Diet

• Adults: Feeding habits vary considerably among species. Some adults consume small insects, nectar or plant material, while others take little food during their short adult lives.

• Larvae: Primarily predatory, feeding on soft-bodied invertebrates such as snails, slugs, worms and small insects.

• In some Photuris species, adult females are known to prey on other fireflies.

Range

• Photurinae is a primarily New World subfamily of fireflies (Lampyridae), with its greatest diversity in North, Central and South America.

• Photurinae fireflies occur in Guerrero and around Zihuatanejo, where seasonal rainfall creates suitable conditions.

• Around Zihuatanejo, they are seasonally common, particularly during the rainy season, when adults emerge in large numbers in suitable vegetation.

Habitat

• Found in tropical dry forest, tropical deciduous forest, woodland, scrub, forest edges, gardens and areas of dense vegetation.

• Adults are most conspicuous after dark and during humid evenings, when males fly while displaying their flashes.

• Look for them around grasses, shrubs, low trees and forest margins, especially after rain.

• Larvae inhabit leaf litter, soil and moist areas, where they hunt small invertebrates.

Size

• Adult length: approximately 5–20 mm (0.2–0.8 in), depending on species.

• Body elongate and somewhat flattened, with soft, flexible wing covers.

• Usually dark brown or black, often with yellow, orange or reddish markings on the pronotum.

• The abdomen contains specialized light-producing organs.