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FIREFLY COMMUNICATION
Our lab works with communities of synchronous fireflies, one of the landmark model systems for synchronization in nature. For the most recent results, see:
R. Sarfati, J. Hayes, O. Peleg
Self-organization in natural swarms of Photinus carolinus synchronous fireflies
Science Advances, 7:28,eabg9259 (2021)
R. Sarfati, J. Hayes, É. Sarfati, O. Peleg
Spatiotemporal reconstruction of emergent flash synchronization in firefly swarms via stereoscopic 360-degree cameras
J. R. Soc. Interface 17:20200179 (2020)
Firefly Communication: Projects
Firefly flashes are more than a mere midsummer night’s wonder: they express a sophisticated social behavior
characterized by male courtship and female mate choice.
Firefly Communication: Features
During mating season, males of synchronous firefly species flash in unison within swarms of thousands of individuals. These strongly-correlated collective displays have inspired numerous mathematical models to explain how global synchronous patterns emerge from local interactions. Yet, experimental data to validate these models remains sparse.
Firefly Communication: Features
To address this gap, we develop a method for three-dimensional tracking of firefly flashes, using a stereoscopic setup of 360-degree cameras.
Firefly Communication: Features
We apply this method to record flashing displays of the North American synchronous species Photinus carolinus in its natural habitat:
Firefly Communication: Features
… as well as within controlled environments:
Firefly Communication: Features
Our results show that even a small number of interacting males synchronize their flashes; however, periodic flash bursts only occur in groups larger than 15 males:
Firefly Communication: Features
Moreover, flash occurrences are correlated over several meters, indicating long-range interactions
Firefly Communication: Features
Fun feature: youtube lets you scroll through the 360 field of view:
Firefly Communication: Features
To learn more about this work, see:
R. Sarfati, J. Hayes, É. Sarfati, O. Peleg
Spatiotemporal reconstruction of emergent flash synchronization in firefly swarms via stereoscopic 360-degree cameras
Submitted, preprint available on bioRxiv
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.19.999227v1
Firefly Communication: About
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