Microphotus octarthrus (a firefly) | Natural Heritage New Mexico

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Coleoptera

Family: Lampyridae

Genus: Microphotus

Species: octarthrus

a firefly - Microphotus octarthrus

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Species Extent (New Mexico)

Global Rank: GU

State Rank: S1

Rank Metadata
State Rank: S1	Rank Changed: 05/09/2025
Rank Reviewed: N/A
Reason: While this species has a large Extent of Occurrence in New Mexico of 113,441km2 the specialized habitat requirment for the species and the widespread nature of the threats to it make Area of Occupancy and number of occurrences better indicator of risk as most of the species Extent of Occurrence is inhospitable arid regions. The species has an Area of Occupancy of just 10km2 and is only known from ten occurrences. Furthrmore, the females are flightless which makes them especially vulnerable to a wide range of threats. The species also is reliant on a specialized habitat which is rare and declining in New Mexico. This species also faces a wide variety of threats including drought, light pollution, cattle grazing and many others which are widespread and could signifcantly decreases the chances of species persistance. As a result, this firefly species is currently assessed as S1 in New Mexico however, a reassesment is needed if more information becomes available.

Ecological Factors
Specificity: Very narrow. Specialist or community with key requirements scarce.	Range Extent: 20,000-200,000 square km (about 8000-80,000 square miles)
Occurences: 6 - 20	Population Size: Unknown
Area of Occupancy: An Area of Occupancy of 10km2 was calculated using GeoCat with data aggregated by local firefly experts.	Threat Summary: N/A

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SWAP Status:

NMRP Strategy Status:

Number of Subpopulations: 0

Number of Mapped Locations: 0

Number of Observations: 0

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