Firefly flashing has attracted the attention of both poets and scientists for over a century. Here we study the effect of temperature on the flash duration of the Indian species of the firefly Luciola praeusta Kiesenwetter 1874 (Coleoptera: Lampyridae: Luciolinae). Recording in vivo time-resolved spectra of specimens of this species of firefly over the temperature range 20 °C-40 °C, it is observed that the flash duration changes with the change in temperature, and the change is substantially linear. This finding implies that the speed of the enzyme-catalysed chemiluminescence reaction, which produces the light of the firefly, varies linearly with temperature.

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After Luciola praeusta Kiesenwetter 1874, Asymmetricata circumdata (Motschulsky) is the second Indian species of firefly identified recently. Here we present steady-state and time-resolved measurements of bioluminescence emissions of male specimens of this new-found species. Steady-state spectra recorded in a high-resolution spectrometer show the peak wavelength at 570 nm, while the same on a colour film in a glass spectrograph show the peak at 579 nm between green and red bands, which prompts speculation that a sharp, laser-like line might exist in the emission spectrum of this species just as the one in L. praeusta. The diffraction pattern produced by a grating consolidates this proposition. Flashes recorded in an oscilloscope reveal the appearance of a small pulse in combination with the main one, which becomes prominent both at low and high temperatures.