Author Archives: Sara Lewis

Can fireflies flee forest fires?

Following a summer of scorching drought, wildfires have ravaged parts of the southeastern United States. Last month, a devastating fire burned out of control through Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

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Chimney 2 forest fire burns in the Smoky Mountains (Nov 2016)

From its starting point in the Great Smokies National Park, the fire exploded into an inferno fanned by strong winds. For days, hundreds of firefighters battled the blaze. The Sevier County mayor called the combination of wind and dry tinder a “once-in-a-lifetime event…a perfect storm.” By the time they finally extinguished the fire, the charred landscape stretched across 17,500 acres. Fourteen people lost their lives, and nearly 200 were injured. Tens of thousands were forced to evacuate, and over 2400 homes and businesses were destroyed.

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Finding Heaven – India’s Monsoon Fireflies

From Param and Shikha Singh, via The Untourists –

At the onset of the monsoons in early June, we traveled to a small village near Sangamner in rural Maharashtra. We went to Purushwadi, a tiny village 1000 m above mean sea level, based only on some promises we’d heard. During this season, this valley was said to transform into a heaven of fireflies at night. As it turned out, these promises and more  were delivered!

Our trip was arranged by Grassroutes (more info below). The journey to Purushwadi was beautiful, though at one point we had to cross a river via a narrow, rusty bridge. I was scared that our car would get scratched, but luckily it was just wide enough. In the village, Grassroutes runs small tent accommodations with clean toilets. We shared meals with a village family in their hut, and tasting the pure village food was wonderful: dal, farm fresh sabzi, (vegetable) , and rotis made of pearl millet (bajra) flour.

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photo-from-purushwani

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Fall glow-worm season is here!

Each autumn the world seems aglow with foliage and jack-o-lanterns. But they’re not the only  glowing things lighting up this season. Fall is also a great time to spot the crawling, glow-in-the-dark stage that all juvenile fireflies pass through.

Firefly larvae and pupae

Glowing firefly larvae (left) and pupae (photo by Siah St. Clair)

Hatched from eggs laid during summer months, these firefly larvae can now be seen crawling along  roadsides or wooded paths, glowing dimly from two tiny lanterns.    Photuris and Pyractomena larvae are the two types seen most often in the U.S. But one reader in Portland, Oregon even spotted  the much rarer Douglas fir glow-worm, Pterotus, along a path in Mt. Tabor Park. Continue reading →

The times, they are a-changin’

We can sense the change all around us – Earth’s climate is shifting. Our summers are getting hotter, and precipitation patterns are getting more extreme. But climate change doesn’t just affect human beings. It’s a game-changer for all of Earth’s living things. So maybe you’re wondering – how will fireflies react to such fundamental changes?

Glowing hotter

Everyone knows Earth’s temperature is rising. You’ve probably noticed that many flowers have now started to bloom earlier. So it’s not surprising that fireflies may also start “flowering” earlier. Like many seasonal creatures, fireflies depend on local soil and air temperatures for cues about when to emerge. With warmer temperatures, firefly eggs and larvae can grow more quickly and so will become breeding adults sooner. This already seems to be happening in at least one firefly species.

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Texas Glimpses Some Late-Season Wonder

In most years, Texas fireflies have largely faded out by August. But this year, a second wave of fireflies has washed across central Texas during mid-September. What’s going on?

Last spring, warm & wet weather conditions produced a bumper crop of emerging adult fireflies (reported here). And similar weather conditions this fall have apparently created a repeat performance (reported here & tweets below).

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Sept 2016 sparked a firefly Twitterstorm from Austin

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The Joy of Fireflies

From Katarina D. in Philippines –

I will always remember the first time I saw fireflies as a child – it was like I was given a rare gift as a surprise. Those tiny creatures lit up something in me — a sense that there were things out there far beyond my reach and expectations, a sense of wonder. My curiosity about the world beyond my home was born at that moment, I think, when I realized that there were so many things I didn’t know. The desire to learn, to read and discover was awakened. With the opening of my mind, my world suddenly became bigger. Even now every time I see fireflies, I’m instantly filled with joy.

Prezi screenshot

The Very Best Insect

From Joanna in Illinois:

Not only do fireflies amazingly light up like they were chain-smoking cigarettes in the backyard, but they don’t do any of the annoying things that other insects do like buzz, sting, bite, drink your blood, attach themselves to you or your dog, contaminate your food, ruin your picnic, destroy your crops, or chew up your house. And, by the way, if you have one of those torture devices on your patio commonly known as the “bug zapper,” then get rid of it immediately because it lures fireflies and then electrocutes them.

A firefly?
Car driving
with its turn signal on—
no corners in sight.—Joanna Key

 

About Those Firefly Babies…

Everyone loves fireflies and everyone loves babies, so it sounds like baby fireflies would be extra cute, right? But….

They.are.not.cute.

what they eat

Baby fireflies are voracious predators

Baby fireflies are ruthless carnivores dedicated to gluttony and growth. During their juvenile stage, most fireflies live in soil and rotting wood, where they prey upon earthworms, snails, and other soft-bodied creatures.

For the past several weeks, I’ve kept busy rearing 20 Lucidota firefly larvae. Just 5 weeks after they hatched out from eggs, my baby fireflies are growing fast. But I have to admit, watching them eat is getting scary! If you’ve seen Stranger Things, maybe you’ll know what I mean.

At rest, these babies huddle together. When I give them an earthworm they quickly gang up on it. This gregarious feeding habit lets them take down prey  much, much bigger than themselves. Using their sickle-shaped jaws, they inject the worm with paralyzing neurotoxins. Then, while it’s still alive, they cut it up it into pieces. Over the next 24 hours, they line up like suckling piglets to suck up their liquified prey.  Yum – nice fresh earthworm smoothie, anyone?

Anyway, each night before I go to bed, I now check to make sure my baby fireflies are securely inside their containers. So sweet dreams!

 

 

 

Raising Fireflies?!

As I’ve described previously in this blog, it’s generally proven difficult to raise U.S. fireflies. Once you’ve gotten the eggs to hatch, the next problem is getting the larvae to eat, grow, and survive. It sounds simple, but it takes young fireflies up to 2 years to develop. As their size increases, they need to shed their old exoskeleton & grow a new one. Each of these molting cycles is called an instar, and fireflies need to go through ~11 larval instars before they’re finally ready to metamorphose into the adults we’re familiar with.

So I’m really excited to report that so far I’ve had pretty good luck this year!

I’ve been caring for  ~20 very active Lucidota larvae that hatched from eggs. Now 2 weeks old,  they’re shown below climbing on a bit of earthworm poop. Because they’re still small, every few days I feed them cut-up pieces of earthworms (yuck). After enjoying a gluttonous feast last week, many have molted into a new instar.

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How does drought impact fireflies?

Fireflies need moisture during all of their life stages, especially their eggs and their long-lasting larval stage. Firefly larvae in the U.S. live in either soil or rotting wood, and this juvenile stage lasts up to 2 years in temperate latitudes.

US Drought Map Nov 2016

Dry conditions mean fewer fireflies in future years.

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