taxonID	type	description	language	source
D94E8449464BFF8BFEF3E26754D5F910.taxon	description	Description. Length: 2.34 mm; breadth: 1.70 mm. Form (Fig. 1) elongate oval, moderately convex. Head and pronotum noticeably pubescent, elytra with inconspicuous, fine and erect pubescence on lateral and sutural margins. Head and pronotum dark pitchy brown, elytra dark brown to black with a pair of transverse yellow spots around middle; ventral side dark testaceous brown, except mouthparts, antennae, and tarsi lighter, yellowish brown. Head (Fig. 2) with anterior clypeal margin very slightly convex; eye canthus narrow, but prominent; eyes small, coarsely facetted, inner margins gradually and broadly divergent towards posterior; punctures coarse, slightly finer and denser in posterior half. Antennae (Fig. 3) ten­segmented, with a four­segmented club. Last segment of maxillary palpi (Fig. 4) long, apically widened and obliquely truncate. Pronotum with anterior margin barely emarginate, punctation coarse, more or less even; lateral borders finely margined, anterior corners obtusely rounded. Anterior margin of prosternum (Fig. 5) semicircular, produced forward to partially cover mouthparts; surface coarsely and densely punctate; prosternal process short and U­shaped, without carinae. Elytra with lateral borders finely marginated. Punctation on disk dual, with large and finer punctures intermixed, an irregular stria of coarse punctures present adjacent to sutural margin, space between this stria and sutural line finely punctate (Fig. 7). Abdomen with five visible sternites, postcoxal line (Fig. 6) incomplete, almost reaching posterior margin of first sternite, with an associate oblique line subparallel to lateral margin. Legs with hind tibiae apically angulate, tarsal claws more or less simple. Elytral epipleura entire. Female genital plate (Fig. 8) elongate triangular, with a stylus; spermatheca (Fig. 9) with nodulus and ramus adjacent and not clearly demarcated, cornu curved, slender, apically tapering to a point. Specimens examined: Two females. INDIA: Meghalaya: Shillong, vii. 1961, CIBC­Indian Station, feeding on Pineus sp. on pine, CIE coll. no. 17938; iv. 1975, CIBC­Indian Station, Host: Pineus sp. on Pinus insularis, CIE coll. no. A 8251 (partially damaged).	en	Poorani, J. (2003): A new species of the genus Protoplotina Miyatake (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) from India. Zootaxa 325 (1): 1-5, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.325.1.1
D94E8449464BFF8BFEF3E26754D5F910.taxon	discussion	Remarks: Miyatake (1994) did not illustrate all the diagnostic characters of the genus in his original description. The distinguishing features of Protoplotina are illustrated here in detail (Figs. 2 – 9). The specimens examined from India are very similar to the type species, P. vietnamica Miyatake (1994), but are different in the following respects. The body outline is slightly longer and narrower than the habitus illustration given by Miyatake. The juxta­sutural stria of coarse punctures is irregular and not curved in the middle. P. vietnamica has an ill­defined, transverse, reddish band on each elytron, but in this species, the elytral marking is transverse oval and does not reach the lateral and sutural margins. The associate oblique line of the postcoxal line does not reach the basal line in this species, but is touching the basal line in P. vietnamica. The female spermatheca illustrated by Miyatake has a well­defined nodulus and ramus, and the cornu is thicker and apically rounded, but in this species, nodulus and ramus are continuous and not clearly demarcated; the cornu is also more slender and apically pointed. It is not clear whether these variations are merely intraspecific; in view of the very few number of specimens studied and the lack of supporting evidence, particularly male genitalia, this species is not considered as distinct.	en	Poorani, J. (2003): A new species of the genus Protoplotina Miyatake (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) from India. Zootaxa 325 (1): 1-5, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.325.1.1
D94E84494648FF89FEF3E51054A2FAF2.taxon	description	Description: Length: 2.00 mm; width: 1.32 mm. Form (Fig. 10) elongate oval, moderately convex, head and pronotum pubescent, elytra with inconspicuous, sparse, fine and erect pubescence on lateral margins and disk. Ground colour of dorsal side pale yellowish brown, elytra with a narrow black stripe starting a little before inner corners of basal margin and running along suture for nearly 3 / 4 th of its length, not extending to apex. Ventral side uniformly yellowish brown. Elytral punctation conspicuously dual with fine and coarse punctures intermixed on disk, apical portion with very conspicuous coarse punctures. Postcoxal line on first visible abdominal sternite (Fig. 11) incomplete, with an associate oblique line, strongly recurved inwards. Female spermatheca (Fig. 12) strongly globular in proximal half, without well­differentiated ramus and nodulus, cornu very short, tubular and curved; infundibulum present. Specimen examined: Holotype, Female: INDIA: Uttar Pradesh: Lucknow, vii. 2000, ex. aphids feeding on Solanum melongena, A. Pervez (PDBC).	en	Poorani, J. (2003): A new species of the genus Protoplotina Miyatake (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) from India. Zootaxa 325 (1): 1-5, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.325.1.1
D94E84494648FF89FEF3E51054A2FAF2.taxon	distribution	Distribution: India: Presently known from Uttar Pradesh.	en	Poorani, J. (2003): A new species of the genus Protoplotina Miyatake (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) from India. Zootaxa 325 (1): 1-5, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.325.1.1
D94E84494648FF89FEF3E51054A2FAF2.taxon	discussion	Remarks: The species name alludes to the black sutural stripe on elytra. The coloration and the black sutural stripe readily distinguish P. nigrosuturalis from the type species. The strongly recurved associate line of the postcoxal line and the female spermatheca are also diagnostic. Miyatake (1994) listed the absence of infundibulum as one of the apomorphic characters of Plotinini, but in P. nigrosuturalis, it is clearly present. Males of this genus have not been reported so far. The female spermatheca seems to be a very useful character for species diagnosis in this genus, unlike most Sticholotidinae. Limited information available from label data suggests that the species of this genus are apparently aphidophagous (Aphididae s. l.), though the members of Sticholotidinae are more commonly associated with scales, mealybugs, and whiteflies.	en	Poorani, J. (2003): A new species of the genus Protoplotina Miyatake (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) from India. Zootaxa 325 (1): 1-5, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.325.1.1
