FIREFLIES ARE EMERGING AND A HORTICULTURE EXPERT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS EXTENSION HAS ALL SORTS OF FACTS ABOUT THE BLINKING BUGS.
FIREFLIES, OR LIGHTNING BUGS, ARE ACTUALLY BEETLES THAT SPEND MOST OF THEIR LIVES IN THE LARVAE STAGE, PREYING ON SLUGS, CATERPILLARS AND INSECTS IN THE SOIL. THE EXTENSION’S KEN JOHNSON SAYS ONCE THEY EMERGE AS ADULTS, THEY ONLY LIVE FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS. WHEN FIREFLIES LIGHT UP…THAT’S THEIR VERSION OF SPEED DATING.
JOHNSON NOTES THAT MOST SPECIES HAVE THEIR OWN PATTERN OF SIGNALING.
JOHNSON SAYS LIGHTNING BUGS FLASH LESS OFTEN WHEN THE WEATHER IS COOLER. THEY ARE PART OF THE BEETLE FAMILY AND ADULTS TYPICALLY ONLY LIVE A COUPLE OF WEEKS.
