Asymmetricata ovalis (Hope)

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 : 33-34

Asymmetricata ovalis (Hope)

( Figs 7, 110, 111)

Lampyris ovalis Hope , in Gray, 1831:26.

Luciola ovalis (Hope) . McDermott, 1964:44; 1966:111 Partim.

? Luciola ovalis (Hope) . McDermott, 1962:24, Fig. 21.

Nec Luciola ovalis (Hope) . Gorham, 1880:99, 103 (= L. circumdata Motsch ); 1895:303. Olivier, 1891:595–604.

Holotype. Male. ‘Nepaul’ ( NHML).

Material examined. INDIA: 27.04N, 88.28E, Western Bengal , Kalimpong, Bombasti area, vii–viii.1992, R. Kumar male, female ( ANIC) .

Diagnosis. Most obviously distinguished from the similarly coloured A. circumdata by the bipartite LO.

Male redescription. 11.9 mm long; 5.0 mm wide; W/L 0.4. Colour: Pronotum, MS, MN, sutural, apical and lateral margins of elytra orange, rest of elytra dark brown except for slightly lighter brown interstitial line 2; irregular retraction of fat body under pronotum may confuse interpretation of colour; head, antennae and palpi dark brown; ventral surface of thorax, and legs orange except for dark brown tibiae, tarsi; V2–5 very dark brown, LO white except for slightly yellow area between LO halves; MPP yellow; T 7, 8 yellow, semitransparent, rest mottled mid-brown. Pronotum: 2.1 mm long, 4.2 mm wide; W/L 2.0; area between anterior and posterior hypomeron slightly angulate. Elytra: convex-sided, 9.8 mm long, 4 interstitial lines visible, inner two approach suture, outer two not as well–defined. Head GHW 2.4 mm; SIW 0.3 mm; SIW/ GHW 1/8; ASD less than ASW, sockets close not contiguous; frons-vertex junction rounded, frons about 1 x ASW high. Abdomen: ( Figs 7, 110–111) LO bipartite; apex of MPP narrowing slightly and rounded.

Female. ( Fig. 8) Macropterous. 11.8 mm long; coloured as for male except for creamy white (LO) V6 and yellowish, semitransparent V7, 8. Pronotal outline as for male. Head of winged female form. V7 depressed transversely across median area (may be post–mortem effect) and posterior margin mainly straight except for broad shallow median emargination; V8 with shallow median emargination; T8 with rounded posterior margin.

Remarks. Hope’s (1831) five word description indicated dorsal colouration consistent with that described here for both Asymmetricata species. The type series of L. ovalis was examined by LB in 1993, the LO in V7 confirmed as bipartite and length of specimens slightly shorter (9–10 mm. long). It has not been possible to reexamine the type series for this study. If we accept that males of L. circumdata have an entire LO in V7 then Gorham (1880) incorrectly synonymised ovalis with circumdata . He also incorrectly attributed V7 (with median longitudinal ‘cleft’) to the segment in front, and thought the area posterior to the LO, including the prolonged MPP, was another segment. He recorded the species from India. Gorham (1895) indicated an even wider range (NW India to Burma and Sumatra) and confirmed his original identification. Since Olivier (1890–91) also synonymised ovalis and circumdata it is probable that this reference to ovalis is actually to circumdata . McDermott (1962:24, Fig. 21) briefly described and figured male terminal abdomen of L. ovalis with clearly bipartite LO in V7, but did not indicate any asymmetry of tergite 8. McDermott (1964) described the last ventral segment in L. ovalis as ‘cleft’ and was probably referring to the bipartite LO.

Clearly this preliminary treatment with few specimens highlights the need for further investigation to confirm these identifications, and to clarify whether the LO is so variable that it exists in a range from entire with median cleft through to totally bipartite.