- Source: Pyrearinus
Pyrearinus is a genus of click beetle (family Elateridae).
As one of the members of the tribe Pyrophorini, all species of this genus have luminous organs on their abdomen; among them, larvae of Pyrearinus termitilluminans (described from Emas National Park, Brazil) are responsible for so-called "luminous termite hill" known to human beings at least since 1850.
Description
Size variable (from 7 to 26 mm). Brownish or black; some species have a bicolorous prothorax (lateral margins yellowish or reddish and discal region darker). Pubescence dense, short and yellowish or not so dense and apparently absent. Eyes little prominent in males. Antennae short, serrate from the fourth segment onwards; second small, third a little longer, elongate and almost of the same length as the fourth. Prothorax more or less convex. Luminous spots flat or slightly convex, localized posteriorly; in species with bicolorous prothorax the spots are confused with the color of the integument. Punctures variable. Mesosternal cavity sinusoidal. Metacoxal plates tapering outwardly. Abdominal luminous organ small, sometimes indistinct. Male genitalia extremely homogeneous; median lobe tapering to apex; lateral lobe short. Female genitalia, bursa copulatrix more or less spiraled with a variable number of long spines; median oviduct with sclerotized plates. Sexual dimorphism more or less accentuated, males with eyes larger than the females, and with longer antennae; in one species group (nyctolampis) the females have hind wings little shorter than usual.
List of species
The following list is based upon Costa (1978) unless otherwise noted.
Pyrearinus acutus (Candèze, 1863) Colombia
Pyrearinus adustus Costa, 1978 Brazil
Pyrearinus alvarengai (Cobos, 1959) Argentina; Brazil
Pyrearinus amplicollis (Candèze, 1863) Suriname; French Guiana
Pyrearinus baliolus Costa, 1978 Uruguay
Pyrearinus basalis (Schwarz, 1902) Ecuador
Pyrearinus brevicollis (Eschscholtz, 1829) Brazil
Pyrearinus brunneus Costa, 1978 Argentina
Pyrearinus candelarius (Germar, 1841) Brazil, Argentina
Pyrearinus castaneus Costa, 1978 Brazil
Pyrearinus cereus Costa, 1978 Brazil
Pyrearinus cinerarius (Germar, 1841) Brazil
Pyrearinus cinnameus Costa, 1978 Brazil
Pyrearinus coctilis Costa, 1978 Brazil
Pyrearinus commissator (Germar, 1841) Brazil
Pyrearinus depressicollis (Blanchard, 1843) Bolivia
Pyrearinus ferrugineus Costa, 1978 Argentina
Pyrearinus flatus Costa, 1978 Brazil
Pyrearinus fragilis Costa, 1978 Brazil
Pyrearinus fulgurans (Candèze, 1865) French Guiana
Pyrearinus fulvescens Costa, 1978 Brazil
Pyrearinus fulvus Costa, 1978 Brazil
Pyrearinus janus (Herbst, 1806) Brazil
Pyrearinus lampadion (Illiger, 1807) Brazil
Pyrearinus lampyris (Candèze, 1863) Brazil
Pyrearinus latus Costa, 1978 Brazil
Pyrearinus lineatus (Candèze, 1863) Paraguay
Pyrearinus lucernulus (Illiger, 1807) Brazil; Argentina
Pyrearinus lucidulus (Illiger, 1807) Peru
Pyrearinus lucificus (Germar, 1841) Brazil
Pyrearinus luscinus Costa, 1978 Brazil
Pyrearinus micatus Costa, 1978 Brazil
Pyrearinus mitarakensis Chassain, 2010 French Guiana
Pyrearinus nictitans (Illiger, 1807) Brazil
Pyrearinus nyctolampis (Germar, 1841) Brazil
Pyrearinus nyctophilus (Germar, 1841) Brazil
Pyrearinus pumilus (Candèze, 1863) Brazil
Pyrearinus pusillus Costa, 1978 Paraguay
Pyrearinus retrospiciens (Illiger, 1807) Brazil
Pyrearinus ruscus Costa, 1978 Brazil
Pyrearinus scintillula (Candèze, 1881) Brazil
Pyrearinus termitilluminans Costa, 1982 Brazil
Pyrearinus vesculus Costa, 1978 Brazil
Pyrearinus vescus Costa, 1978 Brazil
Pyrearinus vitticollis (Germar, 1841) Brazil
= Synonyms
=Pyrearinus candens (Germar, 1841) Brazil - accepted by Costa (1975:100), but synonymized with P. brevicollis by Costa (1979)
Pyrearinus gibbicollis (Blanchard, 1843) Argentina - accepted by Costa (1975:101), but synonymized with P. nyctolampis by Costa (1978:216)
References
Bibliography
Costa, C. (1975). "Systematics and evolution of the tribes Pyrophorini and Heligmini, with description of Campyloxeninae, new subfamily (Coleoptera, Elateridae)". Arquivos de Zoologia. 26 (2): 49–190. doi:10.11606/issn.2176-7793.v26i2p49-190. This article incorporates text by Cleide Costa available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Costa, C. (1978). "Sistématica e Bionomia de Pyrearinus Costa, 1975 (Coleoptera, Elateridae)". Arquivos de Zoologia (in Portuguese). 29 (4): 185–236. doi:10.11606/issn.2176-7793.v29i4p185-236.
Costa, C. (1982). "Pyrearinus termitilluminans, sp.n., with description of the immature stages (Coleoptera, Elateridae, Pyrophorini)". Revista Brasileira de Zoologia. 1 (1): 23–30. doi:10.1590/S0101-81751982000100003.
Viviani, V.R.; Rosa, S.P.; Prado, R.A.; Pelentir, G.F.; de Souza, D.R.; Reis, R.M.; Bechara, E.J.H. [in Portuguese]; Costa, C. (2023). "Inventory and ecological aspects of bioluminescent beetles in the Cerrado ecosystem and its decline around Emas National Park (Brazil)". Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 116 (6): 386–403. doi:10.1093/aesa/saad029.
Elateridae in SYNOPSIS OF THE DESCRIBED COLEOPTERA OF THE WORLD at the Wayback Machine (archived 2011-08-08)
