fireflies are this really
sort of friendly gateway insect
but it turns out that they have this
really dastardly side
and that’s really exciting biology let’s
go find some
professor sarah lauer is a passionate
advocate for the fireflies treacherous
ways but to
understand their deceit first you need a
crash course in firefly mating habits
[Music]
the males are the ones up in the air
flashing as they scout for females
each species communicates with its own
specific code
[Music]
one species might have a long flash like
this
another species might have a faster
flash
like this
it’s like a morse code that they use
to identify and choose meats
the males are communicating
with the females they’re the ones
hunkered down in the grass
assessing the males flying above
when a female sees a pattern that she
likes she will reply to it with a flash
of her own
[Music]
the male seeing the female flash will
flash again at her and they’ll go back
and forth and back and forth
until the male finds the female and they
mate
now here’s the crucial bit
most fireflies only speak their own
species
language except for one
con artist on the block
[Music]
meet the fatouris firefly commonly known
as the femme
fatale for reasons that will soon become
clear
they can speak the language of the other
fireflies
they will eavesdrop on the conversations
of these mating prey species
and use those conversations to their own
advantage
immediately after a femme fatale has
mated with her
own species she switches languages
signaling to miles of other species
luring them in on the pretext of mating
[Music]
but instead she has them for dinner
digesting their prey while they’re still
alive
and sucking their juices out
