Synonyms
Telsimiini Casey, 1899: 74.
Diagnosis
Small (1.0-2.5 mm long); convex; short oval; almost always with apparent dorsal vestiture consisting of dense hairs of similar length; often black or black with a greenish reflection, very rarely with bicoloured elytra. Head strongly transverse; clypeus short, extending laterally forming a projection covering antennal insertion from above. Eyes large, finely faceted entirely or almost entirely divided by a genal shelf, with at least some interfacetal setae. Mandible with a subapical tooth set at some distance from apex, mola and molar teeth well developed and sclerotised. Maxilla with cardo strongly expanded laterally forming a narrow process. Labium with mentum trapezoidal, distinctly narrowing at basal articulation; praementum heavily sclerotised, bearing central pit and forked projection anteriorly; labial palps inserted ventrally and near base of praementum, separated by more than diameter of the basal palpomere, terminal palpomere conical. Antenna very short, 6 or 7 segmented located in shallow cavity under genal shelf adjacent to eye and hardly visible from above. Pronotum strongly transverse, anterior and lateral margins narrowly bordered; anterior corners without additional line or ridge separating them from pronotal disc. Prosternum with intercoxal process about as broad as transverse coxal diameter, weakly convex. Pronotal hypomera not distinctly foveate except for some Telsimia where the narrow slit is located as an extension of notosternal suture. Mesoventrite broad, anterior border shallowly emarginate medially; meso-metaventral suture visible in Telsimia but partially obsolete in Hypocrynema. Metasternum with postcoxal lines. Elytral epipleura distinctly narrowing apically but complete to apex, usually weakly foveate to receive femoral apices of middle and hind legs. Abdomen with 5 visible ventrites in both sexes; ventrites 1 and 2 fused but suture is well visible externally; 5th ventrite with median length equal to that of ventrites 2-4 together, apical border slightly sexually dimorphic. Postcoxal plates of first ventrite usually recurved externally in Telsimia but not recurved and joined medially in Hypocrynema. Legs with femora expanded, tibiae without apical spurs; tarsi 3-segmented, claws bifid, appendiculate or simple. Male genitalia: tegmen symmetrical with parameres reduced to rod-like structures bearing 2 or 3 long, apical setae; median lobe short and often without a true T-shaped capsule. Female genitalia with elongate coxites, each with a prominent apical stylus bearing 2 setae; spermatheca not sclerotised.
Distribution and Biology
The tribe is widely distributed from Africa and many parts of Asia, in the Pacific islands and New Guinea and Australia. Most species are probably scale insect predators with an apparent preference for Diaspididae.
Tribe References
Casey, T.L. 1899. A revision of the American Coccinellidae. Journal of the New York Entomological Society, 7: 71-169.
Chapin, E.A. 1926. On some Coccinellidae of the tribe Telsimiini with descriptions of new species. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 39: 129-34.
Chapin E.A. 1965. Insects of Micronesia. Coleoptera Coccinellidae. Insects of Micronesia, 16: 189-254.
Chazeau, J. 1984. Telsimia de Nouvelle-Guinee. Bulletin de la Sociéte Entomologique de France, 89: i-ix.
Slipinski, A., H. Pang, R. Pope, 2005. Revision of the Australian Coccinellidae (Coleoptera). Part 4. Tribe telsimiini. Annales Zoologici (Warszawa), 55: 243-269.Slipinski, S.A. 2007. Australian Ladybird Beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) their biology and classification. ABRS, Canberra. 286 pp.
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