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Photo#294119
Firefly - Pyractomena borealis

Firefly - Pyractomena borealis
Beaverhill Lake, Alberta, Canada
June 25, 2009
Size: ~1cm

Images of this individual: tag all
Firefly - Pyractomena borealis Firefly - Pyractomena borealis Firefly2 - Pyractomena borealis

Moved tentatively
the narrow yellow lateral margins of the elytra exclude dispersa [in which they are very wide] but are consistent with borealis

Moved from Pyractomena dispersa.

 
After seeing borealis in Virginia
It occurs to me how much larger it was compared to my memory of this...is there certainly no smaller Pyractomena this could represent?

Moved
Moved from Pyractomena.

nice-- prob. Pyractomena, but not sure
*

 
only 2 possibilities here...
It is a Pyractonema based on the presence of light organs (the light coloured abdominal segments in the ventral view). We have only 5 firefly species in AB and this genus is the only one here with conspicuous light organs like this. There are 2 species of Py*ractonema in AB- P. borealis and P. dispersa. See here to compare. I'm leaning towards P. borealis for this one, but both species are present in central Alberta. Do you remember the size of your specimen? P. borealis is significantly larger than P. dispersa.

 
I have the specimen with me
I didn't plan on it but it died after 2 days. Is the light a mating thing? Because it never lit up at night.

Be right back, going to find a ruler.

 
Size
The specimen is just short of 1cm (~0.97cm)

 
Must be P. dispersa then...
Based on the size measurement.

 
A new one for the guide it appears.
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