Haplocauda, a New Genus of Fireflies Endemic to the Amazon Rainforest (Coleoptera: Lampyridae)

Abstract

Most firefly genera have poorly defined taxonomic boundaries, especially in the Neotropics, where they are more diverse and more difficult to identify. Recent advances that shed light on the diversity of fireflies in South America have focused mainly on Atlantic Rainforest taxa, whereas lampyrids in other biomes remained largely unstudied. We found three new firefly species endemic to the Amazon basin that share unique traits of the male abdomen where sternum VIII and the pygidium are modified and likely work as a copulation clamp. Here we test and confirm the hypothesis that these three species form a monophyletic lineage and propose Haplocauda gen. nov. to accommodate the three new species. Both maximum parsimony and probabilistic (Bayesian and maximum likelihood) phylogenetic analyses confirmed Haplocauda gen. nov. monophyly, and consistently recovered it as the sister group to Scissicauda, fireflies endemic to the Atlantic Rainforest that also feature a copulation clamp on abdominal segment VIII, although with a different configuration. We provide illustrations, diagnostic descriptions, and keys to species based on males and females. The three new species were sampled from different regions, and are likely allopatric, a common pattern among Amazonian taxa.

A new species of Petalacmis firefly from Bolivia, with a key to species (Coleoptera, Lampyridae)

“…nov. that catches the eye is the shape of abdominal sternum IX (Fig. 4F ), which is medially divided by a membranous line—a typical trait of the Lampyrini (e.g., Kazantsev 2010 ) that is also commonly observed across Lamprocerini and Cratomorphini (e.g., Campos et al 2018 ; Silveira et al 2019 ; Lima et al 2021 ), but seldom seen in Photinini (e.g., Silveira et al 2022 ).…”

First Phylogeny of Pseudolychnuris Reveals Its Polyphyly and a Staggering Case of Convergence at the Andean Paramos (Lampyridae: Lampyrini)

“…Specimens were examined and imaged under a Leica M205 C stereomicroscope, using the Leica Application Suite X Automontage software. We follow the classification of Martin et al [ 41 ] and the anatomical terminology of Silveira et al [ 13 ].…”

“…For example, recent systematic efforts shed light on several lineages of fireflies endemic to the Atlantic Rainforest [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ], a rather common trend in soft-bodied beetle families [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. Likewise, endemic genera were recently identified in the Amazon Rainforest [ 13 ] and in the Chilean matorral ( Cladodes s.s. sensu [ 8 ]). Narrow endemicity is also widespread at the species level in South American fireflies [ 14 , 15 ].…”

“…Photinini LeConte, 1881, is the largest tribe of the Lampyridae: Lampyrinae, with nearly 750 species and over 30 genera [ 1 , 36 ]. Since the last comprehensive taxonomic catalog [ 1 ], several new genera and dozens of species were described [ 4 , 18 , 37 , 38 , 39 ], although few studies were based on phylogenetic analyses e.g., [ 7 , 13 , 40 ]. Recent phylogenetic studies underlined the value of phylogenetic analyses in understanding character evolution in Photinini, as well as in setting the framework for a revised classification of the tribe [ 7 , 13 , 40 ].…”

“…Since the last comprehensive taxonomic catalog [ 1 ], several new genera and dozens of species were described [ 4 , 18 , 37 , 38 , 39 ], although few studies were based on phylogenetic analyses e.g., [ 7 , 13 , 40 ]. Recent phylogenetic studies underlined the value of phylogenetic analyses in understanding character evolution in Photinini, as well as in setting the framework for a revised classification of the tribe [ 7 , 13 , 40 ]. Despite recent advances, most Photinini taxa sorely need taxonomic reviews based on phylogenetic analyses.…”