Magnalata Ballantyne 2009

Ho, - Z., 2019, The Luciolinae of S. E. Asia and the Australopacific region: a revisionary checklist (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) including description of three new genera and 13 new species, Zootaxa 4687 (1), pp. 1-174 : 105-106

Magnalata Ballantyne 2009

Fig. 67

Magnalata Ballantyne 2009 in Ballantyne & Lambkin 2009: 65 figs 17, 18, 225–245. Jusoh et al. 2018: 10.

Type species: Luciola limbata Blanchard 1853 designated by Ballantyne & Lambkin 2009: 65.

Diagnosis. A large wide distinctively coloured genus known from the Solomon Islands; up to 14 mm long and 5 mm wide; with orange pronotum and black elytra which are orange margined laterally only. One of the Atyphella ‘complex’, having LL of the aedeagus visible beside the ML when viewed from beneath; distinguished by its size and colouration and occurrence in the Solomons. As addressed here Magnalata is monotypic.

Redescription of genus.

Male. Pronotum: wider than long; dorsal surface without irregularities in posterolateral areas (1) and longitudinal groove in lateral areas (2); punctation moderately dense (3); anterior margin not explanate (6); lateral margins diverging posteriorly along most of their length (C>A, B); width> humeral width; anterolateral corners rounded obtuse; lateral margins without indentation at mid-point, and sinuosity in either horizontal or vertical plane (15, 16); without indentation in lateral margin near posterolateral corner, and irregularities at corner (17, 18); posterolateral corners rounded obtuse posterolateral corners projecting beyond median posterior margin; separated from it by scarce emarginations.

Hypomera: closed; median area of hypomeron not elevated in vertical direction; posterior area widely flat but not strongly adpressed; pronotal width/ GHW 1.6 in other species.

Elytron: lateral margins parallel-sided; apices not deflexed; punctation dense (34, 35), not linear (36), not as large as that of pronotum, nor widely and evenly spaced; epipleuron and sutural ridge extend beyond mid-point almost to apex but not extending around apex, neither thickened in apical half; no ridge around apex as in some Atyphella ; fourinterstitial lines well defined; elytral carina absent; in horizontal specimen viewed from below epipleuron at elytral base wide, covering humerus or almost so; viewed from above in horizontal specimen the anterior margin of epipleuron arises level with or anterior to posterior margin of MS; epipleuron developed as a lateral ridge along most of length; sutural margins approximate along most of length in closed elytra.

Head: moderately depressed between eyes; moderately well exposed in front of pronotum, and capable of partial retraction within prothoracic cavity; eyes with moderate separation beneath at level of posterior margin of mouthpart complex; eyes above labrum close; frons-vertex junction rounded, without median elevation; posterolateral eye excavation not strongly developed, not visible in resting head position; antennal sockets on head between eyes, not contiguous, always separated by <ASW; clypeolabral suture present, flexible, not in front of anterior eye margin when head viewed with labrum horizontal; outer edges of labrum reach inner edges of closed mandibles or beyond. Mouthparts: functional; apical labial palpomere flattened, shaped like a broad triangle with inner edge irregular, not dentate, and at least half as long as apical maxillary palpomere ( Ballantyne & Lambkin 2009 listed variations in shape of inner margin). Antennae 11 segmented; length>GHW up to slightly less than twice GHW; FS1 subequal in length to, or longer than, pedicel; FS 7–9 not conspicuously shorter than rest; no FS expanded or laterally produced; all FS including FS 1 longer than wide.

Legs: with inner tarsal claw entire; without MFC; no leg segments swollen, curved or emarginated.

Abdomen: without cuticular remnants in association with aedeagal sheath (131, 132); no ventrites with curved posterior margins, nor extending anteriorly into emarginated posterior margin of anterior segment (106–108). V6 with LO present, occupying almost ventrite surface. V7 with LO entire, occupying most of the surface of ventrite, and reaching to sides, but not into MPP; MPP moderately broad apically rounded; no PLP. T8 well sclerotised, symmetrical, visible posterior area either widest across median area (W>L) or W=L; median posterior margin not emarginate; T8 not engulfing posterior margin of V7 nor MPP (133, 134), without well-defined median longitudinal trough; concealed anterolateral arms of T8 very short, not as long as entire posterior portion; not laterally emarginated before their origins, dorsoventral expansions absent, expanded only in horizontal plane; without bifurcation of inner margin and ventrally directed pieces (217); lateral margins of T8 not enfolding sides of V7 (190); T7 without prolonged anterolateral corners.

Aedeagal sheath: asymmetrical; sheath sternite evenly emarginated on its right side from the point of attachment of the tergite; anterior half of sternite broad, apically rounded; tergite without lateral arms extending anteriorly at sides of sheath sternite; tergite without projecting pieces along posterior margin of T9, anterior margin without separate transverse band.

Aedeagus: L/W 3/1; symmetrical with apices of LL visible from beneath at sides of ML, LL/ML moderate; LL of equal length, slightly shorter than ML, separated along inner dorsal margins but not divergent in basal half; with apices narrower than ML; preapical inner margin of LL obliquely truncate, with obvious tooth; dorsal base of LL produced anteriorly, apically acute and medially entire; ML symmetrical; BP not strongly sclerotised, not hooded, not strongly emarginated along anterior margin.

Female. Macropterous and probably capable of flight. Pinned females were not further investigated.Associated by label data, size and dorsal colour pattern.

Larva. Not reliably associated. Ballantyne & Lambkin (2009: 67) described a distinctively coloured larva with laterally explanate tergal margins.

Remarks. Ballantyne & Lambkin (2009: 65) characterised this genus from three species of which two, M. carolinae Olivier and M. rennellia Ballantyne are removed to Atyphella here. Magnalata limbata was extensively described from many specimens ranging over the length of the Solomon Islands.

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Figures

FIGURES 64–69. Key to genera characters 10. 64 Aquilonia costata; 65, 66 Aq. similismessoria comb. nov.; 67 Magnalata limbata; 68 Atyphella flammans; 69 Aty. aphrogeneia.