These are beetles in the family lampyridae which use a chemical reac.
What is a lightning bug look like.
Lighntning bug larvae look like sowbugs which are not even insects.
Lightning bug larvae one of which is shown at the right have sickle shaped mandibles with which they can inject a kind of chemical that paralyzes their prey and helps digest it.
Both fireflies and sowbugs have oval segmented bodies.
They are soft bodied beetles that are commonly called fireflies glowworms or lightning bugs for their conspicuous use of bioluminescence during twilight to attract mates or prey.
Description of a lightning bug an adult lightning bug photinus spp is a winged beetle that measures 7 16 to 9 16 inch long.
It has a dark colored soft body with brownish black wing covers edged with a light yellow to yellowish.
Adult lightning bugs who can live for several months probably feed on plant nectar.
A sowbug is actually a land dwelling crustacean with a multiple segmented body about to inch long.
Fireflies produce a cold light with no infrared or ultraviolet frequencies.
That means that lightning bugs are actually a type of beetle.
Ah this is a good question.
You might be thinking that lightning bugs don t look like the types of beetles you ve seen before.
What you re calling lightning bugs i m assuming are any of a bunch of species of fireflies right.
First let s make sure we re on the same page.
Several larvae have been seen attacking large prey together.
That s not surprising since there are more than 350 000 known species of beetles.
They re actually the largest group of animals on earth.