Fireflies

What is a firefly?• The fireflies are

beetles characterized by emit light from their bodies. They are found on every continent except in Antarctica.There are more than 2000 species of fireflies in the world.

how do fireflies produce light?• The light is produced by a

process of oxidation of luciferin in the presence of the enzyme luciferase, which occurs very quickly. This process is called bioluminescence and emits a bright light with little elevation of temperature.

Benefits of being able to

glowBeing able to glow has several benefits for fireflies. It helps them with its scaring off animals who might try to eat them. Many firefly larvae contain chemicals that are distasteful or toxic.

Fireflies also use their glowing light to communicate and blink out certain messages. The light helps them with the mate selection: Different types of fireflies glow in different ways, so each firefly looks the glow of the kind of mate it needs. 1

Interesting facts• Female fireflies lay their eggs on land, and in

some cases has been reported that these eggs glow in the dark. They put 50 to 150 eggs.

• The most part of their life they stay like larvae and when they are in the adult form they lives only a short time.

• Fireflies produce a "cold light", with no infrared or ultraviolet frequencies

• The females choose males for their ability to light, they prefer: fast pulses or longer.

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• Many firefly larvae contain chemicals that are distasteful or toxic to animals and humans.

• When a firefly larva reaches adulthood, they stop eating and they just survive with only the nutrients accumulated in the larval stage.

• The main purpose of an adult firefly is to mate and fertilize their eggs before dying.

• The larvae eats snails and slugs.

• That a possible cause of the disappearance of fireflies is the light pollution?

Did you know..

• Light from buildings or urban development can blind or distract fireflies when they are going to mate.

• Scientists say that they have made experiments with levels of light and they have observed the “failure to mate” as the lights get brighter.

How does this topic

interest me?• I choose this topic because, first of all, I like fireflies, even if I have never seen one before in real life, I think they are very beautiful because of their capacity of emit light that also makes them interesting. I wanted to learn more about this insect because I didn’t know anything about it. This is the reason why I choose fireflies as my topic.

Thanks!=)

Bibliography• http://zoouniverso.blogspot.com/2009/09/11-datos-curiosos-sobre-las-

luciernagas.html• http://www.mundo-geo.es/naturaleza/animales/luciernaga-el-insecto-

luminoso• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly• http://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/firefly-info.htm• http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/firefly/• http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lampyridae• http://www.porque.es/por-que-brillan-las-luciernagas/• http://pijamasurf.com/2009/07/seduccion-a-traves-de-la-luz-la-vida-sexual-de-

las-luciernagas/• http:// es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contaminación_lumínica• http://www.arrakis.es/~cvera/aaf/cont-lum.htm• http://www.fororeptiles.org/foros/showthread.php?35336-LUCI%C9RNAGAS• http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2008/11/21/

humans_and_light_pollution_blamed_as_fireflies_disappear/