Organism
Photinus Firefly
TL;DR
Photinus fireflies are the victims of aggressive mimicry by Photuris females.
Photinus fireflies are the victims of aggressive mimicry by Photuris females. Males respond to species-specific flash patterns from females, but are now evolving discrimination abilities to detect subtle differences in flash timing and intensity that distinguish real Photinus females from Photuris mimics - an ongoing evolutionary arms race.
Notable Traits of Photinus Firefly
- Evolving mimic discrimination
- Flash pattern recognition