Firefly's "distant relative" - red fireflies

Red fluorescent.

In the last issue, we talked about the "little elf" in the summer night, the fireflies, and today we introduce the distant relatives of the fireflies - the red fireflies. Although the name of the red firefly has the word "firefly" in it, and the firefly is considered a distant relative, it and the ancestors of the fireflies have been separated from the family for a long time, and it does not emit light is the biggest difference between the red fireflies and the fireflies.

The red firefly is a beetle of the order Coleoptera, with about 2900 species in the world and more than 60 species known in China. The body size is larger than that of fireflies, the body is flat, the body color is red, and there are also yellow, black and so on. Triangle of the dorsal plate of the anterior thorax. The elytra have a well-developed longitudinal ridge and a reticulation formed by notches. Adults are active during the day, visit flowers to suck honey, and release odors to drive away enemies when they encounter predators. The larvae live in the bark of trees or in decaying wood.

The following is a red firefly in the Dalian area.

Lipernes perspectus

Morphological characteristics: body length 7 ~ 11 mm, width 2 ~ 2.5 mm. The body color is black or dark brown, with a weak luster. The head is short, the compound eyes are large and prominent, and the antennae are serrated. The dorsal plate of the forethia is oval in shape, with a longitudinal groove in the center and curved upwards on both sides. The small shield is black with truncated ends. Elytra are peach-red with 4 longitudinal ribs on each side. The foot is short and strong, and the tarsal segment is short and thick.

Distribution: Liaoning, Jiangsu, Hubei, Fujian, Sichuan.

The manuscript of this column is provided by Dalian Natural History Museum

Author:Cheng Xiaodong (Researcher engaged in entomological research)