The Lampyrini are a tribe

Tribe (biology)

In biology, a tribe is a taxonomic rank between family and genus. It is sometimes subdivided into subtribes.Some examples include the tribes: Canini, Acalypheae, Hominini, Bombini, and Antidesmeae.-See also:* Biological classification* Rank...

 of fireflies

Fireflies

Fireflies is a novel by Shiva Naipaul originally published in 1970. It was his first book, a comic novel set in Trinidad. In an essay in An Unfinished Journey, Naipaul described how in 1968 as a final year student at Oxford University studying Chinese, he had been moved to write down a sentence,...

 in the large subfamily Lampyrinae

Lampyrinae

The Lampyrinae are a large subfamily of fireflies . The exact delimitation, and the internal systematics, are a matter of debate; for long this group was used as a "wastebin taxon" to hold any fireflies with insufficiently resolved relationships...

. The lineage formerly separated as Pleotomini seems to be a specialized offshoot of the Lampyrini not too distant from the type genus

Type genus

In biological classification, a type genus is a representative genus, as with regard to a biological family. The term and concept is used much more often and much more formally in zoology than it is in botany, and the definition is dependent on the nomenclatural Code that applies:* In zoological...

 Lampyris

Lampyris

Lampyris is a genus of beetle in the firefly family . In most of western Eurasia, they are the predominant fireflies. They produce a continuous glow.; the larvae and larviform females are among those organisms commonly called "glowworms"....

and is therefore included here. This tribe occurs throughout the Holarctic

Holarctic

The Holarctic ecozone refers to the habitats found throughout the northern continents of the world as a whole. This region is divided into the Palearctic, consisting of Northern Africa and all of Eurasia, with the exception of Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent, and the Nearctic,...

 and contains the typical "glowing" or "continuous-light" fireflies from that region. Some otherwise very advanced Lampyrini, like species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 in Paraphausis and Pyrocoelia, have degenerated light-producing organs again and communicate primarily or even exclusively with pheromone

Pheromone

A pheromone is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting outside the body of the secreting individual to impact the behavior of the receiving individual...

s like the ancestors of the fireflies did.

Selected genera

The validity of several genera and the delimitation of others (such as Diaphanes

Diaphanes (beetle)

Diaphanes is a genus of firefly in the Lampyrinae subfamily. Species within this genus are:* D. citrinus* D. exsanguis* D. formosus* D. guttatus* D. lampyroides* D. limbatus* D. marginella* D. mendax...

and Pyrocoelia) is in need of review.

• Diaphanes
  Diaphanes (beetle)
  Diaphanes is a genus of firefly in the Lampyrinae subfamily. Species within this genus are:* D. citrinus* D. exsanguis* D. formosus* D. guttatus* D. lampyroides* D. limbatus* D. marginella* D. mendax...
  
  
• Lampyris
  Lampyris
  Lampyris is a genus of beetle in the firefly family . In most of western Eurasia, they are the predominant fireflies. They produce a continuous glow.; the larvae and larviform females are among those organisms commonly called "glowworms"....
  
  
• Lychnuris
• Microphotus LeConte, 1866
• Nyctophila
• Paraphausis Green, 1948
• Pelania
• Pleotomodes Green, 1948
• Pleotomus LeConte, 1861
• Pyrocoelia

Some of the Cratomorphini

Cratomorphini

The Cratomorphini are a disputed tribe of fireflies of the large subfamily Lampyrinae. The genera placed here often contain well-sized members of their family. The larvae of many species climb trees to feed on snails. This group contains a few "lightning bugs" from North America, e.g. the genus...

 – maybe an entirely paraphyletic assemblage – might also belong here, e.g. Aspisoma.