Diet

• Adults: Adult females and larvae are generally predatory, feeding on snails, slugs, millipedes, soft-bodied insects and other small invertebrates. Adult males are short-lived and may feed little or not at all.

• Larvae: Predatory and primarily active in soil, leaf litter and beneath bark, where they hunt small invertebrates.

• Some species are particularly effective predators of millipedes, which can be much larger than the beetle itself.

Range

• Phengodes is a genus of glowworm beetles in the family Phengodidae, found primarily in the Americas, with particularly high diversity in Mexico and Central America.

• Around Zihuatanejo, Phengodes is occasional and highly seasonal. They are most likely to be encountered during the rainy season, especially on warm, humid nights following rainfall.

• They are much easier to detect when actively glowing than when searching for the cryptic larvae or females by sight.

Habitat

• Found in tropical dry forest, tropical deciduous forest, woodland, scrub, leaf litter and soil, particularly where moisture persists.

• During the wet season, larvae and larviform females may occur on the forest floor, beneath leaves, under bark and around decaying wood.

• At night, glowing individuals may be observed on vegetation or moving across the ground.

• Around Zihuatanejo, searching after rain in dark, undisturbed areas away from artificial lighting offers the best chance of seeing them.

Size

• Larvae/females: commonly approximately 20–50 mm (0.8–2.0 in), depending on species.

• Males: considerably smaller and more beetle-like, often only 10–20 mm (0.4–0.8 in).

• Females remain larviform, with soft, elongated bodies and reduced wings.

• Many species have rows of paired luminous organs along the sides of the body.