A JOURNEY TO THE WORLD OF INSECTS COMMUNICATION (PART 2)
Incase you missed the pervious part ( ants communication system ) link is here: A JOURNEY TO THE WORLD OF INSECTS COMMUNICATION (PART 1)
From childhood most of us have a fascination for the glowing fireflies as they seem a mystery to us! Their language of life can be called "A Language of Light". To communicate they produce their own light which come in a rainbow colour, well, may be not the whole spectrum but come in yellow, light red, green and orange. Swarm of them looks like they are having a party. Fireflies Party!
What is most bizarre is that a firefly gives out 100% light and it's a cold light where normal light bulb gives out only 10% light and other 90% is lost as heat. This is necessary because if a firefly's light producing organ get as hot as a light bulb, the firefly would not survive the experience. But how they glow? Do they have magic wand or have some super powers?
No! It's all chemical! They have a chemical called Luciferin inside their tails. When Luciferin, with the help of Luciferase enzyme, combined with oxygen, calcium and adonosine triphosphate that sparks up their bioluminescent light! The firefly regulates the flow of oxygen into its abdomen to turn its tail-light on or off.
People fall in love and sometimes they betray. And now you will be astonished to learn that fireflies also have that characteristic! You can say that they use their lights for flirting! Instead of using romantic lines and saying "I Love You" like us, they glow to attract a mate. By lighting they want to present themselves in an interesting way in front of a mate.
The male fly around while turning their lights on and off, hoping to get the attraction of a flightless female waiting on grasses. As fast as they flash, attracting female gets easy. If a female is impressed by a male's flickering she will flash back to response. The brighter the female response, the more interest she has in the male. Hence baby fireflies are conceived.
But their mating occurs within the same species. There are 2000 different species but it’s easy to them to recognise their own species. How? Actually different species blink different light patterns and that help bugs find mates of the same species.
Another reason fireflies glow is to lure pray. This one is not quite as romantic rather it’s like a betray. Some females will glow to lure a male to her and then - chomp! He becomes dinner! Pathetic! Thus some species of fireflies are cannibal and eat other fireflies, but most subsist on pollen and nectar. And astonishingly some don’t eat anything at all when they grow up.
But not all fireflies flash. Those dark fireflies use airborne smells, such as pheromones, to communicate. However light pollution threats fireflies population. Outdoor lights prevents fireflies from seeing each other's flashes.
To sum up, like ants, here motivation is that " Shine Yourself. The Brighter You Are The More You Will Be interesting! "
Link of next part :A JOURNEY TO THE WORLD OF INSECTS COMMUNICATION (PART 3)
People fall in love and sometimes they betray. And now you will be astonished to learn that fireflies also have that characteristic! You can say that they use their lights for flirting! Instead of using romantic lines and saying "I Love You" like us, they glow to attract a mate. By lighting they want to present themselves in an interesting way in front of a mate.
The male fly around while turning their lights on and off, hoping to get the attraction of a flightless female waiting on grasses. As fast as they flash, attracting female gets easy. If a female is impressed by a male's flickering she will flash back to response. The brighter the female response, the more interest she has in the male. Hence baby fireflies are conceived.
But their mating occurs within the same species. There are 2000 different species but it’s easy to them to recognise their own species. How? Actually different species blink different light patterns and that help bugs find mates of the same species.
Another reason fireflies glow is to lure pray. This one is not quite as romantic rather it’s like a betray. Some females will glow to lure a male to her and then - chomp! He becomes dinner! Pathetic! Thus some species of fireflies are cannibal and eat other fireflies, but most subsist on pollen and nectar. And astonishingly some don’t eat anything at all when they grow up.
They also deter predators by their lighting as they taste terrible. When a predator tastes a firefly, it learns to associate the glow with the bad taste. Hence they show their toughness with their light. Even they have an advantage as their warning can be seen in the dark!
But not all fireflies flash. Those dark fireflies use airborne smells, such as pheromones, to communicate. However light pollution threats fireflies population. Outdoor lights prevents fireflies from seeing each other's flashes.
To sum up, like ants, here motivation is that " Shine Yourself. The Brighter You Are The More You Will Be interesting! "
Link of next part :A JOURNEY TO THE WORLD OF INSECTS COMMUNICATION (PART 3)
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