Plasticity of Foraging Behaviour in the Firefly Species <i>Abscondita terminalis</i> (Coleoptera: Lampyridae: Luciolinae) Inhabiting Two Contrasting Habitats in West Bengal, India

Foraging plasticity involves modifications in the choice, portion, timing, strategies, and energy assimilation efficiencies of food intake by organisms. The plasticity is designed by genetic set up, triggered by environmental cues, manifested through morphological, behavioural, and physiological attributes, and assures their adaptability against nutritional stresses originated either by natural or anthropogenic factors. In Luciolinae (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) species, the voraciously carnivorous larvae undergo pupal maturation, when the alteration of morphoanatomy of mouthparts, gut, and activity digestive enzymes complement the shifting of dietary spectrum in adults to either non-feeding or nectarivore or plant sap consuming natures. From the males of Abscondita terminalis, the study species, the gut amylase was quantified characterize the distinctive patterns of utilization of nectar, consumed from flowers, as observed in two contrasting habitats, Southern Gangetic Plains (site 1, SGP), and Rarh Plains (site 2, RP) in West Bengal, India. Amylase contents were found to vary significantly during their pre, and post breeding stages at site 1 (H=7.46, p=0.006), and site 2 (H= 11.29, p=0.0007). Although no significant variation in amylase (H= 1.335, p= 0.24) was prominent between the post breeding populations collected from sites 1, and 2, however, interestingly, the prebreeding amylase levels expressed significant difference (H= 9.28, p=0.002) in fireflies collected from those two sites. Such findings indicated that the efficiency of metabolizing floral nectar gets influenced by two factors, first, availability of nutrients at different sites, and secondly, the differential enzyme activity during different stages of life cycle. Thus, the present research demonstrates the plasticity of foraging behaviour of fireflies, which remains helpful for understanding their adaptability in different landscapes, as well as identifying the specific functional roles played by them to secure the ecological resilience of the ecosystems they inhabit.