The following collection of photographs is presented to illustrate various aspects of the behavior of Photuris sp. and their larvae.
Photuris female clinging to inside of quart jar
This large Photuris female was captured June 3, 2002, while looking for females of P. pyralis. A small light was turned on and off at intervals of about 5 seconds. The Photuris female was discovered flashing in response as would a female of P. pyralis. This female was placed in one-half pint jar and fed two P. pyralis males. This is the same method I have used to collect Photuris females since Dr. James E. Lloyd first reported their aggressive mimicry behavior, except now instead of blinking a small pen light, I like to use a piece of fiber optics cable connected to a small Mag Light flash light. This produces a narrow beam of light which from a distance of 5-10 meters will often give a flash response (this range varies, of course, with the ambient light intensity).
An adult female Photuris sp. was captured on June 3, 2002, while blinking a flash light looking for females of Photinus pyralis. This female Photuris mimicked the blink response of a P. pyralis female and was captured and fed two male P. pyralis, the remains of their elytra and other exoskeleton providing debris "D" under which Photuris larvae may retreat. Eggs were laid and hatched to yield approximately a dozen Photuris larvae "PL". Larvae appear the same color as the sandy, clay soil upon which they are being reared in a small one-half pint jar. Larvae retreat under debris and hide so that when the jar was first opened to feed the larvae an earthworm, "EW," only one larvae was observed. However, within a hour of adding the earthworm, larvae crawled out of their retreats and began to feed upon the earthworm. The section of earthworm shown here had been kept in a refrigerator several days and was recently expired.
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