One of the joys of the summer season is the sighting of fireflies, sometimes called “lightning bugs.” This post was inspired by our recent first sighting of fireflies outside our Eastern Iowa home. The firefly phenomenon holds many pleasant memories. “Lightning in a bottle” could refer to capturing these amazing creatures in a jar for young children as long as we adhere to the principle of catch and release.
The light organ producing the visible light from a firefly is called the lantern. The visible light glows from the translucent exoskeleton of the insect at the rear of the abdomen. Light generating cells in the lantern contain the enzyme luciferin. Another enzyme, luciferase, acts as a catalyst on luciferin to generate an “excited” chemical state when oxygen is supplied. Oxygen is the element necessary for oxidation, defined as the loss of one or more electrons (charged electrical particles).
Sometimes oxidation results in combustion—rapid burning. At other times oxidation is slow. In firefly bioluminescence the oxidation is a slow process. Firefly bioluminescence is exothermic: Energy is released, but the energy is in the form of light—not heat. The light generated by lightning bugs is termed “cold light.”
Our research affirmed the complex subject of taxonomy whereby bioscientists describe and categorize living animals according to characteristics distinguishing them from all other living animals. Taxonomists developed a hierarchical system beginning with major categories of animals and expanded the system to describe more specific and detailed information highlighting the wondrous diversity among living creatures. This hierarchy proceeds from about 35 major phyla to several million named species according to the traditional hierarchy. Fireflies are beetles. Surprisingly, about 25% of all recognized species on Earth are beetles. They are included among insects which represent 80% of recognized animal species on Planet Earth.
There are about 2 million different animal species classified so far on Earth. Millions more have yet to be formally classified. Bioluminescent fireflies exemplify the remarkable diversity of characteristics among Earth’s living species.
Bioluminescence is merely one of the astonishing characteristics of a small percentage of living things on our planet. When we search, examine, and analyze this evidence and the characteristics of Planet Earth creatures, we perceive that God, the Creator of All Things had almost limitless ideas about what sorts of physical traits, behaviors, and operating systems He would create. Translation: God did not stop creating with only one species of fireflies. He created 2000 species of fireflies!
We conclude this post with a few more facts related to fireflies. Some species are diminishing in number because of habitat loss, pesticides, and light pollution. Fireflies use their bioluminescence to attract mates. They prefer almost complete darkness to demonstrate their light production ability. Three states have selected fireflies as their state insect—Indiana, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania. Worldwide, there are roughly 2000 species in the family of lympyridae (fireflies). Most of these species are bioluminescent.
We link a past post: to expand upon our discussion of “taxonomy:”
https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2018/10/insect-profusion.html
Here is a link to our past post concerning our “sense of wonder:”
https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2007/11/sense-of-wonder.html
Finally, a link to our post on the “Science Wow Factor” as we marvel at one insect’s bioluminescence:
https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2008/07/wow-factor.html
