Photinus (beetle)

Photinus
Eastern Firefly, Photinus pyralis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Lampyridae
Subfamily: Lampyrinae
Tribe: Photinini
Genus: Photinus
Laporte, 1833
Species

Numerous, see text

Photinus sp., mating pair

The rover fireflies (Photinus) are a genus of fireflies (family Lampyridae). They are the type genus of tribe Photinini in subfamily Lampyrinae. This genus contains, for example, the common eastern firefly (P. pyralis), the most common species of firefly in North America.

Male Photinus beetles emit a flashing light pattern to signal for females. Illegitimate receivers, such as female Photuris beetles, identify these signals and use them to locate the male Photinus, attract them with deceptive signals, and eat them. An important study on the diversity of species in the USA and their visual communication was by Lloyd (1966) [1]

  1. ^ Lloyd, J.E. (1966). "Studies on the Flash Communication System in Photinus Fireflies". Miscellaneous Publications (University of Michigan. Museum of Zoology) (130): 1–95.