What food do fireflies eat? Why is the quantity getting smaller and smaller?

When I was a child, I liked fireflies very much. In the middle of the trees, I pursued their figures. It was very romantic. Like the stars in the sky, it lit up the forest. Fireflies actually have many colors, such as orange, light red, yellow, green, etc., but we are difficult to distinguish. What do fireflies eat? Why are the numbers getting smaller?

What do fireflies eat?

We all know that fireflies can be divided into four stages of growth, namely egg, larva, pupa and adult. Although their lifespan is not long, they are almost 80% in the larval stage, which is also the time when they mainly feed. Strangely enough, fireflies are insects that do not eat vegetables. They usually eat mollusks. There are snails that we are familiar with. When they eat, they do not eat, but suck with their mouths. For example, after fireflies find a snail, they will climb onto the snail's body, and then bite the soft flesh of the snail and inject a digestive liquid. After that, the snail's body tissue will begin to soften, and fireflies can suck the snail. This way of eating sounds a little disgusting and doesn't seem to match its beautiful appearance.

Why don't fireflies eat meat after that? Because the larval stage is constantly feeding, when the adult stage will undergo great changes, that is to say, when they grow wings, they will not eat mollusks, but eat some flower dew, nectar, etc., and some even do not eat anything.

It is said that there are some fireflies even adults will not be vegetarian, actually eat male fireflies, really terrible.

Adult fireflies do not live long, only ten days, and when they complete their reproductive tasks, they will end their lives.

Why is the number of fireflies decreasing?

Everyone's memories of fireflies are almost all in childhood, why do you see fireflies more and more in summer? Actually, it has to do with many factors. The evidence suggests that firefly populations are indeed slowly declining, presumably because of pesticides, light pollution, habitat destruction and so on.

However, there are still some firefly themed tourist attractions, most likely captured fireflies, but also artificially raised, we are difficult to distinguish.

In order for our descendants to be able to see the beauty of fireflies, we still need to take good care of this ecological environment and give them a stable home, so that they can survive for a long time, otherwise they will disappear like precious animals.

To sum up, fireflies 'diet is indeed very strange, and their beautiful appearance is different, now the number is getting smaller and smaller, we must protect them well.