Hello, my name is Laurie Keith , and I am a freshman student in Prof. Whalon's ISB 202 Spring Semester 2002 course.  I live in East Lansing, MI and go to Michigan State University.  I put together this webpage on fireflies and how they use their bioluminescence to communicate because I was interested in the light that fireflies give off.  Through my research, I learned a great deal about fireflies and how they use their bioluminescence.  I hope that through visiting my website you will have learned a great deal of information as well.

What are fireflies?
This link gives a brief history of fireflies and how they came about.  It explains that they are bioluminescent for many different reasons.

How do fireflies communicate to their mates and prey?
This site gives details on fireflies bioluminescence.  It gives specific examples on how the males communicate to their mates, and how the females respond.

Other forms of Communication
This link expands on the fireflies communication.  Not only do they use it to communicate to their mate during intercourse, they also use their light for other reasons.

How do fireflies produce light?
This site gives details on the chemical reaction that takes place in order for fireflies to give off light.  Many scientists have proposed different theories.

Illumination
This page gives details on the actual light that is given off.  Unlike electric heat, almost 100% of the light given off by fireflies is converted to light.

What is Bioluminescence?
This link deals with bioluminescence as a whole.  It describes how different animals use it, especially aquatic life.  It also gives examples of how it is being used for medical research purposes.

Email Me:
keithla1@msu.edu

Resources

Copyright Information:  Any works on this page that are not my own are copyright their creator.  Any work of which the author is known, permission has been requested and granted.  For those works of which no author is known, I request that if you are the author and my use of your work is in opposition to your wishes, please email me and it will be removed.  Thank You.


 Honors Project  
To expound upon my studies with fireflies, I decided to do an extra project to earn some honor's credit.  I researched more about the uses of bioluminescence, not only through fireflies, but also through biology.  To see the paper I wrote on this research, click on the link above.