Luciola

__NOTOC__:"This article is about the genus of firefly beetles. For the novel by José de Alencar, see "Lucíola". For the "Last Exile" anime character, see Luciola (character)."Taxobox
name = "Luciola"


image_width =
image_caption =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
subphylum = Hexapoda
classis = Insecta
subclassis = Pterygota
infraclassis = Neoptera
superordo = Endopterygota
ordo = Coleoptera
subordo = Polyphaga
infraordo = Elateriformia
superfamilia = Elateroidea
familia = Lampyridae
subfamilia = Luciolinae
genus = "Luciola"
genus_authority = Laporte, 1833
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = Many, but see text
synonyms =See text.

"Luciola" is a genus of "flashing" fireflies [Stanger-Hall "et al." (2007)] (family Lampyridae), especially well-known from Japan. They are indeed often called "Japanese fireflies", but its members range farther into Asia and barely reach southern Europe and Africa. This genus is traditionally held to extend to Australia, but these species do not seem to belong herein (see below for details).

Unlike some other fireflies, the females of "Luciola" are fully winged. Ecologically, the genus is remarkable in that the larvae of several species are aquatic. The adults of the typical "Luciola" are quite similar to those of "Atyphella" which was formerly included herein. They can be easily distinguished by the males' aedagus however, which in "Luciola" proper has large lateral lobes that do not taper and have elongated, slender and flattened smaller lobes along their ventral margin. The middle lobe of the males' aedagus is very slim and has a point before the tip. By contrast, the Australian group resembles "Pyrophanes" in its lateral lobes of the aedagus being small and not visible from beneath. But unlike in "Pyrophanes", the sheath of the aedagus lacks paraprocts, and the seventh ventrite of the abdomen lacks the hairy lobes and points at its hind margin.Fu & Ballantyne (2008)]

Two Japanese species of "Luciola", collectively known as "hotaru" (蛍), are highly significant in Japanese culture and folklore. They are symbols of the "hitodama" (人魂 or 人玉), the souls of the newly-dead. See also the explanations at the article on the movie "Hotaru no Haka" ("Grave of the Fireflies") for a discussion of the cultural significance of the "hotaru".

ystematics

"Luciola" in the narrow sense appears to be most closely related to a rather basal group of Luciolinae, including "Bourgeoisia" and "Lampyroidea" and "Hotaria". Their relationships are not well resolved and "Hotaria" is sometimes merged with "Luciola". On the other hand, the genera "Atyphella" and "Pygoluciola", which for some time were included in "Luciola", is now again recognized as quite distinct indeed. [Ballantyne & Lambkin (2006), Fu & Ballantyne (2008)]

The internal systematics of "Luciola" are somewhat in need of revision, and it is not certain whether these species are all correctly assigned to this genus. For example, the Australian species appear worthy of separation and not even very closely related to the others, but rather to "Colophotia", "Pteroptyx" and "Pyrophanes". Whether the larvae of these can be recognized by the share soft terga lacking paranota, or whether this is a plesiomorphic trait also present in other Luciolinae, remains to be determined. [Ballantyne & Menayah (2002), Ballantyne & Lambkin (2006)]

"L. deplanata" might be worthy of separation in a monotypic genus "Photuroluciola".

But considering the fact that many species remain essentially unstudied, a recent review of the genus concluded:

"A phylogenetic analysis [...] may give indications for subdivisions within "Luciola". However, there are elements of the cart and the horse here – which should come first? Break up "Luciola" based on narrow analyses, or wait until more analyses are available? It is our contention that those Luciolinae species which do not fit elsewhere should either be described as "Luciola" sp. or remain undescribed until such time as phylogenetic analyses indicate a repeatable pattern of subdivisions with "Luciola". Any other action would be, in our opinion, premature."

elected species

* "Luciola anceyi"
* "Luciola bourgeoisi"
* "Luciola cerata" Olivier, 1911
* "Luciola chinensis"
* "Luciola cowleyi"
* "Luciola cruciata" – "genjibotaru" (源氏蛍) [Literally, "Genji firefly". The common name references the "Genji monogatari". For "hotaru" vs. "-botaru", see "rendaku".] , includes "L. vitticollis".
* "Luciola curtithorax"
* "Luciola davidis" Olivier, 1895 ("Pygoluciola"?)
* "Luciola dejeani"
* "Luciola deplanata" ("Photuroluciola"?)
* "Luciola discicollis"
* "Luciola dubia"
* "Luciola ficta"
* "Luciola filiformis"
** "Luciola (filiformis) yayeyamana"
* "Luciola fissicollis"Verify source|date=September 2007
* "Luciola flava"Verify source|date=September 2007
* "Luciola flavida"
* "Luciola fletcheri"
* "Luciola fukienensis"
* "Luciola gorhami"
* "Luciola hydrophila"
* "Luciola impedita"Verify source|date=September 2007
* "Luciola italica" (Linnaeus, 1767) (including "L. pedemontana")
* "Luciola japonica"
* "Luciola judaica"Verify source|date=September 2007
* "Luciola kagiana"
* "Luciola kervillei"Verify source|date=September 2007
* "Luciola klapperichi"
* "Luciola kuroiwae" ("Pygoluciola"?)
* "Luciola lateralis" – "heikebotaru" (平家蛍) [Literally, "Heike firefly". The common name references the "Heike monogatari". For "hotaru" vs. "-botaru", see "rendaku".]
* "Luciola laticollis"Verify source|date=September 2007
* "Luciola limbalis"Verify source|date=September 2007
* "Luciola lusitanica" (Charpentier, 1825)
* "Luciola mongolica"
* "Luciola nitescens"Verify source|date=September 2007
* "Luciola novaki" Müller, 1946
* "Luciola ovalis"
* "Luciola owadai"
* "Luciola picea"
* "Luciola picticollis"
* "Luciola pieli"Verify source|date=September 2007
* "Luciola praeusta"
* "Luciola roseicollis"
* "Luciola satoi"
* "Luciola stigmaticollis"Verify source|date=September 2007
* "Luciola substriata"
* "Luciola terminalis"
* "Luciola trilucida"
* "Luciola trivandrensis"
* "Luciola vespertina"

The distinct Australian group includes species such as:
* "Luciola australis"
* "Luciola flavicollis"
* "Luciola nigra"
* "Luciola orapallida"

The species "undulata" was recently removed to "Atyphella", and "guigliae", "hamulata", "kinabalua", "stylifer" and "witmeri" were reestablished as "Pygoluciola". [Ballantyne & Lambkin (2006)]

Footnotes

References

* (2006): A phylogenetic reassessment of the rare S. E. Asian firefly genus "Pygoluciola" Wittmer (Coleoptera: Lampyridae: Luciolinae). "Raffles Bulletin of Zoology" 53(1): 21-48. [http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/54/54rbz021-048.pdf PDF fulltext]
* (2002): A description of larvae and redescription of adults of the firefly "Pteroptyx valida" Olivier in Selangor, Malaysia (Coleoptera: Lampyridae: Luciolinae), with notes of Luciolinae larvae. "Raffles Bulletin of Zoology" 50(1): 101-109. [http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/50/50rbz101-109.pdf PDF fulltext]
* (2008): Taxonomy and behaviour of lucioline fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae: Luciolinae) with redefinition and new species of "Pygoluciola" Wittmer from mainland China and review of "Luciola" LaPorte. "Zootaxa" 1733: 1–44. [http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2008/f/z01733p044f.pdf PDF abstract]
* (2007): Phylogeny of North American fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae): Implications for the evolution of light signals. "Mol. Phylogenet. Evol." 45(1): 33-49. doi|10.1016/j.ympev.2007.05.013 (HTML abstract)
* http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/hotaru-net/. A site about Japanese aquatic firefly habits, life-history, biology, resources, and activities.
* http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/hotaru-net/photo/firefly.html. Collections of habits photographs of the Japanese aquatic firefly.