How to Make Fireflies Glow

“Glow, little glow worm, glimmer, glimmer." The glow worm is the immature form of the firefly or lightning bug, a member of the beetle family whose many species glow through bioluminescence in colors ranging from yellow to reddish green to blue. Here's the how and why behind the glow.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

The Firefly's Lantern

1. Assemble several layers of reflector cells around a layer of light-producing cells called photocytes, which are composed of tiny organs called peroxisomes.
2. Fill the peroxisomes with three chemicals: the protein luciferin, the enzyme luciferase and adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which delivers energy to the cells.
3. Stimulate the cells' mitochondria with nitric oxide, which causes them to flood the peroxisomes with oxygen.
4. Mix the oxygen with the chemicals. This causes the luciferin and luciferase to glow until the nitric oxide dissipates, at which time the oxygen returns to the mitochondria.

Lighting the Lantern

5. Place male fireflies in an area with females of the same species. Males display distinctive flash patterns in an attempt to attract a mate, who responds with her own glow to signal interest. The firefly genus Photinus is noted for its patterns.
6. Replace the females of the same species as the male with those of the genus Photuris. These females mimic the patterns of the species of the males they are trying to attract to lure them in and eat them for the chemicals they contain.
7. Surround fireflies with other insects that want to eat them. Adult fireflies will light up and move around to scare off potential predators. Glow worm larvae glow continuously to remind insectivores that the chemicals that make them glow don't taste very good.
8. Insert fireflies into small chambers filled with oxygen and flood them with nitric oxide. Scientists determined the role nitric oxide played in triggering the fireflies' glow after discovering its role in transmitting signals between cells in humans.

Tips & Warnings

• Fireflies convert 90 percent of the energy in this process into visible light. Only 10 percent of an incandescent light bulb's energy goes to producing light.
• Scientists have developed electronic detectors for extraterrestrial life that contain luciferin and luciferase sensitive enough that a quadrillionth of a gram of ATP will trigger a glow. Luciferase is also used in forensic applications.