Firefly Facts

About the firefly

Fireflies are also called lightning bugs or glowworms. Light is thought to have started as a warning from larvae that they tasted bad, and only later became a way to find mates. Females of the genus Photuris took it further: they copy the flash pattern of Photinus beetles to lure in males and eat them.

Fireflies live in temperate and tropical climates, many of them in marshes or damp woods where the larvae find plenty of food. Every species glows as a larva, at least in name, but only some keep glowing as adults, and the position of the light organ differs between species and even between males and females. People have watched fireflies since ancient times, and Japan sets aside parks just for viewing them.

Did you know?

• The common glow-worm of Europe, Lampyris noctiluca, is the type species of the firefly family.
• Different cultures have read many different meanings into fireflies.
• Fireflies belong to the elateroid beetles.