Deilelater
Genus of beetle
Deilelater is a genus of click beetles in the family Elateridae. They are one of several genera in the tribe Pyrophorini, all of which are bioluminescent. This genus was established by Cleide Costa in 1975, with 7 species split from Pyrophorus.
01Description
Generally very small. Reddish-brown. Pubescence short, not very dense, yellowish. Eyes slightly convex. Front narrow, not prominent. Antennae reaching hind angles of prothorax; second and third segments subequal; the two together of the same length as the fourth. Prothorax more or less convex; luminous spots lateral, flat or slightly convex, visible also in the proepisternum. Abdominal luminous organ small and lamellate. Elytra sides subparallel, rounded to apices. Male genitalia, median lobe abruptly pointed near apex, with small cuticular scales. Female genitalia: bursa copulatrix spiraled and with long spines; elongate sclerotized plates in the median oviduct.
Vesperelater, another genus of the tribe Pyrophorini occurring in western Mexico and Southwestern United States, is distinguished from Deilelater in male genitalia with lateral lobes with well-developed subapical spines.
02Range
Species of this genus occur in Southeastern United States, Mexico, Central America and South America (western side).
03List of species
All but D. ustulatus were transferred from Pyrophorus by Costa (1975) (with type localities given).
- Deilelater atlanticus (Hyslop, 1918) - Enterprise, Florida, U.S.A.
- Deilelater bellamyi (Van Zwaluwenburg, 1936) - El Salto, Escuintla, Guatemala [reared]
- Deilelater mexicanus (Champion, 1896) - Yucatán, Mexico
- Deilelater physoderus (Germar, 1841) - Alabama, U.S.A.
- Deilelater radians (Champion, 1896) - 'Pancina' [= Panimá], [Baja] Verapaz, Guatemala
- Deilelater stella (Candèze, 1863) - Mexico
- Deilelater ustulatus Costa, 1983 - Dunedin, Florida, U.S.A.
04Excluded taxa
- Deilelater sirius (Candèze, 1878) - Costa Rica; transferred to Vesperelater by Rosa (2007:77, 177-178)
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Deilelater”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Deilelater physoderus (Germar, 1841) iNaturalist 93648074.jpg by tcantrell52, CC BY 4.0
- Male genitalia of Pyrophorini from Arquiv. Zool. 26(2) 140.png by Arquivos de Zoologia, CC BY 4.0
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