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Lewis SM, Jusoh WFA, Walker AC, Fallon CE, Joyce R, Yiu V. Illuminating Firefly Diversity: Trends, Threats and Conservation Strategies. INSECTS 2024; 15:71. [PMID: 38276820 PMCID: PMC10815995 DOI: 10.3390/insects15010071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2023] [Revised: 01/09/2024] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 01/27/2024]
Abstract
Fireflies are a diverse group of bioluminescent beetles belonging to the family Lampyridae. Recent research on their diversity, evolution, behavior and conservation has greatly advanced our scientific understanding of these charismatic insects. In this review, we first summarize new discoveries about their taxonomic and ecological diversity, then focus on recent endeavors to identify and protect threatened fireflies around the world. We outline the main threats linked to recent population declines (habitat loss and degradation, light pollution, pesticide overuse, climate change and tourism) and describe relevant risk factors that predict which species will be particularly vulnerable to these threats. Although global coordination of firefly conservation efforts has begun only recently, considerable progress has already been made. We describe work by the IUCN SSC Firefly Specialist Group to identify species currently facing elevated extinction risks and to devise conservation strategies to protect them. To date, IUCN Red List assessments have been completed for 150 firefly taxa, about 20% of which face heightened extinction risks. The conservation status for many species has yet to be determined due to insufficient information, although targeted surveys and community science projects have contributed valuable new data. Finally, we highlight some examples of successful firefly habitat protection and restoration efforts, and we use the framework of the IUCN SSC Species Conservation Cycle to point out high-priority actions for future firefly conservation efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara M. Lewis
- IUCN SSC Firefly Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland; (W.F.A.J.); (C.E.F.)
- Department of Biology, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
| | - Wan F. A. Jusoh
- IUCN SSC Firefly Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland; (W.F.A.J.); (C.E.F.)
- School of Science, Monash University Malaysia, Subang Jaya 47500, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Anna C. Walker
- IUCN SSC Firefly Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland; (W.F.A.J.); (C.E.F.)
- New Mexico BioPark Society, Albuquerque, NM 87102, USA
| | - Candace E. Fallon
- IUCN SSC Firefly Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland; (W.F.A.J.); (C.E.F.)
- The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Portland, OR 97232, USA
| | - Richard Joyce
- IUCN SSC Firefly Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland; (W.F.A.J.); (C.E.F.)
- The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Portland, OR 97232, USA
| | - Vor Yiu
- IUCN SSC Firefly Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland; (W.F.A.J.); (C.E.F.)
- Hong Kong Entomological Society, Hong Kong, China
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Gil-Tapetado D, López-Collar D, Gómez JF, Mañani-Pérez J, Cabrero-Sañudo FJ, Muñoz J. Climate change as a driver of insect invasions: Dispersal patterns of a dragonfly species colonizing a new region. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0291270. [PMID: 37708166 PMCID: PMC10501572 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0291270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2023] [Accepted: 08/25/2023] [Indexed: 09/16/2023] Open
Abstract
The dragonfly Trithemis kirbyi Sélys, 1891 recently colonized Western Europe from North Africa. Since its first record in the Iberian Peninsula in 2007, the species has been spreading northward and has become naturally established in the central and eastern Iberian Peninsula, the Balearic Islands and southern France. Despite its worldwide distribution, its rapid colonization of the western Mediterranean area occurred only very recently. The aims of this study were to evaluate (1) whether the species' colonization of the western Mediterranean is related to climate change and rising temperatures, specifically the summer warming peaks that have occurred in the last decade, (2) which climatic variables have most influenced its distribution and dispersal, and (3) its potential future dispersal and colonization capacity towards the eastern Mediterranean. We found that the dispersal and recent establishment of T. kirbyi in southwestern Europe strongly depends on increasing temperatures, particularly summer temperature peaks, which has allowed this species to disperse farther and more effectively than during years with average summer temperatures. The most important variable in the suitability models is the minimum temperature of the coldest month, which, in recent decades, has become less of a limiting factor for ectotherms. According to the models, suitable areas for the species are currently found throughout the eastern Mediterranean parts of Europe, and it is likely that it can naturally colonize these areas as it did in the Iberian Peninsula. Trithemis kirbyi is a model of how climate change and observed rising temperatures have turned previously inhospitable regions into suitable areas for exotic species, which may successfully colonize them naturally if they can reach these promising lands on their own. However, this study serves as a warning that such species can also colonize these new regions with a little help from unsuspecting means, which are often responsible for the increasingly common presence of invasive, noxious taxa in Europe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diego Gil-Tapetado
- Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Departamento de Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Diego López-Collar
- Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Departamento de Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - José F. Gómez
- Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Departamento de Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - José Mañani-Pérez
- Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Departamento de Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Francisco J. Cabrero-Sañudo
- Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Departamento de Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Jesús Muñoz
- Real Jardín Botánico (RJB-CSIC), Madrid, Spain
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Zurita-García ML, Domínguez-León DE, Vega-Badillo V, González-Ramírez M, Gutiérrez-Carranza IG, Rodríguez-Mirón GM, López-Pérez S, Cifuentes-Ruiz P, Aquino-Romero M, Zaragoza-Caballero S. Life cycle and description of the immature stages of a terrestrial firefly endemic to Mexico: Photinusextensus Gorham (Coleoptera, Lampyridae). Zookeys 2022; 1104:29-54. [PMID: 36761932 PMCID: PMC9848833 DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1104.80624] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2022] [Accepted: 05/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The life cycle, morphology, and bionomy of Photinusextensus Gorham, 1881, an endemic species of Mexico, are described. Redescriptions of adults (male and female) are also presented. Larvae were reared to the adult stage from eggs laid by females collected at the El Pedregal de San Ángel Ecological Reserve, south of Mexico City. The activity period of adults of P.extensus begins at the end of July and finishes by the end of August. Females lay between 3 and 198 eggs. Larvae hatch from the eggs after a period of 11 to 71 days, undergo 6 larval instars and a pupal stage in an annual cycle. Morphological characters of the sixth larval instar of P.extensus are compared with those of several other genera assigned to the tribe Photinini. Knowledge of the natural history of firefly larvae is relevant since most species do not feed as adults and therefore depend on resources acquired during the larval stage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martín L. Zurita-García
- Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 70-153, 04510, Mexico City, MexicoUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoMexico CityMexico
| | - Daniel Edwin Domínguez-León
- Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 70-153, 04510, Mexico City, MexicoUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoMexico CityMexico
| | - Viridiana Vega-Badillo
- Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 70-153, 04510, Mexico City, MexicoUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoMexico CityMexico
| | - Mireya González-Ramírez
- Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 70-153, 04510, Mexico City, MexicoUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoMexico CityMexico
| | - Ishwari Giovanni Gutiérrez-Carranza
- Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 70-153, 04510, Mexico City, MexicoUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoMexico CityMexico
| | - Geovanni M. Rodríguez-Mirón
- Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 70-153, 04510, Mexico City, MexicoUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoMexico CityMexico
| | - Sara López-Pérez
- Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 70-153, 04510, Mexico City, MexicoUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoMexico CityMexico
| | - Paulina Cifuentes-Ruiz
- Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 70-153, 04510, Mexico City, MexicoUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoMexico CityMexico
| | - Miriam Aquino-Romero
- Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 70-153, 04510, Mexico City, MexicoUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoMexico CityMexico
| | - Santiago Zaragoza-Caballero
- Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 70-153, 04510, Mexico City, MexicoUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoMexico CityMexico
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