Neofidia Strother, a new name for Fidia Baly, 1863 and redescription of Fidia kanaraensis (Jacoby, 1895) with a new host record and notes on natural history (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Eumolpinae)

Neofidia Strother nom. nov., is proposed as the replacement name for Fidia Baly, 1863, a junior homonym of Fidia Motschulsky, 1861 (not 1860, Griffin 1936). A list of the included species of Neofidia Strother nom. nov. and Fidia motschulsky, 1861 is provided for clarity. Fidia medvedevi nom. nov. is the new replacement name proposed for Lypesthes vietnamicus medvedev, 2015. Fidia kanaraensis (Jacoby, 1895) is redescribed and habitus, male and female genitalia are figured. Cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) is reported as a new host of F. kanaraensis and partial information on the life history is provided. Eggs are laid singly on the surface of soil, and are covered with excreta and soil. Larvae tunnel into the tender roots. Adults are nocturnal and feed on tender leaves.

NBAIR = National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources, Bengaluru, India UASB = University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, India USNM = National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., USA ZIN = Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St Petersburg, Russia

Dissection
The specimens were relaxed by immersing in soap solution for about 20 minutes. The abdomen was cut off from the body by inserting a no. 3 sized insect pin between the metasternum and the abdomen and then severing the membranous connections and tissues in between. The severed abdomen was macerated in 10% KOH solution by keeping it overnight in a hot air oven, set at 50°C. Alternatively, for quick processing, the specimens were boiled in 10% KOH for about two minutes. The former method yielded better results as all the relevant structures, including ducts of the reproductive system, were intact, especially in females. The digested abdomen was thoroughly washed in water, followed by immersion in 2% acetic acid to remove excess alkali. One more round of washing with water was done to remove excess chemicals. The tergites and sternites were detached and the genitalia were completely pulled out of the muscles and tissues. The transparent membranous structures were stained with acid fuchsin and then transferred to glycerin for observation, photography and preservation.

Genitalia
The terminology for genitalia and associated structures follows Konstantinov (1998), Jolivet &Verma (2008) and Moseyko (2008). The endophallus was everted through the apical opening (ostium) as well as infl ated through basal opening. Infl ation of the endophallus follows Yamasako & Obhayashi (2011) with appropriate modifi cation. A TSK STERiJECT hypodermic needle 0.2 × 9 mm (⅜") (The invisible needles TM Japan) was mounted on a syringe fi lled with K-Y ® gel. The tip of the needle was inserted into the apical opening and affi xed with the cyanoacrylate glue Fevikwik ® . After allowing fi ve minutes to dry, the aedeagus was kept in water for a minute, then immersed in K-Y ® gel in a cavity slide and infl ated by pushing the plunger fl ange slowly under controlled pressure. Eversion of endophallus was carried out using KK-3 type C fi ne nozzle. The endophallus was pushed towards the apical opening using the blunt end of a fl exible fi ne needle through the basal opening. The tip of the fi ne nozzle, fi lled with K-Y ® gel, was affi xed at the base of the aedeagus proper with cyanoacrylate glue (Fevikwik ® ). The assembly was allowed to dry for fi ve minutes and kept in water for one minute to relax the endophallic membrane. Then the aedeagus was immersed in K-Y ® gel in a glass slide. The endophallus was then everted under controlled pressure of a syringe fi lled with K-Y ® gel.
Measurements were taken using an ocular micrometer. Images were stacked using Zerene stacker ver. 1.04. Photographs and stacked images were edited with Adobe Photoshop CS4. A line diagram of female genitalia was drawn using Adobe Illustrator.

Biology
Attempts were made to study the biology of F. kanaraensis. Live beetles were collected from the fi eld and pairs of beetles were released into transparent plastic jars with a layer of top soil and a twig of mango or cashew with new growth. The mouths of the jars were covered with cloth and fastened with rubber bands. Beetles were allowed to mate and oviposit. The leaves were changed at three-day intervals, and the layer of soil was kept moist by spraying water.

Etymology
The name Neofi dia alludes to the new name for Fidia Baly, 1863, as well as its Nearctic and Neotropical distribution. The gender is feminine.

Generic diagnosis
Body oblong, adorned with setae and or scales. Frons merges with vertex, hardly differentiated. Antenna fi liform, longer than half of body length, longer than body length in some cases. Second antennomere usually shorter than fi rst, longer than half of it, shorter than next three or four. Compound eyes lateral, hemispherical, feebly or not emarginate near antennal sockets. Antennal calli absent. Pronotum longer than wide or subquadrate, narrower than elytra, lateral margins incomplete, fore margin of lateral arms of pronotum ('propleuron') straight. Pygidium with or without elytral locking groove. Legs long, slender, all femora slightly thickened and toothed beneath, all tibiae longitudinally sulcate with rows of setae, mid-and hind tibiae not emarginate at apex, with short stout paired spines on apex. Claws bifi d. (Jacoby, 1895)
HEAD. As densely setose as pronotum; punctures dense and coarse, distance between adjacent punctures less than half of diameter of a puncture (Fig. 5). Frons fl at or gently depressed medially; anteriorly sparsely setose, sloping with smaller punctures, merges with narrow clypeus; anterolateral corners obtusely projecting. Antenna exceeds half of body length in male, shorter in female. First antennomere curved, thick, proximally black, distally brown; second antennomere thinner than fi rst; 3-6 thin; 7-11 progressively broadened. Ratio of length of antennomeres 1-11 equals 1 : 0.64-0.9 : 0.7-0.  1-1.15 (female). 8 th and 9 th antennomeres 1.8-2 times longer than broad. Transverse diameter of eye subequal to vertical, 3.7 to 4.8 times distance between antennal socket and eye. Interoccular space 1.75 to 2 times wider than interantennal space in males, 1.3-1.5 times wider in females. Transverse diameter of eye about 2.9 times diameter of antennal socket in male, 3.4-3.6 times in female. Interantennal space 1.3-1.8 times transverse diameter of one eye. Maximum width of head 1.5-1.7 times interocular space, 2.6-2.9 times interantennal space. Clypeus indistinct, narrow, with very short setae, anterior margin concave. Labrum broad apically; anterior margin thick, sloping, feebly emarginate; with a transverse row of four setose punctures, anterolateral corners each with a group of three longer setae, anterior margin of labrum with a row of short setae on either side, absent in middle. Maxillary palpi with apical palpomere longest, broadest; penultimate palpomere apparently shorter than one preceding it. Labial palpi with apical palpomere longer than preceding one. Mandibles stout, with long, bent setae laterally.
PRONOTUM. 1.3-1.5 times broader than long; posteriorly 1.2-1.4 times wider than anteriorly; lateral margin weakly formed in posterior half, absent anteriorly, weakly but regularly convex. Anterolateral callosity rounded with setae bearing pore placed laterally, not distinctly protruding laterally; posterolateral callosity rounded with seta bearing pore slightly protruding laterally. Punctures on pronotum subequal to those on vertex, distinctly smaller than elytral ones. SCUTELLUM. Longer than broad, apex weakly angulate presenting pentagonal appearance, with dense setae and punctures anteriorly, impunctate and shiny posteriorly.

Biology
Fidia kanaraensis is a pest of cashew (Anacardium occidentale) and mango (Mangifera indica) in south India. Adults create moderate sized circular or irregular holes on the tender leaves (Fig. 26), mostly during the night and late evening hours, and hardly come out during the day. Infestation is apparently higher in cooler areas. Rajendran & Singh (2016) listed it as a pest of mango. No further information was available on its immature stages or biology. This is the fi rst record of F. kanaraensis on cashew. Eggs were laid singly on the surface of soil and covered with a mixture of excreta and soil (Fig. 20). They are elliptical (0.58-0.73 mm × 0.40 mm) in shape and are cream or light yellow in color (Fig. 21). Eggs hatched after about 15 days. Grubs are scarabaeiform, C-shaped, dorsum covered with long setae and actively moved forward using the anal pseudopod (Figs 22,24). Larvae bored into the roots. In the laboratory, they created a tunnel inside pieces of root and stem of seedlings of mango and cashew (Fig. 23). However, none of the larvae survived till the fi nal instar in the laboratory.

Remarks
The genus in India is represented by two species. Fidia indica (Jacoby, 1908), the other Indian species, can be separated from F. kanaraensis by the more regularly arranged elytral punctures (rather confused, with countable rows in posterior half of elytra in F. kanaraensis) and fi nely transversely wrinkled elytral interstices in the basal area (interstices not wrinkled in F. kanaraensis). Fidia shirozui (Kimoto, 1969), from Taiwan, closely resembles F. kanaraensis and differences between these species require additional study.

Discussion
Fidia kanaraensis, though originally described from southern India, was also recorded in Bengal in eastern India (Jacoby 1908). Such a disjunct distribution is common for many peninsular Indian species    (Hora 1953). The body of F. kanaraensis is covered with a white, waxy secretion. This is also known in F. atra, the type species (Chûjô 1954), F. japonicus Ohno, 1958 (= F. babai) (Chûjô 1958b) and F. shirozui Kimoto, 1969. In the Oriental tortoise beetle, Silana farinosa (Boheman), the dorsum is completely covered with a white coating (Maulik 1919). Similarly, in Myrmeconycha Konstantinov & Tishechkin 2017, a myrmecophilous fl ea beetle genus from the Neotropics, the head and pronotum are covered with white, waxy exudate. However, the actual origin, chemical nature or function of this white, waxy covering remains unknown. Flowers (1999), using a different technique for teasing out the endophallus through the apical orifi ce, studied the endophallus in Eumolpinae and described the structures in the Leprotites. However, in our studies, we have everted the endophallus through the apical opening as well as infl ated it (without eversion) through the basal opening. Due to the differing techniques used, comparison of structures with those shown by Flowers (1999) is diffi cult. A sclerotization on the vaginal wall near the base of the duct is present, as in some other eumolpines (Moseyko 2008;Zoia 2009). The short ovipositor as in Fidia is a progressive character in Chrysomelidae and an adaptation for open oviposition of groups of glued eggs or eggs with some coverage (Moseyko 2008). According to Li & Liang (2018), females with shorter ovipositors lay eggs on substrate surfaces or in shallow excavations. The female genitalia of F. kanaraensis are different from those of eumolpines such as Platycorynus Chevrolat, 1837 Colasposoma Laporte, 1833 and Chrysochus Chevrolat, 1836, but show a structural similarity to those of Synetinae (Li & Liang 2018). Treating Synetinae as a tribe within the subfamily Eumolpinae has already been implied by Crowson (1992). The presence of vaginal glands as in Fidia has been reported in Syneta by Reid (1995), who provides evidence strongly in favor of Syneta being a plesiomorphic eumolpine with many adult autapomorphies. However, Verma & Jolivet (2000) considered Synetinae as a separate subfamily. The pair of vaginal glands (CoG in Fig. 13), observed in F. kanaraensis, are either collateral glands or organs of symbiont transmission (Suzuki 1988). Covering the eggs with excreta and soil along with a glandular secretion (Jolivet et al. 2014) may be a means of transmission of symbionts. Trophic selections of the genus are distributed across plant families (Table 1). However, F. kanaraensis is the only species that feeds on Anacardiaceae. More information on the subterranean immatures of the species is necessary to formulate a management strategy in agro-ecosystems.