Lampyrinae Explained

The Lampyrinae are a large subfamily of fireflies (Lampyridae). The exact delimitation, and the internal systematics, have until recently been a matter of debate; for long this group was used as a "wastebin taxon" to hold any fireflies with insufficiently resolved relationships. Regardless, they are very diverse even as a good monophyletic group, containing flashing and continuous-glow fireflies from the Holarctic and some tropical forms as well. The ancestral Lampyrinae probably had no or very primitive light signals; in any case several modern lineages appear to have returned to the pheromone communication of their ancestors independently.[1]

Systematics

The group has recently been examined using molecular phylogenetics, using fairly comprehensive sampling.[2]

Notes and References

  1. Stanger-Hall, Kathrin F.; Lloyd, James E. & Hillis, David M. (2007): Phylogeny of North American fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae): Implications for the evolution of light signals. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 45(1): 33-49. PDF fulltext
  2. Martin . Gavin J. . Stanger-Hall . Kathrin F. . Branham . Marc A. . Da Silveira . Luiz F. L. . Lower . Sarah E. . Hall . David W. . Li . Xue-Yan . Lemmon . Alan R. . Moriarty Lemmon . Emily . Bybee . Seth M. . 3 . Jordal . Bjarte . Higher-Level Phylogeny and Reclassification of Lampyridae (Coleoptera: Elateroidea) . . Oxford University Press) . 3 . 6 . 1 November 2019 . 10.1093/isd/ixz024 .