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However, unlike fireflies, these bugs do not flash. Instead, they glow continuously, although they can control the light intensity. The light becomes brighter if they’re threatened or touched by ...
The fireflies (including the lightning bugs) are a family, Lampyridae, of some 2,000 species within the Coleoptera. The family forms a single clade , a natural phylogenetic group. [ 1 ]
Photuris pensylvanica, known by the common names Pennsylvania firefly, lightning bug, [3] dot-dash firefly [4] and (in its larval state) glowworm, [5] is a species of firefly from the United States and Canada.
They are among the "flashing" (as opposed to continuous-glow) fireflies known as "lightning bugs" in North America, although they are not too distantly related to the flashing fireflies in the Lampyrinae; as the most basal lineages of that subfamily do not produce light at all, the Photurinae's flashing signals seem to be convergent evolution. [2]
Lampyridae, or fireflies, are omnivorous invertebrates that communicate with each other through the ends of their abdomens through bioluminescence, according to National Geographic Kids.
For many Americans, the flash of the firefly calls up memories of summer childhood evenings gone by — and now, the worry that the bugs are disappearing. Fireflies once seemed plentiful and cool, easy to catch and watch, serving as an introduction to the world of nature around us.
What do you call them: firefly or lightning bugs? It turns out they are the same insect! We explain the regional difference in how they are named in America.
Photuris is a genus of fireflies (beetles of the family Lampyridae). These are the femme fatale lightning bugs of North America.This common name refers to a behavior of the adult females of these predatory beetles; they engage in aggressive mimicry, imitating the light signals of other firefly species' females to attract mates – but Photuris use it to attract, kill and eat the unsuspecting ...