File: <lampy1.ima.htm> [For educational purposes only] Terminology Glossary <Principal Natural
Enemy Groups > <Citations> |
Immature Stages
of Lampyridae
Detailed information on immature stages of Lampyridae is being
acquired. However, Clausen (1940)
noted that members of this family are the fireflies or glowworms, which are
found worldwide, being conspicuous because of the luminescence produced by
certain organs. All stages show
luminescence; even the eggs have a faint glow due to the material with which
they are coated at the time of oviposition.
Several species are diurnal and have the luminescence organs only
slightly developed or entirely lacking.
Females of most species are wingless and somewhat larviform and of
much greater size than males. A few
species are considered phytophagous as adults (Williams 1917), although the
majority, both adults and larvae, seem to limit feeding to snails, with some
evidence that cutworms and earthworms also form part of the diet. The amount of food consumed by the larvae
is much greater than that consumed by adults, with many of the latter not
feeding at all. Larvae are thought to
inject a powerful toxic agent into the body of the snail host, for death
occurs quickly after attack, even though the mechanical injury is usually
very light (Clausen 1940/62). In Asia, several species are aquatic, the larvae of some living
in clear flowing streams, while others inhabit standing water such as in rice
fields. Their food consists almost
entirely of aquatic snails. The
larvae of most terrestrial species seem to live ca. two years, while aquatic
forms have an annual cycle.
Hibernation is as larvae in a soil chamber on or underneath the
surface. They usually pupate in a
soil cell, beneath trash or on the surface in moist situations. Early accounts of the biology of several
common North American species were given by Hess (1920). References: Please refer to <biology.ref.htm>,
[Additional references may be
found at: MELVYL Library ] |