Fireflies: Lighting Up More Than Just Your Backyard

By Anonymous -
          "You would not believe your eyes if ten million fireflies lit up the world as I fell asleep" (check out this link for the rest of this amazing song). Wouldn’t it be remarkable if we could individually produce our own light instead of relying on electrical power? It would be, indeed. What if I told you that there is something out there in our world that can do just that?
http://www.fireflyexperience.org/photos/elkmont-synchronous-fireflies/Schreiber-synchronous-fireflies-elkmont-105834.jpg
           It’s no secret that there are bugs in our backyards that can create light. Some might know them as fireflies, some might know them as lightning bugs, but no matter what you call them – they are there. It is a childhood fan favorite to collect these little bugs in jars and watch them send off their fascinating flashes of color – and for good reason! Not only do fireflies create mesmerizing twinkles of light and provide backyards with a majestic sparkle, but they do so in a manner that is energetically favorable and nearly 100% efficient because it does not give off any heat in the process.
http://www.firefly.org/images/pictures/firefly-picture-in-jar.jpg
            The chemicals that are present in the abdomen of a lightning bug include a bioluminescent enzyme called luciferase, which reacts with another substance, luciferin, to cause the characteristic glow. Scientists have been aware for some time that oxygen is also a key player in the reaction that takes place inside of these creatures, but it wasn’t until 2015 that it was discovered how. According to a National Geographic article, a man by the name of Bruce Branchini at Connecticut College and his colleagues discovered that the oxygen present in a firefly’s abdomen is no normal form of O2 – rather, it is a form of oxygen that is referred to as a “superoxide anion,” meaning that it contains an extra electron. Without this extra electron, the oxygen would not be able to react with the luciferin also present, and thus the bioluminescent glow would not occur.
            This reaction is important for a number of reasons. First, it is obviously important to the fireflies’ way of life. Every species of firefly produces a variation of flashing patterns and colors. This is generally used as a mating mechanism; male fireflies will fly around flashing a specific pattern while the females will wait in the nearby vegetation and reciprocate the male pattern. This is an indication to the male that they are of the same species and he will find the female in order to mate. An interesting twist to this adaptation, however, is that there are some female fireflies who have developed the ability to flash the patterns of males of a different species, and when the male comes down in order to mate with that female, he is instead eaten.
http://img.timeinc.net/time/photoessays/2010/top10_insects/firefly.jpg
Another use of a firefly’s light is a protection mechanism. Fireflies, contrary to what their common name might lead you to believe, are beetles (Order Coleoptera). This specific type of beetle is in the family Lampyridae and has poisonous blood that can be excreted in droplets from the edges of their wings. The light patterns and colors that they give off, then, are signals to a predator that this animal is toxic and to stay away.

What’s really interesting is that scientists are starting to see medicinal benefits from the bioluminescent centers of fireflies – namely the luciferin. Already it has been used to study the brains of living rats, and is thought to have the capability to aide in the study of the human brain. It has also been used as a cancer-fighting agent and has helped the development of imaging human tumors. Though it is unclear right now the extent of luciferin benefits to human medicine, it is clear that this bioluminescent quality of fireflies has many important functions and applications. So while it is fun and exhilarating to frolic in the yard chasing after the sporadic beams of light, don’t keep these amazing little bugs trapped in a glass container; let them do their job of lighting up our world!

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/5a/90/36/5a9036f2c08a6abc80542bcb5410fa1c.jpg

Sources:
Bland, Roger G., and Jacques, H.E. "ORDER COLEOPTERA, Beetles: Family Lampyridae - Fireflies." How to Know the Insects. Dubuque, IA: W.C. Brown Co., 1978. 206. Print.

Eaton, Eric R., and Kenn Kaufman. "Beetles: Fireflies." Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin, 2007. 170. Print.

Evans, Howard E. "Insects as Food, and Their Defenses against Being Eaten: The Primary Defense of Insects" Insect Biology: A Textbook of Entemology. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1984. 316. Print.

https://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wildlife-Library/Invertebrates/Firefly.aspx

news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/150724-fireflies-glow-bugs-summer-nation-science/

Comments

  1. UnknownMay 21, 2017 at 7:20 PM

    What an engagingly written narrative of the wonder and the science of firefly luminescence! The video linked made it entertaining as well.

    ReplyDelete

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