Photuris
| Photuris | |
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| Adult Pennsylvania Firefly (Photuris pennsylvanica) | |
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| Genus: | Photuris |
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Several, see text | |
Photuris is a genus of fireflies (beetles of the family Lampyridae) wherein are the femme fatale fireflies of North America. This common name refers to the fact that the females of these predatory beetles mimic the light signals of other firefly species' males, to attract, kill, and eat them. Their flashing "lightning bug" signals seem to have evolved independently and eventually adapted to those of their prey, mainly unrelated Lampyrinae like Photinus (rover fireflies) or Pyractomena[1].
The Pennsylvania Firefly (Photuris pennsylvanica) is the state insect of Pennsylvania, and is of genus Photuris.
Selected species
- Photuris cinctipennis
- Photuris lucicrescens
- Photuris pennsylvanica – Pennsylvania Firefly, Pennsylvania Lightning Bug
- Photinus pyralis – Common Eastern Firefly, Big Dipper Firefly
- Photuris quadrifulgens
- Photuris tremulans
- Photuris versicolor
Footnotes
- ^ Stanger-Hall et al. (2007)
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Photuris.
- Stanger-Hall, Kathrin F.; Lloyd, James E. & Hillis, David M. (2007): Phylogeny of North American fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae): Implications for the evolution of light signals. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 45(1): 33-49. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2007.05.013 (HTML abstract)
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