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

EPISODE · Aug 5, 2026 · 7 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

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How do fireflies produce light? - Emily A. Geest

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