Frankie Firefly flits around the sky during the late evening, full of energy, but during the day he likes to rest, usually in the long grass. For the whole winter he has a really long, deep sleep. He is always kind and helpful to his friends, but he does get a little bit grumpy if they disturb him when he is sleeping, like that time his friends asked him to help with the Christmas broccoli tree! He has lots and lots of firefly friends and they all meet up in the warm summer sky, darting around and spreading pretty lights everywhere.

The Firefly

If you look outside on warm summer nights, you may see lots of tiny flashing lights in the dark sky. These will be fireflies. The firefly is sometimes called a lightning bug because it is able to light up, but it really belongs to the beetle family. Its tummy flashes a yellowish light in the late evening, to communicate with other fireflies. When it is disturbed, the light glows even brighter. The light produced by the firefly is the most efficient light ever made, even more than a light bulb.

The firefly lives in warm, damp areas and by the edges of ponds, streams and rivers, but it doesn’t need to drink lots of water. It eats pollen and nectar from flowers and plants. It flies by night and during the day it spends most of its time on the ground in the long grass. When the grass is being cut, you may see lots of fireflies flying out of the grass into the air.

It lays eggs in the summer, and the eggs hatch into larvae, which also glow. As a larva, it feeds all summer on small insects, and it hibernates during the winter.

Copyright © 2024 Brenda Martin & Claire Martin Luxton. All rights reserved.