Luciola
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the genus of firefly beetles. For the novel by José de Alencar, see Lucíola. For the Last Exile anime character, see Luciola (character).
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Luciola is a genus of fireflies (family Lampyridae), especially well-known from Japan. They are indeed often called "Japanese fireflies", but its members range farther into Asia and barely reach southern Europe. This genus is traditionally held to extend to Australia, but these species do not seem to belong herein (see below for details).
Two Japanese species of Luciola, collectively known as hotaru (蛍), are highly significant in Japanese culture and folklore. They are symbols of the hitodama (人魂 or 人玉), the souls of the newly-dead. See also the explanations at the article on the movie Hotaru no Haka ("Grave of the Fireflies") for a discussion of the cultural significance of the hotaru.
Ecologically, the genus is remarkable in that the larvae of several species are aquatic.
[edit] Systematics
Luciola appears to be most closely related to a rather basal group of Luciolinae, including Bourgeoisia, Lampyroidea and Hotaria. Their relationships are not well resolved and Hotaria is sometimes merged with Luciola. On the other hand, the genus Pygoluciola, which was for some time included in Luciola, is now again recognized as quite distinct indeed.[1]
The internal systematics of Luciola are somewhat in need of revision, and it is not certain whether these species are all correctly assigned to this genus. For example, the Australian species appear worthy of separation and not even very closely related to the others, but rather to Colophotia, Pteroptyx and Pyrophanes. Whether the larvae of these can be recognized by the share soft terga lacking paranota, or whether this is a plesiomorphic trait also present in other Luciolinae, remains to be determined.[2]
[edit] Notable species
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The distinct Australian group includes species such as:
- Luciola australis
- Luciola flavicollis
- Luciola nigra
- Luciola orapallida
The species undulata was recently removed to Atyphella, and guigliae, hamulata, kinabalua, stylifer and witmeri were reestablished as Pygoluciola.[1]
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ a b Ballantyne & Lambkin (2006)
- ^ Ballantyne & Menayah (2002), Ballantyne & Lambkin (2006)
- ^ Literally, "Genji firefly". The common name references the Genji monogatari. For hotaru vs. -botaru, see rendaku.
- ^ Literally, "Heike firefly". The common name references the Heike monogatari. For hotaru vs. -botaru, see rendaku.
[edit] References
- Ballantyne, L.A. & Lambkin, C. (2006): A phylogenetic reassessment of the rare S. E. Asian firefly genus Pygoluciola Wittmer (Coleoptera: Lampyridae: Luciolinae). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 53(1): 21-48. PDF fulltext
- Ballantyne, Lesley A. & Menayah, Rasainthiran (2002): A description of larvae and redescription of adults of the firefly Pteroptyx valida Olivier in Selangor, Malaysia (Coleoptera: Lampyridae: Luciolinae), with notes of Luciolinae larvae. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 50(1): 101-109. PDF fulltext
