noun: an insect that produces a flashing light when it flies at night noun: nocturnal beetle common in warm regions having luminescent abdominal organs
noun: tropical American click beetle having bright luminous spots
The Lampyridae are a family of insects in the beetle order Coleoptera. They are winged beetles, and commonly called fireflies or lightning bugs for their conspicuous use of bioluminescence during twilight to attract mates or prey. Fireflies produce a "cold light", with no infrared or ultraviolet frequencies. This chemically produced light from the lower abdomen may be yellow, green, or pale red, with wavelengths from 510 to 670 nanometers.
About 2,000 species of fireflies are found in temperate and tropical environments. Many are in marshes or in wet, wooded areas where their larvae have abundant sources of food. Their larvae emit light and often are called "glowworms", in particular, in Eurasia. In the Americas, "glow worm" also refers to the related Phengodidae. In many species, both male and female fireflies have the ability to fly, but in some species, the females are flightless. Firefly, Wikipedia
"Having, in these researches, succeeded in wresting from Nature the conditions of planetary suspension, he is now well on his way toward gaining the closely guarded secret of the firefly. All that Nature does with Nature's forces man will be able to do when he has wrung from her grasp, one by one, the keys that she still clenches in her hands; for it is Nature herself, not Science, which has given to the world, in this system of aerial navigation, "the crowning achievement of a century of progress." [Trinity of Matter and Force - Annotated]
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