Q 01/05

Fireflies are neither flies nor true bugs; the glowing insects of summer evenings actually belong to which group?

A) Moths

B) Wasps

C) Beetles

D) Lacewings

Answer · why

C) Beetles

Beetles they are: fireflies make up the family Lampyridae, about 2,000 soft-bodied species whose front wings form covers called elytra.

Q 02/05

Female Photuris fireflies copy the flash code of another species so that the males who fly in become what?

A) A mate

B) A meal

C) A decoy

D) A bodyguard

Answer · why

B) A meal

A meal is what the hopeful male becomes: the so-called femme fatale eats him and keeps his defensive toxins for herself. Her own body cannot make thos...

Q 03/05

What nickname do scientists give a firefly's glow because it produces almost no heat?

A) Cold light

B) Soft light

C) Slow light

D) Living light

Answer · why

A) Cold light

Cold light is the term: a firefly's lantern gives off almost no heat and no infrared, while an old incandescent bulb loses about 90% of its energy as ...

Q 04/05

Most firefly larvae are hunters that inject digestive fluid into which soft-bodied garden animals?

A) Ants and termites

B) Aphids and mites

C) Spiders and ticks

D) Snails and slugs

Answer · why

D) Snails and slugs

Snails and slugs are the main course, and the victim can be 200 times the weight of a glow-worm larva. The bite slowly paralyses it and turns it to a ...

Q 05/05

In Disney's The Princess and the Frog, Ray the Cajun firefly is in love with Evangeline, who is really what?

A) A lantern

B) A candle

C) A star

D) A porch lamp

Answer · why

C) A star

A star is the truth about Evangeline: Ray takes the Evening Star for a lady firefly. Her name nods to a 19th-century poem by Longfellow.