Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Glowing bug

I was down at the pond tonight checking to see if the rain that we are getting was even making it to the pond, it's not. I noticed along the ponds edge there were glowing bugs or atleast one end of the bug was glowing like a lightning bug would only a dim constant glow, they look like rolly pollies. any idea what they are called?

Most likely the female lightening bug or firefly.
The female doesn't fly but lights up on the ground to attract the male.

Kinda late in the year for fireflys so I wasnt thinking about them. Only see them around ponds edge, I will have to do a google search on female fireflys to ID them. Thanks

Fireflies have a larval stage toward late Summer which go about eating snails and such in damp ground, tails glimmering

You can confuse those with the glimmers of a luminous fungus nicknamed Firefox which can be found on decomposing plant remnants above and below ground

Regards, andy
http://www.members.aol.com/abdavisnc/swglist.html

Hey Andrew! Great to hear from you!
I have a question. Are glow worms the larva stage of fire flys?

Hidehi Ric

It has been a while since I delved into entemology so I don't have much in the way of references to confirm the larvae I see and the beetle better known as 'Fireflies' so it is a rather unsubstantiated yes.

I see Fireflies on the wing early in Summer among the pond foliage, creeks and trees here and what I assume is their wingless larvae glimmering on the ground among the grass late Summer

The larval stage seem to like the less than often cut grass beneath large trees where the heat of the day is less brutal, once in a while I stop and have a good peak at them after dark when I see them in numbers, just to figure out if it is Firefox, or Fireflies

Regards, andy
http://www.members.aol.com/abdavisnc/swglist.html