''Luciola'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of "flashing"

fireflies The Lampyridae are a family (biology), family of Elateroidea, elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are bioluminescence, light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, ...

(

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Lampyridae), especially well known from

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. They are often called "Japanese fireflies", but their members range farther into

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

and reach southern

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

(Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, among other countries) and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. This genus is traditionally held to extend to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, but these

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

do not seem to belong herein (see below for details).

Biological description

Unlike some other fireflies, the females of ''Luciola'' are fully winged.

Ecological Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

ly, the genus is remarkable in that the

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e of several species are aquatic. The adults of the typical ''Luciola'' are similar to those of ''

Atyphella ''Atyphella'' is a genus of 'flashing' firefly (family Lampyridae) found in the Australasian region, particularly in the eastern and northern regions of Australia. The genus consists of 23 recognized species, 14 considered to be endemic to Aust ...

'' which was formerly included in this genus. They can be easily distinguished by the males'

aedeagus An aedeagus (plural aedeagi) is a reproductive organ of male arthropods through which they secrete sperm from the testes during copulation with a female. It can be thought of as the insect equivalent of a mammal's penis, though the comparison ...

however, which in ''Luciola'' proper has large

lateral Lateral is a geometric term of location which may refer to: Healthcare *Lateral (anatomy), an anatomical direction *Lateral cricoarytenoid muscle *Lateral release (surgery), a surgical procedure on the side of a kneecap Phonetics *Lateral cons ...

lobes that do not taper and have elongated, slender and flattened smaller lobes along their

ventral Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek language, Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. Th ...

margin. The middle lobe of the males' aedeagus is very slim and has a point before the tip. By contrast, the

n group resembles '' Pyrophanes'' in its lateral lobes of the aedeagus being small and not visible from beneath. But unlike in ''Pyrophanes'', the sheath of the aedeagus lacks

paraproct Insect morphology is the study and description of the physical form of insects. The terminology used to describe insects is similar to that used for other arthropods due to their shared evolutionary history. Three physical features separate insec ...

s, and the seventh

ventrite The sternum (pl. "sterna") is the ventral portion of a segment of an arthropod thorax or abdomen. In insects, the sterna are usually single, large sclerites, and external. However, they can sometimes be divided in two or more, in which case the ...

of the

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the torso. ...

lacks the hairy lobes and points at its hind margin.Fu & Ballantyne (2008) Two Japanese species of ''Luciola'', collectively known as ''hotaru'' (蛍), are significant in

Japanese culture The culture of Japan has changed greatly over the millennia, from the country's prehistoric Jōmon period, to its contemporary modern culture, which absorbs influences from Asia and other regions of the world. Historical overview The ance ...

and

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

. They are symbols of the ''

hitodama In Japanese folklore, Hitodama (Japanese ; meaning "human soul") are balls of fire that mainly float in the middle of the night.広辞苑第五版 p.2255 「人魂」 They are said to be "souls of the dead that have separated from their bodies," ...

'' (人魂 or 人玉), the

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

s 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''.

Systematics

''Luciola'' in the narrow sense appears to be most closely related to a rather basal group of Luciolinae, including '' Bourgeoisia'' and '' Lampyroidea'' and '' Hotaria''. Their relationships are not well resolved and ''Hotaria'' is sometimes merged with ''Luciola''. On the other hand, the genera ''

'' and '' Pygoluciola'', which for some time were included in ''Luciola'', is now again recognized as distinct. The internal

systematics Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: cladograms, phylogenetic tre ...

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

n species appear to be separate and not very closely related to the other members of this genus, but rather to '' Colophotia'', ''

Pteroptyx ''Pteroptyx'' is a genus of fireflies in the subfamily Luciolinae found in Southeast Asia. It has long been noted for the ability to perform synchronous flashing, though not all species synchronize. These synchronizing species have been found on ...

'' and '' Pyrophanes''. Whether the

e of these can be recognized by the share soft

terga A ''tergum'' (Latin for "the back"; plural ''terga'', associated adjective tergal) is the dorsal ('upper') portion of an arthropod segment other than the head. The anterior edge is called the 'base' and posterior edge is called the 'apex' or 'ma ...

lacking paranota, or whether this is a

plesiomorph In phylogenetics, a plesiomorphy ("near form") and symplesiomorphy are synonyms for an ancestral character shared by all members of a clade, which does not distinguish the clade from other clades. Plesiomorphy, symplesiomorphy, apomorphy, and ...

ic trait also present in other Luciolinae, remains to be determined. ''L. deplanata'' might be worthy of separation in a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus '' Photuroluciola''. But considering the fact that many species remain essentially unstudied, a 2008 review of the genus concluded that:

"A phylogenetic analysis ..may give indications for subdivisions within ''Luciola''. However, there are elements of the cart and the horse here – which should come first? Break up ''Luciola'' based on narrow analyses, or wait until more analyses are available? It is our contention that those Luciolinae species which do not fit elsewhere should either be described as ''Luciola'' sp. or remain undescribed until such time as phylogenetic analyses indicate a repeatable pattern of subdivisions with ''Luciola''. Any other action would be, in our opinion, premature."

In 2010, ''leii'', ''ficta'', ''hydrophila'' and ''lateralis'' were transferred to the genus '' Aquatica''.

Selected species

* '' Luciola anceyi'' – (大端黑螢) * '' Luciola bourgeoisi'' * '' Luciola capensis'' Fabricius, 1775 * '' Luciola cerata'' Olivier, 1911 (黑翅螢) * '' Luciola chinensis'' * '' Luciola cowleyi'' * ''

Luciola cruciata ''Nipponoluciola cruciata'', known as "genji-botaru" (ゲンジボタル) in Japanese, is a species of firefly found in Japan. Its habitat is small ditches and streams, and its larvae are aquatic. It was formerly known as ''Luciola cruciata'' but ...

'' – ''genjibotaru'' (源氏蛍), includes ''L. vitticollis''. * '' Luciola curtithorax'' * '' Luciola davidis'' Olivier, 1895 (''Pygoluciola''?) * '' Luciola dejeani'' * '' Luciola deplanata'' (''Photuroluciola''?) * '' Luciola discicollis'' * '' Luciola dubia'' * '' Luciola filiformis'' ** ''Luciola (filiformis) yayeyamana'' * '' Luciola fissicollis'' * '' Luciola flava'' * '' Luciola flavida'' * '' Luciola fletcheri'' * '' Luciola fukienensis'' * '' Luciola gorhami'' * '' Luciola impedita'' * '' Luciola italica'' (Linnaeus, 1767) (including ''L. pedemontana'') * '' Luciola japonica'' * '' Luciola judaica'' * '' Luciola kagiana'' * '' Luciola kervillei'' * '' Luciola klapperichi'' * '' Luciola kuroiwae'' (''Pygoluciola''?) * '' Luciola laticollis'' * '' Luciola limbalis'' * '' Luciola lusitanica'' (Charpentier, 1825) * '' Luciola mongolica'' * '' Luciola nitescens'' * '' Luciola novaki'' Müller, 1946 * '' Luciola ovalis'' * '' Luciola owadai'' * '' Luciola picea'' * '' Luciola picticollis'' * '' Luciola pieli'' * '' Luciola praeusta'' * '' Luciola roseicollis'' * '' Luciola satoi'' * '' Luciola stigmaticollis'' * '' Luciola substriata'' * '' Luciola terminalis'' * '' Luciola trilucida'' * '' Luciola trivandrensis'' * '' Luciola vespertina'' The distinct Australian group includes species such as: * '' Luciola australis'' * '' Luciola flavicollis'' * '' Luciola nigra'' * '' Luciola orapallida'' The species ''undulata'' was recently removed to ''

'', and ''guigliae'', ''hamulata'', ''kinabalua'', ''stylifer'' and ''witmeri'' were reestablished as '' Pygoluciola''.Ballantyne & Lambkin (2006)

Footnotes

References

* (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
* (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
* (2008): Taxonomy and behaviour of lucioline fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae: Luciolinae) with redefinition and new species of ''Pygoluciola'' Wittmer from mainland China and review of ''Luciola'' LaPorte. ''

Zootaxa ''Zootaxa'' is a peer-reviewed scientific mega journal for animal taxonomists. It is published by Magnolia Press (Auckland, New Zealand). The journal was established by Zhi-Qiang Zhang in 2001 and new issues are published multiple times a week. ...

'' 1733: 1–44
PDF abstract
* (2010): ''Aquatica'' gen. nov. from mainland China with a description of ''Aquatica Wuhana'' sp. nov. (Coleoptera: Lampyridae: Luciolinae). ''Zootaxa'' 2530: 1–18
PDF abstract
* (2007): Phylogeny of North American fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae): Implications for the evolution of light signals. '' Mol. Phylogenet. Evol.'' 45(1): 33–49. (HTML abstract) {{Authority control Lampyridae Lampyridae genera Bioluminescent insects Taxa named by François-Louis Laporte, comte de Castelnau