Synonyms
Sukunahikonini Kamiya 1960: 24.
Diagnosis
Body minute (1-3 mm), moderately to strongly convex with head in repose strongly deflexed and closely fitting under prosternum; dorsum usually with apparent dorsal vestiture consisting of intermixed long and much shorter hairs; rarely vestiture consists of sparse, single setae or apparently absent. Head transverse, ventrally flattened often with clypeal and frontal regions prominent anteriorly; clypeus emarginate around exposed antennal insertions, ventral side with short antennal groove accommodating scape and pedicel along inner margin of eye. Mandible small, triangular with single apical tooth and reduced mola, without retinaculum; maxillary palp long, terminal palpomere elongate and conical; labial palps slender, narrowly separated at base and inserted on distal end of prementum. Antenna 8- to 11-segmented with distinct 1-3 segmented club. Pronotum almost always with distinct line or ridge separating anterior corners from the pronotal disc, often extending along lateral edge. Prosternum strongly reduced and narrow; prosternal process reduced to a short triangular piece or a narrow carina, usually incompletely separating procoxae. Winged or wingless; wing with greatly reduced venation, never with jugular lobe. Elytral punctures sometimes in apparent rows; epipleuron narrow usually incomplete apically, without cavities; lateral part of elytron often with a carina parallel to lateral margin. Abdomen with 5-6 ventrites; ventrite 1 and 2 at least partially fused. Postcoxal line at abdominal ventrite 1 incomplete, usually with associated pits and pores. Male genitalia: tegmen asymmetrical, parameres short to reduced with one or more setae apically. Female genitalia: ovipositor triangular elongate, lightly sclerotised bearing short styli; spermatheca small and well sclerotised.
Distribution and Biology
Circumtropical, with greatest diversity in the Oriental and Neotropical regions; only 3 genera occur in Australia. Very little is known about the biology of these beetles. Kamiya (1960) collected his specimens on Aulacaspis difficilis (Cockerell) and further records by Chapin (1965), Gordon (1977) and Vazirani (1982) confirm that the diaspidine scale insects as a primary food of Sukunahikonini. The only information on the immature stages in this group is a description of the larval exuviae of Scymnomorphus japonicus (Reitter) by Kamiya (1965) and Sasaji (1968b). Nothing is known about biology of the Australian species.
Tribe References
Chapin, E.A. 1965. Insects of Micronesia. Coleoptera Coccinellidae. Insects of Micronesia, 16(5): 189-254.
Gordon, R.D. 1977. Classification and phylogeny of the New World Sticholotidinae (Coccinellidae). Coleopterists Bulletin 31: 185-228.
Kamiya, H. 1960. A new tribe of Coccinellidae (Coleoptera). Kontyű, 28: 22-26, pl. 3.
Kamiya, H. 1965. Comparative morphology of larvae of the Japanese Coccinellidae, with special reference to the tribal phylogeny of the family (Coleoptera). The Memoirs of the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Fukui University, Series II, Natural Science, 14(5): 83-100.
Sasaji, H. 1968a. Phylogeny of the family Coccinellidae (Coleoptera). Etizenia, 35: 1-37, 13 pls.
Sasaji, H. 1968b. Descriptions of the Coccinellid larvae of Japan and Ryukyus (Coleoptera). The Memoirs of the Faculty of Education, Fukui University, Series II, Natural Science, 18(2): 93-136.
Slipinski, S.A. 2007. Australian Ladybird Beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) their biology and classification. ABRS, Canberra. 286 pp.
Slipinski, A. and Tomaszewska, K.W. 2005. Revision of the Australian Coccinellidae (Coccinellidae). Part 5. Tribe Sukunahikonini. Australian Journal of Entomology, 44: 369-384.
Vazirani, T.G. 1982. Sukunahikona popei sp. n. (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) feeding on scale insects (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) infesting coconut palm in Gujarat, India. Bulletin of Entomological Research, 72: 29-32.
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