28 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. XXV 



NOTES ON THE QUEENSLAND FIREFLY BEETLE, 



LUGIOLA FLAVICOLLIS. 



By R. W. Armitage. 



{Read before the Field Naturalists^ Cluh of Victoria, Wi March, 1908.) 



At Kuranda, some 20 miles inland from Cairns, North 

 Queensland, the rainfall for the fortnight previous to the 6th 

 January last, the date of my arrival there, totalled 36 inches, or 

 just one yard measure of rain, while on the night of 7th January, 

 ten (10) inches of rain fell in as many hours. As a result of 

 these copious tropical downpours, fireflies were plentiful, and I 

 was enabled to make some observations on their habits. The 

 opinion is very general that the light of the firefly is due to 

 phosphorescence, but I doubt whether this generally assigned 

 cause for the production of the light or glow is the correct 

 one. 



The larva of this firefly is caterpillar-like, and of a brownish 

 colour. It measures j^ to ^-inch in length. The two last 

 segments of its body are whitish-coloured. It lives close to the 

 ground at the base of grass-stems, &c., and is rather inactive. It 

 does not bear any resemblance to " glow-worms " from damp 

 parts of Victoria — as, e.g., Gippsland — these latter being small 

 earthworms. Nor does the glowing of the Firefly Beetle larva 

 resemble that of the Victorian glow-worm. 



The firefly larva emits light from the two posterior segments of 

 its body. This light distinctly waxes and wanes, but does not 

 attain very great brilliancy, nor does it die out entirely. The 

 glow cannot be removed unless the two segments referred to 

 come away with it. In such case the glowing will rapidly 

 diminish and cease, while on the larva being killed, the emission 

 of light ceases immediately. On the other hand, in the case of 

 the Gippsland glowing earthworms, a phosphorescent skin or 

 scum can be removed by rubbing or merely touching them with 

 the fingers, and the phosphorescence will remain after the death 

 of the worms. 



The Queensland Firefly Beetle belongs to the family Tele- 

 phoridse, and the imago or perfect adult insect is about ^^ inch 

 long, with soft, black elytra, reddish-brown thorax, and fairly large 

 compound eyes. The ventral surface of the two posterior 

 abdominal segments is of a whitish colour. 



As soon as the short twilight of the tropics is over, these 

 beetles may be noticed crawling up blades of grass preparatory 

 to taking their evening flight. While walking on grass stems or 

 on shrubs, they give out light intermittently bright and dull. 

 Occasionally a flash will be brighter than ordinarily. Then the 

 flashes will become less and less bright, eventually dying quite 

 away, to be followed shortly after by another series of flashes. 



