Can you tell fireflies apart by their glow? Carrie Straight 05.14.01 Brazil has many different species of fireflies or lightning bugs. They live in many different habitats from open fields to forested areas. Fireflies have different intensities and colors of light that they emit from their abdomens. The way the fireflies light up can help distinguish between different species of fireflies. One researcher has studied fireflies for over 15 years. In Brazil this researcher made systematic observations of fireflies in the wild and fireflies in a laboratory. Some of the fireflies differed in the size and shape of the organ that glowed. Several had small dots that glowed. Others had whole segments of the abdomen that glowed. Some had glowing segments and spots. Some fireflies differ by the pattern of glowing or the color. Some species had more yellowish glowing, others more green. Females in several species have larger glow organs than the males. Viviani, Vasim R. 2001. Fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) from southeastern Brazil: habitats, life history, and bioluminescence. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 94(1): 129-145. ©2001 The Aurora Collection, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Site Development by: Interactive Multimedia. Inc.