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[pt; species] (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

Larvae of Pyrearinus termitilluminans glowing on termite hills in Goiás, Brazil.

The following list is based upon Costa (1978) unless otherwise noted.

  • Pyrearinus acutus[species] (Candèze, 1863) Colombia
  • Pyrearinus adustus[species] Costa, 1978 Brazil
  • Pyrearinus alvarengai (Cobos, 1959) Argentina; Brazil
  • Pyrearinus amplicollis[species] (Candèze, 1863) Suriname; French Guiana
  • Pyrearinus baliolus[species] Costa, 1978 Uruguay
  • Pyrearinus basalis[species] (Schwarz, 1902) Ecuador
  • Pyrearinus brevicollis[species] (Eschscholtz, 1829) Brazil
  • Pyrearinus brunneus[species] Costa, 1978 Argentina
  • Pyrearinus candelarius (Germar, 1841) Brazil, Argentina
  • Pyrearinus castaneus[species] Costa, 1978 Brazil
  • Pyrearinus cereus[species] Costa, 1978 Brazil
  • Pyrearinus cinerarius[species] (Germar, 1841) Brazil
  • Pyrearinus cinnameus[species] Costa, 1978 Brazil
  • Pyrearinus coctilis[species] Costa, 1978 Brazil
  • Pyrearinus commissator[species] (Germar, 1841) Brazil
  • Pyrearinus depressicollis[species] (Blanchard, 1843) Bolivia
  • Pyrearinus ferrugineus[species] Costa, 1978 Argentina
  • Pyrearinus flatus[species] Costa, 1978 Brazil
  • Pyrearinus fragilis[species] Costa, 1978 Brazil
  • Pyrearinus fulgurans[species] (Candèze, 1865) French Guiana
  • Pyrearinus fulvescens[species] Costa, 1978 Brazil
  • Pyrearinus fulvus[species] Costa, 1978 Brazil
  • Pyrearinus janus (Herbst, 1806) Brazil
  • Pyrearinus lampadion[species] (Illiger, 1807) Brazil
  • Pyrearinus lampyris[species] (Candèze, 1863) Brazil
  • Pyrearinus latus[species] Costa, 1978 Brazil
  • Pyrearinus lineatus[species] (Candèze, 1863) Paraguay
  • Pyrearinus lucernulus[species] (Illiger, 1807) Brazil; Argentina
  • Pyrearinus lucidulus[species] (Illiger, 1807) Peru
  • Pyrearinus lucificus[species] (Germar, 1841) Brazil
  • Pyrearinus luscinus[species] Costa, 1978 Brazil
  • Pyrearinus micatus[species] Costa, 1978 Brazil
  • Pyrearinus mitarakensis[species] Chassain, 2010 French Guiana
  • Pyrearinus nictitans[species] (Illiger, 1807) Brazil
  • Pyrearinus nyctolampis[species] (Germar, 1841) Brazil
  • Pyrearinus nyctophilus[species] (Germar, 1841) Brazil
  • Pyrearinus pumilus[species] (Candèze, 1863) Brazil
  • Pyrearinus pusillus[species] Costa, 1978 Paraguay
  • Pyrearinus retrospiciens[species] (Illiger, 1807) Brazil
  • Pyrearinus ruscus[species] Costa, 1978 Brazil
  • Pyrearinus scintillula[species] (Candèze, 1881) Brazil
  • Pyrearinus termitilluminans Costa, 1982 Brazil
  • Pyrearinus vesculus[species] Costa, 1978 Brazil
  • Pyrearinus vescus[species] Costa, 1978 Brazil
  • Pyrearinus vitticollis[species] (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)

Bibliography

  • Costa, C. (1975). . Arquivos de Zoologia. 26 (2): 49–190. doi:. This article incorporates by Cleide Costa available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
  • Costa, C. (1978). . Arquivos de Zoologia (in Portuguese). 29 (4): 185–236. doi:.
  • Costa, C. (1982). . Revista Brasileira de Zoologia. 1 (1): 23–30. doi:.
  • 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:.
  • at the Wayback Machine (archived 2011-08-08)