Do lightning bugs prefer twilight or absolute darkness?

Question

We went in our backyard to catch lightning bugs the other night. During twilight we saw a lot and then it became very dark, and we couldn't find anymore. Where did they go?

Answer 1

This is a great question. I've observed this myself. Just as evening comes, the fireflies come out. But in the middle of the night, you don't see them anymore. I tried doing some research on the www but can't come up with anything, but I found some interesting links on fireflies (see below.) I'll just speculate that 1) perhaps the fireflies need to see where they're going -- so they need some light, but they also need to signal with their light flashes, so twilight seems perfect or 2) it gets colder in the middle of the night. I don't know; I'll let you know if I find out anything more.. in any case, thank you I learned a lot while researching this topic!

Answer 2

They prefer twilight. They flash to attract a mate.
Where I live they will flash well into the night. I suppose having street lights in front of my house is the reason.
When they stop flashing they hang out in bushes, trees, etc.