Atyphella scabra Olivier, 1911

Ballantyne, Lesley A. & Lambkin, Christine, 2009, Systematics of Indo-Pacific fireflies with a redefinition of Australasian Atyphella Olliff, Madagascan Photuroluciola Pic, and description of seven new genera from the Luciolinae (Coleoptera: Lampyridae), Zootaxa 1997, pp. 1-188 : 51-52

Atyphella scabra Olivier, 1911

(Figs 177–185)

Atyphella scabra Olivier, 1911 , p. 173; 1913, p. 417.

Luciola (Luciola) scabia (Olivier) . McDermott, 1966, p.112 (Mis-spelling).

Holotype. Male. PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Pawarin labelled (Fig. 180): 1. ( HW) male symbol; 2. ( HW) Pawarin Juin, 1903; 3. typed Nieuw Guinea Expeditie 1903; 4. pink label, ( HW) Atyphella scabra Ern Oliv. (MNHN) .

Other material examined. PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Pawarin Male labelled as for type except lacking identification label . PAPUA NEW GUINEA: 3.17S, 142.35E, Torecella Mt, Sea Falls near Afua, 1700 ft, 1939, P G Moore, 2 males ( BPBM) .

Diagnosis. Distinguished from all other Atyphella by the widely bipartite LO in both V6 and V7, the pointed MPP, the considerable extension of T8 beyond the margin of V7, and the strong elevation of interstitial lines 1, 2 exceeding that of the suture.

Male redescription. 7.8–9.0 mm long; 3.2–3.9 mm wide; W/L approx. 2.5. Colour: (Figs 177, 178). Pronotum: dingy orange, median half darker brown and extending to anterior and posterior margins (punctures here ringed in darker brown); elevations above eyes appearing paler in Sea Falls males; head dark brown, antennae and palpi light brown; MN yellow, MS brown not as dark as mid-brown elytra (type elytra slightly darker in anterior half and along interstitial lines 1, 2); narrow area of epipleuron in type male slightly paler brown than rest; ventral thorax pale brown, except for darker brownish semitransparent metasternum; legs pale brown; basal ventrites brown; V6 and 7 semitransparent, areas of LOs yellowish, whitish fat body continuous between LO halves in Sea Falls males, not continuous in type; tergites dingy yellow and semitransparent, ventral surface of T8 orange yellow. Pronotum: 1.6–1.8 mm long; 3.1–3.5 mm wide; W/L 1.9–2.1; dorsal surface smooth, densely punctate, punctures contiguous over most of surface; lateral margins divergent posteriorly with rounded convergence; posterolateral corners rounded obtuse, projecting little behind median posterior margin; anterior portion of hypomeron flat; posterior portion of hypomeron flat, both areas closely adpressed (Fig. 178). Elytron (Fig. 177): convex-sided; 2 well–defined interstitial lines (1, 2) more strongly elevated than, and 1.5 to 2 X as thick as sutural ridge; basal edges of line 2 and inner margin of line 1 bearing single line of punctures larger than rest, irregular in shape and size; epipleuron and suture continue around apex as a ridge, not thickened in their apical half. Head: not able to be retracted within prothoracic cavity; GHW 1.8–2.3 mm; SIW 0.15–0.2 mm; SIW/GHW 1/9–1/11; ASD<ASW, antennal sockets very close not contiguous; frons-vertex junction not defined, this area rounded. Mouthparts well developed, probably functional; apical segment of labial palpi ovoid, longer than wide. Antennal length subequal to GHW or slightly less; 11 segmented. Abdomen (Figs 178, 179): LO in V6 and V7 restricted to small anterolateral plaques occupying less than half area of each ventrite. MPP short, narrow, apically acute; posterolateral corners short, slightly angulate, horizontal (appear to project slightly posteriorly in pinned specimens, after soaking in water or ethanol are round, not projecting). Tergites: T8 (Figs 178, 179) as wide as long; posterior half as wide as anterior half, projecting for about half its width beyond posterior margin of V7; posterior margin of T8 bisinuate; anterior prolongations of T8 not developed. Aedeagal sheath (Figs 181–183): posterior margin of sternite rounded, with short rounded medial projection (arrow in Figs 182, 183). Aedeagus ( Figs 35, 184–185): L/ W 2.5/1, LL/ML 2.2; LL diverge along their length and are widely separated at their rounded apices; LL slightly shorter than ML, apices rounded, out-turned and narrower than apex and base of ML; base of LL produced anteriorly and broadly rounded (appears slightly asymmetrical, interpreted here as symmetrical); ML broad, apically rounded.

Female and larva. Unknown.

Remarks. Olivier (1911) described the median dark mark wider along the anterior margin than posterior, a distinction not now obvious on the type. Olivier also described the brown elytra as finely pale margined laterally; he keyed scabra using '‘elytra black'’. The margins on the type do not appear paler than the rest.