Pteroptyx malaccae (Gorham, 1880)

Ghosh, Srinjana, Sarkar, Subhankar Kumar & Chakraborty, Susanta, 2023, New distributional records of fireflies (Coleoptera, Lampyridae, Luciolinae) from two Eastern States of India with notes on their biology and an updated Indian checklist, Biodiversity Data Journal 11, pp. 98948-98948 : 98948

Pteroptyx malaccae (Gorham, 1880)

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence : recordedBy: Srinjana Ghosh ; sex: 1 male; occurrenceID: 04F5F577-6780-5BBF-B254-AD5ACE09CCF3; Taxon : scientificName: Pteroptyx malaccae (Gorham, 1880); family: Lampyridae ; Location : country: India; countryCode: Ind ; locality: near Sajnekhali Bird Sanctuary , Sundarban Biosphere Reserve , South 24 Parganas ; verbatimCoordinates: 22°7'12'' N, 88°46'49'' E; Event : samplingProtocol: Hand picking; Record Level: collectionCode: VUEC-0001; basisOfRecord: Preserved Specimen Type status: Other material. Occurrence : recordedBy: Srinjana Ghosh ; sex: 1 male; occurrenceID: 5EBAF084-18C2-5437-A4A8-B7855CA5CF0C; Taxon : scientificName: Pteroptyx malaccae (Gorham, 1880); family: Lampyridae ; Location : country: India; countryCode: Ind ; locality: Dhainchi island , South 24 Parganas ; verbatimCoordinates: 21°42'05'' N, 88°26'00'' E; Event : samplingProtocol: Hand picking; Record Level: collectionCode: VUEC-0035; basisOfRecord: Preserved Specimen Type status: Other material. Occurrence : recordedBy: Srinjana Ghosh ; sex: 1 male; occurrenceID: 6C7729A3-6B46-53FB-BD57-3E18E0899940; Taxon : scientificName: Pteroptyx malaccae (Gorham, 1880); family: Lampyridae ; Location : country: India; countryCode: Ind ; locality: Bonnie Island , South 24 Parganas ; verbatimCoordinates: 21°49'50'' N, 88°37'26'' E; Event : samplingProtocol: Hand picking; Record Level: collectionCode: VUEC-0081; basisOfRecord: Preserved Specimen

Diagnosis

Length 5-6.5 mm; Width 1.5-1.8 mm; PN, MN and MS brownish-yellow, thorax ventrally yellowish-orange, elytra bright brownish-yellow with its apices black, head between eyes, antennae and palpi dark brown, legs brownish-yellow with the tibae and tarsi brown, terminal abdominal tergites yellow, ventrites brownish-yellow, tip of PLP brown, V6 and V7 having white LO with the LO in V7 bipartite (Fig. 8). Pt. malaccae can be distinguished from other species of the genus by the following set of male characters: apex of FS1 strongly produced laterally; elytra almost parallel-sided with its apices deflexed and lacking depressions ( Pt. gelasina possesses depressions at the elytral apices); elytral apices twice as long as wide ( Pt. truncata , in contrast, bears comparatively shortened elytral apices); hind-tibae expanded; posterior margin of T8 without lobes; V7 with a broad and deep semicircular emargination along its posterior margin separating the MPP and PLP, with the PLP slenderly produced (PLP is comparatively narrower in Pt. gelasina and, in Pt. maipo , Pt. sulawesiensis and Pt. valida , the PLP of V7 are scarcely produced and broadly rounded). Male genitalia (Fig. 9): Aedeagus slender, elongated, symmetrical, aedeagus b/a 0.9, LL are of equal length, slightly shorter than ML, separated by half of their dorsal length, lack lateral hairy appendages and slender leaf-like projections along their outer ventral margins and inner margins respectively, ML symmetrical, narrow and tube-like, not bearing paired lateral teeth and without ventral inclination, BP bluntly pointed, lightly sclerotised; aedeagal sheath symmetrical, apically rounded, aedeagal sheath sternite relatively narrower at the anterior half, widest at the middle and tapers almost symmetrically towards an entire narrow apex, paraprocts bulbous, L/W = 3/1.

Biology

Adults of Pt. malaccae were found in mangrove patches and synchronous flashing was observed on different display plants, like Avicennia alba Blume and Avicennia officinalis L. The fireflies form small aggregations of 6 to 10 individuals and the males were found flashing during flight. The specimens were observed flying at an average height of 7 to 8 metres and some of them were collected when they came down by sweep net. The collected specimens were identified in the laboratory.