Yet swarms of fireflies clearly exercise a level of control over when they light up, and they do so only in specialized organs, and those are aspects scientists are still keen to understand better.

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. In the paddy fields ...

An orb-weaver spider wraps a male firefly in silk while it flashes from its lanterns. Male fireflies typically signal with multiple pulses using two lanterns, while females emit single pulses from one ...

Banner image: Fireflies dance over a field near Sawhill Ponds in Boulder, Colorado. (Credit: Peleg Lab) Owen Martin steps carefully through the knee-high grass growing up around a long-abandoned ...