Species Lucidota atra - Black Firefly

Lucidota atra Fabricius (1). Other sources list as Lucidota atra Olivier, 1790.

Species name atra is Latin, dark. (Based on Internet searches.) Common name was coined based on that. This is a bit ironic, since genus name Lucidota is apparently from Latin lucida, meaning shining, or bright.

8-11 mm

Day-flying fireflies with much reduced light organs and prominent antennae (especially in male) with flattened segements. There are just two species in that genus, according to Nearctica.com . They are atra and punctata. Dillon and Dillon (1) illustrate both and key, but they can be differentiated on size--L. atra is much larger, about 12 mm or so. L. punctata is circa 6 mm.

Adult is said to exude an odiferous milky fluid from joints of legs and abdomen when captured (1). Light organs appear as small yellowish spots on last abdominal sternite of female or last two sternites of male (1).

Eastern North America

Open woodlands, often found on trees

Early summer. May-July (North Carolina).

Unknown

Day-active. Males do not flash, except perhaps immediately after eclosion (emergence from the pupal stage).

Dillon, p. 250, plate 26 (1)

Swan and Papp, p. 371, fig. 677, gives common name (2)

Papp, p. 89, fig. 277 (3)

Marshall, photo 316.2 (4)

Brimley, p. 154 (5)

Insects of Cedar Creek

Oklahoma Wild Things

THE EVOLUTION OF BIOLUMINESCENCE IN CANTHAROIDS--Florida Entomologist

Beetles of Florida lists L. atra (G.A. Olivier), eUS, FL; L. luteicollis (LeConte), GA, FL