Organism
Photuris Firefly
TL;DR
Photuris females have evolved aggressive mimicry - they mimic the flash patterns of Photinus females.
Photuris females have evolved aggressive mimicry - they mimic the flash patterns of Photinus females. When a Photinus male approaches the mimicking female, she eats him. This exploitation works because flash patterns are typically honest signals with no evolutionary pressure to verify authenticity until the emergence of this mimicry. Photinus males are now beginning to evolve discrimination abilities.
Notable Traits of Photuris Firefly
- Aggressive mimicry
- Flash pattern deception
- Predatory exploitation of honest signals