The Lampyridae are a family of insects in the beetle order Coleoptera with more than 2,000 described species. 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. Fireflies produce a "cold light", with no infrared or ultraviolet frequencies. This chemically produced light from the lower abdomen may be yellow, green, or pale red, with wavelengths from 510 to 670 nanometers. Some species such as the dimly glowing "blue ghost" of the Eastern U.S. may seem to emit blueish-white light from a distance and in low light conditions, but their glow is bright green when observed up close. Their perceived blue tint may be due to the Purkinje effect.
The piping plover is a small sand-colored, sparrow-sized shorebird that nests and feeds along coastal sand and gravel beaches in North America. The adult has yellow-orange-red legs, a black band across the forehead from eye to eye, and a black stripe running along the breast line. This chest band is usually thicker in males during the breeding season, and it is the only reliable way to tell the sexes apart. The bird is difficult to see when it is standing still, as it blends well with open, sandy beach habitats. It typically runs in short, quick spurts and then stops.
Photuris is a genus of fireflies. These are the femme fatale lightning bugs of North America. This common name refers to a behavior of the adult females of these predatory beetles; they engage in aggressive mimicry, imitating the light signals of other firefly species' females to attract, kill, and eat the males. Their flashing bioluminescent signals seem to have evolved independently and eventually adapted to those of their prey, mainly unrelated Lampyrinae, such as Photinus or Pyractomena.
Photuris pensylvanica, known by the common names Pennsylvania firefly, lightning bug, dot-dash firefly and glowworm, is a species of firefly from the United States and Canada. It is also widely known under the Latin name Photuris pennsylvanica, although the original spelling, with one "n", was common in Latinized names of the time and remains the valid name.
Photinus carolinus is a species of rover firefly whose mating displays of synchronous flashing have fascinated both scientists and tourists. As individual females synchronize with males nearby, waves of alternating bright light and darkness seem to travel across the landscape. Firefly displays typically occur in early June near Elkmont, Tennessee, in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, near Gatlinburg.
Photuris versicolor, is a species complex of firefly common throughout the Eastern United States. Fireflies famously use flash-based visual signalling to find mates at a distance and each species of firefly has a unique flash pattern sequence that males and females of the same species use to identify one another. Researchers have documented the ability of female P. versicolor to hunt males of other firefly species by mimicking the flash responses of female fireflies of other species. Photuris versicolor appear to target males, such as Photinus pyralis, specifically for the lucibufagin steroids that their prey produce.
Pyractomena punctiventris is a species in the family Lampyridae (fireflies), in the order Coleoptera (beetles). It is found in North America, where it is known from east-central Texas south to Veracruz, Mexico.
Pyractomena is a genus of fireflies in the family Lampyridae. There are at least 20 described species in Pyractomena.
Aspisoma ignitum is a species of firefly in the family Lampyridae. It is found in the Caribbean, Central America, North America, and South America. Its presence is uncertain in the United States.
Micronaspis is a genus of fireflies in the family of beetles known as Lampyridae, containing only one species, the Florida intertidal firefly. It is found in the Bahamas and Florida. It is threatened by habitat loss from coastal development as well as storm surges and sea level rise as a consequence of climate change, with Hurricane Dorian having a major impact on Grand Bahama island, where the species is known from. Increased chemical and light pollution has also seriously affected the species. Further threatening it in Florida is the introduction of Steinernema carpocapsae as a biocontrol agent for crops, which is known to target other beetle species than the ones it is meant to control; it is likely the cause of a local extirpation of a population of M. floridana from Sarasota Bay.
Pyractomena borealis is a species of firefly in the beetle family Lampyridae. It is found in North America, where it has a very wide distribution, as it is known from Alberta east to the Maritime Provinces of Canada, and south to all US states east of the Mississippi River.
Photuris frontalis is a synchronous-flashing firefly species in the beetle family Lampyridae.
Pyractomena lucifera is a species of firefly in the beetle family Lampyridae. It is found in North America.
Photuris fairchildi is a species of firefly in the beetle family Lampyridae. It is found in North America.
Pyractomena angulata is a species of firefly in the family of beetles known as Lampyridae. It is found in North America and is the state insect of Indiana. It is also known as Say's Firefly and the Angle Candled Firefly.
Pyractomena dispersa is a species of firefly in the beetle family Lampyridae. It is found in North America.
Pyractomena linearis is a species of firefly in the beetle family Lampyridae. It is found in North America.
Pyractomena marginalis is a species of firefly in the beetle family Lampyridae. It is found in North America.
Photuris mysticalampas, also called the mysterious lantern firefly, is an endangered synchronous-flashing firefly species described in 2013.
Photuris bethaniensis is a species of firefly in the genus Photuris.
