Brighter LEDs, Thanks to Firefly Butts

Fireflies, or lightning bugs, are undoubtedly one of the many joys of summer. Assisting the bugs in this romantic calling are their luminous rear ends, which flash brilliant yellow. The lanterns consist of three layers, and the one in the middle produces light. The other two layers consist of microstructures that manipulate light in such a way as to increase transmission. A team found that these structures improved light transmission through various optical tricks, for instance by index matching and reducing internal reflection. Essentially, the firefly abdomen is a well-built organic light-emitting diode (OLED).