Fireflies Related Studies

The Study of European Fireflies

Firefly mating has been studied in detail. Male fireflies are nocturnal insects that can detect a receptive female, locate her, court, and mate (De Cock, 2004). The males rely on their visual system to respond to photic signals based on timing; these signals are species specific (2004). When the number of males flying and flashing around is plentiful, there becomes an increase in likeness to court the same female. This is flash competition, and the males are rival males (Ohba, 2004).

A few days after mating, a female will lay her fertilized eggs on or just below the surface of the ground (Buck, 1948). The larvae undergo four to five molts and usually take from a few months to two years to reach pupation.

Seven professors from four universities and one department of health contributed to the discussion and analysis of the study. The study grouped fireflies into six types of communication systems. The communications systems correlated with their morphology and behavior. Based upon the findings, European fireflies’ communication system differs due to geographical and seasonal distribution.

De Cock and associates (2004) examined the spectral characteristics of the larvae of three Belgian species of fireflies. The study focused on the importance of light emittance, which is used for courtship signals. The bioluminescence shows sexual dimorphism, place of activity, and the discrimination of conspecific signals. Based upon the findings, females display a more exact method of bioluminescence than the males. In addition, the larval and adult females displayed the same range of

The study focuses on the effects or outcome of the study, rather than intertwining the research inquiry with politics or having a philosophical approach. It will be more of a traditional form of research, which is intended to reduce the ideas into a small, discrete set to test, such as the variables that comprise hypotheses and research questions. Postpositivist worldview is sometimes called the scientific method and is usually best suited with quantitative research than qualitative.

Research Design. Quantitative analysis is the best research design or strategies of inquiry for this study. It is based on an experimental design. This experiment would fall into the non-experimental form of research known as the correlational design. Correlational design is when researchers use the correlational statistic to describe and measure the degree or association between two or more variables (Creswell, 2012). The study of the competitive exclusion theory will be based on statistical analysis rather than using equipment. The results will determine if fireflies are able to coexist in the same environment or if one species will dominate over