Female lampyrid - Photinus brimleyi

Moved

… v belov, 9 September, 2011 - 5:41am

female brachypterous firefly

I would suggest it is possibly a Photinus brimleyi female as they do occur in Nashville (Lloyd 66) and are quite common in the proper habitats in East Tn and the Cumberland Plateau. The timing is also correct as P. brimleyi is a "later season" firefly becoming abundant in TN in very late June or July. Great shot! They live in burrows and the females are quite hard to find. The males make little sideways arcs of flashing every 1-2 seconds, low to ground in woods.

… LFaust, 24 September, 2009 - 9:26pm

Image added

I doubt it will help clarify the ID, but I figured I might as well add the one other image I have of this individual. I don't remember exactly how or where I came across her at this point, but my camera tells me it was 1:45 AM.

… Charley Eiseman, 26 September, 2009 - 5:14pm

so, are brimleyi females indistinguishable from punctulatus?

thanks a lot for this comment -- could you pls drop me a word to vmarfus gmail?

… v belov, 24 September, 2009 - 10:02pm

Based on state-to-state distr

Based on state-to-state distribution alone, it's a fair bet that this is P. punctulatus. There are no keys to larviform Photinus yet so the only way to be sure is to secure copulating pairs or carefully compare the pronotal markings. Good color pictures like these are essential for building up the taxonomy since colors fade after death. When photographing, aim squarely at the pronotum too. Most important is an understanding of the nature of this dimorphism...see http://mycantharoidea.biosci.arizona.edu/OP/intro.html part 3.

… joeCicero, 2 August, 2009 - 11:38am

Moved

Moved from Photinus.

… v belov, 2 August, 2009 - 7:53am

suspect Photinus punctulatus LeConte

the only match found in D&A -- but TN is outside of the covered area, so i'll have to show it to Dr Cicero

Moved from Beetles.

… v belov, 1 August, 2009 - 11:01pm