Lewis Sara M, Cratsley Christopher K
Department of Biology, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA.
Annu Rev Entomol. 2008;53:293-321. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ento.53.103106.093346.
Many key advances in our understanding of firefly biology and signaling have been made over the past two decades. Here we review this recent research, which includes new phylogenetic results that shed light on the evolution of courtship signal diversity within the family Lampyridae, new insights into firefly flash control, and the discovery of firefly nuptial gifts. We present a comprehensive overview of sexual selection in lampyrids, including evidence from Photinus fireflies that females choose their mates on the basis of male flash signals, and discuss the importance of examining both precopulatory and postcopulatory sexual selection in this group. Finally, we review recent findings on firefly chemical defenses, and discuss their implications for flash signal evolution in response to generalist predators as well as specialist predatory fireflies. This review provides new insight into how firefly flash signals have been shaped by the dual evolutionary processes of sexual selection (mate choice) and natural selection (predation), and proposes several exciting directions for future research.
在过去二十年里，我们对萤火虫生物学及信号传导的理解取得了许多关键进展。在此，我们回顾这项最新研究，其中包括揭示萤科求偶信号多样性进化的新系统发育结果、对萤火虫闪光控制的新见解以及萤火虫婚飞礼物的发现。我们全面概述了萤科的性选择，包括来自Photinus萤火虫的证据，即雌性根据雄性闪光信号选择配偶，并讨论了研究该类群交配前和交配后性选择的重要性。最后，我们回顾了萤火虫化学防御的最新发现，并讨论了它们对于应对广食性捕食者以及专食性捕食性萤火虫时闪光信号进化的影响。本综述为性选择（配偶选择）和自然选择（捕食）这两个双重进化过程如何塑造萤火虫闪光信号提供了新见解，并提出了几个令人兴奋的未来研究方向。
