Whether you call them lightning bugs or fireflies, you must admit these light-producing insects are fascinating, though they are neither true flies nor true bugs. These insects actually are beetles in the family Lampyridae. There are about 2,200 species found worldwide, and about 171 species in North America. Eighteen of those species in North America are listed as endangered. 

There are about 75 species of fireflies in the southeastern United States, and about 50 different species found in Alabama, Georgia and Florida. Fireflies are found worldwide in temperate and tropical areas on every continent except Antarctica. They thrive around standing water and marshes in wooded areas.Â