The Natural Explanation

摘要

Before fireflies took up "flash-danc-ing," their ancestors likely relied on pheromones to find a partner, as many insects do. Light first appeared in the larvae-probably to advertise their toxicity and so warn away predators-and only later evolved into a seducer supreme for the adults. Thus firefly courtship now attracts a lot of outside attention. In southern Michigan last July, Rick Lieder had no trouble spotting males blinking in the air, females in low-lying vegetation biding their time to blink back, and pairs about to mate.