How does a firefly glow at night?
Glowing firefly
The firefly is in fact a flying worm. Both the male and the female of this worm have wings. In some species however females are without wings and are known as glow worms. They are blackish and their bodies are very soft. They mainly live on the nectar of the flowers. Light is emitted in flashes by them. The light producing organ is located in the bottom of the abdomen in the rear side and controlled by nerves. It contains two chemicals named luciferin and luciferase. Luciferin combines with oxygen to produce light.
Luciferase helps in this combination ie. acts like a catalyst. It is interesting to note that no heat is produced by the light emitted by them. Such a process of production of light is called bio-luminescence. The light emitted by the fireflies is either yellow or orange. The first possible reason is that both the male and the female fireflies emit light to attract each other. The second reason may be that the light so produced may frighten birds and prevent them from attacking the fireflies.