Some sowbugs are called pillbugs or roly polies because they roll up into balls when threatened.
What is a lightning bug look like.
Several larvae have been seen attacking large prey together.
Fireflies produce a cold light with no infrared or ultraviolet frequencies.
The lampyridae are a family of insects in the beetle order coleoptera with more than 2 000 described species.
Both fireflies and sowbugs have oval segmented bodies.
First let s make sure we re on the same page.
You might be thinking that lightning bugs don t look like the types of beetles you ve seen before.
That s not surprising since there are more than 350 000 known species of beetles.
These are beetles in the family lampyridae which use a chemical reac.
That means that lightning bugs are actually a type of beetle.
They re actually the largest group of animals on earth.
They are soft bodied beetles that are commonly called fireflies glowworms or lightning bugs for their conspicuous use of bioluminescence during twilight to attract mates or prey.
Lighntning bug larvae look like sowbugs which are not even insects.
Description of a lightning bug an adult lightning bug photinus spp is a winged beetle that measures 7 16 to 9 16 inch long.
It has a dark colored soft body with brownish black wing covers edged with a light yellow to yellowish.
A sowbug is actually a land dwelling crustacean with a multiple segmented body about to inch long.
Ah this is a good question.
Some adult soldier beetles resemble adult lightning bugs while sowbugs or pillbugs look like lightning bug larvae.