Photuris flreflies are most common in low-lying fields and in marshes. The larvae are omnivores eating dead insects and berries. This one was photographed on milkweed on South Stream trail. Their overall occurrence at the Nature Center is not known.

Males begin flying well after dark and some species fly above the trees. Their flashes are green or yellow-green. Females sometimes mimic the flashes of female Photinis fireflies. Photuris males put out flashes that match those of other Photunus fireflies or fireflies of the genus Pyractomena. Some have only one flash pattern matching that of another species, others mimic at least two species, as well as emitting “their own” species-specific pattern. They tend to restrict the mimicking signals, but not their own, to the habitats, seasons, and daily periods of the mimicked species. Since Photuris females prey on males of other firefly species by mimicking their females’ flashes, the Photuris males may be using their mimicry to locate and seduce their own hunting females. This type of mimicry is not known in other animals.