Pygoluciola vitalisi Ho 2019, comb. nov.
Creators: name: Ho, - Z.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Lampyridae
Pygoluciola
Pygoluciola vitalisi

description: Pygoluciola vitalisi (Pic 1934) comb. nov.
Figs 456−462
Luciola vitalisi Pic 1934: 127. McDermott 1966: 114.
Type. Fragmentary specimen of uncertain sex consisting of elytra and part of underbody only. Labelled 1. Handwritten “ Cambodge’ remainder illegible; 2. 2. Handwritten “voir laticollis Gorh. ”; 3. Handwritten description of the elytral colouration and that of the venter, written on both sides of paper; 4. Handwritten “Vitalisi n. sp.” (MNHN).
Other specimens examined. INDIA. Bombasti area, Kalimpong W. Bengal July–August 1992 R. Kumar, 2 males (ANIC).
Diagnosis. A small parallel sided species with orange pronotum, and dark brown elytra which have lateral margins and sutural margins narrowly orange, with apices brown; one of four species assigned here to Pygoluciola which have an aedeagal sheath sternite terminated by a boomerang shaped piece, and in which the aedeagus is wider across the middle and the membranous apical portions of the LL are wider at their bases than at their apices. Very similar dorsal colouration to P. bangladeshi sp. nov. differing most obviously in the brown apices of the elytra.
Male. 6.0–6.2 mm long. Colour (Figs 456, 457): pronotum orange irregular retraction of the underlying fat body in lateral areas gives impression of darker markings; MN and MS orange; elytra very dark brown with lateral margin narrowly orange, tapering posteriorly and not extending to, or around, apex; suture narrowly orange along most of its length, not extending to or around apex; most of ventral surface including head very dark brown; ventrites anterior to LO very dark brown, LO creamy white; abdominal tergites dark brown, except for slightly paler brownish orange T7 and T8. Pronotum: subparallel sided (A=B=C); width <humeral width. Elytron: subparallel sided, 5 x as long as median pronotal length. Head: GHW/SIW 5/1; ASD <ASW sockets are not contiguous; antennae incomplete. Mouthparts: palpi not visible. Abdomen (Fig. 457): LO in V7 reaches sides and posterior margin. T8 (Fig. 459): parallel sided with anterolateral arms elongate slender, not bearing membranous projection on inner ventral surface; rounded posterior margin does not incline ventrally. Aedeagal sheath (Figs 459, 460): sternite expanding gradually with wide apex terminated by a ‘boomerang’ shaped hairy piece. Aedeagus (Figs 458, 461, 462): approximately twice as long as wide; basal sclerotized section of LL widest across area where the membranous parts of the LL arise, only slightly separated along their middorsal length and with anterior margin of base asymmetrical, produced strongly to left; ML reaching just beyond basal portion; apical membranous sections of LL wider at base than at apex; well defined hairy membranous sausage shaped lobes arising from ventral surface just behind inner origins of membranous sections of LL (Fig. 458).
Remarks. The colouration suggests Luciola nicollieri from Sri Lanka where however the pale elytral margins continue around the elytral apex (Bugnion 1922); here the elytral apex is brown. Pygoluciola vitalisi comb. nov. is one of four Pygoluciola where the aedeagal and sheath morphology are suggestive of the related genus Abscondita, and where the sheath is terminated by a boomerang shaped section. Assignment of these specimens to vitalisi is made on the basis of comparison of elytral colouration with an incomplete type only.
Discussion. In the form as originally described by Wittmer, where males had distinctive single prolongations from the median posterior margins of both V7 and T8, this genus was regarded as rare as it was poorly represented in collections. However phylogenetic analyses referenced here have shown that the very distinctive aedeagal sheath and aedeagus pattern is widespread among a number of species none of which have the ‘typical’ terminal abdomen modifications, and all these species have been assigned to Pygoluciola.
It is difficult to predict whether certain species will be assigned to either Pygoluciola or Abscondita on the basis of external morphology alone, and there is no consistency of shape, for example of the pronotum, as Ballantyne (1968) had described for P. hamulata (lateral margins straight and divergent posteriorly).
However at least three species could be considered to have some intermediate form of terminal abdomen modifications which could suggest Pygoluciola, and was confirmed by examination of the genitalia. Pygoluciola phupan sp. nov. has a broad prolongation of T8 which is downturned. Both P. dunguna and P. tamarat sp. nov. from peninsular Malaysia and Thailand respectively, have an elongated and narrow prolongation of V7 only, which curves slightly upwards, but is not bent, to engage against the under surface of T8.
Fu and Ballantyne (2008) were unable to locate a type specimen of Luciola davidis Olivier, which they felt approached P qingyu in colouration. Ballantyne found a possible type in the Pic collection in MNHN but it has not yet been investigated to determine if it too should belong in Pygoluciola. The colour pattern is paler than that seen in P. qingyu.
Four species described here with somewhat unusual genitalic features should be investigated further when more specimens are available. These species have a boomerang shaped piece at the apex of the aedeagal sheath. They also have shortened apical membranous sections of the LL, and this plus the presence of elongate ‘sausage’ shaped lobes on the LL is strongly suggestive of Abscondita, to which Pygoluciola is clearly closely related.
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 141-143, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4687.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/3508098