Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Firefly courtship as the basis of the synchronization-response principle

2011; Institute of Physics; Volume: 94; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1209/0295-5075/94/60007

1286-4854

Gonzalo Marcelo Ramírez-Ávila, J. L. Deneubourg, Jean‐Luc Guisset, Niels Wessel, Jürgen Kurths,

Plant and animal studies

Response to synchronization seems to be a widespread phenomenon specially in biological systems. We highlight this phenomenon studying the courtship of flashing fireflies in which a typical collective rhythm occurring only among the males arises and it is followed by a response of the females. Based on a model issued from electronic fireflies, we explain the synchronization of the males and the active responses of the females in the courtship of mingled (both sexes) populations of fireflies. The model also explains the courtship behavior of other species whose interactions follow the same logic even if their physical features are different. Moreover, the model can make predictions on the behavior of mingled and mixed (natural and artificial) groups of such animals. This finding could be considered as the basis of a new principle, namely the synchronization-response.