Albert Allen false firefly beetle (Namibdrilus albertalleni) from Namibia with unique morphology of Drilini

NEWS - Albert Allen false firefly beetle (Namibdrilus albertalleni) from Namibia brings the Drilini to 16 genera as this unique taxon provides new insights into the diversity and evolution of this enigmatic and intriguing lineage of paedomorphic beetles.

Drilini are soft-bodied predatory beetles with females undergoing incomplete metamorphosis. About 150 described species are distributed across the Afrotropical, Palearctic and Oriental regions with the highest diversity known from sub-Saharan Africa.

The type species in this study is the only representative of Drilini with unidentified mandibles and no hooks on the dorsal part of the median aedeagal lobe, two of the few characters used for identification. Morphology belongs to the Drilus clade which previously contained only taxa from the Palearctic Region.

The Namibian specimen and the generic name Namibdrilus are derived from the Republic of Namibia, plus Drilus, the genus name within the Elateridae. The name albertalleni is from Albert Allen who allowed Robin Kundrata and Gabriela Packova from Palacky University in Olomouc to study the unique specimen.

Based on the results of molecular phylogeny and morphological characters, Drilini is divided into clades A, W, S, M and D. Clades A, W, S and M contain Afrotropical taxa singly or predominantly with some species of clade S extending into the Oriental Region, while clade D contains exclusively Palearctic species.

The researchers suspect that Namibdrilus from southern Africa belongs to one of the African clades, but morphologically it belongs to the clade containing the Palearctic species. All known African Drilini differ from Namibdrilus by having a short frontoclipal region and a median aedeagal lobe with a dorsal hook.

One of the most striking characters of Namibdrilus is that the frontoclipal is very forward and is even visible from the ventral view of the head. Drilini have frontoclipal regions of variable shape, but none of them resemble the frontoclipal region of Namibdrilus which is oriented straight forward and somewhat truncated apically and broadly rounded.

Original research

Kundrata R, Packova G (2024). Discovery of a new soft-bodied click-beetle genus from Namibia with a unique morphology leads to a modified diagnosis of Drilini (Coleoptera, Elateridae). ZooKeys 1213: 183-197, DOI:10.3897/zookeys.1213.131283

Dlium theDlium

Lolot (Piper sarmentosum)

Lolot pepper ( Piper sarmentosum ) is a species of plant in Piperaceae, perennial herb, erect or lodging, creeping rhizome, up to 120 cm long, branched, enlarged branches, cylindrical stems, brown or green, often grooved, growing on the forest floor and shade. P. sarmentosum has leaf stalks up to 15 cm long, up to 13 cm wide, green, alternately arranged, heart-shaped, pointed tips and flat margins. The leaves have 5 main veins from the base of the blade, linear and slightly curved to the tip, glands on the upper surface and many fine pinnate veins. The upper side is shiny green, the lower side is pale green. The flowers are white. The fruit grows in the upper armpit of the leaf, is slightly oval and green. The leaves are used as a medicine for asthma, malaria, stomach ache, tinea versicolor, toothache, difficulty urinating, aches and pains, maintaining stamina, antibacterial, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and so on. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiosperma...

East Indian globe thistle (Sphaeranthus indicus)

Gorakhmundi or gorakh mundi or mundi buti ka phool or mundi booti ka phool or sembung delan or East Indian globe thistle ( Sphaeranthus indicus ) is a species of plant in Asteroideae, a perennial, multi-branched, strong fragrance with erect stems, winged and toothed wings, growing wild in rice fields forming colonies, dense open rugs in the tropics. S. indicus has alternating sitting leaves, oval, narrow at the base, toothed and serrated, 1-3 cm long and green. Leaves 2-7 cm long, 1-3 wide, broad and deep wings, continuing into a large bone in the center of the leaf to a sharp tip and several lateral veins. The flower is round, grows at the tip, has a large and long stalk, is purple in color, 8-15 mm in size, consists of many tiny flowers, green or red or purple and has pale purple stamens. Head ovate-ellipsoid and 12-15 mm long. Phyllaries are white and have purple crest. Female flowers have a corolla tube 2-2.5 mm long. The bisexual flowers are 2.3-3 mm long and the hardened pa...

Breng (Coldenia breng)

Breng ( Coldenia breng ) is a species of plant in the Boraginaceae family. It is a herbaceous plant that grows along the ground, with radial, cylindrical stems, red, multi-branched, alternate, and white-haired. C. breng has alternate leaves along the stem, oval to nearly round, up to 2.5 cm long, up to 1.5 cm wide, and white-haired. This plant grows in floodplains, seasonally inundated riverbanks, and drying rice fields. It thrives in sandy or silty soils and is drought-tolerant. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Boraginales Family: Boraginaceae Subfamily: Cordioideae Genus: Coldenia L. in Sp. Pl.: 125 (1753) Species: Coldenia breng Aryo Bandoro Dlium TheDlium YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dlium

Dlium