Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
for more than a century(!) most
Photuris spp. in NA were lumped under the name
P. pennsylvanica, but Barber's (1951) work on flashing behavior led to recognition of several new and synonomized species, and to further research on the use of flash patters in firefly taxonomy.
(1)Numbers
22 described spp., 28 more in prep. in our area
(1) (thus, there are more undescribed spp. in this genus than described spp.!)
Identification
Head often visible from above, not completely covered by pronotum as in
Photinus. Legs typically long and slender, not compressed, antennae simple
(3). Elytral fold, visible from side, incomplete (left)
vs complete in
Photinus (right)
(4)
identification to sp. is very difficult as the genitalia of all
Photuris males are virtually identical and both the males and females use a variety of flash patterns.
(2)
keys to spp. in Barber 1951 and McDermott 1967 should not be relied upon.
(1)Range
e NA to southern Rockies (BG data)
Food
Females mimic flash patterns of females of other genera, esp.
Photinus. Males are lured in and consumed. They do this for nutrition and, perhaps, to obtain chemical defenses from other lampyrids
(5)(Eisner et al. 1997)
Life Cycle
Photuris often mate high up in trees, and as such little is known of their mating behavior
(2)
Photuris adults are relatively long-lived, in captivity the can survive for a month or more
(2) Remarks
Species identification is problematic. Several undescribed species exist which can be separated only by subtle differences in flash patterns. Most submitted images will remain on the genus page only because of this new finding.
See Also
Photuris fireflies fly later during the night and higher off the ground compared to
Photinus spp.
(2) Print References
Barber, H.S. 1951. North American fireflies in the genus
Photuris. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 117(1): 1–58.
(6)
Eisner, T. 2003. For Love of Insects. Harvard University Press.
(5)
Eisner et al., 1997. Firefly “femmes fatales” acquire defensive steroids (lucibufagins) from their firefly prey. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 94: 9723–9728.
Gronquist, M., F.C. Schroeder, H. Ghiradella, D. Hill, E.M. McCoy, J. Meinwald and T. Eisner. 2006. Shunning the night to elude the hunter: Diurnal fireflies and the “femmes fatales." Chemoecology 16: 39-43.
Lloyd, J.E. 1965. Aggressive mimicry in Photuris: firefly femmes fatales, Science 149(3684): 653–654.
Lloyd, J.E. 1969. Flashes of Photuris fireflies: their value and use in recognizing species. Florida Entomologist 52(1): 29-35.
Lloyd, J.E. 1980. Male Photuris fireflies mimic sexual signals of their females’ prey. Science 210(4470): 669-671.
McDermott, F.A. 1967. The North American fireflies of the genus
Photuris DeJean a modification of Barber's key (Coleoptera; Lampyridae). The Coleopterist's Bulletin 21: 106–116.
(7)
