Harmonia octomaculata (Fabricius) (=Coccinella octomaculata Fabricius, Harmonia octomaculata var. arcuata (Fabricius), Ptychanatis octomaculata (Fabricius), Harmonia arcuata (Fabricius))

Eight-spotted ladybird

Coleoptera: Coccinellidae: Coccinellinae: Coccinellini

Length 4.6-7.5 mm, width 3.5-5.5 mm. Form elongate oval, moderately convex. Ground colour orange yellow or red with black markings on pronotum and elytra, highly variable with various degrees of fusion or reduction (see Fig. 9). Elytra with external margins narrow, rounded and thickened; a distinct, concave groove present in humeral region. Males with posterior margin of fifth segment truncate and the sixth shallowly emarginate. Females with posterior margin of fifth segment medially arcuate, sixth with a median tubercle, posterior margin curved. Male genitalia (Figs. 5-7) and female spermatheca (Fig. 4) as illustrated.

 Figs. 1-8. Harmonia octomaculata (F.): 1. Head; 2. Antenna; 3. Postcoxal line on abdominal ventrite I; 4. Female spermatheca; 5-7. Male genitalia: 5. Tegmen, lateral view; 6. Tegmen, ventral view; 8. Sipho.

     
 Fig. 9. Variations in color pattern of H. octomaculata (from Kapur, 1954)

Widely distributed almost throughout the Oriental and Australasian regions. India: Very common in peninsular and northeastern regions (Andhra Pradesh; Assam; Karnataka; Kerala; Manipur; Punjab; Tamil Nadu). Myanmar. China. Taiwan. Japan. Southeast Asia. Papua New Guinea. Micronesia. Australia. New Zealand. Hawaii.

HEMIPTERA: Adelgidae: Indeterminate adelgids on silver fir. Aphididae: Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris), Aiceona litseae Basu & Hille Ris Lambers, Aphis craccivora Koch, Aphis gossypii Glover, Aphis rumicis Linnaeus, Ceratovacuna lanigera Zehntner, Geoica lucifuga (Zehntner), Melanaphis sacchari (Zehntner), Myzus nicotianae Blackman, Myzus persicae (Sulzer), Rhopalosiphum maidis (Fitch), Tuberculatus indicus Ghosh. Cicadellidae: Empoascanara indica (Datta), Nephotettix nigropictus (Stal). Delphacidae: Nilaparvata lugens (Stal), Perkinsiella saccharicida Kirkaldy, Sogatella furcifera (Horvath). Pseudococcidae: Planococcus citri (Risso). LEPIDOPTERA: Pyralidae: Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Guenee), Marasmia patnalis Bradley, Ostrinia furnacalis (Guenee), and Scirpophaga incertulas (Walker). Thysanoptera: Stenchaetothrips biformis (Bagnall).

One of the most common coccinellids in rice ecosystem; also collected on cowpea, maize, sorghum, finger millet, sugarcane, melon, cabbage, cauliflower, pigeonpea, tobacco, Cassia auriculata, Crotolaria mucronata, and Quercus serrata. Attracted to light.

Collected during March-August and October-December from southern and northeastern India.

Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Dinocampus coccinellae (Schrank); Encyrtidae: Homalotylus flaminius (Dalman); Acari: Coccipolipidae: Coccipolipus sp.