Life cycle and description of the immature stages of a terrestrial firefly endemic to Mexico: Photinus extensus Gorham (Coleoptera, Lampyridae)

By

Zurita García, Martín Leonel
Domínguez-León, Daniel E.
Vega Badillo, Viridiana
González-Ramírez, Mireya
Gutiérrez-Carranza, Ishwari Giovani
Rodriguez, Geovanni
López-Pérez, Sara
Cifuentes-Ruiz, Paulina
Aquino-Romero, Miriam
Zaragoza Caballero, Santiago

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2022

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1104

Pages

29--54

Subjects

bionomics , Egg , larva , Photinini , Pupa , redescription

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1104.80624

 

Abstract

The life cycle, morphology, and bionomy of Photinus extensus Gorham, 1881, an endemic species of Mexico, are described. Redescriptions of adults (male and female) are also presented. Larvae were reared to the adult stage from eggs laid by females collected at the El Pedregal de San Ángel Ecological Reserve, south of Mexico City. The activity period of adults of P. extensus begins at the end of July and finishes by the end of August. Females lay between 3 and 198 eggs. Larvae hatch from the eggs after a period of 11 to 71 days, undergo 6 larval instars and a pupal stage in an annual cycle. Morphological characters of the sixth larval instar of P. extensus are compared with those of several other genera assigned to the tribe Photinini. Knowledge of the natural history of firefly larvae is relevant since most species do not feed as adults and therefore depend on resources acquired during the larval stage.