In addition to the moon scenery and the stars in the sky, the night view can look so beautiful with the appearance of these insects. Fireflies in English called 'Fireflies' or 'Lightning Bug' are insects of beetles classified in the family of Lampyridae and Coleoptera order. The word Lampyridae comes from the Greek word "lampyris" as "the luminous".
Fireflies are usually brownish or blackish. This insect has a soft and elongated body. Generally male fireflies are smaller in size than female fireflies. Male fireflies have two pairs of wings, but only rear wings are used for flying. Female fireflies have wings and do not have wings that do not always fly (Borror and White (1970), in Anik Wijayanti's study, Faculty of Mathematics and Sciences IPB, 2015).
Based on some sources of information obtained about these insects, firefly is a type of insect that is active at night. No wonder if fireflies are also called nocturnal insects.
The specialty of these insects tonight is to let out light. Amazingly, light fireflies are able to shine 20 times brighter than light bulbs, as nearly 100 percent of the energy in a chemical reaction is emitted as light (quoted on page nationalgeographic.co.id.).
The light they produce is widely studied in Nanoscience. Based on Prof. Dr. Nurul Taufiqu Rochman, et al entitled "Nano in Nature", explains that light is generated by 'cold rays' that do not contain ultraviolet or infrared light. It has a wavelength of 510-670 nanometers, with pale, yellow, or green with a light efficiency of up to 96%. The light generated by the firefly comes from the electrons produced by the firefox / enzyme. When electrons are heading steady, they produce light. The event is known as "Bioluminescence".
Bioluminescence is the ability of an organism to produce and emit light from its body. The light generated from the energy is chemically reacted to produce emission or emission of light.
Luminescence in the body of a firefly is produced by a substance called "luciferin substance", in which it reacts with oxygen. The use of such light is as a communication tool, usually used for danger warning markers. The light warns other animals that will eat it, because on the body firefly there is a very bitter luciferin substance.
In addition, light on the firefly is also used as a marker to find a partner in the breeding season. Male fireflies are less luminous than female fireflies that use the glow to attract and stimulate males (Anik Wijayanti, 2015).
Highlighting its life cycle, fireflies start from the egg phase, larvae, pupae, to imago (adult). The female will lay an egg about a hundred or more orbs on the ground and at the base of the tree. The eggs will hatch within 2-4 weeks later into larvae. The life cycle of fireflies generally takes three months to a year, depending on the type of firefly and its environment. When adult fireflies only survive less than two weeks by eating flower polen or not even eating at all (Anik Wijayanti, 2015).
Fireflies are divided into several genera, including Cortus, Lamprophorus, Lampyris, Luciola, Photinus, Photuris, Pteroptyx, Pyractomena, Pyrocoelia, and others. There are more than 2,000 species of fireflies in the world that live scattered in the tropics. In Asia, especially Indonesia and Malaysia, there are four major groups of fireflies found, namely Pteroptyx, Luciola, Colophotia and Lychnuris.
Fireflies are commonly found in places that have high humidity, tend to be wet and warm like wet forests, swamps, along river banks, plantations and paddy fields. Land or place is a lot of food found for the larvae of fireflies, such as plant fluids, small snails and snails.
Based on these characteristics, fireflies are often used as bio-indicators of natural and clean environments. Therefore, fireflies are very sensitive / susceptible to environmental degradation and pollution, in terms of ecosystems and their natural habitat that must be free from the type of fertilizer or an organic pesticide. Moreover, coupled with the loss of land a plant, it makes the presence of fireflies will be increasingly threatened and the beauty of the night scene was no longer us feel.
