In Britain, for example, there are plenty of anecdotes describing how glow-worms have been used to read by or used as emergency bicycle lamps when a cyclist's batteries have failed without warning. All over the world they have been the inspiration for countless poems, paintings and stories. Fireflies often featured in Japanese and Arabian folk medicine. It is described in an ancient Chinese encyclopaedia written over 2000 years ago by a pupil of Confucius.

The firefly’s almost magical light has attracted human attention for generations. So within any one area each species will differ from its neighbours in some way, for example in the colour or pattern of its light, how long the pulses of light last, the interval between pulses and whether it displays in flight or from the ground. The light is used by the adult fireflies as a signal to attract a mate, and each species must develop its own 'call-sign' to avoid being confused with other species glowing nearby. The feature which makes fireflies and glow-worms so appealing is their ability to produce an often dazzling display of light. The fireflies are a huge group containing over 2000 species, with new ones being discovered all the time. The glow-worm belongs to a family of beetles known as the Lampyridae or fireflies.

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