FIREFLY GENUS PYRACTONEMA — McDERMOTT 155 



Scutellum and mesonotal plates black, the latter dull. 



Elytra in males about 0.85 of total length. In females about 0.8 

 of total length. Parallel, uniformly black. Very narrow explanate 

 margins. No pale borders or other ornamentation. 



Head presents no specific features and is very similar to that of 

 the nigripennis group. 



Antennae black, hairy, compressed, generally similar to those in 

 the nigripennis group. In occasional specimens articles 3 to 10 were 

 noticeably wider in proportion to length than usual. 



Tergites all black. Pygidium truncate, sinuate, or tridentate api- 

 cally, not greatly widened over last abdominal segments. 



Ventral segments usually all black, sometimes medially brown. 

 Little or no evidence of luminous organs. 



Legs black. Tibial spurs not discernible. Claws simple. 



Aedeagus as in figure 9. 



Solier remarks on the wide range of size in this species. It is curi- 

 ous, however, that his description of this species says nothing definite 

 about a "red neck," other than the two red spots on the pronotum, 

 which would not differentiate it from the foregoing group of species. 

 This description leads me to suspect that Solier may have missed 

 the true specimens of P. rhododera and written his description from 

 others belonging in the P. nigripennis group. The "red necks" here 

 described somewhat resemble P. albomarginata but lack the pale 

 elytral borders. 



Pyractonema subulipennis (Fairmaire and Germain) 



Lucidota subulipennis Fairmaire and Germain, Coleop. Chilensia, vol. 2, p. 3, 1862. 



No specimens representing this species, which has a red abdomen, 

 were received. 



Pyractonema vicina Solier 



Pyractonema vicina Solier, in Gay, Hist. Fis. Pol. Chile, vol. 4, Zool., p. 448, 1849. 



Material: One female in the collection of the California Academy 

 of Sciences, and two males in the U.S. National Museum identified 

 by E. Olivier. 



General: A small, rather narrow, nonluminous lampyrid usually 

 with a yellow pronotum (sometimes red) bearing black markings. 



Dimensions: 9.0 to 12.0 mm. long by 2.8 to 3.0 mm. broad. 



Pronotum 0.67 as long as wide, nearly as wide at base as elytra at 

 humeri. Ground color light yellow (red in one d 1 ). Reflexed lateral 

 margins brown for about one half their width. Brown basal border 

 and truncate longitudinal irregularly triangular area in apical three- 

 fourths. 



