Firefly Facts for Kids

20 Firefly Facts For Kids

1. Firefly is a common name for a large group of flying elaterid beetles that are members of the Lampyridae family.
2. Fireflies are most well-known for their ability to emit light (Bioluminescence) at night.
3. Fireflies are also known as lightning bugs and glowworms.
4. Fireflies aren’t scientifically flies; they are beetles.
5. Scientists have identified more than 2,000 different species of fireflies.
6. Firefly species are found worldwide, apart from Antarctica and a few very remote islands.
7. Scientists have fossil evidence that some of the first fireflies appear at least 99 million years ago (Late Cretaceous).
8. Fireflies have a head, antenna, eyes, thorax, legs, wings, and abdomen.
9. The light produced by fireflies at night is used to attract mates but may have first evolved to deter predators.
10. Fireflies produce light through a chemical process known as bioluminescence.
11. The chemical process in a firefly to produce light uses enzyme luciferase, which acts on the luciferin, in the presence of magnesium ions, ATP, and oxygen.
12. One of the brightest light-producing firefly species is the big dipper firefly (Photinus pyralis).
13. Some species of fireflies don’t produce any light at all, like the western firefly (Ellychnia californica) and the winter firefly (Ellychnia corrusca).
14. A firefly has four life stages, the egg, the larva, the pupa, and the adult.
15. A firefly will spend between three to four weeks in the egg stage.
16. A firefly will spend between one to two years in the larva stage.
17. A firefly will spend between one to two weeks in the pupa stage.
18. A firefly will spend between two to four weeks in the adult stage.
19. Overall, the life span of a firefly is between one and two years.
20. The population of fireflies worldwide has been declining due to the habit loss, degradation, climate change and pesticide use.

Firefly Pictures

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the below images will be helpful for your research on fireflies. Below are three various pictures of fireflies. These pictures should help you better understand fireflies, the insects that light up the night.

A close-up of a firefly.

A picture of a firefly on a leaf.

A picture of fireflies in a field.