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Science 8 October 1971:
Vol. 174. no. 4005, pp. 161 - 164
DOI: 10.1126/science.174.4005.161
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Articles

Synchrony and Flash Entrainment in a New Guinea Firefly

Frank E. Hanson 1, James F. Case 2, Elisabeth Buck 3, and John Buck 3

1 Department of Zoology, University of Texas. Austin 78712
2 Department of Biological Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara 93106
3 Laboratory of Physical Biology, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20014

Fireflies can duplicate both faster and slower rhythms of artificial light. Since the interval between the pacer signal and the firefly's flash of the next cycle approximates the firefly's normal free-run period, it is suggested that the pacer signal resets the flash-timing oscillator in the brain, thus providing a mechanism for synchronization.


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