Photinus consanguineus explained

Photinus consanguineus, or double cousin firefly,^[1] is a species of firefly in the genus Photinus.^[2] It is found in eastern North America.^[2]

Description

P. consanguineus is a medium-sized beetle, with adults that measure about long. The head shield, or pronotum, is pale yellow with a black, rectangular central mark bounded by red or pink. The wing covers, or elytra, are dark with well-defined, light-colored margins. The male has lanterns in segments 6 and 7 of its abdomen, and the female has only one lantern. It is nearly identical in appearance to Photinus macdermotti and Photinus greeni.^[1]

Etymology

Photinus is from the Greek word for shining or bright.^[3] The specific epithet, consanguineus, is a Latin word meaning "related by blood" or "kindred".^[4]

Life Cycle

Beetles such as P. consanguineus go through four life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Photinus fireflies spend the majority of their lives as larvae, which are bioluminescent and likely live below the soil surface, eating snails, worms, and other soft-bodied invertebrates.^[1]

Behavior

Adult male P. consanguineus fireflies fly off the ground and flash to attract the attention of females. Their flash pattern consists of two quick pulses of light, with each pulse approximately 0.2 seconds in length, with a period of 0.4 to 0.6 seconds of darkness before the next set of 2 pulses. A female responds with an answering flash from a perch on low vegetation. The male and female communicate in this way until the male finds the female and they mate.^[5]

Range

P. consanguineus is found in the eastern United States from Texas to the west and in Canada in Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Ontario.

Further reading

• Arnett, R.H. Jr., M. C. Thomas, P. E. Skelley and J. H. Frank. (eds.). (2002). American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL.
• Luk, Stephen P. L., Stephen A. Marshall, and Marc A. Branham (2011). "The Fireflies of Ontario (Coleoptera: Lampyridae)". Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification, no. 16, 1–105.
• McDermott, F. A. / Steel, W. O., ed. (1966). "Lampyridae". Coleopterorum Catalogus Supplementa, pars 9, 149.
• Richard E. White. (1983). Peterson Field Guides: Beetles. Houghton Mifflin Company.
• Ross H. Arnett. (2000). American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico. CRC Press.

External links

• NCBI Taxonomy Browser, Photinus consanguineus

Notes and References

1. Book: Faust . Lynn Frierson . Fireflies, Glow-worms, and Lightning Bugs . 2017 . University of Georgia Press . 978-0-8203-4872-8.
2. Web site: Photinus consanguineus Report. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). 2018-01-18.
3. Web site: φωτεινός . Wiktionary, the free dictionary . en . 17 March 2023.
4. Web site: consanguineus . Wiktionary, the free dictionary . en . 11 July 2022.
5. Lloyd. J.E.. 1966. Studies on the Flash Communication System in Photinus Fireflies. Miscellaneous publications (University of Michigan. Museum of Zoology). 130. 1–95. en.