Abstract

Bicellonycha amoena (Gorham, 1880) (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) usually flies one meter above ground level over grass, water, or open areas, where males produce a simple single flash every 2–4 seconds, having their most active flashing period from mid to late dusk and early night. In addition, nothing else is known about the behavior of this species. We conducted field observations at the “Mayan Golf Club” in Guatemala Department, and Santiago Sacatepéquez, Sacatepéquez Department, Guatemala; and analyzed B. amoena flashes with a spectroscope. Fireflies displayed a lime-green bioluminescence color. The male flash¬ing activity began ~30 minutes after sunset and lasted approximately 70 minutes. For B. amoena, the spectral composition of the flash is intermediate between those known from twilight-active fireflies and nocturnal-active fireflies.

Resumen

Bicellonycha amoena (Gorham, 1880) (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) por lo general, vuela a un metro del nivel del suelo sobre pasto, agua o áreas abiertas, donde los machos producen un destello simple cada 2–4 segundos, siendo más activos desde que inicia a oscurecer hasta principios de la noche. Además de esto, no se conoce más sobre el comportamiento de esta especie. Realizamos observaciones de campo en el “Mayan Golf Club” en el Departamento de Guatemala, y en Santiago Sacatepéquez, Departamento de Sacatepéquez, Guatemala; y analizamos los destellos de B. amoena con un espectroscopio. Las luciérnagas mostraron un color de bioluminiscencia verde limón. La actividad de destello del macho comenzó ~30 minutos después de la puesta del sol, y duró aproximadamente 70 minutos. Para B. amoena, la composición espectral de su destello es intermedia entre la conocida para luciérnagas de actividad crepuscular y de actividad nocturna.

References

• Biggley WH, Lloyd JE, Seliger HH. 1967. The spectral distribution of firefly light. II. The Journal of General Physiology 50: 1681–1692.  
• Bohórquez I. 1996. Studies toward the taxonomic revision of Bicellonycha Motschulsky, 1853 (Coleoptera: Lampyridae: Photurinae). University of Florida; Gainesville, FL. 193 p 
• Booth D. 2004. Colour vision in the glow-worm Lampyris noctiluca (L.) (Coleoptera: Lampyridae): Evidence for a green-blue chromatic mechanism. Journal of Experimental Biology 207: 2373–2378.  
• Branham MA, Faust LF. 2019. Firefly flashing activity during the totality phase of a solar eclipse. Entomological News 128: 191–203.  
• Branham MA, Wenzel JW. 2001. The evolution of bioluminescence in Cantharoids (Coleoptera: Elateroidea). The Florida Entomologist 84(4): 565–586.  
• Branham MA, Wenzel JW. 2003. The origin of photic behavior and the evolution of sexual communication in fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae). Cladistics 19: 1–22.  
• Branchini BR, Ablamsky DM, Rosenberg JC. 2010. Chemically modified firefly luciferase is an efficient source of near-infrared light. Bioconjugate Chemistry 21: 2023–2030.  
• Cronin TW, Järvilehto M, Weckström M, Lall AB. 2000. Tuning of photoreceptor spectral sensitivity in fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae). Journal of Comparative Physiology A 186: 1–12.  
• Döring TF, Skorupski P. 2007. Blattfarben von wirts- und nichtwirtspflanzen im wahrnehmungsbereich des kartoffelkäfers (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Entomologia Generalis 29: 81–95.  
• Faust LF. 2017. Fireflies, glow-worms, and lightning bugs! Identification and natural history of the fireflies of the eastern and central United States and Canada. University of Georgia Press; Athens, GA. 375 p 
• Gorham HS. 1881. Insecta. Coleoptera. Malacodermata. Lampyridae. Biologia Centrali-Americana 3(2): 29–65.  
• Hasselmann EM. 1962. Über die relative spektrale Empfindlichkeit von Käfer- und Schmetterlingsaugen bei verschiedenen Helligkeiten. Zoologische Jahrbücher 69: 573–576.  
• Ilyina AD, Cerda FR, Estrada BC, Dukhovich AF, Gaona LGJ, Garza GY, Rodríguez MJ. 1998. Sistema bioluminiscente luciferina-luciferasa de las luciérnagas. Parte I: Propiedades bioquímicas y catalíticas de la enzima luciferasa. Journal of the Mexican Chemical Society 42(3): 99–108.  
• INSIVUMEH. 2022. INSIVUMEH – Instituto Nacional de Sismología, Vulcanología, Meteorología e Hidrología Available at https://insivumeh.gob.gt/  (Last accessed June 2023.)
• Jacobs GH. 2013. Losses of functional opsin genes, short-wavelength cone photopigments, and color vision: A significant trend in the evolution of mammalian vision. Visual Neuroscience 30: 39–53.  
• Kok PJR, van Doorn L, Dezfoulian R. 2019. Predation by non-bioluminescent firefly larvae on a tepui-summit endemic toad. Current Biology 29: R1170–R1171.  
• Lall AB, Cronin TW, Bechara EJH, Costa C., Viviani VR. 2009. Visual ecology of bioluminescent beetles: Visual spectral mechanisms and the colors of optical signaling in Coleoptera, Elateroidea: Lampyridae, Elateridae and Phengodidae. p. 201–228. In: Meyer-Rochow VB (ed.). Bioluminescence in focus - a collection of illuminating essays. Research Signpost, Trivandrum; Kerala, India. 385 p 
• Lall, AB, Lloyd JE. 1989. Spectral sensitivity of the compound eyes in two day-active fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae: Lucidota). Journal of Comparative Physiology A 166(2): 257–260.  
• Lall AB, Lord ET, Trouth CO. 1982. Vision in the firefly Photuris lucicrescens (Coleoptera: Lampyridae): Spectral sensitivity and selective adaptation in the compound eye. Journal of Comparative Physiology A 147: 195–200.  
• Lall AB, Seliger HH, Biggley WH, Lloyd JE. 1980. Ecology of colors of firefly bioluminescence. Science 210: 560–562.  
• Lall AB, Strother GK, Cronin TW, Seliger HH. 1988. Modification of spectral sensitivities by screening pigments in the compound eyes of twilight-active fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae). Journal of Comparative Physiology A 162: 23–33.  
• Lall AB, Viviani VR, Ventura DF. 2023. Spectral tuning of bioluminescence and visual sensitivity in males of Brazilian firefly species inhabiting dim light environments (Coleoptera: Elateroidea: Lampyridae). Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological and Integrative Physiology 339(1): 37–45.  
• Lall AB, Worthy KM. 2000. Action spectra of the female’s response in the firefly Photinus pyralis (Coleoptera: Lampyridae): Evidence for an achromatic detection of the bioluminescent optical signal. Journal of Insect Physiology 46: 965–968.  
• Lewis SM, Cratsley CK. 2008. Flash signal evolution, mate choice, and predation in fireflies. Annual Review of Entomology 53: 293–321.  
• Lin JT. 1993. Identification of photoreceptor locations in the compound eye of Coccinella septempunctata Linnaeus (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae). Journal of Insect Physiology 39: 555–562.  
• Lin JT, Wu CY. 1992. A comparative study on the color vision of four coleopterous insects. Bulletin of the institute of Zoology, Academia Sinica 31: 81–88.  
• Lloyd JE. 1966. Studies on the flash communication system in Photinus fireflies. Miscellaneous Publications Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MI. 96 p 
• Lloyd JE. 1975. Aggressive mimicry in Photuris fireflies: Signal repertoires by femmes fatales. Science 187: 452–453.  
• Lloyd JE. 1997. Firefly mating ecology, selection and evolution. p. 184–192. In: Choe JC, Crespi BJ (eds.). The evolution of mating systems in insects and arachnids. Cambridge University Press; Cambridge, UK. 387 p 
• Lord NP, Plimpton RL, Sharkey CR, Suvorov A, Lelito JP, Willardson BM, Bybee SM. 2016. A cure for the blues: Opsin duplication and subfunctionalization for short-wavelength sensitivity in jewel beetles (Coleoptera: Buprestidae). BMC Evolutionary Biology 16: 107.  
• Martin GJ, Lord NP, Branham MA, Bybee SM. 2015. Review of the firefly visual system (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) and evolution of the opsin genes underlying color vision. Organisms Diversity and Evolution 15: 513–526.  
• McDermott FA. 1964. The taxonomy of the Lampyridae (Coleoptera). Transactions of the American Entomological Society 90: 1–72.  
• Porter ML, Blasic JR, Bok MJ, Cameron EG, Pringle T, Cronin TW, Robinson PR. 2012. Shedding new light on opsin evolution. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 279: 3–14.  
• Riley WB, Rosa SP, Lima da Silveira LF. 2021. A comprehensive review and call for studies on firefly larvae. PeerJ 9: e12121.  
• Sander SE, Hall DW. 2015. Variation in opsin genes correlates with signaling ecology in North American fireflies. Molecular Ecology 24: 4679–4696.  
• Seliger HH, Lall AB, Lloyd JE, Biggley WH. 1982a. The colors of firefly bioluminescence I. Optimization model. Photochemistry and Photobiology 36(6): 673–680.  
• Seliger HH, Lall AB, Lloyd JE, Biggley WH. 1982b. The colors of firefly bioluminescence II. Experimental evidence for the optimization model. Photochemistry and Photobiology 36(6): 681–688.  
• Seliger HH, McElroy WD. 1964. The color of firefly bioluminescence: Enzyme configuration and species specificity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 52: 75–81.  
• Sivinski J. 1981. The nature and possible functions of luminescence in Coleoptera larvae. The Coleopterists Bulletin 35(2): 167–179.  
• Schuster JC. 1997. Seasonal diversity of fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) in a montane area of Guatemala. p. 281–284. In: Ulrich H (ed.). Tropical biodiversity and systematics. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Biodiversity and Systematics in Tropical Ecosystems, Bonn, 2–7 May 1994. Zoologisches Forschungsinstitut und Museum Alexander Koenig; Bonn, Germany. 357 p 
• Sharkey C, Fujimoto M, Lord N, Shin S, McKenna D, Suvorov A, Martin G, Bybee S. 2017. Overcoming the loss of blue sensitivity through opsin duplication in the largest animal group, beetles. Scientific Reports 7(8): 1–7.  
• Stanger-Hall KF, Lloyd JE, Hillis DM. 2007. Phylogeny of North American fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae): Implications for the evolution of light signals. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 45: 33–49.  
• Ugarova NN, Brovko LY. 1981. Bioluminiscencia y análisis bioluminiscente. Universidad Estatal de Moscú; Moscow. 139 p 
• Wald G. 1968. Molecular basis of visual excitation. Science 162: 230–239.  
• Zaragoza-Caballero S, Pérez-Hernández CX. 2014. Biodiversidad de cantaroideos (Coleoptera: Elateroidea [Cantharidae, Lampyridae, Lycidae, Phengodidae, Telegeusidae]) en México. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 85: 279–289.