Is it possible to see lightning bugs in the winter?

Question

I'm sitting at my computer in front of a window, and I see a small flash of yellow/green light go by. I live in the middle of nowhere in southern ohio where there is 10 inches of snow on the ground. Is it really possible that it was a lightning bug? That's what it looked like, but I don't think they can survive the cold. Any answers?

Answer 1

I don't think so. Even if there were any fireflies that survived the cold this far into the Winter- their metabolism would be so slowed down- they wouldn't be able to FLY, let alone signal for a mate!

Answer 2

Beetles in the Coleoptera family Lampyridae are commonly called "fireflies", "lightning bugs", or "glow worms", due to their conspicuous nocturnal (or, more accurately, crepuscular) use of bioluminescence to attract mates or prey. The firefly is capable of producing a "cold light" containing no ultra violet rays, with a wavelength from 510 to 670 nanometers, pale yellowish or reddish green in color, with a lighting efficiency of 96%.

There are more than 2000 species of firefly, found in temperate and tropical environments around the world. Many species can be found in marshes or in wet, wooded areas where their larvae have more abundant sources of food.

Several species of moth, including the November Moth, Juniper Carpet and Barred Straw, overwinter as an egg.

Fireflies overwinter (sometimes for several years, depending on the species) during the larval stage by burrowing underground and emerge in the spring.

Answer 3

right here is the south (Arkansas) we call them lightning bugs. -- as quickly as we've been youngsters we caught them and positioned them in a quart fruit jar. -- smiles playstation : in case you flow away your storage door open at evening, day after today you will come across hundreds of lightning bugs in simple terms interior between the partitions. they're approximately 3/4 inches long and skinny (a million/4 inch) bugs with long black wings on the tops of their bodies. --- i'm specific you had to be conscious of that. --- smiles

Answer 4

mosquitoes,flies, wasps, cannot hardly move below 55-60 F. If their is snow, fireflies probably cannot move let alone fly. When it hits 60F, the weeds start growing and the mosquitoes start flying and biting. Central California.

Answer 5

all i can tell you is i drove through ohio once and it is the buggiest place on earth. i was informed they live off of the leaves of the soy crops because they don't harm the bean that is harvested they don't try to control the insects. who knows what is flying around out there.

Answer 6

I'd have to say no, since they are creatures of moderate or tropical temperatures: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly

Note how, as you move north, the sightings move later in the summer: http://www.burger.com/ffrepst.htm

Perhaps it was a reflection of a distant moving light in your window?

Answer 7

That was no firefly, it was a UFO and your not alone, since there have been lots of sightings in your area this year.