Synonyms
Scymnodes Blackburn, 1889: 189. TS: Scymnodes difficilis Blackburn, 1889.
Scymnodes (Dolinus) Weise, 1923: 140. TS: Scymnodes (Dolinus) fulvipes Weise, 1917.
Diagnosis
Scymnodes is very similar to Apolinus Pope and Lawrence sharing similar body form, armed tibial apices, shape of postcoxal lines and sexual characters. Scymnodes differs from Apolinus by 10-segmented antenna, distinctly emarginate eyes, thickened and bordered pronotal margins, long postcoxal lines on abdomen and different aedeagus structure.
Description
Length 2-4 mm. Head dorsally not covered by pronotum; dorsum uniformly hairy. Elytra black rarely with yellowish apices or maculae; head and pronotum often yellow or red with dark makings. Eyes large, finely facetted, distinctly emarginate. Antenna 10-segmented; antennomere 3 elongate; antennal club 3-segmented, weak. Maxillary palps somewhat geniculate, terminal palpomere long, weakly expanded apically. Prosternum long in front of coxae, straight; prosternal process broad, with distinct anteriorly converging carinae. Mesoventrite about 0.8 times width of coxal diameter; Metaventral postcoxal lines very far from coxae and not recurved. Elytral epipleuron broad, incomplete apically, not foveate. Tibiae with 2 apical spurs; claws on pro- and midtarsi bifid in males. Abdominal postcoxal line elongate posteriorly, complete and recurved. Male terminalia. Parameres and phallobase symmetrical; penis guide symmetrical. Parameres reduced and articulated with phallobase. Penis long and coiled, consisting of single sclerite; basal capsule distinct and T-shaped. Apodeme of male sternum 9 very narrow and rod-like. Female terminalia. Coxities triangular, about as long as broad; styli strongly reduced and hardly visible; infundibulum a lightly sclerotised but clearly delimited piece of bursa; sperm duct simple, uniform in diameter. Spermatheca worm-like, without clear ramus or nodulus; spermathecal accessory gland distinctly separated from sperm duct.
Distribution and Biology
Distributed in Australia and New Guinea. Pope and Lawrence (1990) found larvae of S. bellus under Eucalyptus bark feeding on small ants of the genus Iridomyrmex Mayr.
Genus References
Blackburn, T. 1889. Further notes on Australian Coleoptera, with descriptions of new species. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 11: 175-214.
Pope, R D, and J F. Lawrence. 1990. A review of Scymnodes Blackburn, with the description of a new Australian species and its larva (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae). Systematic Entomology, 15: 241-52.
Weise, J. 1923. Results of Dr. E. Mjöberg's Swedish Scientific Expedition to Australia 1910-1913. 31. Chrysomeliden und Coccinelliden aus Queensland. Arkiv för Zoologi, 15(12): 1-150.
Slipinski, S.A. 2007. Australian Ladybird Beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) their biology and classification. ABRS, Canberra. 286 pp.
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