Female fireflies in the genus Photuris are predatory on males of other firefly genera and are known to lure unsuspecting prey by mimicking female flash patterns. From 2004–2012, late-season (2 July–10 August) female Photuris lucicrescens were captured while emitting variable atypical signals on the wing and flying in loose associations in non-breeding habitat in Delaware and Pennsylvania. These observations corroborate those recognized by Herbert S. Barber in his description of the species over sixty years ago. I report these atypical flash patterns (single and multiple weak and bright flashes) and hypothesize that late-season P. lucicrescens might be patrolling non-breeding habitat in an effort to locate sedentary females who would respond to their variable male-like flash patterns. This hypothesis differs from traditional “femmes fatales” firefly models in that late-season female P. lucicrescens appear to be mimicking signaling males, rather than sedentary females, to locate prey.
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1 March 2014
Late-Season Patrolling Behavior and Flash Patterns of Female Photuris lucicrescens Barber (Coleoptera: Lampyridae)
Christopher M. Heckscher
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Northeastern Naturalist
Vol. 21 • No. 1
March 2014
Vol. 21 • No. 1
March 2014