firefly

Table of Contents

Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images, Videos & Interactives

How do fireflies glow?

Firefly larva and adult

time-lapse photo of fireflies

North American firefly

firefly: larviform female

Representative beetles.

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The saprobe Panellus Stipticus displaying bioluminescence Panellus Stipticus Aug 12, 2009. Bioluminescent fungi. aka bitter oyster, astringent panus, luminescent panellus, stiptic fungus. fungus in the family Mycenaceae

Everything’s Illuminated: 6 Bioluminescent Organisms

Glowworm (Lampyris noctiluca); female glowing at night, Cornwall, England. (beetles, insects, glow worms)

How Do Glowworms Glow?

Discover

African Americans demonstrating for voting rights in front of the White House as police and others watch, March 12, 1965. One sign reads, "We demand the right to vote everywhere." Voting Rights Act, civil rights.

Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. Engraving by Cosomo Colombini (d. 1812) after a Leonardo self portrait. Ca. 1500.

10 Famous Artworks by Leonardo da Vinci

A mug shot taken by the regional Colombia control agency in Medellin

Pablo Escobar: 8 Interesting Facts About the King of Cocaine

Young boys working in a thread spinning mill in Macon, Georgia, 1909. Boys are so small they have to climb onto the spinning frame to reach and fix broken threads and put back empty bobbins. Child labor. Industrial revolution

The Rise of the Machines: Pros and Cons of the Industrial Revolution

Hindu Holi Festival celebrations with colored water, powder and colorful flower petals thrown over celebrants at a Hindu temple in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India on March 24, 2021.

Holi: Festival of Colors

Franklin D. Roosevelt, who formulated the Four Freedoms.

7 Alphabet Soup Agencies that Stuck Around

Calendar marking march 15th

22 Questions About Time and Timekeeping Answered

firefly: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

News •

Touchdown! Carrying NASA Science, Firefly’s Blue Ghost Lands on Moon • Mar. 4, 2025, 12:34 AM ET (NASA (.gov))

Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander successfully touches down on the moon • Mar. 2, 2025, 3:21 AM ET (CNN)

Facts

Also Known As	lightning bug • Lampyridae

Photos and Videos

time-lapse photo of fireflies

North American firefly

firefly: larviform female

Representative beetles.

How do fireflies glow?

See All Videos, Images and Interactives →

Topics

Photinus Phrixothrix Photuris Photinus pyralis European glowworm bioluminescence common garden insects and their larvae soldier beetle net-winged beetle

Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

mimicry: Fireflies

Quiz

vulture. An adult bearded vulture at a raptor recovery center. The Gypaetus barbatus also known as the Lammergeier or Lammergeyer, is a bird of prey and considered an Old World vulture.

Animal Factoids

Lion (panthera leo)

Deadliest Animals Quiz

Sea otter (Enhydra lutris), also called great sea otter, rare, completely marine otter of the northern Pacific, usually found in kelp beds. Floats on back. Looks like sea otter laughing. saltwater otters

Animal Group Names

Mute swan with cygnet. (birds)

Match the Baby Animal to Its Mama Quiz

wasp. Vespid Wasp (Vespidaea) with antennas and compound eyes drink nectar from a cherry. Hornets largest eusocial wasps, stinging insect in the order Hymenoptera, related to bees. Pollination

Know Your Bugs Quiz

List

The saprobe Panellus Stipticus displaying bioluminescence Panellus Stipticus Aug 12, 2009. Bioluminescent fungi. aka bitter oyster, astringent panus, luminescent panellus, stiptic fungus. fungus in the family Mycenaceae

Everything’s Illuminated: 6 Bioluminescent Organisms