Scymnus (Scymnus) nubilus Mulsant (=Scymnus lateralis Sicard)

Coleoptera: Coccinellidae: Scymninae: Scymnini

Length 1.75-2.20 mm, width 1.30-1.65 mm. Form oblong oval, dorsum moderately convex. Head dark brown, lighter in males. Pronotum dark pitchy brown to black in middle, anterior and lateral margins reddish brown and lighter. Scutellum dark brown. Elytra yellowish to reddish brown, with a dark brown to black sutural stripe starting from basal margin and gradually narrowed towards apex, lateral borders narrowly dark brown to black at middle. Ventral side reddish to yellowish brown, except pro-, meso- and metasterna and middle of abdominal segments dark brown. Prosternal intercoxal process with carinae (Fig. 2) posteriorly divergent. Postcoxal line (Fig. 3) incomplete, running parallel to posterior margin to nearly 3/4^th of its length and then gently recurved, area enclosed coarsely and densely punctate. Male genitalia (Figs. 4-6) as illustrated.

This species is very similar to S. (Neopullus) hoffmanni in general appearance and coloration and can be differentiated by the 11-segmented antenna, incomplete femoral line and the male genitalia.


Figs. 1-6. Scymnus nubilus: 1. Antenna; 2. Prosternal intercoxal process; 3. Postcoxal line on abdominal ventrite 1; 4-6. Male genitalia: 4. Tegmen, ventral view; 5. Tegmen, lateral view; 6. Sipho

     Adult
 Pupa on sorghum leaf

India: Commonly distributed throughout the country (Karnataka; Kerala; Goa; Haryana; Maharashtra; Orissa; Punjab; Rajasthan; Tamil Nadu; Uttar Pradesh; West Bengal). Nepal. Pakistan. Bangladesh. Myanmar. Japan. Micronesia. Asia Minor. Mediterranean region. Africa (Booth & Pope, 1989; Canepari, 2003).

HEMIPTERA: Aleyrodidae: Aleurodicus dispersus Russell, Aleurolobus barodensis (Maskell), Neomaskellia andropogonis Corbett. Aphididae: Aphis craccivora Koch, Aphis gossypii Glover, Aphis nerii Boyer de Fonscolombe, Pentalonia nigronervosa Coquerel, Rhopalosiphum nymphaeae (Linnaeus), Therioaphis trifolii f. maculata (Buckton). Pseudococcidae: Birendracoccus (as Pseudococcus) saccharifolii (Green), Coccidohystrix insolita (Green), Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green), Pseudococcus corymbatus Ramakrishna Ayyar. DIPTERA: Cecidomyiidae: Contarinia sorghicola (Coquillet). Thysanoptera: Caliothrips indicus (Bagnall) and Thrips tabaci Lindeman. ACARI: Oligonychus coffeae (Nietner) on tea; Oligonychus (as Paratetranychus) indicus (Hirst) on sorghum. Commonly found feeding on aphids, mealybugs, thrips, and mites on maize, sorghum, finger millet, cowpea, mulberry, cotton, guava, groundnut, brinjal, onion, banana, sandal, Phaseolus mungo, etc.

Present throughout the year. Active during January-May (Puttarudriah & Channabasavanna, 1956), and July-August in South India.