Anyone keep fireflies?

[Tleilaxu]

Its that time of year (fireflies)

Well its that time of year the fireflies are out and now I am obessing over how to keep them and breed them in captivity, *This obession happens every year LOL* however I dont know what the adults and larva eat.

Any insights are welcome, I may try rearing them next year but I need to get the habit set this year.

If I am going to attempt this I need to know more about the dietary items of the larva, and wether they live in water or soil... also how would one find the deitary items like snails, I dont recall any land snails in MN

I would appriciate any links and information.

 

[Allpet Roaches]

They are predatory which is a chore for something so small. You could always try some firefly roaches, they look like adult fireflies but they don't light up.

 

[Ralph]

I've heard fireflies are impossible to breed in captivity(something like sea turtles where they need to return where they were born), but I've been able to rear the larvae on tiny snails, slugs, worms, springtails(?) and other small creatures. There are probably snails in Michigan, as they're quite common in Iowa. Adults don't eat anything. The larvae live in moist soil and under rocks and logs.

Also, all the ones flying around are probably males. Females are bigger and fly very weakly. They tend to be on the tops of tall grass blades. The females abdomens are different; the males' light organs take up all of his last few segments, females' are thinner and leave a wide black margin.