Hideo Takatsu, a researcher at the Faculty of Applied Biology, Chubu University, Yuichi Oba, a researcher, and Minami, a professor at the Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, discovered that Heike fireflies, which live in Japan, the Korean Peninsula, and northern China, communicate by blinking at the millisecond level when they emit light. Discovered by Professor Mihoko.
According to Chubu University, the research group recorded video footage of Heike fireflies in a paddy field in Higashiura, Aichi Prefecture, and analyzed the videos to find out which of the Heike fireflies perched on the grass were males, unmated females, and mated females. found that the emission patterns are different.
The luminescence of males repeatedly blinked with millisecond-level blinking, while the luminescence of unmated females did not blink, and mated females blinked like males.Furthermore, when he artificially created a device that emits yellow-green light similar to that of Heike fireflies and placed it in its habitat, it became clear that males were attracted to the same pattern of light emission as unmated females.The research group believes that when males search for mates, they identify them by their luminescence, which does not blink.
Previous research has shown that males and females of firefly adults communicate with each other by means of luminescence. However, the reason why the luminescence of the Heike firefly, which is endemic to Japan, does not blink is unknown. was not
Paper information:[Scientific Reports] Flickering flash signals and mate recognition in the Asian firefly,Aquatica lateralis
