CATDOLL : CATDOLL: What insects do fireflies eat?

1. What do fireflies like to eat?

Larvae: Firefly larvae are carnivorous, and the larvae of terrestrial fireflies mostly eat some smaller snails.

Adult: After metamorphosis into adults, most species of fireflies hardly eat or drink, and often only eat dew, honeydew or pollen and nectar; however, in South America, a few species of firefly adults will glow and prey on other types of fireflies, or small phototactic insects.

Additional information:

The general name for fireflies, which have about 2,000 species worldwide and are distributed in tropical, subtropical and temperate regions. According to statistics from several Chinese experts, there are about 100 species that have been discovered, and with the undiscovered species, there are more than 150 species in total. They glow at night and can be divided into two types: aquatic and terrestrial.

The body is small to medium, long and flat, with soft body wall and elytra. The pronotum is flat and often covers the head. The head is narrow. The eyes are semispherical, and the eyes of males are often larger than those of females. The abdomen has 7 to 8 segments, and there is a light organ at the bottom of the end. The yellow-green fluorescence is generated by the reaction of luciferin in the body and luciferase.

Fireflies are divided into two categories according to their living environment: terrestrial and aquatic. The former accounts for the majority. Terrestrial fireflies mostly live in places with high shade, lush vegetation, and high relative humidity, while aquatic fireflies have higher requirements for the environment, and the water cannot be polluted or light polluted.

2. What do fireflies eat?

Fireflies are small carnivorous beetles that feed on snails.

If a snail encounters any danger, it will retract its head into its hard shell, and many of its natural enemies are helpless against it.

How can a small, weak and clumsy firefly deal with it? There is a pair of jaws on the top of the firefly's head, which are as thin as hair and very sharp.

When a firefly catches a snail, it first taps the snail gently with its jaws. The snail does not take the firefly seriously at all and even thinks that being tapped a few times is very comfortable, like a massage.

The tapping of a firefly is to inject it with a kind of venom.

The snail was paralyzed without realizing it until it lost consciousness.

When the snail is poisoned, the firefly injects another liquid, turning the snail's flesh into a liquid, which it then drinks with its tubular mouth.

3. What do fireflies eat in summer, autumn and winter?

Fireflies eat mollusks such as snails and slugs and annelids such as earthworms.

Fireflies are carnivorous animals that prey on mollusks such as snails and slugs and annelids such as earthworms. After obtaining their prey, they use their upper jaws to inject secretions into the prey for external digestion and then absorb them into the body. Usually a snail will share with many fireflies.

Additional information:

Nature is so magical, one thing has another. Although the snail is also very powerful and has a shell, it also has natural enemies, and there are many of them. Among them, fireflies are one of the natural enemies of snails, and they are also the most deadly natural enemies of snails.

Rural children should be familiar with fireflies, after all, there were many fireflies in the past. This insect rarely comes out during the day, but comes out to look for food at night, and each of them carries a "flashlight" to facilitate their hunting. Among them, the fireflies' prey are mainly snails and other small insects.

Fireflies are one of the most deadly natural enemies of snails. Don't underestimate fireflies. Although they are only a little bit big and don't have sharp teeth, they are very destructive. When they are still larvae, they will eat away at the body of the snail.

When the fireflies evolve into adults, they lay eggs in the snail's body, and then many small fireflies hatch. In fact, the fireflies do not eat the snail directly, but inject a toxin into the snail, which paralyzes the snail and turns it into a pool of liquid. In this way, the fireflies can slowly eat the snail, and in the end only a snail shell is left.