper genus Flatfronta(Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae) from India.

Two new species of the bamboo-feeding leafhopper genus Flatfronta, F. dibangi sp. nov. (Arunachal Pradesh: Basar) and F. uttara sp. nov. (Uttarakhand: Pantnagar) are described and illustrated from India. A checklist and a key to known species of the genus are also provided. Types are deposited in the National Pusa Collection (NPC), Division of Entomology, ICAR-IARI, New Delhi, India.

Tribe reassessment of the subhimalayan leafhopper genus Pseudosubhimalus (Homoptera: Cicadellidae) based on molecular phylogeny.

The phylogeny of the Pseudosubhimalus were investigated using of two different data sets, including 91 taxa and 3853 aligned nucleotide positions from the histone H3, 28S rDNA (D2 & D9–10 region). The results suggest the placement of genus in the tribe Ciacadulini, as it was clustered with Cicadulini genera. Relationships between genera of the Cicadulini were strongly supported and leads placement to tribe Cicadulini from Athysanini. Along with this, genus Pseudosubhimalus Ghauri is revised, and P. trilobatus sp. nov. (Himachal Pradesh: Katrain) is added, described from Indian subcontinent and deposited to National Pusa Collection, IARI, New Delhi, with repository number RRS1.

New record of small brown planthopper Laodelphax striatellus from Delhi

The small brown planthopper Laodelphax striatellus (Fallen), an important pest as well as vector of rice diseases, is brought out as a new record from the National Capital Region (NCR) Delhi. Recent field surveys in the rice fields of NCR revealed this. Adetailed redescription along with illustrations is provided, along with mtCO1 analysis enabling its authentic identification. Perusal of >250 mtCOI sequences of L. striatellus available in NCBI GenBank reveal that this is the first submission from India. The blast results reveal its 100% similarity with the Chinese samples. The voucher material is deposited in the National Pusa Collection, Division of Entomology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi.

First record of the leafhopper genus Xenovarta Viraktamath (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae) from India with description of a new species.

The genusXenovarta Viraktamath is recorded from India for the first time andXenovarta viraktamathi sp. nov. from India is described and illustrated.Materials are deposited in the National Pusa Collection, Division of Entomology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, India. A key to species of the genus are provided, with molecular evidence of the specimen in the form of partial mtCOI sequences.

Two new species of tribe Agalliini (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Megophthalminae) with note on intraspecific variations.

Two new species of leafhoppers, Durgades sineprocessus sp. nov. (From Himachal Pradesh: Kalpa) and Japanagallia dolabra sp. nov. (From Sikkim: Lachung) from India, are described and illustrated. Photographic illustrations of Durgades aviana Viraktamath and a detailed note on intraspecific variation in male genitalia of Austroagallia sinuata (Mulsant Rey) are also provided. Material is deposited in the National Pusa Collection, Division of Entomology, Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR-IARI), New Delhi, India.

New records of the genus Parabolopona Matsumara (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae), with description of a new species from India.

New records for the leafhopper genus ParaboloponaMatsumura from India are provided with description of Parabolopona zhangi sp. nov. Materials are deposited in the National Pusa Collection, Division of Entomology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, India. Morphological illustrations are provided. A checklist and key to species of the genus along with a distribution map are also provided.

Redescription of the fig wasp genus Sycophilodes Joseph (Chalcidoidea: Pteromalidae: Epichrysomallinae) with description of a new species from India.

Sycophilodes Joseph is a non-pollinating fig wasp genus so far reported only from Ficus benghalensis L. The genus Sycophilodes is revised with redescription of the male and the first description of the female of its only currently included species, S. moniliformis. A second species, Sycophilodes uluberiaensis Pramanik & Dey sp. nov. is described. Available keys are modified and supplemented to facilitate identification of Sycophilodes and a key for distinguishing both sexes of the two included species is presented. All type specimens are deposited in the National Pusa Collection, IARI, New Delhi.

Taxonomic notes on some Indian Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) with descriptions of a new genus and species

Forty-two species of Encyrtidae from India are listed, along with a new genus and nine new species. Of these, three species, namely Adelencyrtus odonaspidis Fullaway, Psyllaephagus viridis Prinsloo and Syrphophagus taiwanus Hayat and Lin are new records. Also, the males of Monstranusia antennata (Narayanan) are described for the first time. Avlakotencyrtus noyesi gen. et sp. nov., Caenohomalopoda heera sp. nov., Cerapteroceroides ayeena sp. nov., Cerapteroceroides manaliensis sp. nov., Cerapteroceroides zeenus sp. nov., Cheiloneurus albiclava sp. nov., Pentelicus bharatensis sp. nov., Psyllaephagus punensis sp. nov. and Tyndarichus xezus sp. nov. are the new taxa described. A key to the Indian species of Cerapteroceroides is also given. The type material and voucher specimens are deposited at the Department of Zoology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh and the National Pusa Collection, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India.

Description of a new evacanthine leafhopper species Sophonia chandrai sp. nov., with new record of Chudania axona (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) from India.

A new evacanthine leafhopper, Sophonia chandrai sp. nov., is described from Manipur, India. The Chinese species, Chudania axona Zhang and Yang is recorded from Meghalaya, India and redescribed. A detailed morphological description, illustrations and photographs are provided. Material is deposited in the National Pusa Collection, Division of Entomology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India. A key to the known species of Chudania from the Indian sub-continent is also included.

A new species of encyrtid (Hymenoptera) on gall-inducing psyllids (Hemiptera) from India

A new encyrtid parasitoid Psyllaephagusramamurthyi Hayat sp. nov. is described from the specimens collected from the psyllids in Assam, India. These psyllids were observed inducing galls on Litsea monopetala. The type specimens are deposited in the National Pusa Collection, Division of Entomology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, and the Insect Collections, Department of Zoology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India.

The weevil genus Pachynotus Redtenbacher (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae) from India

The Indian entimine weevil genus Pachynotus Redtenbacher is reviewed, with description of two new species namely Pachynotus kumaonensis sp. nov. and Pachynotus mayarami sp. nov. The genus description is updated and a key to the species provided. Voucher specimens including types are deposited in the National Pusa Collection, Division of Entomology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi.

Two new species and a new record of Indian Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea)

Two new species of Encyrtidae are described from the Indian state of Uttarakhand. These are Mayrencyrtus elegans sp. nov. Hayat and Khan, and Parablatticida brevivalvula sp. nov. Hayat and Khan. The nine other encyrtids recorded are listed. The genus Mayrencyrtus Hincks and Copidosoma anceus are the new records from India. The type specimens are deposited at the National Pusa Collection, Division of Entomology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India.