I was sitting outside and saw all these little lights flashing around me. It was a sad day when we moved out here to Oregon, because we don't have them out here.I grew up in a suburb of NY and we had them! Fireflies produce defensive steroids in their bodies that make them unpalatable to predators. There must have been dozens of them-all flickering on and off! I use no bug sprays of any kind and no herbicides because I'm too afraid of killing off the good bugs and I'm very serious about doing my part to protect the bees....yes all of them; wasps and hornets included. Unlike a light bulb, which produces a lot of heat in addition to light, a firefly's light is "cold light" without a lot of energy being lost as heat. I love sitting outside on a warm summers night and seeing their flickering lights.
to help round out the protection. In the larval period, the firefly looks like a worm. She couldn't believe that there was so much light just flying around like that.
I couldn't imagine going just 1 summer and not being able to see their beautiful light show. It is actually a three season Perennial Garden with much less interest in winter except for a few winter plants with some color such as red twig dogwood, winter heather and so on.

I couldn't believe them, they were just beautiful.Submitted by Kathy Waldrop on June 25, 2019 - 12:24pmThank you for your post, it helps remind those of us who see them all the time to appreciate them more. Living here 14 years has taken out all the fun of 'summer'!About two nights ago-I saw some oh-so-beautiful fireflies! Conversely the male does not emit any lightand is capable of flight.If you live in America: All Lampyridae species are known as fireflies orlightningbugs. Glow-worm is sometimes used to describe the larval stages ofthe Lampyridae. For a long time it was a mystery as to how some firefly species manage such a high flash rate, considering the relatively slow speed of the muscles that control oxygen transport. Fireflies light up a forest night. Haven't seen any for many years.Submitted by Sharon Cardenas on May 31, 2019 - 11:22amI've lived in a small town in Tennessee all my life.

I live in the country and they are everywhere!Submitted by Terry GIBSON on June 10, 2020 - 10:45amWe live in a suburban neighborhood in Michigan across the street from a large nature preserve.

I mean when i was little if you looked up into the night skies there was thousands of stars in the sky and there was thousands of fireflies everywhere.

!Submitted by Lilly Crittenden on March 29, 2019 - 5:56pmI'm from Tucson, AZ, and I thought fireflies were just a myth until I visited Louisville, KY in August, 1975. Because nitric oxide breaks down very quickly, as soon as the chemical is no longer being produced, the oxygen molecules are again trapped by the mitochondria and are not available for the production of light.Fireflies appear to light up for a variety of reasons. We moved two miles last fall from “town” to “the country” amazing how much different it is.

The brighter the female’s response, the more interest she has in the male. There were many lightening bugs.

He laughed and caught them in his hands. When the eggs hatch, they go to the next stage, the larva. This happens in the insect's light organ. Moving to Florida was a mistake!! I don't have to do anything to attract them. In short, when the firefly light is ¿off," no nitric oxide is being produced. Next day turned them loose.So basically you have to create a chigger-infested environment to have fireflies? There are species that employ both pheromonal and luminous components in their mating systems.

Technically, glowworms are insects from the family Phengodidae, which are related to fireflies.