Whats in a firefly that makes it glow?

Sorry, I JUST HAVE TO KNOW!!!  I caught one and it lights up, what is in it?

love juices............

A firefly flashes when oxygen, breathed in through the abdominal tracheae, is allowed to combine with a substance called luciferin under the catalytic effect of the enzyme luciferase. This reaction produces a very efficient light, with almost no energy lost as heat. The timing of the firefly\'s flashes is controlled by the abundant nerves in the insect\'s light-making organ. The duration of the flashes depends on how long the luciferin takes to oxidize. In the pyralis, a common North American firefly, for example, the male flies around and flashes about every five seconds. The female stays on the ground and flashes in response about two seconds later, thus providing the crucial cue to their union.

The five chemicals adenosisine, triphosphate, luciferin, oxygen, magnesium, and luciferase are kept in the abdomen of the firefly by a controller. Nerve stimulations release the chemical inorganic pyrophosphate and the bond breaks and light is produced.

The process is called bioluminescence.

Originally posted by Aaron
A firefly flashes when oxygen, breathed in through the abdominal tracheae, is allowed to combine with a substance called luciferin under the catalytic effect of the enzyme luciferase. This reaction produces a very efficient light, with almost no energy lost as heat. The timing of the firefly\'s flashes is controlled by the abundant nerves in the insect\'s light-making organ. The duration of the flashes depends on how long the luciferin takes to oxidize. In the pyralis, a common North American firefly, for example, the male flies around and flashes about every five seconds. The female stays on the ground and flashes in response about two seconds later, thus providing the crucial cue to their union.

and you study this??? or did you just stay a night at a holiday inn/discovery motel?


cuz i always thought it was love juices

LOL, that\'s what I was gonna say Falcon.

I just copied my answer from another forum.  I used Google, put in "lightning bug," and that was the second option from the search engine.

It\'s funny how easy one can find information on the internet.  If they\'d only try!  , !

Originally posted by Troglodyte
I just copied my answer from another forum.  I used Google, put in "lightning bug," and that was the second option from the search engine.

It\'s funny how easy one can find information on the internet.  If they\'d only try!  , !

yeah makes you seem much smarter, than you really are... jk.

I studied it in school, but Aaron pretty much answered the question far better than I could already, so..

My class actually conducted an experiment in which we successfully got bacteria to glow like a firefly; it involved genetic stuff and stuff. Kinda neat or something.

I knew the answer but had to find the technical stuff so I just pasted a paragraph from Encarta. I enjoy looking for stuff on the \'net, it\'s something I am good at.

Originally posted by Aaron
A firefly flashes when oxygen, breathed in through the abdominal tracheae, is allowed to combine with a substance called luciferin under the catalytic effect of the enzyme luciferase. This reaction produces a very efficient light, with almost no energy lost as heat. The timing of the firefly\'s flashes is controlled by the abundant nerves in the insect\'s light-making organ. The duration of the flashes depends on how long the luciferin takes to oxidize. In the pyralis, a common North American firefly, for example, the male flies around and flashes about every five seconds. The female stays on the ground and flashes in response about two seconds later, thus providing the crucial cue to their union.

Is that all?

Originally posted by Aaron
A firefly flashes when oxygen, breathed in through the abdominal tracheae, is allowed to combine with a substance called luciferin under the catalytic effect of the enzyme luciferase. This reaction produces a very efficient light, with almost no energy lost as heat. The timing of the firefly\'s flashes is controlled by the abundant nerves in the insect\'s light-making organ. The duration of the flashes depends on how long the luciferin takes to oxidize. In the pyralis, a common North American firefly, for example, the male flies around and flashes about every five seconds. The female stays on the ground and flashes in response about two seconds later, thus providing the crucial cue to their union.

In other words, they posess magical flashlights in their asses.

i alwys wondered what if you put 500 in a small jar and turned of the lights if they would make enough light to see what your doing!  i gotta try that....

[Living-In-Clip]

Originally posted by Weltall


In other words, they posess magical flashlights in their asses.

Yep, Weltal. Thanks for simplifying that for all of us.