The in vivo peak emission wavelengths of bioluminescence are reported for 15 species of American fireflies. A spectrophotometric study of the dorsal light organs of 155 specimens of the Jamaican firefly Pyrophorus plagiophthalamus showed three distinct color distributions with peak emission wavelengths at 550.1 ± 1.5 mµ, 556.8 ± 1.4 mµ, and 562.4 ± 1.0 mµ. Similar spectral measurements of 35 ventral light organs of the same insects gave peak emission wavelengths ranging from 547 through 594 mµ. This is a wider distribution than the total range of all 34 species of firefly studied to date. There was no obvious correlation between the colors of the ventral and dorsal light organs. It appears that P. plagiophthalamus is a special case in which the luciferase enzyme is not only different among members of the same species, but it may be different for the dorsal and ventral light organs in a single individual. A minimum of six different luciferase molecules for P. plagiophthalamus ventral light organs is proposed. The statistical precision in making these spectrophotometric measurements is discussed.
Article|
July 01 1967
The Spectral Distribution of Firefly Light. II
W. H. Biggley,
W. H. Biggley
From McCollum-Pratt Institute and the Department of Biology, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, and the Department of Entomology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
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J. E. Lloyd,
J. E. Lloyd
From McCollum-Pratt Institute and the Department of Biology, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, and the Department of Entomology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
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H. H. Seliger
H. H. Seliger
From McCollum-Pratt Institute and the Department of Biology, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, and the Department of Entomology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
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W. H. Biggley
From McCollum-Pratt Institute and the Department of Biology, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, and the Department of Entomology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
J. E. Lloyd
From McCollum-Pratt Institute and the Department of Biology, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, and the Department of Entomology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
H. H. Seliger
From McCollum-Pratt Institute and the Department of Biology, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, and the Department of Entomology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
Received:
May 23 1966
Online ISSN: 1540-7748
Print ISSN: 0022-1295
Copyright © 1967 by The Rockefeller University Press
1967
J Gen Physiol (1967) 50 (6): 1681–1692.
Article history
Received:
May 23 1966
Citation
W. H. Biggley, J. E. Lloyd, H. H. Seliger; The Spectral Distribution of Firefly Light. II . J Gen Physiol 1 July 1967; 50 (6): 1681–1692. doi: https://doi.org/10.1085/jgp.50.6.1681
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