A pyrophile or pyrophilic/pyrophilous insect is an

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

which has evolved to rely upon

fire ecology Fire ecology is a scientific discipline concerned with natural processes involving fire in an ecosystem and the ecological effects, the interactions between fire and the abiotic and biotic components of an ecosystem, and the role as an ecosystem ...

for important parts of their life cycle. Pyrophiles usually occur alongside and co-evolve with pyrophytes, the plant analog of a pyrophilic insect - those plants which rely upon natural fires as part of their lifecycle. These insects have evolved the ability to rapidly colonize environments after a

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...

. Specialized olfactory organs sensitive to smoke and burnt plant volatiles guide adult insects to active wildfire sites, while in some species highly sensitive

thermal infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

receptors help them steer towards recently burned spots and avoid the dangers of actively burning areas. These infrared receptors are only known in insects from pyrophilous species and are thought to have evolved independently in at least four different genera. Many pyrophiles are somewhat to exceedingly rare outside of burn sites but become locally abundant within as little as hours after the start of a wildfire. Peak abundance may occur in the first one to two days of a fire, while it is still active, with numbers rapidly decreasing after a fire is extinguished. A pyrophilic lifestyle is extraordinarily uncommon amongst insects; of the over 1 million known insect species, only 0.005% are known to have a pyrophilous lifestyle. These include at least 30 species of beetles, 10 species of flies, 8 species of true bugs, and 1 species of moth. Flies of the genus ''

Microsania ''Microsania'' is a genus of flat-footed flies in the family Platypezidae. Species *''Microsania albani, M. albani'' Chandler, 1994 *''Microsania alticola, M. alticola'' Collart, 1955 *''Microsania arthuri, M. arthuri'' Chandler, 1994 *''Microsa ...

'' are some of the most numerous and well-described pyrophilic insects. Others include buprestid beetles in the genera ''

Melanophila ''Melanophila'' is a genus of buprestid beetles commonly known as fire beetles. They have extraordinary sensitivity to infrared radiation (heat), using a specialized sensor organ near their legs. Species The genus ''Melanophila'' consists of the ...

'' and ''

Merimna ''Merimna atrata'' is a species of beetle in the family Buprestidae, family Buprestinae Buprestinae is a subfamily of beetles in the family Buprestidae, containing the following genera in the tribes Anthaxiini, Buprestini, Chrysobothrini, ...

,''

ground beetle Ground beetles are a large, cosmopolitan family of beetles, the Carabidae, with more than 40,000 species worldwide, around 2,000 of which are found in North America and 2,700 in Europe. As of 2015, it is one of the 10 most species-rich animal fami ...

s in the genus '' Sericoda'', the cleroid beetle '' Acanthocnemus nigricans,'' and some species of

flat bug Aradidae is a family of flat bugs, and a member of true bugs (Heteroptera). The common name for these insects refers to their dorsoventrally flattened bodies. With few exceptions, these cryptic insects are of no economic importance. This famil ...

s in the genus ''

Aradus ''Aradus'' is a genus of true bugs in the family Aradidae, the flat bugs. It is distributed worldwide, mainly in the Holarctic.Larivière, M. C. and A. Larochelle. (2006)An overview of flat bug genera (Hemiptera, Aradidae) from New Zealand, with ...

''. Little is known about the broader ecosystem impacts and specific ecological interactions of pyrophilic insects. Various hypotheses attribute these insects' fire-loving adaptations as owing to the weakening of host plants creating greater food availability, the sterilization of the medium into which eggs are laid, and the elimination of competitive or predatory organisms.

Relationship with Humans

The European fire beetle ''

Melanophila cuspidata ''Melanophila'' is a genus of buprestid beetles commonly known as fire beetles. They have extraordinary sensitivity to infrared radiation (heat), using a specialized sensor organ near their legs. Species The genus ''Melanophila'' consists of the ...

'' has been used as an information filter to select which fire-released plant volatiles to target in the development of chemical sensors for early-warning fire alert systems in wood processing.

References

{{Insect-stub Insects