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Luciola

Genus of beetles

  • 8 min read
  • 3 chapters

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Biological description

Unlike some other fireflies, the females of Luciola are fully winged. Ecologically, the genus is remarkable in that the larvae of several species are aquatic. The adults of the typical Luciola are similar to those of Atyphella which was formerly included in this genus. They can be easily distinguished by the males' aedeagus however, which in Luciola proper has large lateral lobes that do not taper and have elongated, slender and flattened smaller lobes along their ventral margin. The middle lobe of the males' aedeagus is very slim and has a point before the tip. By contrast, the Australian 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 paraprocts, and the seventh ventrite of the abdomen lacks the hairy lobes and points at its hind margin.

Two Japanese species of Luciola, collectively known as hotaru (蛍), are 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.

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Monotypic taxonTaxonomic group with only one subordinate taxonSpecies descriptionFormal description of a discovered speciesParaphylyType of taxonomic groupIUCN Red ListInventory of the global conservation status of biological speciesSubtropicsGeographic and climate zoneCommon nameName generally used for a taxon, group of taxa or organism(s)