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Introduction
Publications
Publications (24)
Adult fireflies exhibit unique flashing courtship signals, emitted by specialized light organs, which develop mostly independently from larval light organs during the pupal stage. The mechanisms of adult light organ development have not been thoroughly studied until now. Here we show that key homeobox transcription factors AlABD-B and AlUNC-4 regul...
The endangered terrestrial firefly Pyrocoelia pectoralis (Olivier) is endemic to China. Populations of P. pectoralis have decreased dramatically due to urbanization and pollution. Breeding and re-introduction to a suitable habitat may save the species from becoming extinct. Because of its polyandrous character, an investigation into the possibility...
The endemic and endangered Chinese firefly Pyrocoelia pectoralis is a sexually dimorphic, nocturnal species. A previous attempt by this team to assemble a draft genome of P. pectoralis using PacBio and Illumina HiSeq X Ten platforms was limited in its usefulness by high redundancy and contamination. This prompted us to conduct an improved chromosom...
There are now seven species in the genus Aquatica Fu & Ballantyne, with all but one known from the characteristics of males, females, and larvae. Molecular information is combined with morphological taxonomy for the delimitation of both genus and species. The monophyly of the genus Aquatica is strongly supported in six trees, and its position as si...
The fascinating flashing courtship signals of adult fireflies are emitted by unique adult light organs1, 2, 3, which develop quite independently to larval light organs in the pupal stage4. Keys to the development of adult light organs and bioluminescence of the firefly are expression of the luciferase gene, and luciferase transportation to peroxiso...
The internal reproductive anatomy of males and females of two Asian Luciolinae fireflies Emeia pseudosauteri (Geisthardt, 2004) and Abscondita chinensis (L., 1767) is described, and the time course for spermatophore transfer and digestion examined. E. pseudosauteri is sexually dimorphic, with a flightless female, and Abs. chinensis is sexually mono...
Aquatica leii Fu and Ballantyne is a species of rare aquatic firefly and endemic in China. It is considered good material to study the molecular mechanism of sexual flash communication systems. To improve conservation and behavioral research strategies, large-scale genetic studies involving gene-expression analysis are required and reverse transcri...
Abstract. Abscondita, a new genus of fireflies from South-east Asia, is described from males and females of Abs. anceyi (Olivier), Abs. cerata (Olivier), Abs. chinensis (L.), Abs. perplexa (Walker), Abs. promelaena (Walker) and Abs. terminalis (Olivier), all transferred from Luciola Laporte. Both L. dubia Olivier and L. dejeani Gemminger are synony...
The external morphology of aquatic, semiaquatic and terrestrial lucioline larvae was investigated in order to provide an overview of what traits constitute the extremely ecologically diverse Luciolinae (Coleoptera: Lampyridae). The aquatic species, Aquatica ficta (Olivier), A. leii (Fu et Ballantyne), A. hydrophila (Jeng et al.), A. lateralis (Mots...
Emeia, a new genus of Luciolinae fireflies, is described from males, flightless females and unusual trilobite-like larvae for a single species pseudosauteri (Geisthardt) transferred from Curtos Motschulsky. Flashing patterns and ecological data are presented. A phylogenetic analysis covering 143 Luciolinae species uses 436 morphological characters...
Aquatica, a new genus of aquatic fireflies from mainland China, is described and keyed from males of A. leii (Fu et
Ballantyne 2006), A. ficta (Olivier 1909), A. hydrophila (Jeng et al. 2003) and A. lateralis (Motsch. 1860), all transferred
from Luciola, and A. wuhana sp. n. from Hubei Province, which is described from adult males and females and l...
Aquatica, a new genus of aquatic fireflies from mainland China, is described and keyed from males of A. leii (Fu et Ballantyne 2006), A. ficta (Olivier 1909), A. hydrophila (Jeng et al. 2003) and A. lateralis (Motsch. 1860), all transferred from Luciola, and A. wuhana sp. n. from Hubei Province, which is described from adult males and females and l...
Larval defensive behaviour and eversible organ morphology were compared in the firefly species Luciola cruciata Motschulsky 1854, L. lateralis Motschulsky 1860, L. leii Fu et Ballantyne 2006, Lampyris noctiluca Linnaeus 1767, Pyrocoelia analis Fabricius 1801, P. pectoralis Oliver 1883, P. sp. and two Diaphanes species. In all cases the eversible or...
Third to sixth instar larvae of the aquatic firefly Luciola substriata swim with their ventral side up, including when they were searching for prey. When larvae were engaged in swimming, the thoracic legs sculled backwards continuously, while the abdomen could curve upward and downwards. The pygopodium located in the end of abdomen enable larvae to...
Male adults of the firefly Pyrocoelia pectoralis discharge fluids from along elytral and pronotal margins and around the antennal sockets, but females when tactually stimulated only discharge fluids from pronotal margins and antennal sockets. Both genders, when disturbed, may also occasionally discharge fluid from the anus. With regard to its conte...
The larval behaviors probably associated with respiration are reported in different larval instars of Luciola substriata Gorham (Coleoptera: Lampyridae). The behavior involved exposing eighth abdominal segment with spiracles to the atmosphere when swim behavior occurred to 1st–2nd and 3rd–6th instar larvae. In addition, 3rd–6th instar larvae expose...
The terrestrial firefly Pyrocoelia pectoralis (E. Oliv., 1883) (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) was discovered in mainland China in 2002. The larvae of P. pectoralis inhabit moist grasslands and deserted farmlands rich in terrestrial vegetation. We recorded P. pectoralis mainly feeding on two species of land snails, Bradybaena similaris (Férussac) and Brad...
When attacked or otherwise disturbed, larvae of the aquatic firefly Luciola leii display fork-shaped glands laterally from the meso- and metathorax as well as each abdominal segment. Glandular eversion
is accompanied by a strong pine oil-like odour, thanatosis and glowing from paired larval light organs. Observations by SEM
and TEM revealed that th...
The aquatic larvae of the firefly Luciola leii Fu and Ballantyne occur on the substrate of rice fields and ditches in Hubei Province of central China. The behaviour and ecology of L. leii are described. We recorded L. leii larvae attacking four species of aquatic snails: Lymnaea stagnalis (L.) (Basommatophora: Lymnaeidae), Gyraulus convexiusculus (...
A new species of aquatic firefly, Luciola leii sp. nov., from Hubei Province in mainland China is described from males, females, and larvae. It is the fifth species of aquatic firefly recorded from China, and it differs significantly from Luciola substriata Gorham. Cuticular plates in the female reproductive system (bursa) are described and their p...
An artificial rearing apparatus for the aquatic firefly Luciola leii Fu and Ballantyne is described, consisting of two small rearing boxes placed inside a larger outer box, a choice of diet, and a suitable substrate for oviposition. Larvae feeding on crushed prey snails (Gyraulus convexiusculus Huton and Lymnaea stagnalis (L.)) showed moderate grow...
