Nocturnal aerial predation of fireflies by light-seeking fireflies

Female Photuris fireflies guided by their prey's luminescence attack flying fireflies at night. They sometimes use this hunting tactic together with prey attraction by mating-signal mimicry. Such predation could have been a major factor in the evolution of signaling behavior of American firefli...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inScience (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 222; no. 4624; pp. 634 - 635
Main Authors Lloyd, J.E, Wing, S.R
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Washington, DC The American Association for the Advancement of Science 11.11.1983
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Subjects
Animal ethology
Behavior
Biological and medical sciences
Entomology
Female animals
Fireflies
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Hovering
Hunting
Insect flight
Itinerant sales
Lampyridae
Light emitting diodes
Male animals
Photuris
Predation
Predation (Biology)
Predators
Protozoa. Invertebrata
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Darkness
Invertebrata
Coleoptera
Arthropoda
Insecta
Prey behavior
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Summary:Female Photuris fireflies guided by their prey's luminescence attack flying fireflies at night. They sometimes use this hunting tactic together with prey attraction by mating-signal mimicry. Such predation could have been a major factor in the evolution of signaling behavior of American fireflies. Nocturnal aerial predation by an insect and attack guidance on energy emitted by airborne prey have not previously been reported.
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ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.222.4624.634