SHEDDING LIGHT ON THE HARD KNOCK LIFE OF MALE LIGHTENING BUGS

Being a male can be difficult.   The males of many taxa must expose themselves to increased chance of death in the search of a mate.  Lightening bugs expose themselves to predators as they flash for the ladies (yes that is funny on its own!).  There are predatory lightening bugs that mimic the flash pattern of females, luring the unsuspecting male who then gets eaten by the predator.  Lightening bugs also increase their chances of death as they travel to find a female at night.  Traveling male lightening bugs are more likely to get trapped in a spider’s web at night while flying to find a mate.  The spider immobilizes the lightening bug and wraps it up in spider silk for a nibble later.  That is all gloomy to be sure.  But it does get worse.  Many males continue to flash a bit when wrapped up.  This can attract predatory lightening bugs that will come and feed on the pre-packaged nibble.  The “fun” scientific word to describe these lightening bug thieves is “kleptoparasite”. 

If you want to read more on the research of this phenomena, check out Alcock, J. 2018.  Male Fireflies (Photinus pyralis (Linnaeus) and Phitinus sabulosus Green) Are at Special Risk of Capture By Spider Predators And Are Then Stolen By Kleptoparasitic Firelies in the Genus Photuris DeJean (Coleopera: Lamphyridae).  The Coleopterists Bulletin 72(2): 347-350.