Poluninius, Ballantyne & Lambkin, 2013

Ballantyne, Lesley A. & Lambkin, Christine L., 2013, Systematics and Phylogenetics of Indo-Pacific Luciolinae Fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) and the Description of new Genera, Zootaxa 3653 (1), pp. 1-162 : 100-101

Poluninius gen. nov.

[ Figs 185–190 ]

Type species: Poluninius selangoriensis sp. nov. monotypic.

Diagnosis. Poluninius gen. nov. is an oriental genus belonging in a group of 7 genera characterized by: an elongate slender aedeagus with LL concealed behind the median lobe when viewed from beneath, pronotal width less than width across elytral humeri, parallel-sided elytra, aedeagal sheath elongate slender, widest across the middle, with posterior half of sternite tapering evenly on both sides towards a narrow entire apex. Males are distinguished from Australoluciola gen. nov. which has an entire LO in V7 by the bipartite V7 LO; from Colophotia in lacking both a median carina on V7, and expanded and oblique PLP; from Pteroptyx in lacking deflexed elytral apices; from Trisinuata gen. nov. by the presence of lobes along V7 posterior margin and aedeagal sheath paraprocts; from most Medeopteryx gen. nov. in lacking deflexed elytral apices. Similar to Pyrophanes with lobes along V7 posterior margin, differing in lacking the MFC, and lateral ventral troughs of T8 bearing spines and hairs. It differs from Luciola indica in lacking the bulbous median lobe and in possessing bulbous projections along V7 posterior margin. Dorsal colour pattern of yellowish pronotum and elytra with apical brown area is common to many species in SE Asia ( McDermott 1966).

Male. Pronotum: dorsal surface without irregularities in posterolateral areas and longitudinal groove in lateral areas; punctation dense; anterior margin not explanate; subparallel-sided, margins straight (A=B=C); width <humeral width; anterolateral corners rounded obtuse; lateral margins without indentation at mid-point, or sinuousity in either horizontal or vertical plane; without indentation in lateral margin near posterolateral corner, and irregularities at corner; posterolateral corners angulate, less than 90 and inclined obliquely to the median line; posterolateral corners not projecting as far as median posterior margin and separated from it by scarce emarginations.

Hypomera: closed; median area not elevated in vertical direction; median area more widely flattened than elsewhere; pronotal width/ GHW 1.2.

Elytron: punctation not linear, not as large as that of pronotum, nor widely and evenly spaced; apices not deflexed; epipleuron and sutural ridge extend beyond mid-point, almost to apex but not as ridge around apex, neither thickened in apical half; no interstitial lines; elytral carina absent; in horizontal specimen viewed from below epipleuron at elytral base wide, covering humerus; viewed from above the anterior margin of the epipleuron arises 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; lateral margins parallel-sided.

Head: moderately depressed between eyes; well 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 moderately separated; 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, ASD subequal to 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. Mouthparts functional; apical labial palpomere strongly flattened, shaped like narrow triangle (narrowest at base and L 2–3 X W), with inner edge entire, and less than half as long as apical maxillary palpomere. Antennae 11 segmented; length>GHW to twice GHW; no segments flattened, shortened, or expanded; pedicel not produced; FS1 not shorter than pedicel.

Legs: inner tarsal claw not split; without MFC; no femora or tibiae swollen or curved; no basitarsi expanded or excavated.

Abdomen: ( Figs 185, 186 ; Fu et al. 2012b Figs 13–15 ) without cuticular remnants in association with aedeagal sheath; no ventrites with curved posterior margins nor extending anteriorly into emarginated posterior margin of anterior; LO in V7 bipartite with inner margins almost contiguous, occupying most of V7, and reaching to sides and into the short PLP; LO present in V6, occupying almost all V6. MPP present, symmetrical, apex rounded and shallowly emarginate, not laterally compressed, short, longer and wider than PLP, not inclined dorsally nor engulfed by T8 apex, without dorsal ridge, median longitudinal trough. V7 posterior margin trisinuate with incurving apically bulbous lobes and pointed projections in the emarginations between MPP and PLP; V7 without median carina, median longitudinal trough, anteromedian depression on face of LO, median ‘dimple’, or reflexed lobes; PLP short slightly produced and narrow, much narrower and shorter than MPP. T7 without prolonged anterolateral corners. T8 well sclerotised, symmetrical, W=L, visible posterior area not narrowing abruptly, median posterior margin shallowly and narrowly emarginate; widest across middle with lateral margins tapering evenly in both an anterior and posterior direction; without prolonged posterolateral corners, median posterior projections, not inclined ventrally nor engulfing posterior margin of V7 nor MPP, not extending conspicuously beyond posterior margin of V7; T8 ventral surface with well developed median longitudinal trough, margined by well defined symmetrical ridges; anterior end of ridges not produced, rounded in outline; without lateral depressed troughs, asymmetrical projections, median posterior ridge; concealed anterolateral arms of T8 slightly shorter than visible posterior portion of T8, not laterally emarginated before their origins, not expanded dorsoventrally, expanded only in horizontal plane; without bifurcation of inner margin and ventrally directed pieces; lateral margins of T8 not enfolding sides of V7.

Aedeagal sheath ( Figs 189, 190 ): approx. 3 times as long as wide; with bulbous paraprocts; symmetrical in posterior area where sheath sternite tapers evenly to a narrow rounded apex; anterior half of sternite relatively narrow, 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 transverse band.

Aedeagus ( Figs 187, 188 ): L/W 5/1; LL not visible from beneath at sides of ML, LL/ML narrow; LL of equal length, slightly shorter than ML, contiguous along inner dorsal margins; separated longitudinally by 1/3 their length; LL base width not = LL apex width which is much narrower than that of ML; LL apices not expanded in horizontal plane; LL without lateral appendages; dorsal base of LL symmetrical, not excavated (arrowed in Figs 187, 188 ); LL without lateral hairy appendages along their outer ventral margins, not produced preapically nor narrowly on inner apical margin, apices of LL not inturned, nor out–turned; without projection on left LL; inner margins without slender leaf-like projection; ML symmetrical, with anterior prolongation long and narrow (anterior end arrowed in Figs 187, 188 ); without paired lateral teeth and tooth to left side, not strongly arched, apex not shaped like arrowhead, not bulbous, not inclined ventrally; BP much longer than wide, not strongly sclerotised, not hooded, not strongly emarginated along anterior margin.

Female, Larva not associated.

Etymology. Poluninius (masculine) is a noun latinised from the surname of the late Ivan Polunin who collected the few species of this unusual genus, and is named in his honour.

Figures

FIGURES 185–190. Poluninius selangoriensis gen. et sp. nov. Holotype male (ANIC). 185, 186 abdomen, ventral (185) and dorsal (fleshy lobes of V7 arrowed; 186 with T8 dissected; 187, 188 aedeagus left lateral (187) and ventral (top arrow is anterior margin of ML; bottom arrow is anterior margin of LL on dorsal surface; 189, 190 aedeagal sheath dorsal (189) and ventral (paraprocts arrowed). These figures share scale lines: 185, 186; 187, 188; 189, 190.

FIGURES 9–17. Australoluciola anthracina type male, Cyclops (MNHN). 9, 10 dorsal (9) and ventral; 11 V6, 7 ventral; 12 pronotum dorsal; 13 type labels; 14 aedeagal sheath ventral; 15-17 aedeagus, dorsal (15), ventral (16) and lateral. These figures share scale lines: 15–17.