Sinopyrophorinae, a new subfamily of Elateridae (Coleoptera, Elateroidea) with the first record of a luminous click beetle in Asia and evidence for multiple origins of bioluminescence in Elateridae

Abstract

The new subfamily Sinopyrophorinae within Elateridae is proposed to accommodate a bioluminescent species, Sinopyrophorusschimmeli Bi & Li, gen. et sp. nov., recently discovered in Yunnan, China. This lineage is morphologically distinguished from other click-beetle subfamilies by the strongly protruding frontoclypeal region, which is longitudinally carinate medially, the pretarsal claws without basal setae, the hind wing venation with a well-defined wedge cell, the abdomen with seven (male) or six (female) ventrites, the large luminous organ on the abdominal sternite II, and the male genitalia with median lobe much shorter than parameres, and parameres arcuate, with the inner margin near its apical third dentate. Molecular phylogeny based on the combined 14 mitochondrial and two nuclear genes supports the placement of this taxon far from other luminescent click-beetle groups, which provides additional evidence for the multiple origin of bioluminescence in Elateridae. Illustrations of habitus and main diagnostic features of S.schimmeli Bi & Li, gen. et sp. nov. are provided, as well as the brief description of its luminescent behavior.

Genomic and experimental data provide new insights into luciferin biosynthesis and bioluminescence evolution in fireflies

“…Our results (Fig. 2 b) indicate that Lampyridae, together with other luminous families (Asian Rhagophthalmidae and South American Phengodidae), is a sister clade to world-wide Elateridae, a family with only some luminous species mainly in South America but recently also found by us in Asia 17 . They corroborate with the phylogenies inferred from 95 nuclear protein-coding genes of beetles 18 and from 13 protein-coding genes of mitogenomes and two nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA) ( 18S , 28S ) 19 , and with the beetle tree 16 but differ from the phylogenies inferred from mitochondrial genes ( 16S , COI ) and two nuclear rDNA ( 18S , 28S ) 15 .…”

Fossil Genera in Elateridae (Insecta, Coleoptera): A Triassic Origin and Jurassic Diversification

“…Elateridae are among the most common beetle families in the fossil record [ 16 , 54 , 128 ]. However, their real palaeodiversity remains understudied [ 16 ], most probably because of their rather uniform and generally problematic external morphology which often causes problems even in identification and classification of recent lineages [ 1 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ]. Consequently, the systematics and classification of fossil elaterids has been in a constant state of flux.…”

“…The only exception is Alaodima , which is assigned to Dimini, but there is an ongoing debate if this group belongs to Dendrometrinae or forms a separate subfamily [ 13 , 72 ]. The missing record of Elaterinae and Dendrometrinae genera in the early evolution of Elateridae is most probably artificial, because they belong to the basal-most splits based on the results of recent molecular phylogenetic analyses [ 9 , 10 , 11 ]. This situation may be partly caused by the hard-to-observe morphological characters defining the subfamilies and their tribes [ 1 , 4 , 5 , 78 ], which are usually not visible even if the fossils are well-preserved.…”

“…With the rise of molecular phylogenetic analyses, several soft-bodied groups, which were previously considered separate families, i.e., Drilidae, Omalisidae, and Plastoceridae, were merged with Elateridae [ 7 , 8 ]. However, the internal phylogenetic relationships, as well as the suprageneric classification of the group, remain open to further study [ 9 , 10 , 11 ].…”

Enzymatic promiscuity and the evolution of bioluminescence

“…In the case of fireflies and click beetles, the common d ‐luciferin substrate can be oxidized by distinct luciferases, each separately evolved from ACSLs . A recent report describing the first bioluminescent click beetle identified in Asia suggests that this process has occurred numerous times and that there are more examples to be found. Convergence to catalyze light emission from a common substrate is mirrored in the ocean, but with structurally unrelated luciferases that have evolved to oxidize the marine luciferin coelenterazine .…”