A paper published in the journal Science reveals the secret:
There are thousands of light cells in the abdomen of fireflies. These luminous cells contain two chemicals-fluorescein and luciferase. When oxygen enters the cell, the two substances will react chemically and emit light.
Scientists put fireflies in an empty box and injected oxygen and nitric oxide into the box. Because in recent years, scientists have found that nitric oxide is a very important gas in organisms. Nitric oxide is an important signal molecule in many physiological reactions of animals, which can control blood pressure, heart beating and human memory. It is also a necessary factor for the erection of mammalian sexual organs.
When scientists added nitric oxide to the empty box, they found that the firefly's abdomen began to flash and continue to shine, but when the supply of nitric oxide stopped, the firefly's "lantern" would go out. Knowing that nitric oxide helps fireflies shine, scientists began to look for the source of nitric oxide in cells. They found that the enzyme that makes nitric oxide is located next to the luminous light cells.
Extended data:
1, the firefly's abdomen is like a black box full of biological light.
Sixty years ago, scientists mastered the basic elements in the small box: oxygen, calcium, magnesium and a natural chemical called fluorescein. Moreover, we know that there are many kinds of light emitted by small boxes: yellow, green, orange and even blue. Fireflies shine not only for lighting, but also for courtship, vigilance and trapping. This is also a communication tool for them. Different kinds of fireflies emit light in different ways, frequencies and colors, so they can convey different information.
2, the composition of the firefly flash signal
As a carrier of information, the amount of information contained in light varies with the degree of modification of the light carrier. The information contained in the flash signal, the sending and receiving of the flash signal are all factors that affect the sexual communication of fireflies. The frequency, spectrum and intensity of the flash signal and the distribution of these parameters in time and space can all be regarded as the coding of the signal. A single flash signal contains the following parameters: spectral composition, shape of light emitter, flash signal mode and light motion.
3. Light emitter
The shape and size of the luminous body are usually the basis for the identification of fireflies, and the shapes of different luminous bodies vary greatly. There are generally two male fireflies and 1 ~ 3 female fireflies, which are quite different. For example, Luciola substriata, an aquatic firefly, has two male fireflies, the first 1 is in the shape of a strip in the fifth abdominal segment, and the second is in the shape of a "V" in the sixth abdominal segment, while the female fireflies only have 1 emitter.
References:
China. com-Discover the secret of firefly "switching lights"
References:
Baidu Encyclopedia-Firefly