Pyrophanes semilimbata
Creators: name: Ballantyne, Lesley
name: Lambkin, Christine L.
name: Boontop, Yuvarin
name: Jusoh, Wan F. A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Lampyridae
Pyrophanes
Pyrophanes semilimbata

description: Pyrophanes semilimbata (Olivier)
(Figs. 47−53)
Luciola semilimbata Olivier, 1883: 76; 1913a: 417. Gorham, 1903: 326. Thancharoen et al. 2007: 61.
Luciola venusta Olivier, 1883: 76; 1902: 85 (synonymy). Thancharoen et al. 2007: 61.
Luciola (Luciola) semilimbata Olivier. McDermott, 1966: 113.
Pyrophanes semilimbata (Olivier). Ballantyne & Lambkin 2013 Figs. 223, 224, 227.
Types. Luciola semilimbata Olivier. Holotype female. 'Indes Orientales' labelled 1. Female symbol; 2. Handwritten Luciola semilimbata Chr. Ind or; 3. Typed label Coll Chevrolet; 4. Handwritten Luciola semilimbata with Ern Oliv typed in corner; 5. Typed label Specimen typicum originale auctoris Ern Olivier (MNHN) (Ballantyne & Lambkin 2013: Fig. 227). Luciola venusta Olivier. Holotype male. INDONESIA:’ Java ouest’ labelled 1. Typed label Specimen typicum originale auctoris Ern Olivier; 2. Handwritten Luciola venusta with Ern Oliv typed in corner (MNHN). (Ballantyne & Lambkin 2013: Figs. 223, 224).
Other specimens examined. INDONESIA: Sumatra, Benkoelen, i.1926, W Coblentz 14 males [3 males mounted in unknown medium on partially fragmented slide] (USNM). PHILIPPINES: Mindanao: Davao, coll. Baker male; Dapitan Baker male (without head and pronotum) (USNM). MALAYSIA: Sandakan, coll. Baker male (USNM). Sabah, Likas I. Polunin, 10 males (ANIC).
Diagnosis. One of four Pyrophanes species with hind femora not swollen and hind tibiae not curved; very similar in dorsal colouration to Py. appendiculata differing in the non expanded hind legs and in having the elytral margins very narrowly pale (Py. appendiculata has elytral margins usually widely pale); differing from both Py. similisimma s p. nov. and Py. elongata sp. nov. both of which have pale elytra with apical dark patches, in the dorsal colouration.
Redescription of male. 5.1 (Sandakan)–6.3 (Benkoelen) mm long. Colour (Figs. 47−50): pronotum MS and MN orange, elytra dark brown with lateral and sutural margins narrowly orange along approximately 9/10 of suture and 8/10 of lateral margin, elytral apex dark brown (sutural margin pale only along raised area of sutural margin, lateral margin pale area corresponding to width of epipleuron); Davao males with paler sutural margin wider than suture; 3 Benkoelen males (Fig. 49) have only lateral margin pale; head deep reddish brown, antennae and palpi very dark brown; ventral thorax orange yellow semitransparent with restricted brownish markings in median area of metasternum and inner ventral area of coxae 3; legs orange yellow, except for brown tibiae and tarsi 1, 2, and tibiae 3; Sandakan male with most of all femora mid brown and all tibiae and tarsi dark brown; basal ventrites yellowish with white fat body clearly visible through semitransparent cuticle; Sandakan male with basal ventrites brown; posterior margin of V5 with solid band of aggregated fat body; LO cream, remainder of V6 orange except for dark brown tips of PLP and posterior margins of incurving lobes; dorsal abdomen whitish yellow semitransparent except for orange yellow T8 and posterior half of T7. Pronotum: W/L 1.5–1.6; L/EL 0.24–0.26; L/ BL 0.19–0.24; W/GHW 1.4–1.6. Head: GHW/SIW 4.6–5.0. Antennae: scape gently clavate; pedicel short slightly constricted at base; FS1 about 1.5 x as long as scape, slightly constricted at base and outer margin slightly expanded; remaining FS elongate slender. Legs (Figs. 48, 50): MFC with up to 7 teeth; femora 3 not swollen or curved, tibiae 3 not curved or expanded at their apices. Abdomen (Figs. 48, 51−53): median area between LO halves very narrow slightly depressed; PLP short and broad; incurving lobes elongate slender, projecting posteriorly beyond PLP and MPP with apex very narrow; MPP short, broad, moderately medially emarginated with posterolateral corners acute (Fig. 51); ventral surface of T8 (Figs. 52, 53); posterior margin with narrowed angulate posterolateral corners, and a wide shallow median emargination; lateral margins of ventral surface sparsely clothed in spines and hairs. Aedeagus (Fig. 52): L/W approximately 3–4; b/a 0.9.
Remarks. Olivier (1883) described L. semilimbata from a female with elytral punctation in lines. Immediately below he described a male, from 'Java ouest' as L. venusta, with the last 3 abdominal ventrites white, and V7 trilobed. Olivier subsequently (1902) synonymised the two species. Both sexes conformed in the narrowly pale colour of the sutural ridge and lateral elytral margins. Gorham (1903) was unsure of the identification of specimens he described as Py. venusta. Olivier (1913a) probably incorrectly recorded females of Py. semilimbata from New Guinea, at Erima and Stephansort and these records could have been of females of Py. appendiculata. Thancharoen et al. (2007: Fig. 5) distinguished 11 species including Py. semilimbata in which the elytral punctures were in lines. Olivier did not describe the elytral punctures in lines in the male of L. venusta.
It was not possible to distinguish females taken at the Benkoelen site because both Py. semilimbata and Py. appendiculata males were taken there, thus no definitive descriptions of females can be presented here.
description: Published as part of Ballantyne, Lesley, Lambkin, Christine L., Boontop, Yuvarin & Jusoh, Wan F. A., 2015, Revisional studies on the Luciolinae fireflies of Asia (Coleoptera: Lampyridae): 1. The genus Pyrophanes Olivier with two new species. 2. Four new species of Pteroptyx Olivier and 3. A new genus Inflata Boontop, with redescription of Luciola indica (Motsch.) as Inflata indica comb. nov., pp. 1-84 in Zootaxa 3959 (1) on pages 29-31, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3959.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/14951429