Dilychnia is a captivating genus of fireflies belonging to the family Lampyridae. While some fireflies are active during the day, these Neotropical beetles are strictly creatures of the night, renowned for using synchronized flashes of vibrant orange-yellow light and highly specialized, sensitive antennae to track down mates in the pitch black. Interestingly, fireflies don’t just use their famous glow for romance. They accumulate toxic steroids in their bodies called lucibufagins, which taste incredibly bitter and can be lethal to predators. Alongside their bright orange body coloration, these luminous flashes act as a brilliant neon sign telling birds and spiders to “back off.” I encountered this striking beetle resting on the undergrowth during a daytime walk in Mindo—one of my very first photographic excursions into the Ecuadorian cloud forest.