Insects · La Saladita, Guerrero

Common Eastern Firefly

Photinus pyralis

Spanish: Luciérnaga

Common Eastern Firefly (Photinus pyralis)
Photographed by kimh1 on iNaturalist · CC-BY-SA · taken in 225 Joe Hampton Rd, Lansing, NC 28643, not near La Saladita

Photinus pyralis, known by the common names common eastern firefly and big dipper firefly, is the most common species of firefly in North America. P. pyralis is a flying and light-producing beetle with a light organ on the ventral side of its abdomen. This organism is sometimes incorrectly classified as Photuris pyralis, which likely results from mistaking the similar-sounding genus Photuris.

TaxonomyInsecta › Coleoptera › Lampyridae
Local recordsNot recorded by research-grade iNaturalist observations within about 50 km; listed from the site's curated guide
Global records39,293 on iNaturalist

Interactive card with more photos, sounds and similar species Insects guide iNaturalist Wikipedia

Cite as: “Common Eastern Firefly (Photinus pyralis) at La Saladita”, La Saladita Field Guide, lasaladita.com/species/photinus-pyralis/, updated 2026-09-26. Observation counts and months come from iNaturalist research-grade records within about 50 km of 17.8375°N, 101.7606°W (the survey box also takes in Zihuatanejo, Ixtapa and Troncones); summary text from Wikipedia where present.