Blaptostethus pallescens Poppius, 1909

Blaptostethus pallescens Poppius, 1909

( Figs 16–17 View Figs 13–18 , 22–24 View Figs 19–27 )

Blaptostethus piceus var. pallescens Poppius, 1909: 41 . SYNTYPES: 1 ♀, India, Bombay [= Mumbai] (MCSN); 1 spec., Kenya, ‘Ostafrika, Waboniland’ (NHMW).

Blaptostethus pallescens : CARAYON (1972a): 329 (upgraded to species rank).

Material examined. INDIA: KARNATAKA: Bangalore, unknown date and collector, 17 9 ♀♀ ( TKPM, NBAIR) .

Distribution in India. Karnataka: Bangalore ( BALLAL et al. 2009); Maharashtra: Mumbai ( POPPIUS 1909); Tamil Nadu: Madras [= Chennai], Coimbatore ( MURALEEDHARAN 1977b).

General distribution. Réunion ( CARAYON 1958b, as Lasiochiloides pleneti), Egypt (TAWFIK & EL- HUSSEINI 1971), East Africa ( PÉRICART 1996), Madagascar (PÉRICART 1996).

Biology. The species inhabits corn ( Zea sp.), Terminalis bellarica, Tithonia diversifolia and castor bean plant ( Ricinus communis) and is found associated with the aphid Rhopalosiphum maidis (Fitch, 1856), thrips and the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae Koch, 1836 . This predator has also been evaluated as a biocontrol agent and potential predator of the maize stem borer, Chilo partellus (Swinhoe, 1885), and Tetranychus urticae ( JALALI & SINGH 2002; BALLAL et al. 2003a, 2009) and the mealybugs Phenacoccus solenopsis and Paracoccus marginatus ( BALLAL et al. 2012b). It has also been recently collected from Spathodea companulata (rain-drop tree) and from dry fallen leaves and flowers. TAWFIK & EL- HUSSEINI (1971) reported that this species was commonly found on corn and fed on a variety of insects and mites.