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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Elateriformia » Elateroidea » Fireflies (Lampyridae) » Lampyrinae » Lucidotini » Diurnal Fireflies (Ellychnia)

Genus Ellychnia - Diurnal Fireflies

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Works Cited

Mated Fireflies on Tree Trunk - Ellychnia corrusca - male - female

Ellychnia corrusca - Winter Firefly - Ellychnia corrusca

Pennsylvania Beetle - Ellychnia corrusca

Mating pair on peony - Ellychnia - male - female

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Coleoptera (Beetles)

Suborder Polyphaga

No Taxon (Series Elateriformia)

Superfamily Elateroidea

Family Lampyridae (Fireflies)

Subfamily Lampyrinae

Tribe Lucidotini

Genus Ellychnia (Diurnal Fireflies)

Other Common Names

Day-flying Firefly, Winter Firefly

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

several spp. from sw. US (E. flavicollis, E. bivulneris) and the Pacific coast currently placed here are not congeneric with E. corrusca and appear to be more closely related to Vesta (another messed up taxon) or a discontinuous coastal complex that includes the Chilean Pyractena. --based on Joe Cicero's 29.viii.2014 comment

Explanation of Names

Ellychnia Blanchard 1845

Greek 'lamp wick' (from lychnos 'lamp')

Numbers

>12 spp. in our area (needs revision)(1)

Size

5‒14 mm

Identification

see (2)

Range

across NA, but uncommon in Great Basin, Great Plains and se US(1)

Habitat

Active during the day; common on tree trunks in spring, on goldenrod and asters in autumn(3), or on flowers and grassy vegetation, esp. in moist habitats(4)

Works Cited

1.	American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea Arnett, R.H., Jr., M. C. Thomas, P. E. Skelley and J. H. Frank. (eds.). 2002. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL.

2.	Ellychnia of western North America (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) K.M. Fender. 1970. Northwest Science 44: 31-43.

3.	Peterson Field Guides: Beetles Richard E. White. 1983. Houghton Mifflin Company.

4.	Field Guide to Beetles of California Arthur V. Evans and James N. Hogue. 2006. University of California Press.

Contributed by Tony DiTerlizzi on 15 July, 2004 - 7:49am
Additional contributions by cotinis, Bbarnd, Mike Quinn, Aaron Schusteff, v belov, Edward Ruden
Last updated 28 February, 2024 - 11:23pm

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