Variable Ladybird 01

Description:

Coelophora inaequalis Fabricius, 1775. This specimen is almost entirely black, except for the margins of the pronotum, the head, the legs and the antennae which are yellow. The lower edges of the elytra appear to be slightly flared, forming a "skirt". For me, this identification was tricky and is still incertae sedis or problematica as an entomologist might say - explanation of my problem in Habitat notes below.

Habitat:

The pupa shown above was spotted on foliage at the edge of the mangrove, a short distance from our house along the shores of the South China Sea. I almost ignored it (I often make this mistake when I am hoping to find something more exotic), but something about its markings intrigued me. It looked close to a pupa I am familiar with i.e. C. inaequalis, but there were some small differences in the black markings. So far so good, but the problem was to rear its head later. I took a single picture then cut off the leaf and brought it home to observe, in the hope that all would be clear, if and when the occupant decided to eclose. When I got home, my cages and specimen jars were at full capacity. So I placed this leaf with the pupa on a small dish, thinking it can't go anywhere. Four days later, at 7:03 a.m. I saw that the pupal case was empty, but luckily the beetle was literally 5 or 6 inches away on a pot plant. I grabbed my camera and tried to get a picture, but this little guy shot off into the garden with my wife and I in hot pursuit. Fortunately, he ran out of steam and landed in a convenient spot and posed for his portrait. Then I went back and snapped some shots of the empty pupal case. I was then able to quickly identify the beetle as Chilocorus nigritus (Fabricius, 1798). What made me think this? The "skirts around the elytra and the yellow margins of the pronotum. Then I thought it might be best to just check out the pupa of C. nigritus, just to make everything hunky dory and that's where everything fell apart. The pupa of C. nigritus looks nothing like the one pictured here.

Notes:

In light of all the confusion above, I still cannot be sure if my specimen is C. inaequalis or C. nigritus. If anyone can point me in the right direction, I would be grateful.