英和和英

別の表記

• fire-fly

語源

Endocentric compound of fire +‎ fly, because the insects glow; whence also lightning bug. Compare glow fly, glowworm, and lanternfly.

発音

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈfaɪ.əˌflaɪ/
• (General American) IPA: /ˈfaɪ.ɚˌflaɪ/

名詞

firefly (plural fireflies)

1. (Northern US, Western US, Florida) Any beetle of the family Lampyridae, which exhibit bioluminescence during twilight.

   Synonyms: lightning bug, glow fly

   • 2000, Exploring Life Science, 2: Bats—Cave Life, Marshall Cavendish, page 96,

     Fireflies are the best-known insects that produce light. […] Many fireflies use their light to communicate, particularly at mating time when males and females have to get together.

   • 2004, B. V. David, T. N. Ananthakrishnan, “Chapter 20: Bioluminescence”, in General and Applied Entomology, 2nd edition, Tata McGraw-Hill, page 130:

     The luciferins are different in different species and today both the luciferin and luciferase in the firefly are available in the crystalline form.

   • 2007, Lars Olof Björn, Helen Ghiradella, “23: Bioluminescence”, in Lars Olof Björn, editor, Photobiology: The Science of Life and Light, 2nd edition, Springer, page 607:

     Various other luciferase genes, especially the firefly luciferase gene, are also used for the study of gene regulation. […] The classic use of bioluminescence, however, is the use of a luciferin-luciferase mixture from fireflies as an assay for ATP.

派生語

参考

• glowworm

Further reading

• Lampyridae on Wikispecies.Wikispecies