Introduction. The name of each listed species is followed by up to five sources that report the species as occurring in Michigan. Sources in all upper-case letters refer to specific insect collections: MSU-ARC refers to material held by the Michigan State University Arthropod Research Collection (data provided by G. Parsons). All others refer to collection data extracted from the Symbiota Collections of Arthropods Network (SCAN) database online at https://scan-bugs.org/. See the Methods page for a list of abbreviations and associated collections.

Species names preceded by a single '?' are considered probable (for occurring in Michigan) but uncertain records. Those preceded by '??' are considered possible but unlikely to occur in Michigan. Species that are fully accepted as having valid Michigan records are unmarked. Species reported in the literature that we consider to be erroneous Michigan records are in a separate list following the others.

About 50 species of Photuris are known from the U.S., but most cannot be identified except by flash patterns.  Our list includes ten species reported from Michigan (eight of which we accept), but only four are considered reliable, as flash patterns have not been reported for most Michigan observations.

LAMPYRIDAE

3 subfamilies, 2 tribes, 8 genera, 33 species

Subfamily Lampyrinae

Tribe Cratomorphini

Pyractomena angulata (Say, 1825): Faust (2017), Lloyd (2018), Hatch (1924), Hubbard and Schwarz (1878), MSU-ARC

Pyractomena borealis (Randall, 1828): Faust (2017), Lloyd (2018), Hubbard and Schwarz (1878), Downie and Arnett (1996), MSU-ARC

Pyractomena dispersa Green, 1957: Bright (2015), Lloyd (2018), Evans (2014), Downie and Arnett (1996), MSU-ARC

Pyractomena linearis LeConte, 1852: Faust (2017), Bright (2015), Leng (1920), Downie and Arnett (1996), MSU-ARC

Pyractomena lucifera (Melsheimer, 1845): Bright (2015), Lloyd (2018), Hubbard and Schwarz (1878), Downie and Arnett (1996), MSU-ARC

?Pyractomena marginalis Green, 1957: BugGuide; very clear photo from Montcalm County

Tribe Lucidotini

??Ellychnia autumnalis Melsheimer, 1852: PSUC:ENTO

Ellychnia corrusca (Linnaeus, 1767): Clampitt et al. (1996), Haack and Ruesink (2020), Hubbard and Schwarz (1878), Downie and Arnett (1996), MSU-ARC

Ellychnia lacustris LeConte, 1852: Marvin (1965), Downie and Arnett (1996), MCZ (Keweenaw Co.)

Lucidota atra (Olivier, 1790): Clampitt et al. (1996), Haack and Ruesink (2020), Hubbard and Schwarz (1878), Downie and Arnett (1996), MSU-ARC

Phausis inaccensa LeConte, 1878: Faust (2017), Hubbard and Schwarz (1878), Downie and Arnett (1996)

Photinus aquilonius Lloyd, 1969: Lloyd (1969), Downie and Arnett (1996), MSU-ARC

Photinus ardens LeConte, 1852: Green (1956), Lloyd (1966), Hubbard and Schwarz (1878), Downie and Arnett (1996), MSU-ARC

Photinus consanguineus LeConte, 1852: Lloyd (1966), Clampitt et al. (1996), Hubbard and Schwarz (1878), MSU-ARC

Photinus consimilis Green, 1956: Lloyd (1966), Green (1956), Bright (2015), Downie and Arnett (1996), MSU-ARC

Photinus curtatus Green, 1956: Lloyd (1966), Green (1956), Downie and Arnett (1996)

Photinus ignitus Fall, 1927: Lloyd (1966); don't know where he got his record, but it's plausible

Photinus indictus (LeConte, 1881): Lloyd (1966), Faust (2017), Haack and Ruesink (2020), Downie and Arnett (1996), MSU-ARC

?Photinus macdermotti Lloyd, 1966: Downie and Arnett (1996), MSU-ARC; known from FL to NY & maybe west to OH, flash patterns of living specimens required for positive ID

Photinus marginellus LeConte, 1852: Lloyd (1966), Green (1956), Andrews (1916), MSU-ARC

Photinus obscurellus LeConte, 1851: Faust (2017), Bright (2015), Downie and Arnett (1996), MSU-ARC

Photinus pyralis (Linnaeus, 1767): Lloyd (1966), Lloyd (2018), Clampitt et al. (1996), Andrews (1923), MSU-ARC

Pyropyga decipiens (Harris, 1836): Clampitt et al. (1996), Bright (2015), Hubbard and Schwarz (1878), MSU-ARC

Pyropyga nigricans (Say, 1823): Bright (2015), Hatch (1924), Hubbard and Schwarz (1878), MSU-ARC

Subfamily Photurinae

Photuris alexanderi Lloyd, 2018: Lloyd (2018); described from Univ. of Michigan Biological Station, Cheboygan Co.

??Photuris aureolucens Barber, 1951: MSU-ARC; known with certainty only from the Wisconsin types; flash patterns of living specimens required for positive ID

Photuris caerulucens Barber, 1951: Lloyd (2018), MSU-ARC

Photuris fairchildi Barber, 1951: Lloyd (2018)

??Photuris potomaca Barber, 1951: MSU-ARC; mostly found south & east of the Ohio River; flash patterns of living specimens required for positive ID

??Photuris pyralomima Barber, 1951: MSU-ARC; NY in Downie and Arnett (1996); Barber (2018) doubts that this is a valid species

Photuris quadrifulgens Barber, 1951: Lloyd (2018); reported from Berrien Co.

??Photuris tremulans Barber, 1951: MSU-ARC; OH & IN in Lloyd (2018), MSU specimens don't look like photos in Lloyd (2018).

Subfamily Psilocladinae

Pollaclasis bifaria (Say, 1835): Ruesink and Parsons (2023), MSU-ARC; a distinctive sp. with unusual antennae

The following species were also reported from Michigan, but we consider them to be adventive, misidentifications or other errors:

Subfamily Lampyrinae

Tribe Cratomorphini

Pyractomena angustata (LeConte, 1852): Hubbard and Schwarz (1878) as Photinus angustatus Lec.; a SE sp. that does not occur north of Alabama & Georgia (Lloyd, 2018)

Tribe Lucidotini

Pyropyga minuta (LeConte, 1852): TTU:TTU-Z; Saginaw Co., St Charles; a SE sp., should not be in MI

Subfamily Photurinae

Photuris pensylvanica (DeGeer, 1774): Clampitt et al. (1996), Andrews (1923), Hatch (1924), Hubbard and Schwarz (1878); ca. 50 sp. known in this genus, but true P. pensylvanica is known only from Washington, DC, area (Lloyd, 2018)

Photuris versicolor (Fabricius, 1798): Leng (1920); occurs only south & east of the Ohio River (Lloyd, 2018)

This family list was last updated: January 6, 2023