Bioluminescence

Bioluminescence is release of and discharge of light by a living organism. Bioluminescence is also a kind of Chemiluminescence. The most common example of bioluminescence in our everyday lives are when fireflies use it to light up at night. The most prevalent type of organisms to use bioluminescence are marine animals. Almost all marine animals utilize bioluminescence in their lifetime. The light through bioluminescence is released through a chemical pigment known as luciferin. They also produce something known as luciferase which is an enzyme. The emission of light in the organism is produced through a chemical reaction where luciferin is exposed to oxygen and luciferase is the key catalyst in the chemical reaction. Another chemical that is in involved in the reaction is something known as ATP which transports the chemical energy to different cells. The ATP brings the energy to the chemical reaction so it has the energy to make the reaction happen. Since this is a chemiluminescent reaction, the reaction is not powered through heat energy. Since the bug is hot to the touch it shows that it is emitting a lot of heat and not very efficient at this chemical reaction. The process of bioluminescence can happen outside of the cell or inside of the cell.

Combustion is a string of exothermic reaction between oxygen and a substance that is fueling. Even though this bug feels hot when a person touches it, combustion is still highly unlikely. This is because bioluminescence can cause a bug to reach temperatures close to 100 C. Combustion though, requires a temperature between 175 C - 475 C. The probability that combustion is occurring is highly improbable and it is most likely that the bug just got a bit hot from bioluminescence.

Bibliography:

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/zoology/all-about-animals/bioluminescence.htm

http://www.eoearth.org/article/Combustion