The Nature LibraryEN·ES
iNat·155141GenusInsecta38 field observations
  1. Animals
  2. ›Arthropods
  3. ›Hexapods
  4. ›Insects
  5. ›Winged and Once-winged Insects
  6. ›Beetles
  7. ›Water, Rove, Scarab, Long-horned, Leaf, and Snout Beetles
  8. ›Elateriform Beetles
  9. ›Click, Firefly, and Soldier Beetles
  10. ›Glowworm Beetles
  11. ›Mastinocerinae
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railroad worms

Phrixothrix

A railroad worm is a larva or larviform female adult of a beetle of the genus Phrixothrix in the family Phengodidae, characterized by the possession of two different colors of bioluminescence. It has the appearance of a caterpillar. The eleven pairs of luminescent organs on their second thoracic segment through their ninth abdominal segment can glow yellowish-green, while the pair on their head can glow red; this is probably due to different luciferases in their bodies,...

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Where it lives

Recorded sightings

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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.

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In the stacks

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Every page naming Phrixothrix in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →

This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 155141.