Lightning bugs, also called fireflies, are beetles that flash to attract a mate. The male will fly and flash while the wingless female perches on plants near the ground. The female will flash to respond to the male and they will continue flashing back and forth as the male draws closer. Different species of fireflies have different flash patterns and some species don’t flash at all.
The larvae, the juvenile form of the insect, is wingless, lives on moist ground and under bark. It is often called a glowworm and it will eat earthworms, snails, and slugs. Fireflies can live as adults for several months and many eat plant nectar. The female of one species actually copies the flash pattern of males from another species and eats him when he draws too close!
Firefly Craft
Like all insects, lightning bugs have three body parts, head, thorax, and abdomen. Cut out paper shapes that the children can use to assemble a firefly. If you don’t have the time to prepare this for each child, make one large firefly during your discussion of this animal. Hand out the different components, in black and brown, one to each child, so they can create a firefly example from paper or on a felt board.
Cut a circle, for the head and set it on the paper. Cut another circle for the thorax and place this one halfway over the head shape – on a real firefly this placement protects the head from predators. From neon bright paper or felt cut the oval abdomen. An organ beneath the abdomen emits the cold light that glows. If children are making their own lightning bugs, they can paint the abdomen with glow paint.
For additional parts, children can connect two antennae to the head and six legs (three on each side) of the thorax. Two tissue paper wings cover the length of the body and two solid wings cover those.
Firefly Flash Game
Since finding a flashlight for each child could become expensive, and bringing a group of children to a dark room could be chaotic and dangerous, a folded paper manipulative for each child is an alternative. The pattern is from a simple puppet and the addition of some aluminum foil adds some shine.
Take a sheet of 8 ½” x 11” paper and fold it in thirds the long way. Then, fold that in half. Fold each half of that shape back creating an accordion-fold or an ‘M’ shape. Cut some aluminum foil to fit within the ‘V’ of the folded paper.
Kids can fit their fingers and thumb into the openings in the folds at either end of the paper and open and close their fingers to manipulate the shape. This will reveal the shiny foil. Make patterns and have the children mimic the patterns back to you. Break the children into pairs and send each child to opposite sides of the room. Have one student send a pattern and then wait for the other child to copy the pattern. The sender can then move a step closer.
Lightning Bug Game
Play this game like ‘Mr. Bear Are You Awake?’ One child is the female firefly of the species that eats males it draws closer. The other children are male fireflies who ask the question, “Is that a friendly firefly?” ‘It’ can answer yes, which draws the other children close or no, which means she can turn and chase the other fireflies, trying to tag them.
These active games and the craft help children learn some facts about these flashing insects. Families can take their young children outside for a summer night as they look for the flashes in the grass and the plants around a yard. Give kids glow necklaces or bracelets and they can run around and pretend to be fireflies. Kids can Go Bug Collecting for Outdoor Fun or try other Activities for Kids Who Like Insects.
Sources
- "Lightening Bugs" published on BackYardNature, accessed May 30, 2011.
- "Fire Fly (Lightening Bug)" published on National Geographic, accessed May 30, 2011.
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