CATDOLL : CATDOLL: Do fireflies need to eat? (Do fireflies need to eat? Why?)

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 you eat when you catch fireflies?

Fireflies are carnivorous when they are larvae, and their food includes snails, slugs, snails, earthworms, etc.

After transforming into adults, fireflies almost never eat or drink, and only consume dew and nectar, eventually starving themselves to death. Only a few adult fireflies will prey on small insects or other types of fireflies.

When firefly larvae find prey such as snails, they will first spray anesthetic toxins with the needles in their mouths. After the prey is anesthetized, they will inject a digestive enzyme to break the food into a thin and soft gravy, and then suck the juice with their mouths.

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

Fireflies are carnivorous creatures. In summer and autumn, they eat snails. In winter, they survive by drinking dew, tree sap or nectar. Fireflies also eat the flesh of snails and earthworms when they are larvae. After metamorphosis, fireflies rarely eat anything, only dew and nectar, and eventually starve to death. Only a small number of them will prey on small insects.