Scientists discovered that certain spiders can force trapped fireflies to mimic the light signals of female insects, allowing them to lure and trap other males.
Some spiders might be even more devious predators than we realized. New research published Monday finds that certain spiders can force trapped fireflies to emit light signals that bait other male fireflies looking for love. It’s an amazing finding, but scientists still aren’t sure exactly how the spiders pull off this trick.
Scientists from Huazhong Agricultural University and Hubei University in China led the study, aiming to confirm “extensive field observations” of, a species of orb-weaving spider common throughout parts of eastern Asia. One of the scientists noticed that, when these spiders caughtfireflies in their web, the insects were almost always male. This distinction was possible because of the insects’ unique mating strategy, which leverages bioluminescent lanterns.
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