Flash Signal Evolution, Mate Choice, and Predation in Fireflies

Abstract

Many key advances in our understanding of firefly biology and signaling have been made over the past two decades. Here we review this recent research, which includes new phylogenetic results that shed light on the evolution of courtship signal diversity within the family Lampyridae, new insights into firefly flash control, and the discovery of firefly nuptial gifts. We present a comprehensive overview of sexual selection in lampyrids, including evidence from Photinus fireflies that females choose their mates on the basis of male flash signals, and discuss the importance of examining both precopulatory and postcopulatory sexual selection in this group. Finally, we review recent findings on firefly chemical defenses, and discuss their implications for flash signal evolution in response to generalist predators as well as specialist predatory fireflies. This review provides new insight into how firefly flash signals have been shaped by the dual evolutionary processes of sexual selection (mate choice) and natural selection (predation), and proposes several exciting directions for future research.

Female mate choice based upon male motor performance

“…Other examples of traits indicative of vigor that females might use to evaluate males include the leaping and the climbing and diving displays of snipe, genus Capella (Sutton 1981), the diving and shuttle displays of several species of hummingbirds (Stiles 1982), the leaping displays of blueblack grassquits, Volatinia jacarina (Costa and Macedo, 2005;Aguilar et al, 2008), wing-clapping displays of flappet larks, Mirafra rufocinnamomea (Norberg 1991), the chasing behavior of house flies Fannia canicularis (Land & Collett 1974), the leg-waving displays of many wolf spiders (Hebets & Uetz 1999) and the energetically expensive waving of the enlarged cheliped in fiddler crabs, genus Uca (Salmon et al, 1978;Matsumasa and Murai, 2005). Additional examples include the lengthy bouts of flying in some male bird displays (Mather & Robertson 1992), the sustained, energetically expensive vocalizations of many anuran amphibians (Prestwich, 1994;Welch et al, 1998) and of some ungulates (Wyman et al 2008), sustained stridulation in some orthoptera (Hedrick, 1986;Prestwich, 1994;Prestwich and O'Sullivan, 2005), sustained flashing displays of fireflies (Lewis & Cratsley 2008) and persistence on leks by displaying males (Leuthold, 1966;Vehrencamp et al, 1989;Deutsch, 1994;Isvaran and Jhala, 2000). Indeed, one of the most striking aspects of many male mating displays is their repetitive nature.…”

“…In both field observations and photic playback experiments, female Photinus choose males that display higher flash pulse rates and durations, which in turn might be limited by male vigor (Demary et al, 2006;Lewis and Cratsley, 2008).…”

A dual function of white coloration in a nocturnal spider Dolomedes raptor (Araneae: Pisauridae)

“…The potential role of visual signals in the courtship of nocturnal animals has not been extensively explored, except in fireflies (Lewis & Cratsley, 2008). In addition to a prior study on a tree frog (Gómez et al, 2009), our present study on the fishing spider D. raptor suggests that color signals may be more broadly employed in the courtship of nocturnal animals than previously appreciated.…”

“…bats, Pfalzer & Kusch, 2003) or bioluminescence (e.g. fireflies, Lewis & Cratsley, 2008). Nocturnal spiders have been previously reported to employ mainly acoustic signals (e.g.…”

“…leiognathid fish, McFall-Ngai & Morin, 1991). However, color signals used in the context of reproduction of nocturnal organisms have not been widely reported (Gómez et al, 2009;Lewis & Cratsley, 2008). Recently, it was reported that in the Neotropical spider Paratrechalea ornata (Trechaleidae) males were more attractive to females when the chelicerae of the males were painted white, implying that conspicuous visual signals can be detected and may also play roles in the mating of nocturnal arthropods (Trillo, Melo-González, & Albo, 2014).…”