The Cratomorphini are a

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

fireflies The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...

within the large

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Lampyrinae The Lampyrinae are a large subfamily of fireflies ( Lampyridae). The exact delimitation, and the internal systematics, have until recently been a matter of debate; for long this group was used as a " wastebin taxon" to hold any fireflies with ins ...

. The

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

placed in this tribe often contain well-sized members of their

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

. The

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e of many

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

climb trees to feed on snails. This group includes a few "lightning bugs" (flashing fireflies) from

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, such as the genus ''

Pyractomena ''Pyractomena'' is a genus of fireflies in the family Lampyridae The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fire ...

''. Further south in the American

tropics The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

, '' Aspisoma'' can be found.

Systematics

The group has recently been examined using molecular phylogenetics, using fairly comprehensive sampling.

Genera

* '' Aspisoma'' Laporte, 1833 * '' Aspisomoides'' Zaragoza-Caballero, 1995 * '' Cassidomorphus'' Motschulsky, 1853 * '' Cratomorphus'' Motschulsky, 1853 * '' Micronaspis'' Green, 1948 * '' Paracratomorphus'' Zaragoza-Caballero, 2013 * ''

'' LeConte, 1845

References

Lampyridae Polyphaga tribes {{firefly-stub