Indian Insects
Diversity and Science

Insects are the most interesting and diverse group of organisms on earth, many of which are useful as pollinators of crops and wild plants while others are useful as natural enemies keeping pestiferous insects in check. It is important to conserve these insects for our survival and for this the diversity of insect species inhabiting the different ecosystems of our country must be known. The cornerstone to studies of any kind of organismal diversity is their taxonomic identity. Even after over two and half centuries of studies, so little is known of the insect wealth of our country. It has contributions from taxonomists who have been studying Indian insects for long, this book offers up to date information on many important groups of Indian insects seeking to fill the lacuna of a long felt need for a comprehensive work on the taxonomy of Indian insects.

Salient features:

• Provides an up-to-date taxonomy of major insect groups of India
• Presents identification keys with illustrations of several important groups of Indian insects
• Gives a new insight into why insects are so abundant
• Addresses fundamental questions in mechanoreception and cross kingdom interactions using insects as model systems

Indian Insects: Diversity and Science is a festschrift to Professor C. A. Viraktamath, an insect taxonomist par excellence. It has been designed to cater to the needs of academicians, researchers and students who wish to identify insects collected from local environments and will be an invaluable aid for those working in the areas of systematics, ecology, behaviour, diversity and the conservation of insects.

Contents

Preface.......................................................................................................................................................................................... ix

Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................................................................ xi

Editors ....................................................................................................................................................................................... xiii

Chandrashekaraswami Adiveyya Viraktamath: The Prince of Indian Taxonomists ................................................................. xv

Contributors ...............................................................................................................................................................................xxi

Chapter 1 Why Are Insects Abundant? Chance or Design? .................................................................................................... 1

K. N. Ganeshaiah

Chapter 2 Mayflies (Insecta: Ephemeroptera) of India ............................................................................................................ 7

C. Selvakumar, K. A. Subramanian, and K. G. Sivaramakrishnan

Chapter 3 Dragonflies and Damselflies (Insecta: Odonata) of India ..................................................................................... 29

K. A. Subramanian and R. Babu

Chapter 4 Stoneflies (Insecta: Plecoptera) of India ................................................................................................................ 47

R. Babu, K. G. Sivaramakrishnan, and K. A. Subramanian

Chapter 5 Taxonomy of Orthoptera with Emphasis on Acrididae ......................................................................................... 57

Rajamani Swaminathan and Tatiana Swaminathan

Chapter 6 Taxonomy and Biodiversity of Soft Scales (Hemiptera: Coccidae) ...................................................................... 69

Sunil Joshi

Chapter 7 Whiteflies (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) of India .................................................................................................... 103

R. Sundararaj, K. Selvaraj, D. Vimala, and T. Venkatesan

Chapter 8 Pentatomidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomoidea) of India ...................................................................... 121

S. Salini

Chapter 9 Indian Mymaridae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) .............................................................................................. 147

S. Manickavasagam and S. Palanivel

Chapter 10 Scelionidae and Platygastridae (Hymenoptera: Platygastroidea) of India .......................................................... 159

K. Rajmohana and Sunita Patra

Chapter 11 Bumble Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Apinae: Bombini) of India ..................................................................... 173

Martin Streinzer

Chapter 12 Potter Wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae) of India ............................................................................ 187

P. Girish Kumar, Arati Pannure, and James M. Carpenter

Chapter 13 Tiger Beetles (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae): Their History and Future in Indian Biological Studies .................... 201

David L. Pearson

Chapter 14 Coccinellidae of the Indian Subcontinent ........................................................................................................... 223

J. Poorani

Chapter 15 Flea Beetles of South India (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae: Alticini) .............................................. 247

K. D. Prathapan

Chapter 16 Taxonomy, Systematics, and Biology of Indian Butterflies in the 21st Century ................................................. 275

Krushnamegh Kunte, Dipendra Nath Basu, and G. S. Girish Kumar

Chapter 17 Taxonomy and Diversity of Indian Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) ................................................................ 305

K. J. David, S. Ramani, and S. K. Singh

Chapter 18 Hover-Flies (Diptera: Syrphidae) Recorded from “Dravidia,” or Central and Peninsular India

and Sri Lanka: An Annotated Checklist and Bibliography ................................................................................ 325

Kumar Ghorpadé

Chapter 19 A Comparative Study of Antennal Mechanosensors in Insects .......................................................................... 389

Harshada H. Sant and Sanjay P. Sane

Chapter 20 Cross-Kingdom Interactions in Natural Microcosms: The Worlds Within Fig Syconia

and Ant-Plant Domatia ........................................................................................................................................ 401

Renee M. Borges, Joyshree Chanam, Mahua Ghara, Anusha Krishnan, Yuvaraj Ranganathan,

Megha Shenoy, Vignesh Venkateswaran, and Pratibha Yadav

Annexure I: Revisions and Reviews of Taxa by Professor C. A. Viraktamath ....................................................................... 415

Annexure II: New Tribe and Genera Described by Professor C. A. Viraktamath ................................................................. 417

Annexure III: New Species Described by Professor C. A. Viraktamath ............................................................................... 419

Annexure IV: Research Publications of Professor C. A. Viraktamath ................................................................................... 427

Annexure V: Taxa Named in Honour of Professor C. A. Viraktamath .................................................................................. 437

Annexure VI: Courses Offered by Professor C. A. Viraktamath ........................................................................................... 439

Annexure VII: Theses Submitted Under the Guidance of Professor C. A. Viraktamath (1980–2019) .................................. 441

Annexure VIII: Research Projects Operated by Professor C. A. Viraktamath ...................................................................... 443

Index ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 445

Dr. S. Ramani

S. Ramani joined the Agricultural Research Service of the ICAR, New Delhi in 1985 and after serving in different ICAR institutes retired as Project Coordinator, ICAR-AICRP on Honey Bees & Pollinators in 2011. His areas of specialisation are pollination, biological control and taxonomy. He has published more than 45 papers in peer reviewed journals and several popular articles on insects. His special area of interest is taxonomy of Tephritidae. He collects stamps on insects as a hobby.

Dr. Prashanth Mohanraj

Prashanth Mohanraj retired as a Principal Scientist from the ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources, Bengaluru in 2017. He joined the Agricultural Research Service of ICAR and worked at the ICAR-Central Island Agricultural Research Institute, Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands for 14 years. He co-authored a book ‘Butterflies of Andaman & Nicobar Islands’, the Hindi translation of which won the best book award from the ICAR. His areas of specialisation are biological control, natural history of insects and taxonomy. He has specialised on the taxonomy of Trichogrammatidae. He has published over 65 research papers in peer reviewed journals and more than a dozen popular articles on insects.

Dr. H. M. Yeshwanth

H. M. Yeshwanth is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Entomology at University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru. His research interests are in the area of taxonomy, biodiversity and natural history of insects. His special area of interest is taxonomy of Hemiptera, especially Miridae, and he has described about 25 new species of mirid bugs. He visited The Natural History Museum, London and studied the type specimens of Indian mirids. His collaborators include several mirid taxonomists from many parts of the world. He has published over a dozen papers in highly rated international journals. He has developed excellent techniques for photographing insects both in nature and f