Loopy five firefly

Common Name

Loopy five firefly

Scientific Name

Photuris forresti

Recent Synonyms

None

Adult Male Size

11-12 mm

Diet

Soft-bodied invertebrates

Firefly Atlas Category

Focal species

The loopy five firefly is a critically imperiled species found in marsh habitats in Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina. It is distinguished by its unique flash pattern, which is composed of a series of greenish-yellow pulses. This firefly is known from only a few sites and is threatened by habitat loss, light pollution, and pesticides. It was petitioned for listing under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 2023, and a response from the US Fish and Wildlife Service remains pending.

Identifying Features

While this species is morphologically indistinguishable from Photuris tremulans, it can be distinguished via its flash pattern, which is typically a series of 4-11 pulsed flashes. It is also very similar morphologically to P. walldoxeyi, though the ranges, elevations, and habitat preferences of these two species differ markedly, and they are not known to co-occur at any sites. Loopy five fireflies can be distinguished from some other southeastern <Photuris by their dark elytra (wing covers) that lack mid-elytral vittae (pale diagonal stripes) or have short, faint mid-elytral vittae. The hind coxae (leg segments closest to the body) are consistently dark, in contrast to species with pale hind coxae, such as Photuris lucicrescens.

Conservation

Reason(s) For Firefly Atlas Focal Species Designation

Reliably identifiable, Population loss

Status

IUCN Red List

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological species, maintained collectively by scientists worldwide.

Endangered (EN)

NatureServe

The NatureServe conservation status ranks use a standardized methodology to assess the extinction risk of species, with a focus on the US and Canada. State wildlife agencies and natural heritage programs use these ranks to prioritize species for conservation actions.

Globally critically imperiled (G1) Critically imperiled to imperiled in Georgia and South Carolina (S1S2) Not yet assessed in Tennessee (SNR)

Species of Greatest Conservation Need Lists

Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) are lists of species included in State Wildlife Action Plans, identifying animals and plants that need the most conservation attention and resources at the state and region level.

None

US Endangered Species Act

The Endangered Species Act is a United States law that provides legal protections to species that are officially listed as endangered or threatened by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Petitioned (P)

Threats

Habitat loss is the main threat to this species; light pollution is also a threat. The type locality population in Pickens Co., South Carolina, was extirpated due to habitat destruction.

Location

Distribution

USA

Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee

Details

The loopy five firefly is known to occur in South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia, where it has been documented from just nine sites. This includes six sites in Georgia (Clarke, Morgan, Oconee, and Walton Counties), two sites in Pickens County, South Carolina (only one of which is extant), and one site in Tennessee (Jefferson County). It is possible that it also occurs in Alabama, North Carolina, or Virginia, which contain the same ecoregions from which this species has been found, as well as similar habitats.

Habitat

Loopy five fireflies are found in and adjacent to palustrine wetlands, including freshwater ponds, freshwater emergent wetlands, and freshwater shrub swamps in middle elevations of the southern Appalachian region. Common vegetation components include broadleaf arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia), arrow arum (Peltandra virginica), yellow pond lily (Nuphar lutea), cattails (Typha spp.), jewelweed (Impatiens capensis), sedges (Cyperaceae), cutgrass (Leersia sp.), sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis), willows (Salix spp.), red maple (Acer rubrum), and smooth alder (Alnus serrulata).

Behavior

Activity Period

Adults are active from one hour after sunset until midnight in May and June.

Flash Pattern

Males of this species have a distinctive courtship flash pattern in which they emit a series of erratic greenish-yellow pulses and prolonged flashes, typically in a five-spot looping pattern (although pulses can number from 4-7). Due to the rapid speed of the flashes, the last flashes in each pattern may appear as a single long, modulated flash. These pulses are emitted over 2.5-3 seconds while rising and falling in space and are repeated at long intervals, typically with dark periods of greater than 10 seconds, which can make it difficult to follow single individuals. Female response is not well documented.

Sources

Joyce, R. 2024. Firefly Species Fact Sheet: Photuris forresti. The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. 19 pp. Available at: https://www.fireflyatlas.org/threatened-species-fact-sheets/. Joyce, R., S. Selvaggio, and C. Fallon. 2023. Petition to list the loopy five firefly Photuris forresti (Lloyd), 2018 as an endangered species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Available at: https://xerces.org/sites/default/files/publications/Photuris%20forresti%20ESA%20petition_202 3-03-21.pdf. Walker, A. and L. Faust. 2022. Photuris forresti. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022, e.T199788991A199817215. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022- 1.RLTS.T199788991A199817215.en.