Fireflies or Lightning Bugs

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Animals from Around the World

Fireflies or Lightning Bugs

  • Fireflies or Lightning Bugs
    Animal class: Insects (Have a segmented body (3 main body parts the head, the thorax, and the abdomen), cold-blooded, an exoskeleton (an outer skeleton around the whole body to help protect them), jointed legs, six legs, antennas, wings (some insect will have 1-2 pairs of wings or no wings at all), most babies come from eggs, but some are live births, and their sizes range from the Dicopomorpha echmepterygis (a type of wasp, also called a Fairyfly) at 0.005 in (.139 mm) to the Phoebaeticus chani (a type of Stick insect) at 2 ft (62.4 cm) long. (Examples: Beatles, butterflies, Praying mantis, and ladybugs) There are around 925 thousand different species)
  • Diet: Omnivore (They eat plants and meat)– Dew droplets, pollen, or nectar from flowers, but some species do smaller insects
  • Lifespan: About two months
  • Predators: Birds, spiders, frogs, and lizards
  • Size: 1 in (2.5 cm) long
  • Species: There are about 2,000 different species
  • Status: Threatened
  • Weight: 0.0007 oz (20 mg)
  • fireflies MapWhere do they live?: Live on every continent except Antarctica
  • They live in warmer or tropical areas and are found in almost every habitat.
  • They produce light from their tails, and it is called bioluminescent. Even some of the eggs and larvae of these species will have a slight glow.
  • They make this light to help protect themselves from predators.
  • They talk to each other with their lights and warn predators to stay away. This light also plays a huge role in finding a mate.
  • They are poisonous to some animals when eaten but not poisonous to the touch.
Chip Valecek
Author: Chip Valecek