Firefly is a science fiction adventure series set 500 years in the future. It follows the crew of the spaceship Serenity as they travel the outer reaches of the universe, encountering strange and dangerous creatures and civilizations. Along the way, they must fight to survive and protect their ship and
The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,400 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production of light, mainly during twilight, to attract mates. The type species is Lampyris noctiluca, the common glow-worm of Europe. Light production in the Lampyridae is thought to have originated as a warning signal that the larvae were distasteful. This ability to create light was then co-opted as a mating signal and, in a further development, adult female fireflies of the genus Photuris mimic the flash pattern of the Photinus beetle to trap their males as prey.