On a warm summer night, fireflies (scientifically fireflies) flash in the field here and there like distant lightning bolts. The glow of a firefly shines with a mystical yellow-green light. The light looks strangely cold, and indeed it is.
The glow of a firefly does not look like sunlight: it shines, but hardly warms. Surprisingly, it is a fact: fireflies are a type of bug.
Fireflies
There are over 2000 species of fireflies. Adult individuals are brown or black in color, their sizes reach 1.5 centimeters. Young fireflies hatch from eggs hidden in the ground. As befits an insect, not an adult animal hatches from an egg, but a larva. The color of the larva is the same as in adults - usually brown, but larvae are flat in shape. The larvae of some species of fireflies glow all the time.
Interesting fact: Scientists believe that firefly light attracts individuals of the opposite sex.
How do fireflies shine?
Light is emitted from the surface of a firefly on its abdomen with special cells called photocytes. Two chemical compounds in the photocyte - luciferin and luciferase - interact with each other, producing light energy. The word "Lucifer" in Latin means "luminiferous." The energy produced during the reaction excites atoms in the luciferin molecule and they emit light photons. Under the layer of photocytes lies a layer of other cells filled with white matter. This layer acts as a light reflector.There are other animals (as well as plants) that are capable of glowing. The nooks of the night forest illuminate the pale grebes. Jellyfish shine in the ocean.
Why do fireflies glow?
Scientists believe that these insects emit light to attract individuals of the opposite sex. Different types of fireflies emit light at different frequencies, so the firefly is sure that it mates with a female of its own species.
Firefly Sync Flicker
Some species of fireflies, accumulating in one place, synchronize their flicker. It can be seen how a large cluster of insects at the same time light and extinguish their light. For example, in Thailand, fireflies, gathered on one tree, first blink each in its own time. Then a pair of insects begins to do this synchronously. A little time passes, more and more insects begin to simultaneously and simultaneously emit short flashes of light.
After half an hour, the whole tree behaves like a single signal lamp, flashing every second. The impression is that the tree is surrounded by a New Year's garland of light bulbs. Scientists do not know why and how fireflies coordinate the emission of light. Observing the glow of insects, scientists became interested in whether it is possible to somehow use a substance that makes the firefly glow.
Interesting fact: some fireflies in Asia and South America glow so brightly that they are used to illuminate homes.
There are genes in the cells that dictate to the cell what to do and when. Using complex manipulations, scientists were able to isolate the gene that is responsible for the “production" of luciferase by the cell. After that, this gene was transplanted into a leaf of tobacco, as a result of which the tobacco plantation began to glow at night.
