CONTROL OF FLASHING IN FIREFLIES. I. THE LANTERN AS A NEUROEFFECTOR ORGAN

¹ Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Mass.; Laboratory of Physical Biology, National Institutes of Health; Department of Zoology, State University of Iowa

1. Records are presented of normal spontaneous flashes and of flashes induced by a variety of electrical stimuli at a variety of anatomical sites in several species of lampyrid firefly.

2. The flashes of adult firefly lanterns have long response latencies (25 to 250 mscs. at 25° C. in different species) and durations (100 to 1000 mscs.) and can be repeated many hundred times with only slight fatigue. The response itself shows strength-duration relations and frequency responses (summation, treppe, tetany) which are similar to those of more conventional neuroeffector systems. A striking long-lasting neuroeffector facilitation is also evident.

3. Response latency lengthens with falling temperature, Q₁₀ values for the 10°-30° range varying from about 2.4 to 1.4. Extreme temperatures slow the decay phase of luminescence preferentially, as does hypoxia.

4. The flashes of most species differ characteristically in time course, response latency and other electrophysiological properties.

5. The responses of the Photuris larva are roughly similar to those of the adult, but slower by a factor of about 10.

6. The time course of light intensity change during flashes induced under various conditions is discussed in possible relation to underlying excitation and effector mechanisms. Long lasting glows are also considered in this context.

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