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Fireflies: To Glow or Not to Glow


There are more than a thousand types of fireflies and each one is uniquely different. Although these nighttime insects are known for glowing in the dark, not all of them do.

Fireflies use an organ in their abdomen to create lights and each one produces a different kind of light. Some of them glow while others flash their lights. The males send a message to the female fireflies by flashing their lights. However, female fireflies are different; some do not have wings, so they attract males to the ground with a special code. Additionally, the North American female firefly sends a “bad” message to males so they can eat them once they land on the ground.

The young ones—larvae or glowworms—also eat meat and glow. They clutch on to the slugs with their jaws, inject them with poison, and then eat their prey. Even though the larvae have poison, most adults are harmless.

Every firefly is different. Some glow, but they do it for different reasons, which makes them interesting and fun to catch all summer long.

[Source: The Big Bug Book ]

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