FIREFLY GENUS PYRACTONEMA — McDERMOTT 135 



seen a luminous firefly in Chile, he mentioned that one species, P. 

 depressicornis, was only taken after sunset. In this species, the male 

 has luminous organs nearly as large as in some species of Diphotus, 

 though in the two females seen, these organs were very small. 



Most of the specimens were collected in December, January, and 

 February at altitudes from 600 to 1,700 meters, and between latitudes 

 33° and 38° S. A few were collected at lower levels and some on the 

 island of Chiloe at latitude 42° S. For most of the species there is 

 no evidence of restriction to a given locality or altitude, although P. 

 angustata was collected only at relatively high stations. One speci- 

 men of P. depressicornis was taken at Nogueche and one at Concep- 

 ci6n. All the others were from Pellehue and Tregualemo. 



Subsequent to the examination of the material received from Pefia, 

 an opportunity was provided by J. W. Green of the California Aca- 

 demy of Sciences to examine 482 specimens of nonluminous South 

 American Lampyridae, mostly Pyractonema from Chile, in the Reed 

 Collections. For the most part, these specimens presented nothing 

 not covered by Pefia's specimens, except for the collecting stations. 

 Among 108 specimens of P. haemorrhoa, there were a few which were 

 intermediate between the large and smaller forms in Pena's shipment; 

 one male of this species was distinctly brown and another was par- 

 tially so; in several specimens the terminal abdominal segment was 

 yellow instead of red, and in three the color was absent. A few speci- 

 mens in the nigripennis group had yellow instead of red pronotal 

 coloration; all brachelytral specimens were females. One small, 

 brown, female specimen with a yellow pronotum looked rather clearly 

 different from any other, and was identified as P. vicina Solier. A 

 description prepared from this specimen and two males in the U.S. 

 National Museum has been included with the other descriptions. 



The specimens of P. rhododera in the California collection ranged 

 from 3.5 to nearly 12 mm. long, measurements that agree with Solier's 

 range. If a sharp segregation on length were possible, it would seem 

 that two species are included under this name, but some were inter- 

 mediate, and it seems unwise to make an arbitrary division on this 

 basis, as is done in the nigripennis group, for a relatively scarcer 

 species. Specimens 3.5 to 8 mm. long were collected at the same sta- 

 tion and about three weeks apart. Two pairs (taken in copulation) 

 were both of the small form. 



A later shipment of Chilean insects received from Pefia contained 

 several specimens of a species of Pyractonema different from any pre- 

 viously described, particularly in their small size and the shape of the 

 pronotum, which is markedly long in proportion to the width and 

 widest at apical tliird. Because of their fragility and small size, they 

 proved difficult to handle. The description is based on 6 males and 



