Four New Species of North American Fireflies from Isolated Peatlands with Reference to Species Determination of Photuris Dejean (Coleoptera: Lampyridae)

Christopher M. Heckscher*

*Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Delaware State University, 1200 N. DuPont Highway, Dover, DE 19901.

Northeastern Naturalist, Volume 28, Issue 3 (2021): 277–295

Abstract
Four species of fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) are newly described herein: Photuris anna n. sp., P. sheckscheri n. sp., P. eliza n. sp., P. sellicki n. sp. All were discovered occupying acidic peat wetlands of high ecological quality in the mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States (Delaware, New Jersey, New York). I present a diagnostic phenotypic profile for each as a means to aid in the identification of Photuris fireflies. The association of these species with specific wetland types suggests that the edaphic heterogeneity of wetlands may be a driver of Photuris diversification.

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