Effect of Camera Illumination on Flashing Behavior of Pteroptyx malaccae (Coleoptera: Lampyridae)

Abstract

Pteroptyx malaccae is a synchronous firefly that is important in firefly tourism in Thailand. Without well-managed tourism, the fireflies have faced to the problems of shooting camera flashes from tourists. Although the effect of artificial light was well understood, which causes negative impact to firefly courtship, there is no obvious information on the effect of the camera illumination. The experiment of testing four types of camera illumination was set up in laboratory using wild populations of P. malaccae. The flash patterns were recorded by videotaping and analyzed by using TiLIA software. The results showed that all kinds of camera illuminations affect flashing behavior of the fireflies. They prolonged flash interval by increasing pulse duration. The flashes from smartphone camera displayed the strongest effect; however, all flash types did not influence on the firefly life span, mating behavior and oviposition behavior of the fireflies.

Firefly Translocation: A Case Study of Genetic and Behavioral Evaluation in Thailand

“…It might be possible that the environmental selection pressure happened in the fireflies. The plasticity of the flashing behavior depending on situation and environmental conditions were examined in many firefly species [75,77,78]. The fireflies in light polluted areas will modify their flash patterns to be faster to mitigate steady light from artificial night lighting.…”

“…The video files were converted to audio video interleave or. AVI format files to analyze the flash parameters using time-lapse image analysis (TiLIA), a free software package for signal and flight pattern analyses of fireflies (available at Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2o7FRVs2VohMmx2QzBVX3ZD eDA) [74] following the technique used by Thancharoen and Masoh [75]. The flash analysis was classified into three parameters, pulse duration, interpulse duration and flash interval, following previous study [76].…”

Firefly tourism: Advancing a global phenomenon toward a brighter future

“…Various firefly life stages are susceptible to physical disturbance such as handling and trampling, and mating pairs often perch on low vegetation (Faust, 2017;Lewis, 2016;Lloyd, 2008), so tourists should be discouraged from walking through firefly habitat. Bright artificial light is known to obscure or inhibit bioluminescent signals in several firefly species, thereby reducing their courtship success (reviewed by Lewis et al, 2020;Owens & Lewis, 2018;Owens et al, 2020;Owens & Lewis, 2021;Thancharoen & Masoh, 2019). Although many insects are less sensitive to red or amber light (Briscoe & Chittka, 2001;Owens, Meyer-Rochow, & Yang, 2018), differences among firefly species in their range of spectral sensitivity indicates that-regardless of color-artificial illumination at tourist sites should be as dim as possible and used only when necessary for visitor safety.…”

“…Light pollution can emanate from stationary sources associated with infrastructure development, including commercial signage for tour operations, resorts, street and dock lighting, and restroom facilities. Firefly courtship can also be disrupted by portable lights such as headlights, boat lights, flashlights, and even cell phones and camera flashes (Thancharoen & Masoh, 2019).…”