My senior project is genetic diversity of firefly, Pteroptyx malaccae (Coleoptera; Lampyridae) in Thailand.
Fireflies are a member of the beetle family Lampyridae. They have long slender soft-body and bioluminescence abdomen. In some countries including Thailand, fireflies can be considered as one of the main ecotourism attractions. Fireflies can also be used as a biological indicator as they can only survive in relatively clean and undisturbed habitats. Pteroptyx malaccae is one of the firefly species abundantly found in the tropical mangroves. This firefly species has a unique synchronous flashing behavior which can attract tourist attention. In this study, we aim to assess genetic diversity and population genetic structure of P. malaccae distributed throughout Thailand. Mitochondrial Cytochrome oxidase I (COI) and Cytochrome b (CytB) genes were amplified from 79 P. malaccae specimens. The DNA sequences were analyzed, and phylogenetic tree were constructed using neighbor-joining (NJ) and maximum likelihood (ML) methods. Genetic structures of population will be analyzed to identify the status of this P. malaccae in Thailand.