Brain windows in firefly communication

Abstract

A quantitative model has been developed that explains numerous communication patterns in Photuris versicolor female fireflies. The model is based upon the concept of brain windows. Upon receiving the flash stimulus, the firefly brain generates a sequence of time windows of different width. Receiving and sending windows are interleaved in the sequence. Each receive window recognizes a particular subgroup of flash intervals. These flash intervals may represent courtship flashes of the female's conspecific male or courtship flashes of heterospecific males. Each sending window determines the latency of the response flash from the female. The windows are arrayed in priorities and controlled by the fireflies' memory. Memory stores the past history of flash stimulation. The brain windows are generated through a mutual coupling of the primary oscillator, answer oscillator and window generator. Hence, the brain windows are directly related to the inherent biological oscillators and to the memory. The brain window model has been programmed into the computer. Computer simulated response patterns are in excellent agreement with hundreds of experimental response patterns produced by Photuris versicolor female fireflies when tested with artificial flashes. A single model explains all the communication-behavior patterns observed in the female firefly. Brain windows could explain the communication and behavior in other species as well.