Magnalata, Ballantyne & Lambkin, 2009

Ballantyne, Lesley A. & Lambkin, Christine, 2009, Systematics of Indo-Pacific fireflies with a redefinition of Australasian Atyphella Olliff, Madagascan Photuroluciola Pic, and description of seven new genera from the Luciolinae (Coleoptera: Lampyridae), Zootaxa 1997, pp. 1-188 : 65-67

Magnalata gen. n.

( Figs 17, 18, 225 –245)

Type species: Luciola limbata Blanchard

Diagnosis. Pronotum wider across posterior margin than rest, never subparallel-sided; anterior hypomeron flat to neck in rennellia only; flattened posterior area strongly adpressed except in limbata ; epipleuron does not continue around apex as a ridge; antennal sockets never contiguous; frons-vertex junction rounded, never angulate; mouthparts functional; apical segment of labial palpi strongly flattened, in the form of a narrow to wide triangle, with inner (longer) margin either irregular not dentate–if dentate then 2 teeth; apical segment of labial palpi never ovoid entire.

Male. Pronotum dorsal surface lacking irregularities in posterolateral areas and longitudinal groove in lateral areas; punctation dense. Anterior margin not explanate.

Pronotum wider across posterior area than rest; pronotal width greater than or subequal to humeral width. Anterolateral corners rounded obtuse; lateral margins in anterior half divergent posteriorly; lateral margins in posterior half diverge then converge with rounded convergence; lacking indentation at mid-point, or sinuousity in either horizontal or vertical plane; lacking indentation in lateral margin near posterolateral corner, and irregularities at corner; posterolateral corners rounded, obtuse; posterolateral corners project beyond median posterior margin, separated by scarcely defined emargination in limbata or well–defined emargination in remainder. Hypomera closed. Median area of hypomeron not elevated vertically; anterior area of hypomeron not flat to side of head except in rennellia sp. n., posterior area of hypomeron widely flat, surfaces approach closely but are strongly adpressed except for limbata ; pronotal width/ GHW index 1.6.

Elytron punctation dense, not linear, not as large as pronotum, nor widely and evenly spaced; apices not deflexed; epipleuron and suture extending beyond mid-point, not extending as a ridge around apex; epipleuron and suture not expanded in apical half; 2–4 interstitial lines, inner two do not exceed suture; elytral carina absent; viewed from beneath with specimen horizontal epipleuron at elytral base wide, covering humerus, viewed from above epipleuron arises anterior to posterior margin of MS; epipleuron a lateral ridge along most of its length; sutural margins approximate along most of length in closed elytra; lateral margins parallel-sided (slightly convex-sided in carolinae ).

Head moderately depressed between eyes; moderately exposed in front of pronotum, not capable of complete retraction within prothoracic cavity; eyes moderately separated beneath at level of posterior margin of mouthpart complex; eyes above labrum close; frons-vertex junction rounded, lacking median elevation; posterolateral eye excavation not strongly developed, not visible in resting head position; antennal sockets on head between eyes, not contiguous, separated by <ASW; clypeolabral suture present, flexible, not in front of anterior eye margin when viewed with labrum horizontal; outer edges of labrum reach inner edges of closed mandibles. Mouthparts functional; apical segment of labial palpi non–lunate, strongly flattened, like a narrow to wide triangle, with inner edge irregular not dentate, or with 2 inner teeth in some carolinae . Antennae 11 segmented; length subequal to GHW up to twice GHW; no segments flattened, shortened, or expanded; pedicel not produced; FS1 not shorter than pedicel; in very short antennae FS may be subequal in length and width.

Legs with inner tarsal claw not split; lacking MFC; no femora or tibiae swollen or curved; no basitarsi expanded or excavated.

Abdomen lacking cuticular remnants around aedeagal sheath; no ventrites with curved posterior margins nor extending anteriorly into emarginated posterior margin of more anterior segment; LO in V7 entire, occupying most of V7, reaching sides but not posterior margin; neither anterior nor posterior margin of LO in V7 emarginate; posterior half of V7 not arched or swollen, muscle impressions not visible in this area; LO present in V6, occupying almostV6. MPP present, symmetrical, apex rounded, entire, not laterally compressed, short, not inclined dorsally nor engulfed by T8 apex, lacking dorsal ridge and median longitudinal trough. V7 lacking median carina, median longitudinal trough, anteromedian depression on face of LO, PLP, incurving lobes or pointed projections, median ‘dimple’, or reflexed lobes. T7 lacking prolonged posterolateral corners. T8 not strongly sclerotised, symmetrical, W=L, visible posterior area not narrowing abruptly, lacking prolonged posterolateral corners, median posterior emargination, median posterior projections, not inclined ventrally nor engulfing posterior margin of V7 nor MPP, not extending conspicuously beyond posterior margin of V7; lateral margins of T8 not enfolding V7 at sides; T8 ventral surface lacking flanges, lateral depressed troughs, median longitudinal trough, asymmetrical projections, median posterior ridge; concealed anterolateral arms of T8 either very short in limbata , or not as long as visible posterior part of T8, narrow horizontally, not laterally emarginated before their origins, not expanded dorsoventrally, apices lacking bifurcation of inner margin and bases lacking ventrally directed pieces.

Aedeagal sheath (Figs 239–241) never> 4 times as long as wide; lacking paraprocts; asymmetrical in posterior area where sheath sternite emarginated on right side from point of attachment of tergite; sternite not angulate on L or R sides, not subparallel-sided in broad anterior or posterior areas, posterior margin entire, not emarginated on either side preapically, rounded; anterior half of sternite broad, apically rounded; tergite lacking lateral arms that extend anteriorly at sides of sheath sternite; tergite not subdivided, lacking projecting pieces along posterior margin of tergite 9, anterior margin of tergite 9 lacking transverse band.

Aedeagus elongate subparallel–sided, L/W 3/1; LL lack lateral appendages, visible from beneath at sides of ML, LL/ML moderate; LL of equal length, slightly shorter than ML, not diverging along inner dorsal margins except in carolinae , separated there by> half their length; LL base width not = LL apex width which is subequal to that of ML with apices not expanded horizontally; dorsal base of LL symmetrical, not excavated, median margin prolonged, either acutely entire in limbata or rounded entire; LL lacking lateral hairy appendages along outer ventral margins, not produced preapically nor narrowly on inner apical margin, not obliquely truncate along preapical inner margins except in rennellia sp. n.; a tooth occurs on preapical inner margins in both limbata and rennellia sp. n. and is very strongly developed in the former; apices of LL not inturned, not out–turned except in carolinae ; lacking projection on left LL only; inner margins lacking slender leaf-like projection; ML symmetrical, lacking paired lateral teeth and tooth to left side, not strongly arched, and apex not in shape of arrowhead, not bulbous, not inclined ventrally; BP not very narrow, not strongly sclerotised, not hooded, and not strongly emarginated along anterior margin.

Female. Macropterous and assumed capable of flight. Pronotum lacking irregularities in posterolateral areas; punctation moderate to dense; pronotum> humeral width; indentation of lateral margin, irregularities at posterolateral corner, absent; outline as for that of male. Elytral punctation, not as large as that of pronotum nor evenly spaced; 2 interstitial lines; elytral carina absent. Head of winged female form. No legs or parts thereof swollen and/or curved. LO in V6 only, lacking any elevations or depressions or ridges on V7.

Larva not reliably associated, possible association with limbata only.

Terrestrial; tergal plates sclerotised to margins, lateral tergal margins explanate, thickened, and covering laterotergites which are not visible from above; arrangement of plates in ventral aspect of thorax and abdomen agrees with that described ( Ballantyne & Lambkin, 2000; Ballantyne & Menayah, 2002). Protergum W> L, tubercles absent along anterior margin, posterolateral corners round, and median line with non-ridged margins; median line extends to anterior and posterior margins of most terga; punctures in anterior half of terga 2–10 larger than rest; posterolateral corners of terga 1–8 rounded entire, of tergum 12 produced narrowly; median posterior margins of terga 1–11 lacking either rounded or pointed projections; lacking brush of hairs around tarsal claws; mandibles lacking inner teeth; antennal segment 3 short, sense cone adjacent to segment 3 short and wide; with laterosternites on abdominal segments 1–8.

Etymology. Magnalata (magna = large, lata = widespread; feminine noun) is so named to emphasize the size of its largest species ( limbata is the largest of the Solomon Islands firefly fauna) and its wide distribution across the islands.