“Tis strange – but true; for truth is always strange. Stranger than fiction.”

                               – Lord Byron, Don Juan (1823)

The previous episode left our Pyractomena larva hanging  – literally – doing some aerial pupation, very unusual behavior for a firefly! Forsaking the amphibious wanderings of its snail-eating childhood, the pupa now hangs quietly. But inside, a maelstrom of cellular reorganization and growth is transforming its larval body. In just a few weeks, it will emerge as an adult firefly. At this next stage, our Pyractomena will have only one thing on its mind: sex. And yup – you guessed it: Pyractomena fireflies have strange sexual habits, too!

Most male lightningbugs fly & flash to win females. But after racing to emerge early, Pyractomena borealis males forcibly mate with their child brides! Continue reading →