Chromosomes of seven species of Bruchidae (Coleoptera) from North India

Chromosomes have been studied in seven species of bruchids belonging to the subfamilies Bruchinae and Amblycerinae. The diploid number of chromosomes is twenty in Bruchidius multilineolatus (Pic.), B. aureus Arora, B. saundersi (Jek.) and Conicobruchus indicus (Pic.); Bruchus pisorum L. and Specularius maindroni (Pic.) possess a diploid number of twenty-two whereas Spermophagus latescenta Arora has a diploid number of thirty-two. The male sex chromosome mechanism, however, is uniformly Xy_p in all these species. The usual diplotene and diakinesis stages are not discrete in Bruchidius multilineolatus and Specularius maindroni. Instead, a diffuse stage is observed. A sticky anaphase bridge has also been observed in some cells of Bruchidius aureus.