Luciola melancholica Olivier

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 : 122

Luciola melancholica Olivier

Luciola melancholica Olivier, 1913b:417 . McDermott, 1966:109. Ballantyne & McLean, 1970:267.

Holotype. Female. NEW GUINEA: Iles Bertrand, holotype female of Luciola melancholica (MCSN) .

Remarks. The holotype female was described with dark brown elytra and an orange pronotum with dark marginal markings. There are several examples herein where different species have marginal dark markings on the pronotum (e.g. Aus. anthracina , M. fulminea , M. pupilla , Tri. apicula sp. nov.). No males from the type locality of the Bertrand Islands have been located.

Ballantyne and McLean (1970:267) described as "Species D" two males where the pronotal colour most closely approached that of the holotype of melancholica . While they described the LOs as “filling sternites 6 and 7” their diagrams ( Fig. 8 n, o ) indicate a situation where interpretation of the nature of the LO in V7 as either entire or bipartite is not clear, and no further action on these two specimens is taken here. They also included specimens in Pteroptyx cribellata Groups 3 and 4 (page 247) where the male pronota had dark markings along the lateral and anterior margins, and in one case also along the posterior margin. All these specimens in Groups 3 and 4 have entire LOs in V7. Ballantyne (1987a:163) included two females as possible melancholica , and indicated that certain Pteroptyx (now Medeopteryx ) fulminea have lateral pronotal margins finely dark. Certain specimens from Mt Lamington tentatively assigned to Aus. anthracina have either dark margined or completely pale pronota in the males.

Figures

FIGURE 8. Majority rule tree for larvae analysis. Tree shows the consensus of 4 MPTs of length 2245 from phylogenetic analysis of all characters for the 42 taxa scored for larval characters. New genera, new species, and still undescribed species in red. Showing the % of MPT over 50 %, above branches.