No summer evening is complete without watching…and sometimes catching…fireflies. There are about 2000 different species of lightning bugs, and there’s still a lot that scientists don’t know about them. Here are a few things we do know.
But did you know……
Fireflies…Lighting Bugs…they are not flies at all…they are beetles. Up close, it’s easier to see that fireflies are beetles. And like all other beetles, they have hardened forewings.
According to LiveScience, the light is produced when oxygen is mixed with a pigment called luciferin, an enzyme called luciferase, and a chemical that provides cells with energy called adenosine triphosphate. The final part of the formula is uric acid crystals, which are located in the cells that make the light and shine the light away from the firefly’s body. (The light-emitting part of the firefly is called a photic organ, by the way.) This is why lightning bugs light up and allow young’ens to light their bedrooms on a sweet summer night.
Males fly through the air and search for females with a species-specific light display. Some flash only once. Some emit “flash trains” of up to nine carefully timed pulses. Others fly in specific aerial patterns, briefly dipping before sharply ascending and forming a “J” of light. A few even shake their abdomens from side to side and appear to be twinkling. There are a few rare exceptions, but for the most part, flashing fireflies don’t live west of the Rockies.
So get ready the night of lightning bugs and summer night sounds is near…get that ole mason jar…take to the front stoop of your house and catch the light…keep them in the jar for a little light on a summer’s night. Welcome lightning bugs and welcome summer in the south.
