Luciola cruciata, a bioluminescent firefly endemic to Japan, communicates with species‐specific flashing patterns. Previous studies reported that flying males possess three distinct flashing frequencies: slow (4 s), intermediate (3 s) and fast (2 s). Our study focused on geographical variations in flashing patterns in the northwestern part of the Kyushu region of southern Japan (including its isolated islands) and their relationship to the mitochondrial COII region of firefly DNA. We found that “quick‐flash (1 s)” fireflies occur in the Goto Islands, at the western tip of Kyushu, and that, although they possess a unique haplotype, they do not differ much genetically from “fast‐flash” fireflies inhabiting mainland Kyushu. In contrast, although fireflies inhabiting the Tsushima and Iki Islands also possess a unique haplotype, their flashing patterns were the same (fast‐flash) as fireflies inhabiting mainland Kyushu. We determined that flash patterns of L. cruciata in Japan should be classified according to four flashing patterns: slow, intermediate, fast and quick.

中文翻译：

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日本萤火虫 Luciola cruciata（鞘翅目：萤科）闪光速度的变化确定了日本五岛群岛上独特的南部“快闪”种群

Luciola cruciata 是一种日本特有的生物发光萤火虫，以特定物种的闪光模式进行交流。先前的研究报告称，飞行的雄性拥有三种不同的闪光频率：慢（4 秒）、中（3 秒）和快（2 秒）。我们的研究侧重于日本南部九州地区（包括其孤岛）西北部闪烁模式的地理变化及其与萤火虫 DNA 线粒体 COII 区域的关系。我们发现“快闪（1 s）”萤火虫出现在九州西端的五岛群岛，虽然它们具有独特的单倍型，但它们与栖息的“快闪”萤火虫在基因上没有太大区别。九州大陆。相比之下，虽然栖息在对马岛和壹岐群岛的萤火虫也拥有独特的单倍型，它们的闪烁模式与栖息在九州大陆的萤火虫相同（快速闪烁）。我们确定日本十字花科的闪光模式应按照四种闪光模式进行分类：慢速、中速、快速和快速。