Sinopyrophorus

Sinopyrophorus is a genus of bioluminescent hard-bodied clicking beetles in the superfamily Elateroidea, and is the sole member of the recently recognized family Sinopyrophoridae.^[1] The genus currently contains a single species, Sinopyrophorus schimmeli, which was described in 2019 from the subtropical evergreen broadleaf forests of western Yunnan, China.^[2]

Sinopyrophorus
Male (labelled "2") and female (labelled "3") specimens of Sinopyrophorus schimmeli
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Superfamily:	Elateroidea
Family:	Sinopyrophoridae Bi & Li, 2019
Genus:	Sinopyrophorus Bi & Li, 2019
Species:	S. schimmeli
Binomial name
Sinopyrophorus schimmeli Bi & Li, 2019

Sinopyrophorus was previously thought to represent the only bioluminescent click beetles (Elateridae) known from Asia, however, despite their similar "clicking" mechanism & light organ structure when compared to the true bioluminescent click beetles (e.g. Pyrophorini), phylogenomic analyses revealed they are phylogenetically outside the Elateridae proper, and therefore were elevated to their own independent family, the Sinopyrophoridae.^[1]

Sinopyrophorus is only distantly related to the hard bodied true bioluminescent click beetles, such as the Pyrophorini. Instead, Sinopyrophorus represents the earliest diverging member of the monophyletic clade of bioluminescent beetles known as the lampyroid beetles, which includes Sinopyrophoridae, Rhagophthalmidae, Phengodidae, and Lampyridae.^[1]

References

1. Kusy, Dominik; He, Jin‐Wu; Bybee, Seth M.; Motyka, Michal; Bi, Wen‐Xuan; Podsiadlowski, Lars; Li, Xue‐Yan; Bocak, Ladislav (2020-08-25). "Phylogenomic relationships of bioluminescent elateroids define the 'lampyroid' clade with clicking Sinopyrophoridae as its earliest member". Systematic Entomology. 46. Wiley: 111–123. doi:10.1111/syen.12451. ISSN 0307-6970.
2. Bi, Wen-Xuan; He, Jin-Wu; Chen, Chang-Chin; Kundrata, Robin; Li, Xue-Yan (2019-07-17). "Sinopyrophorinae, a new subfamily of Elateridae (Coleoptera, Elateroidea) with the first record of a luminous click beetle in Asia and evidence for multiple origins of bioluminescence in Elateridae". ZooKeys (864). Pensoft Publishers: 79–97. doi:10.3897/zookeys.864.26689. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 6656784. PMID 31363346.