Writing in Nature, Zoologist John Buck and his wife believe that the Asian male fireflies' synchronous flashing is actually a photic call that lures females to the trees for mass .
New Work Shines Light on Hox Genes Responsible for Firefly Lantern Development New work from a former Indiana University Bloomington graduate student and his IU Ph.D. advisor offers for the first time a characterization of the developmental genetic basis of this spectacular morphological novelty -- the firefly's photic organ -- and the means by which this beetle successfully uses ancient and highly conserved regulatory genes to form its lantern.
March 19, 2014 - Newswise