Scissicauda McDermott, 1964

Silveira, Luiz F L, Khattar, Gabriel, Vaz, Stephanie, Wilson, Vinicius A., Souto, Paula M., Mermudes, José R. M., Stanger-Hall, Kathrin F., Macedo, Margarete V. & Monteiro, Ricardo F., 2020, Natural history of the fireflies of the Serra dos Órgãos mountain range (Brazil: Rio de Janeiro) - one of the ‘ hottest’ firefly spots on Earth, with a key to genera (Coleoptera: Lampyridae), Journal of Natural History 54 (5 - 6), pp. 275-308 : 298

Scissicauda McDermott, 1964 ( Figure 3 K )

This is one of the most distinct genera among the Lampyridae , due to the enlarged abdominal sternum VIII that covers the IX, together with the fishtail-like pygidium. The genus was reviewed by Silveira et al. (2016a). Antennal morphology in this genus varies between species and is sexually dimorphic in the species of the Serra dos Órgãos, Scissicauda disjuncta ( Fig. 38), the type species ( Silveira et al. 2016a) . Besides the antennae, males and females are morphologically very similar. Immature stages unknown.

Figures

Figure 3. Diversity of fireflies of the Serra dos Órgãos, including Amydetinae, Psilocladinae, Lampyrinae, and Incertae sedis taxa. A – Amydetes fastigiata, B – Magnoculus obscurus, C – Cladodes pauper, D – Cladodes illigeri, E – Cladodes stellata, F – Vesta thoracica, G – Araucariocladus hiems (modified from Silveira and Mermudes 2017), H – Psilocladus grandis, I – Psilocladus sigillatus, J – Psilocladus pulcher, K – Scissicauda disjuncta (modified from Silveira et al. 2016a), L – Ethra axillaris, M – Ethra marginata, N – Ethra addita, O – Ethra inculta. Scale bar: 2 mm.