Description

• Adult male fireflies have a black head with a red segment just behind it and a black dot in the center of the red. Wing covers are dark brown with yellow margins. Females are wingless and dark brown. Both male and female adults have glowing end segments. Larvae, according to Ohio State University, resemble tiny luminescent turtles.
  
  

Life Cycle

• Females lay eggs in the soil and larvae emerge in three weeks. Larvae live in the soil for anywhere from one to two years. When they are ready to pupate they build a mud encasement around themselves, where they spend the winter. In early summer adults begin emerging. They'll continue to emerge through August, living only a few days to a week.
  
  

Food Sources

• Fireflies are predatory insects, and if you spot them around your red phlox you're a lucky gardener. Larvae have voracious appetites and feed on snails, slugs, cutworms and mites. Adults of some species also feed on insect pests, but others don't feed at all. According to Ohio State University, larvae also feed on pollen, so they may act as a pollinator, which is important if you collect phlox seed for spring planting.
  
  

Protecting Beneficial Insects

• You can protect and attract fireflies and other beneficial insects in a number of ways. Most importantly, avoid the use of broad-spectrum insecticides, which kill beneficials along with pests. Plant a wide variety of flowers that bloom at various times throughout the spring, summer and fall. Allow for some bare patches of soil in your garden for ground-nesting bees and wasps.