Fireflies, of course, are one of our favorite insects. I grew up enjoying fireflies on summer evenings, watching their lights flash across the yard, and running around trying to scoop them from the air to get an up-close look at their bioluminescent magic. As a child, I didn’t know much about them, scientifically speaking. But their biology is quite interesting. Fireflies belong to the insect family Lampyridae. They aren’t actually flies, but rather they are beetles. There are over 2000 species in this family, and not all of them produce light. Fireflies can be found in many different places, from warm to more temperate areas, where they are active in warmer months. Here in the Ozarks, we usually start to see fireflies in late spring, and they are a common sight on summer evenings. As darkness falls, one light flashes, then another and another. Suddenly everywhere you look, tiny lights appear.