Photuris

Photuris is a genus of fireflies (beetles of the family Lampyridae). These are the femme fatale lightning bugs of North America. This common name refers to a behavior of the adult females of these predatory beetles; they engage in aggressive mimicry, imitating the light signals of other firefly species' females to attract, kill, and eat the males. Their flashing bioluminescent signals seem to have evolved independently and eventually adapted to those of their prey, mainly unrelated Lampyrinae, such as Photinus (rover fireflies) or Pyractomena. The Pennsylvania lightning bug (P. pensylvanica) is the state insect of Pennsylvania. Species include: At least 64 species are recognized, all restricted to temperate North America. They mainly occur from the East Coast to Texas. Media related to Photuris at Wikimedia Commons