At first when you see it, you'd think, 'Oh, a firefly. How boring'. This 'boring firefly' is however very interesting in lots of ways. Only found in Europe, North America, and Canada. The purpose of even reading this is to learn even more about Phausis Rhombica, whom most of you people don't even know about.

The description of Phausis rhombica is very simple. Basically what you would think, a bug with this and that color. It's brown-brown black, and the size is 6 to 7 mm. They have transparent "window" spots in the front. Females emit bioluminescence in form of continuous glow, which makes you able to see them flying in the dark. They live in burrows in soil. They are almost normal like original fireflies.

Their habitats, population, and conservation paragraph. They are found in Europe, North America with 7 species living there, and Canada, which has 9 species. There is a total about 15 species, so I would say the population is decreasing. The conservation status is N/A, since I couldn't find it. There aren't that many of them, huh?

So, what do they eat, and what eats them? Mostly birds and other bug-eating animals. To get away, they either fly away or stay camouflaged with their surroundings. Not saying they can camouflage. Since they live in dirt tunnels, they can easily camouflage in as a piece of rock. They live on grass and nutrients in dirt. Not much information can be given since Phausis Rhombica isn't a very well studied insect.

Phausis Rhombica has its own qualities and characteristics. I think it's a very cool insect, being a firefly. They don't live long, I've heard. They are very beautiful at night, when the glow of them seem like stars and the cold wind blows. And all around you are surrounded by sunflowers. A beautiful scene indeed.

Author: Helen W.
Date Published: 1/13

Sources:
http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=722487
http://entomology.museums.ualberta.ca/searching_species_details.php?b=fireflies&r=6&ref=b&o=1&c=6&s=5424

Picture source:http://bugguide.net/node/view/235558