Luciola curtithorax Pic 1928
Creators: name: Ho, - Z.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Lampyridae
Luciola
Luciola curtithorax

description: Luciola curtithorax Pic 1928
Luciola curtithorax Pic 1928: 49. McDermott 1966: 102. Jeng et al. 2003b: 255. Chen 2003: 172. Fu et al. 2010: 15. Fu 2014: 26. Yiu 2017: 92.
Type. Holotype male. VIETNAM. (MNHN).
Other specimens examined. THAILAND. S.N. = Sorasak Nak-eiam. 18°14’ N, 98°32’ E, Chiang Mai province, Hot district, 286 msl., 31.v.2011, mixed deciduous forest, 2 males (SN ˗ CMB ˗003) S.N. (NUNHM). 18°13’ N, 98°29’ E, Chiang Mai province, Hot district, 364 msl., 31.v.2011, mixed deciduous forest, 8 males, 2 females (SN ˗ CMB ˗005) S.N. (NUNHM). 18°29’ N, 99°18’ E, Lamphun province, Mea Ta district, 1,214 msl., 28.v.2010, lower montane forest, 6 males, 2 females (SN ˗ LNB ˗001) S.N. (NUNHM). 18°50’ N, 99°28’ E, Lampang province, Muang Pan district, 484 msl., 10.v.2011, forest park, 17 males, 2 females (SN ˗ LPA ˗002) S.N. (NUNHM). 18°50’ N, 99°29’ E, Lampang province, Muang Pan district, 408 msl., 10.v.2011, paddy field area, 2 males (SN ˗ LPA ˗007) S.N. (NUNHM). 18°09’ N, 97°55’ E, Mae Hong Son province, Mae Sariang district, 213 msl., 1.vi. 2011, paddy field area, 2 males (SN ˗ MSB ˗008) S.N. (NUNHM). 18°09’ N, 97°54’ E, Mae Hong Son province, Mae Sariang district, 255 msl., 1.vi.2011, mixed deciduous forest, 5 males (SN ˗ MSB ˗011) S.N. (NUNHM). 18°09’ N, 97°53’ E, Mae Hong Son province, Mae Sariang district, 290 msl., 1.vi.2011, dry evergreen forest, 1 male (SN ˗ MSB ˗015) S.N. (NUNHM). 19°21’ N, 98°26’ E, Mae Hong Son province, Pai district, 514 msl., 3.vi.2011, freshwater area, 1 male (SN ˗ MSB ˗032) S.N. (NUNHM). 19°13’ N, 99°50’ E, Phayao province, Muang district, 401 msl., 11.v.2011, orchard, 1 male (SN ˗ PYA ˗009) S.N. (NUNHM). 19°07’ N, 99°50’ E, Phayao province, Muang district, 417 msl., 11.v.2011, paddy field area, 2 males, 2 females (SN ˗ PYA ˗011) S.N. (NUNHM). 18°55’ N, 100°13’ E, Phayao province, Chi- ang Muan district, 357 msl., 12.v.2011, mixed deciduous forest, 1 male (SN ˗ PYA ˗012) S.N. (NUNHM). 17°56’ N, 99°35’ E, Phrae province, Wang Chin district, 147 msl., 9.v.2011, freshwater area, 6 males (SN ˗ PRA ˗005) S.N. (NUNHM). 18°40’ N, 100°13’ E, Phrae province, Wang Chin district, 246 msl., 12.v.2012, freshwater area, 4 males (SN ˗ PRA ˗009) S.N. (NUNHM). 17°14’ N, 99°00’ E, Tak province, Sam Ngao district, 150 msl., 8.vii.2007, forest park, 1 male (SN ˗ TKB ˗011) S.N. (NUNHM). 15°28 ‘N, 99°17’ E, Uthai Thani province, Lan Sak district, 474 msl., 12˗16.v.2008, dry evergreen forest, 4 males, 1 female (SN ˗ UTA ˗002) S.N. (NUNHM). 15°36’ N, 99°19’ E, Uthai Thani province, Lan Sak district, 195 msl., 6.vi.2008, mixed deciduous forest, 8 males, 1 female (SN ˗ UTA ˗006) S.N. (NUNHM). 15°11’ N, 99°16’ E, Uthai Thani province, Ban Rai district, 325 msl., 7.vi.2008, dry evergreen forest, 1 male, 2 females (SN ˗ UTA ˗011) S.N. (NUNHM). 18°13’ N, 101°02’ E, Uttaradit province, Ban Khok district, 487 msl., 9.v.2009, forest park, 4 males (SN ˗ UDB ˗003) S.N. (NUNHM).
Diagnosis. One of many Luciolinae with dark brown elytra; pronotum often pinkish, with a median dark brown area which reaches the anterior margin but not the posterior margin; most of ventral surface except for light organs very dark brown to black; the type male has lateral and most of the sutural elytral margin very narrowly orange; aedeagal sheath with posterior margin of sheath sternite rounded entire; median anterior margin of sheath tergite produced and rounded; aedeagus with basal 3/4 wide, narrowing in apical ¼ which is ¼ the width of the wider basal portion; leaf like lobes of LL elongate slender; LL closely approach along mid dorsal line and are expanded at their apices; anterolateral prolongations of T8 narrow, less than half the length of the posterior entire portion. Jeng et al. (2003b: 255) characterised this species as close to L. filiformis Olivier but having a more transverse pronotum and larger head. Fu (2014) depicted males with a narrow reddish sutural and lateral margin of the elytra. Females of filiformis are brachelytral while those of curtithorax are fully winged (Chen 2003: 172).
Remarks. The redescription and the aedeagal diagrams of Jeng et al. (2003), Fu (2014: 27) and Yiu (2017: 92) indicate this species falls under Luciola s. str. We have followed Jeng’s characterisation of this species where they described specimens from Taiwan, but the identifications are further discussed below. The type has not been dissected.
L. curtithorax was characterised and named from what appeared to Pic to be a short pronotum. Describing the shape as short may be a little misleading as the median anterior margin in the type is strongly prolonged anteriorly, and it may be that the somewhat short lateral margins give the impression of a short pronotum. The pronotum of the type is twice as wide as long and the ratio of the length of the lateral margins to median pronotal length is 2: 3.
There are inconsistencies with the characterisation of several Asian species which we are here assigning to Luciola s. str. and there is need for further investigation of some. Fu et al. (2010) discussed the similarities between the descriptions of L. curtithorax and L. roseicollis Pic 1933 when they were justifying the erection of a new species Aquatica wuhana Fu et al. Pic indicated he thought roseicollis near L. impolita, which was subsequently assigned to Curtos (Jeng et al. 1998). Jeng et al. (2003b) distinguished L. satoi Jeng et al. from L. roseicollis by its smaller size (6.5−8 vs 8−9 mm long) and being without ‘rugulose’ sculpture on the elytra. However Ballantyne’s observations of the type of L. roseicollis (in MNHN, 2013) appear to conflict with those of Jeng and revealed a species with a uniformly orange pronotum, and elytra without any pronounced sculpturing. It is very similar to Luciola cerata which was transferred to Abscondita by Ballantyne et al. (2013). Pic indicated on a handwritten label with this specimen ‘voisin de calceata’ and L. calceata is transferred to Pygoluciola here. Yiu (2017) described specimens as ‘near curtithorax ’ which appear to conform with what we describe here. However his confusion with the similarity of this and other similarly coloured species (including laticollis Gorham and robusticeps Pic) was indicated in his Table 1 on page 94 but was not resolved. Yiu did not consider L. roseicollis in his discussion.
description: Published as part of Ho, - Z., 2019, The Luciolinae of S. E. Asia and the Australopacific region: a revisionary checklist (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) including description of three new genera and 13 new species, pp. 1-174 in Zootaxa 4687 (1) on pages 90-91, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4687.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/3508098