Nipponoluciola owadai Ballantyne & Kawashima & Jusoh & Suzuki 2022, gen. et comb. nov.
Creators: name: Ballantyne, Lesley
name: Kawashima, Itsuro
name: Jusoh, Wan F. A.
name: Suzuki, Hirobumi
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Lampyridae
Nipponoluciola
Nipponoluciola owadai

description: Nipponoluciola owadai (Satô & Kimura, 1994) gen. et comb. nov.
Figs 1–2, 5, 8–9
Luciola owadai Satô & Kimura, 1994: 159.
Luciola owadai – Ohba et al. 1994: 13–26. — Ohba 1996: 17; 2004b: 10; 2005: 240. — Suzuki 1997: 19. — Jeng et al. 2003: 543, 550–551, 553–556. — Kawashima et al. 2003: 248. — Suzuki et al. 2004: 297. — Geisthardt & Satô 2007: 232.
Diagnosis
Distinguished from Nipponoluciola cruciata gen. et comb. nov. by the yellowish orange pronotum, (where the underlying fat body is yellowish), MS and MN (the pronotum of N. cruciata has underlying pink fat body and a median dark marking in most specimens, and the MS is black) (Figs 1–2).
Material examined
JAPAN ‒ Kume-jima Is., Okinawa Isls, Middle Ryukyus • 1 ♀; Mt Uegusuku-dake; 25 Apr. 1993; I. Kawashima leg.; CIK • 4 ♂♂, 1 ♀; Ôta-gawa Riv.; 25 Apr. 1993; I. Kawashima leg.; CIK • 2 larvae; Shirase-gawa Riv.; 27 Dec. 1993; Y. Goto leg.; CIK • 20 ♂♂, 8 ♀♀ (paratypes); same collection data as for preceding; 26 Apr. 1994; Y. Goto leg.; YCM • 7 ♂♂, 1 ♀ (paratypes); Shimajiri; 28 Apr. 1994; Y. Goto leg.; YCM.
Notes
Locality labels on the type specimen were incorrectly quoted in Satô & Kimura (1994) and are repeated here in their correct form (Fig. 2H) as follows (from top to bottom, a slash indicates a line break): Kumejima-Uegusuku-dake, Minami (in Japanese “Kanji” characters) / Japan, Ryukyus / Kumejima Is. / Mt. Uegusuku (south) / 90 m. 27. IV. 1993 / Mamoru Owada leg. (original white label, printed in black ink); HOLOTYPE / Luciola owadai / M. Satô et Kimura, 1994 / DET. M. SATÔ 1994 (red holotype label, printed in black ink).
Description
Male (Figs 1–2)
BODY LENGTH. 9.5–15.8 mm.
COLOUR (Figs 1–2). All of body including head, mouthparts and antennae, ventral thorax, legs and abdomen, black, except for yellowish orange pronotum (with underlying yellowish fat body), having no median darker markings, yellowish MN and MS, and white LO in V6, 7. Pronotal width/GHW 1.39–1.46. GHW/SIW: 4–4.8.
ABDOMEN. As depicted in Jeng et al. (2003: fig. 8), with a short broad apically rounded MPP.
AEDEAGAL SHEATH (Fig. 5). Sheath sternite widely emarginated on right side, and scarcely so on left (see also Jeng et al. 2003: fig. 28).
AEDEAGUS (Fig. 5). BP well sclerotised; median anterior margin of BP with deep and well-defined notch (see also Jeng et al. 2003: fig. 34); lateral margins of ML subparallel-sided in basal 7/₁₀, gradually narrowing in apical 3/₁₀. LL/ML 2.81; LL apex width considerably wider than width of apex of ML; dorsal base of LL symmetrical; apex of ML depressed on both sides; the outline of apex rounded when viewed from either side.
AEDEAGAL PATTERNS. Since the distribution of this species is limited to the small island Kume-jima Is., there is little individual variation in the shape of the aedeagus.
Female (Fig. 7B)
Macropterous and flight capable.
BODY LENGTH. 13.1–15.7 mm.
COLOUR (Fig. 7B). Colouration as in male except for whitish LO in V6 (Satô & Kimura 1994 describe this as the 5 th abdominal segment) occupying all but a narrow transparent posterior margin; V7 mostly black, not transparent as that of female of N. cruciata, and no underlying fat bodies visible; basal portion of V7 may have irregular and indistinct pale patches where the blackish pigmentation appears to be lost; V8 black; dorsal surface of all tergites (up to T8) and dorsally reflexed margins of ventrites (to V5, and V7, V8) dark brown to black; T6 black with outer margins of dorsally reflexed parts of V6 white and semitransparent.
PRONOTUM. Pronotal width/GHW 1.74–1.86.
HEAD. GHW/SIW 2.78–2.90.
ABDOMEN. Posterior margin of V7 shallowly and narrowly emarginated as in Jeng et al. (2003: fig. 16). Lateral margins of V8 converge posteriorly; with the median posterior margin very shallowly and narrowly emarginated. Jeng et al. (2003: fig. 16) depict the posterior margin of V7 with a shallow and narrow emargination.
REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM. Well defined thin walled SDG; MOP trapezoidal, filling half of the median oviduct, with the anterior margin almost straight; lateral margins straight and convergent toward the posterior margin; posterior margin nearly straight but slightly irregular. Ovipositor elongate slender.
Larva (Figs 8B, 9E‒H)
Approx. body length 13 mm (specimens measured were severely shrunken due to ethanol fixation); maximum (median) length of protergum 2.7 mm; maximum width of protergum 2.3 mm. Penultimate instar larvae were examined. The larvae of this species closely resemble those of N. cruciata, and are not clearly distinguishable from each other in general appearance and morphological characteristics. However, the ground colour of the membranous body of N. owadai is much paler (Ohba et al. 1994), light to greyish brown, while that of N. cruciata is dark to blackish brown, and it differs from N. cruciata in the tendency of the pale markings on the lateral margins of pronotum to separate anteriorly and posteriorly into four independent spots. Ohba et al. (1994) recorded 12 abdominal pygopodia in what was possibly the last instar larva. Jeng et al. (2003) considered the basal row of pygopods was composed of four retractable filaments.
Flash communication
The flash pattern of both sexes of this species is very similar to that of N. cruciata, and the communication system is the same as that of N. cruciata. Synchronous flashing of the males is similar to that of east Japan populations of N. cruciata, but the flash interval gets shorter over time, from 4 sec to 3 and 2 sec. However, unlike the west Japan populations of N. cruciata, the synchronous flashing does not last for a long time but continues intermittently through the night. Thus, it has characteristics of both east and west Japan N. cruciata.
Spawning behaviour
Females gather and lay eggs on the moss near water as in the western Japanese form of N. cruciata. However, they gather all at once just before dawn, not one after another in the night.
Remarks
This species is designated both a natural monument of Okinawa Prefecture and an endangered species of wild fauna and flora under the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties and the Act on Conservation of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, respectively. It is now difficult if not impossible to obtain specimens of this endangered species in the locality, Kume-jima Is. The few specimens examined by IK are listed above. All other remarks about this species are referenced. Ohba et al. (1994) addressed life history, behaviour and morphology. Ohba (2004b) depicted various aspects of morphology of this species including flashing patterns (page 7), dorsal aspect of female (page 11) and male (pages 38, 45), SEMs of anterior head (page 62) and a species overview (in Japanese, page 109). Jeng et al. (2003) keyed aquatic Taiwanese and Japanese Luciolinae males.
description: Published as part of Ballantyne, Lesley, Kawashima, Itsuro, Jusoh, Wan F. A. & Suzuki, Hirobumi, 2022, A new genus for two species of Japanese fireflies having aquatic larvae (Coleoptera, Lampyridae) and a definition of Luciola s. str., pp. 1-54 in European Journal of Taxonomy 855 on pages 40-42, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2022.855.2023, http://zenodo.org/record/7501294