Data from: Spiders manipulate and exploit bioluminescent signals of fireflies

Predators often search for prey while moving through the environment, but
there are important exceptions, including the way sedentary predators
sometimes rely on signals for drawing prey to within striking distance.
Some spiders, for instance, leave the remnants of previously-captured prey
in their webs where they function as static lures that effectively attract
a diverse array of additional prey [1,2,3,4]. Important questions remain
concerning how specific targeted prey may be and to what extent the
predator’s signals may be made dynamic instead of static. With these
questions as our rationale, we initiated research in which the predator is
Araneus ventricosus (L. Koch, 1878), an orb-weaving spider, and the prey
are the males of a firefly species (Abscondita terminalis) (Figure 1A, B,
C). Using two lanterns situated on their abdomen (Figure 1D, F), A.
terminalis males make female-attracting multi-pulse flash trains (Figure
1J), but sedentary females attract males by using a single lantern (Figure
1E, G) to make single-pulse signals (Figure 1C, K). Drawing from extensive
field observations, we propose that the spider practices deceptive
interspecific communication by first ensnaring firefly males in its web
and then predisposing entrapped male fireflies to produce bioluminescent
signals that deviate from female-attracting signals typically made by
males and instead mimic the male-attracting signals typically made by
females. The outcome is that the broadcasted false signals attract more
male fireflies into the web.