Headlight beetle
The headlight beetle is a big dark brown click beetle that glows in the dark. It has two shining green spots on its back, like the headlights of a tiny car. It is one of the brightest glowing insects in the world.
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Fun facts
Its light is so bright that people say you could read a book by it.
It also has a third light under its belly that you can see when it flies.
Fireflies blink, but the headlight beetle glows steadily. When something touches it, it glows even brighter.
Even its eggs, larvae and pupae can glow.
It is a click beetle, the kind of beetle that can flip itself into the air with a loud click.
Most asked questions about Headlight beetle
?Why does the headlight beetle glow?
It has special light organs in its body. When an enemy touches it, it glows brighter.
?Is the headlight beetle dangerous?
No. It is harmless to people.
?How big is the headlight beetle?
About 2 to 4 centimetres long.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Pyrophorus noctilucus
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Elateridae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Elateridae
- Lives on
- North America, South America
- Also known as
- Headlight elater
Where the facts come from
- Pyrophorus noctilucus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Gilberto Santa Rosa from Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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