CATDOLL : CATDOLL: Can fireflies feed a human being? (Can fireflies feed a human being?)

1. How long does a firefly live before it dies? How long is its life cycle? What is its living environment like?

No. The life cycle of a firefly is usually one year, with the egg and larval stages accounting for most of its entire life cycle, while the adult stage is often only about 1 month. Except for a few diurnal fireflies, most fireflies have a milky white light organ at the end of their abdomen. The luciferin in the body reacts with oxygen through a biochemical reaction with the participation of luciferase to emit fluorescence. Common firefly light colors are yellow, red and green. Although fireflies are very efficient in luminescence, they still consume their own energy, so they usually do not glow all night. Adult fireflies glow for 2-3 hours every night, while larvae glow for a slightly longer time. Firefly larvae are carnivorous insects that can feed on freshwater snails, snails or other insects; adult fireflies only feed on small amounts of pollen and dew.

2. How to breed fireflies?

1. The feeding device can be a wire cage or a glass bottle, but be sure to leave ventilation holes. You can also use a transparent plastic box, also be sure to leave ventilation holes, and it is best to use a wire mesh cover.

2. Fireflies will not fight or bite each other, so multiple fireflies can be kept together. You can put some tender locust leaves or freshly picked tender grass in the bottle, and cover the bottle mouth with plastic yarn, iron yarn or gauze. The bottle should maintain a certain humidity, and you can sprinkle a little water every day, and spray some water before adding tender grass or locust leaves.

3. Fireflies love to eat the body fluids of snails. You can catch 1-2 live snails every 2-3 days and put them in the feeder for them to eat. If it is a glass bottle or a transparent plastic box feeder, you can observe it eating the snails.

4. If you raise 10 to 25 fireflies in a bottle, you only need to provide 1 snail each time. If you raise more than 25 fireflies, you can put 2 snails each time. Fireflies can generally be raised for 15 to 20 days, and if they are well raised, they can live for 1 month.

3. How many fireflies are equivalent to a human life span?

Fireflies spend most of their time in the larval stage, which lasts from half a year to a year. The life span of an adult firefly is only 3-5 days.

4. What are the living habits of fireflies?

1. Fireflies only live for 5 days to 2 weeks. They emit light to attract the opposite sex. The light emission time generally lasts only 2 to 3 hours. The interval between flashes varies among different species. Both adults and larvae are predatory and mostly occur near water and in warm and humid places. The other two families are active during the day and do not emit light. ;

2. Carnivorous, they prey on mollusks such as snails and slugs and annelids such as earthworms. After obtaining the prey, they use their upper jaws to inject secretions into the prey's body for external digestion and then absorb it into the body. A snail will have many fireflies to share. ;

3. Firefly eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults can all emit light. The light emission of firefly larvae is believed to have the function of warning and intimidating natural enemies, while adults are believed to use flashes for species identification, courtship, and trapping. ; Extended information: ; Male fireflies emit specific flashes while flying in the air, and female fireflies send out response signals, which male fireflies use to find and locate female fireflies. The duration and interval of female fireflies' flashes are species-specific, so they can provide species information, gender information, and location information to male fireflies. ; In the competition between male fireflies of the same species, natural selection pressure makes the courtship rituals of male fireflies before mating more and more complicated and last longer and longer. ; Female fireflies do not simply choose male fireflies with the brightest flashes. Factors such as male individual size, movement speed, and mating guard posture also determine the female fireflies' choice of male fireflies.

5. Can fireflies be bred artificially?

Cover them with glass, and then cover them with plants. It is best to have dense leaves. Spray some water every day. Raise snails inside. The size of the snails is determined by the number of fireflies. The lifespan of adult fireflies is generally only about 5 days.

Additional information

Habitat

Insects in this family like to live near water or in humid environments and are usually active at night.

Living habits

It is carnivorous and preys on mollusks such as snails and slugs and annelids such as earthworms. After obtaining the prey, it uses its upper jaw to inject secretions into the prey for external digestion and then absorbs them into the body. Usually a snail will share with many fireflies. The eggs, larvae, pupae and adults can all glow, and the glow of the adults can attract the opposite sex.

Appearance characteristics

The insects of this family are small to medium in size, long and flat, with soft body walls and elytra. They have small heads, well-developed pronotum, and cover their heads. The eyes are semispherical, and the eyes of males are usually larger than those of females. There is a pair of antennae in front of the forehead, between the two eyes, which are close to each other, with 11 segments, serrated, and the males are pecten-shaped or fan-shaped. The upper jaw is curved and has grooves running through it.

Males usually have elytra that cover the abdomen and hind wings. Females are usually wingless, but both sexes of the genus Lucanthus have wings. The elytra are densely covered with fine short hairs, and the elytra are wide at the base. The base of the forelegs is conical and has subsegments.

The coxae of the middle legs are cylindrical, with the two coxae close to each other; the coxae of the hind legs are transversely broad. The legs are slender, without special swellings, and have 5 tarsal segments. The abdomen has 7 to 8 segments, and the 6th and 7th segments have light organs that can emit yellow-green light.

Relationship with humans

The importance of insects to humans is immeasurable. Some of the products produced by insects, such as honey, silk, and wax, are food and industrial raw materials for humans; insects are pollinators for 2/3 of flowering plants; and some insects can decompose large amounts of waste and return them to the soil to complete the material cycle.

Some insects play an important role in maintaining the balance between certain plants and animals. On the other hand, insects are, in a sense, the main competitors of human survival, destroying human food and agricultural products (both before and after harvest) in large quantities.

Every year, at least 20-30% of agricultural products in the world are eaten by insects. They damage buildings, spread a variety of human and animal diseases, and cause death of humans and animals. In short, insects have a very close relationship with human interests.

The relationship between insects and humans is very complex, and one of the main factors that makes this complex is the extremely wide range of insect diets. According to previous estimates, 48.2% of insects are herbivorous, and 28% are predators, preying on other insects and small animals.

2.4% are parasitic, living outside or inside other insects and animals; and 17.3% feed on decaying organisms and animal excrement. This roughly outlines the benefits and harms of insects. But this is just a natural phenomenon, and people's views on benefits and harms are based on their economic interests, so they are much more complicated.