How do fireflies produce light? - Emily A. Geest episode artwork

EPISODE · May 21, 2026 · 6 MIN

How do fireflies produce light? - Emily A. Geest

from TED-Ed · host TED-Ed

Dig into the science of how and why fireflies glow, and how their bioluminescent signals differ between males and females.--The first firefly is thought to have lived over 100 million years ago, illuminating the night with a glowing green light. And today, there are around 2,000 firefly species, found all over the world, from forests and grasslands to marshes and deserts. So, why do these insects glow? Emily A. Geest digs into the bioluminescent signals of fireflies.Lesson by Emily A. Geest, directed by Lou Morton.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-makes-fireflies-light-up-at-night-emily-a-geestDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-makes-fireflies-light-up-at-night-emily-a-geest/digdeeperAnimator's website: https://louisjmorton.com/Films-Index----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Sandra Tersluisen, Zhexi Shan, Bárbara Nazaré, Andrea Feliz, Victor E Karhel, Sydney Evans, Latora, Noel Situ, emily lam, Sid, Niccolò Frassetto, Mana, I'm here because of Knowledge Fight Facebook group., Linda Freedman, Edgardo Cuellar, Jaspar Carmichael-Jack, Michael Burton, VIVIANA A GARCIA BESNE, The Vernon's, Olha Bahatiuk, Jesús Bíquez Talayero, Chels Raknrl, Sai Pranavi Jonnalagadda, Stuart Rice, Jing Chen, Vector-Dopamine math, Jasper Song, Giorgio Bugnatelli, Chardon, Eddy Trochez, OnlineBookClub.org, Eric Shear, Leith Salem, Omar Hicham, Adrian Rotaru, Brad Sullivan, Karen Ho, Niklas Frimberger, Hunter Manhart, Nathan Nguyen, Igor Stavchanskiy, James R DeVries, Grace Huo, Diana Huang, Chau Hong Diem, Orlellys Torre, Corheu, Thomas Mee, Maryann H McCrory, and Blas Borde. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dig into the science of how and why fireflies glow, and how their bioluminescent signals differ between males and females.--The first firefly is thought to have lived over 100 million years ago, illuminating the night with a glowing green light. And today, there are around 2,000 firefly species, found all over the world, from forests and grasslands to marshes and deserts. So, why do these insects glow? Emily A. Geest digs into the bioluminescent signals of fireflies.Lesson by Emily A. Geest, directed by Lou Morton.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-makes-fireflies-light-up-at-night-emily-a-geestDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-makes-fireflies-light-up-at-night-emily-a-geest/digdeeperAnimator's website: https://louisjmorton.com/Films-Index----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Sandra Tersluisen, Zhexi Shan, Bárbara Nazaré, Andrea Feliz, Victor E Karhel, Sydney Evans, Latora, Noel Situ, emily lam, Sid, Niccolò Frassetto, Mana, I'm here because of Knowledge Fight Facebook group., Linda Freedman, Edgardo Cuellar, Jaspar Carmichael-Jack, Michael Burton, VIVIANA A GARCIA BESNE, The Vernon's, Olha Bahatiuk, Jesús Bíquez Talayero, Chels Raknrl, Sai Pranavi Jonnalagadda, Stuart Rice, Jing Chen, Vector-Dopamine math, Jasper Song, Giorgio Bugnatelli, Chardon, Eddy Trochez, OnlineBookClub.org, Eric Shear, Leith Salem, Omar Hicham, Adrian Rotaru, Brad Sullivan, Karen Ho, Niklas Frimberger, Hunter Manhart, Nathan Nguyen, Igor Stavchanskiy, James R DeVries, Grace Huo, Diana Huang, Chau Hong Diem, Orlellys Torre, Corheu, Thomas Mee, Maryann H McCrory, and Blas Borde. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NOW PLAYING

How do fireflies produce light? - Emily A. Geest

0:00 6:49

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

La Finanza in Soldoni Massimo Famularo - Hypercast Podcast e newsletter indipendente di informazione ed educazione finanziaria.Nessuno mi paga per vendervi niente e voi non mi pagate per dirvi in cosa investire. Newsletter http://lafinanzainsoldoni.substack.com/Youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/c/MassimoFamularoBloghttps://massimofamularo.com/X(ex-Twitter)https://x.com/MassimoFamularo---Questo podcast fa parte di Hypercast Network — 📧 Per proposte commerciali scrivi a: [email protected] TED Talks Society and Culture Thought-provoking videos about life and being human, with ideas from business leaders, psychologists and researchers speaking onstage at the TED conference, TEDx events and partner events around the world. You can also download these and many other videos free on TED.com, with an interactive English transcript and subtitles in up to 80 languages. TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. TSOB w/ Dr. G--The Sex Ed of Blackfolk Dr. Tracie Q. Gilbert: Sexuality Educator and Podcaster T.S.O.B. with Dr. G is a weekly podcast that offers intellectual table talk about race and sexuality. Join educator and researcher Dr. Tracie Q. Gilbert as she chats with amazing sex educators, counselors, and therapists, applying a professional lens to sexiness, health and healing in the new millennium. Scar(r)ed For Life pjwrench A nostalgic, banter-full and analytical delve into all the TV shows, movies, games, books, and other media that scared (and scarred!) us s***less when we were children in the 90s. Ranging from the infamous to the obscure, from The Wizard of Oz to The Demon Headmaster, from Tomb Raider to fairytales, we’ve offer up 2 classic pieces of entertainment to reminisce and wax lyrical. Enjoy!

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of TED-Ed?

This episode is 6 minutes long.

When was this TED-Ed episode published?

This episode was published on May 21, 2026.

What is this episode about?

Dig into the science of how and why fireflies glow, and how their bioluminescent signals differ between males and females.--The first firefly is thought to have lived over 100 million years ago, illuminating the night with a glowing green light. And...

Can I download this TED-Ed episode?

Yes, you can download this episode by clicking the download button on the episode player, or subscribe to the podcast in your preferred podcast app for automatic downloads.
URL copied to clipboard!