Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
 

Register · Log In
HomeGuideID RequestRecentFrassForumsDonateHelp
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar
Upcoming Events

Registration is open for the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2023

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2018 gathering in Virginia, July 27-29


Previous events
TaxonomyBrowseInfoImagesLinksBooksData
Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Elateriformia » Elateroidea » Fireflies (Lampyridae) » Lampyrinae » Lampyrini » Microphotus » Microphotus angustus
Photo#660283
Microphotus angustus? - Microphotus angustus - male
Copyright © 2012 Aaron Schusteff

Microphotus angustus? - Microphotus angustus - Male
Three Rivers, in canyon of Sierra foothills west of Sequoia National Park, Tulare County, California, USA
June 8, 2010
Size: Approx. 6mm
I don't have a copy of Green (1959), but from BugGuide posts and the 2nd paragraph of Usener & Cognato (2006), I think this must be Microphotus...probably M. angustus. I count either 9 (or 10?) antenna segments which (according to Usener & Cognato, pg 77) is compatible with either M. angustus or M. dilatatus. Comparing the MCZ male type specimens images for M. angustus and M. dilatatus, the former looks like a better match to my (untrained) eye. Of course, for all I know at this point, it could be one of the other 5 species of Microphotus.

Images of this individual: tag all
Microphotus angustus? - Microphotus angustus - male Microphotus angustus? - Microphotus angustus - male Microphotus angustus? - Microphotus angustus - male Microphotus angustus? - Microphotus angustus - male Microphotus angustus? - Microphotus angustus - male
tag · login or register to post comments
Contributed by Aaron Schusteff on 20 June, 2012 - 3:44am
Last updated 20 June, 2012 - 1:46pm

Moved
Moved from Microphotus.
… v belov, 20 June, 2012 - 1:46pm login or register to post comments

M angustus is the only M in C
M angustus is the only M in California....in 1911 Ernst Olivier described M robustus from Calif, but J.L.LeConte had already named the species M angustus in 1874. So J. W. Green, in his 1959 revision synonymized the two...as it stands now, no one has challenged M angustus as the only M in Calif, although there are several morphotypes that may justify breaking the sp up. Some are small, some large, some with pink elytral apices. The females are known, they are larviform and consistent in their morphology with the other species further east. Larvae are known too, and, again, consistent with at least M. dilatatus. Larvae of the others are unknown.
… joeCicero, 20 June, 2012 - 1:03pm login or register to post comments

 
Morphotypes
I guess color variations in morphotypes are best documented by photos...both current CA BugGuide posts of fresh adult males seem to have similar pronotal coloration...though elytra and abdominal dorsum of Robyn's post seem appreciably darker than my post:



Aged specimens seem to lose their color:



Hopefully lots of fresh images will be posted in the future illustrating more morphotype variation.

Two quick questions:

1) Is it known whether adults feed (with those unusual mouthparts)?

2) Is there a (fairly easy) way to distinguish "larviform" adult females from actual (female or male) larvae?
I noticed the larval post below has conspicuously dark markings on dorsum:

I also think I see tiny mandibles in the full-size image, and the antennae look "different" than those of the (presumed) adult females below:



Thanks again for sharing your knowledge of these fascinating organisms!
… Aaron Schusteff, 20 June, 2012 - 4:12pm login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from Fireflies.
… v belov, 20 June, 2012 - 8:05am login or register to post comments

Comment viewing options
Select your preferred way to display the comments and click 'Save settings' to activate your changes.

Disclaimer: Dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service. We strive to provide accurate information, but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world. If you need expert professional advice, contact your local extension office.

Contributors own the copyright to and are solely responsible for contributed content.
Click the contributor's name for licensing and usage information.
Everything else copyright © 2003-2024 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by:

Plant Pathology, Entomology and Microbiology at Iowa State University logo

Printer Friendly Version 		Terms of Use
Privacy Statement
Site Map
Contact