Why Do Fireflies Flash After Dark?

[Panich52]

Why Do Fireflies Flash After Dark?

For many people, summer doesn’t really begin until the first fireflies arrive in their backyards. 

This insect’s remarkable green and yellow flashing lights have a hypnotic effect on people. Children (and the young-at-heart) are especially drawn to fireflies. 

But that same glow often leads male fireflies to a particularly grisly end. 

Click here to get the whole story of lust, life and death.
http://enature.us1.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=19c6e3405dc59584446e1a4d8&id=26f4bf9f4e&e=028ee0accc

[hollysmom]

1. It is all about sex, isn't it always about sex?

[uriel1972]

2. I have this image...

of these little fireflies in their overcoats running about in the night exposing themselves. I am insane, I know.

[Panich52]

4. Lol

[Generic Brad]

11. Please post that image!

Me want to see too!!

[uriel1972]

15. sorry it's in my head...

Perhaps I could have worded it better. I am a terrible artist and would need someone's help to produce it.

[PoliticAverse]

3. Because the flash is easier to see in the dark of course. n/t

[GreatGazoo]

5. Because it is too warm to wear little tiny raincoats during the day (?)

[clarice]

6. This...

Light production in fireflies is due to a type of chemical reaction called bioluminescence. This process occurs in specialized light-emitting organs, usually on a firefly's lower abdomen. The enzyme luciferase acts on the luciferin, in the presence of magnesium ions, ATP, and oxygen to produce light.

[Xipe Totec]

9. I've synthesized luciferin in the lab, part of an organic chemistry assignment.

Pour a little bit of malic acid into the mix, and the entire flask glows for 10-15 minutes and fades. Add a little more and it light up again.

Chemistry is wicked fun.

[clarice]

18. I wonder what would happen if you painted a cat with it? nt

[MerryBlooms]

7. I posted this article from Science Friday a while back: Talk Like a Firefly

If you’re lucky enough to live where fireflies flash at night, then you have surely seen their magical illuminations on warm summer evenings. But did you know that by observing fireflies while they are flashing, you can learn to communicate with them? If you haven’t already, watch the Science Friday Video “In a Flash: Firefly Communication” for a little background on how fireflies use light to communicate:

http://www.sciencefriday.com/blogs/07/11/2014/talk-like-a-firefly.html

[Panich52]

13. I'd forgotten abt that. Learn the language & you can attract them

[In_The_Wind]

8. Because we wouldn't see em in the daylight.

[LiberalElite]

10. I'm nowhere near any

meadows or forest and I see fireflies in the summer. It's just like Wild Kingdom in NYC. LOL

[Panich52]

14. One early lightening bug night this year, it was like being at some major event - all the flashing

like flashbulbs going off -- just not a sound at all. Surreal.

[Special Prosciuto]

12. Many of them have prior daytime arrests.

[roody]

16. I miss them in Northern California.

[ArnoldLayne]

17. Where I come from in West Virginia I wonder the same thing about Lightning Bugs

[Panich52]

19. Notice this WVian calls em lightening bugs in replies. :)