Lightning Bug larvae live on the ground, under bark, and in moist swampy places. They eat earthworms, snails and slugs, plus they may scavenge certain small dead animals and other organic material.
They have been seen following slime trails to their slug and snail victims. Lightning Bug larvae, one of which is shown at the right, have sickle-shaped mandibles with which they can inject a kind of chemical that paralyzes their prey and helps digest it. Several larvae have been seen attacking large prey together. Adult Lightning Bugs, who can live for several months, probably feed on plant nectar. A few adult Lightning Bug species practice an especially tricky kind of cannibalism.
Already-mated females emit flashes similar to the female responses to male Lightning Bugs of other species. When the male of the other species lands, the female emitting the false flashes pounces on the poor male and eats him!
Lightning Bugs are the same as Fireflies. They are members of a particular family of the Beetle Order. This species also uses light to attract their prey, the big dipper firefly Photinis pyralis , which they eat to obtain defensive chemicals. A firefly typically lives for approximately two months in the wild. Anecdotal evidence suggests that firefly populations may be on the decline. Fireflies live in fields, meadows, forests, and other natural habitats, and these areas are becoming fewer due to development.
Bioluminescence in fireflies is nearly percent efficient, meaning little energy is wasted to produce their light. By contrast, an incandescent light bulb is only 10 percent efficient—90 percent of the energy is lost as heat. Fireflies must be more efficient to save energy. Evans, A. Sterling Publishing Co. A groundbreaking bipartisan bill aims to address the looming wildlife crisis before it's too late, while creating sorely needed jobs.
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The armored, grub-like larvae are vicious predators, tracking down and consuming slugs, snails and earthworms. They can spend up to two years in this larval stage before metamorphosing into adults. Adults may live only a couple of weeks, and most do not eat during this time—they just mate, lay eggs and die. This means that the fireflies you see in your backyard this summer are the result of successful matings from and they will be the parents of fireflies that you will not see flashing until Firefly femme fatales lure unsuspecting males of other species to their deaths.
The females of one group of fireflies, called Photuris , have earned the nickname femme fatales. Unlike most species, these fireflies eat as adults. By mimicking the flash patterns of other firefly species, the female lures unsuspecting males in closer. Thus duped, a male will serve as the main entree for her dinner. Preying on the males of other species allows Photuris females to acquire their toxins, called lucibufagins, which the females then deposit into their eggs as a chemical defense.
Femme fatales sneak onto spider webs to steal prey. How they identify their incapacitated prey and emerge from the web unscathed remain unanswered questions. The biggest fireflies are huge. Females of the Lamprigera firefly can grow to be the size of your palm. They are much larger than their male counterparts and lack wings. Two large light organs on their abdomen produce their characteristic glow.
There are winter fireflies. While fireflies are largely seen as a staple of summer, there is one North American species that is active in the winter. Adults of these winter fireflies do not emit light and hide in the bark of trees, so they largely go unnoticed.
Emerging to find overwintering sites in September and huddling in the furrowed bark of large trees through the winter, they find each other with pheromone signals in April and May, mate, lay eggs and are gone before their summer counterparts arrive. Some fireflies flash in unison. Some species of firefly have a unique way of performing their mating signals: they synchronize their flashes.
Truly synchronous fireflies are found in Southeast Asia. They congregate in colony trees and blink in unison.
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