<P> Fireflies tend to be brown and soft - bodied, often with the elytra, or front wings, more leathery than those of other beetles . Although the females of some species are similar in appearance to males, larviform females are found in many other firefly species . These females can often be distinguished from the larvae only because they have compound eyes, although the latter are much smaller than those of their males and often highly regressed . The most commonly known fireflies are nocturnal, although numerous species are diurnal . Most diurnal species are not luminescent; however, some species that remain in shadowy areas may produce light . </P> <P> A few days after mating, a female lays her fertilized eggs on or just below the surface of the ground . The eggs hatch three to four weeks later, and the larvae feed until the end of the summer . The larvae are commonly called glowworms (not to be confused with the distinct beetle family Phengodidae or the fly genus Arachnocampa .) Lampyrid larvae have simple eyes . The term glowworm is also used for both adults and larvae of species such as Lampyris noctiluca, the common European glowworm, in which only the nonflying adult females glow brightly and the flying males glow only weakly and intermittently . </P> <P> Fireflies hibernate over winter during the larval stage, some species for several years . Some do this by burrowing underground, while others find places on or under the bark of trees . They emerge in the spring . After several weeks of feeding on other insects, snails, and worms, they pupate for 1.0 to 2.5 weeks and emerge as adults . The larvae of most species are specialized predators and feed on other larvae, terrestrial snails, and slugs . Some are so specialized that they have grooved mandibles that deliver digestive fluids directly to their prey . Adult diet varies: some are predatory, while others feed on plant pollen or nectar . Some, like the European glow - worm beetle, Lampyris noctiluca, have no mouth . </P> <P> Most fireflies are quite distasteful to eat and sometimes poisonous to vertebrate predators . This is due at least in part to a group of steroid pyrones known as lucibufagins, which are similar to cardiotonic bufadienolides found in some poisonous toads . </P>

Where do lightning bugs live during the winter
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