The
beetleBeetles are the group of insects with the largest number of known species. They are classified in the order Coleoptera , which contains more described species than in any other order in the animal kingdom, constituting about 25% of all known life-forms...
family
Phengodidae is known also as
glowworm beetles, whose
larvaA larva is a young form of animal with indirect development, going through or undergoing metamorphosis ....
e are known as
glowwormGlow worm is the common name for various different groups of insect larvae and adult larviform females which glow through bioluminescence. They may sometimes resemble worms, but all are insects ....
s. The females and
larvaA larva is a young form of animal with indirect development, going through or undergoing metamorphosis ....
e have
bioluminescentBioluminescence is the production and emission of light by a living organism. Its name is a hybrid word, originating from the Greek bios for "living" and the Latin lumen "light". Bioluminescence is a naturally occurring form of chemiluminescence where energy is released by a chemical reaction in...
organs. They occur throughout the
New WorldThe New World is one of the names used for the non-Afro-Eurasian parts of the Earth, specifically the Americas and possibly Australia. When the term originated in the late 15th century, the Americas were new to the Europeans, who previously thought of the world as consisting only of Europe, Asia,...
from extreme southern
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
to
ChileChile, officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
. The family
RhagophthalmidaeRhagophthalmidae is a family of beetles within the the larger Elateroidea group that include click-beetles. Members of this beetle family have bioluminescent organs on the larvae and are closely related to the Phengodidae and Lampyridae , and were often included in one of these families as a...
, an Old World group, used to be included in the Phengodidae.
Larval and
larviform femaleLarviform female is biological phenomenon occurring in some species, where the females in the adult stage of metamorphosis resemble the larvae to various degrees. Typically, the female is wingless and generally larger than the male...
glowworms are predators, feeding on
millipedeMillipedes, known as shongololos in South African English, are arthropods that have two pairs of legs per segment . Each segment that has two pairs of legs is a result of two single segments fused together as one...
s and other
arthropodAn arthropod is an invertebrate that has an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed attachments called appendages. Arthropods are animals belonging to the Phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...
s occurring in
soilSoil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics. It is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and...
and
litterLitter is waste that people unlawfully dispose of outdoors. It can be packaging or other unwanted items. Litter can be vandalism, carelessness, or inadvertence. Litter is a form of visual pollution. It can harm health, safety, and welfare...
. The winged males, which are often attracted to lights at night, are short-lived and probably do not feed.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Phengodidae' Start a new discussion about 'Phengodidae' Answer questions from other users |
The
beetleBeetles are the group of insects with the largest number of known species. They are classified in the order Coleoptera , which contains more described species than in any other order in the animal kingdom, constituting about 25% of all known life-forms...
family
Phengodidae is known also as
glowworm beetles, whose
larvaA larva is a young form of animal with indirect development, going through or undergoing metamorphosis ....
e are known as
glowwormGlow worm is the common name for various different groups of insect larvae and adult larviform females which glow through bioluminescence. They may sometimes resemble worms, but all are insects ....
s. The females and
larvaA larva is a young form of animal with indirect development, going through or undergoing metamorphosis ....
e have
bioluminescentBioluminescence is the production and emission of light by a living organism. Its name is a hybrid word, originating from the Greek bios for "living" and the Latin lumen "light". Bioluminescence is a naturally occurring form of chemiluminescence where energy is released by a chemical reaction in...
organs. They occur throughout the
New WorldThe New World is one of the names used for the non-Afro-Eurasian parts of the Earth, specifically the Americas and possibly Australia. When the term originated in the late 15th century, the Americas were new to the Europeans, who previously thought of the world as consisting only of Europe, Asia,...
from extreme southern
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
to
ChileChile, officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
. The family
RhagophthalmidaeRhagophthalmidae is a family of beetles within the the larger Elateroidea group that include click-beetles. Members of this beetle family have bioluminescent organs on the larvae and are closely related to the Phengodidae and Lampyridae , and were often included in one of these families as a...
, an Old World group, used to be included in the Phengodidae.
Larval and
larviform femaleLarviform female is biological phenomenon occurring in some species, where the females in the adult stage of metamorphosis resemble the larvae to various degrees. Typically, the female is wingless and generally larger than the male...
glowworms are predators, feeding on
millipedeMillipedes, known as shongololos in South African English, are arthropods that have two pairs of legs per segment . Each segment that has two pairs of legs is a result of two single segments fused together as one...
s and other
arthropodAn arthropod is an invertebrate that has an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed attachments called appendages. Arthropods are animals belonging to the Phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...
s occurring in
soilSoil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics. It is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and...
and
litterLitter is waste that people unlawfully dispose of outdoors. It can be packaging or other unwanted items. Litter can be vandalism, carelessness, or inadvertence. Litter is a form of visual pollution. It can harm health, safety, and welfare...
. The winged males, which are often attracted to lights at night, are short-lived and probably do not feed. Females are much larger than the males and are completely larviform. Males may be luminescent, but females and larvae have a series of luminescent organs on trunk segments which emit yellow or green light, and sometimes an additional head organ which emits red light, as in
railroad wormA railroad worm is a larva or larviform female adult of a beetle of the genus Phrixothrix in the family Phengodidae, characterized by their unique possession of two different colors of bioluminescence...
s.
This family is distinct from the
firefliesLampyridae is a family of insects in the beetle order Coleoptera. They are winged beetles, and commonly called fireflies or lightning bugs for their conspicuous crepuscular use of bioluminescence to attract mates or prey. Fireflies are capable of producing a "cold light", containing no ultraviolet...
(family Lampyridae), which may also be called "glow-worms" in its larval stage. It also apparently includes the
long-lipped beetles, which are only differentiated from phengodids by the unusual modifications of their mouthparts – it appears that Phengodidae is paraphyletic if the long-lipped beetles were treated as a family
Telegeusidae.
External links
- Phengodidae in J. F. Lawrence, A. M. Hastings, M. J. Dallwitz, T. A. Paine and E. J. Zurcher (2000 onwards). Elateriformia (Coleoptera): descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval for families and sub-families.
- glow-worms on the UF
The University of Florida is a public land-grant, sea-grant, space-grant major research university located on a campus located in Gainesville, Florida, in the United States. The university traces its origins to 1853, and has continuously operated on its present Gainesville campus since the fall...
/ IFASThe University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is a federal-state-county partnership dedicated to developing knowledge in agriculture, human and natural resources, and the life sciences, and enhancing and sustaining the quality of human life by making that information...
Featured Creatures Web site