Pterotinae[1], Genera incertae sedis:[1] Light production in the Lampyridae is thought to have originated as an honest warning signal that the larvae were distasteful; this was co-opted in evolution as a mating signal in the adults. He said that natural selection would not favor mimicry for any intrinsic value, but that it would favor behavior that led to more food, in this case, capturing males. Photuris females mimic their firefly prey by flashing to males who are searching for mates, and then eat the male when he lands! Rather, the femmes fatales fireflies are luring males close enough to eat them. While investigators are still looking into why female fireflies dig males that bring the bling, another mystery that's been puzzling scientists, she says, is the question of "what's keeping these males from evolving longer and faster flashes?" Many species have non-flying larviform females. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". One such genus is Lucidota. An exception is the genus photuris, a firefly that closely mimics the flash pattern of the female photinusanother, closely related firefly genusin order to [6][10], Fireflies vary widely in their general appearance, with differences in color, shape, size, and features such as antennae. Once predators get a bite, they associate the unpleasant taste with firefly light and avoid attacking the lightning bugs in the future. The bursts of light also purposes as a warning to other bugs who might want to eat them and, perhaps surprisingly, are used by some firefly females to draw other species of the bugs to them.