from Grant and Caroline’s pix on Flickr

This summer I’ve seen more fireflies than I can remember. Well, I have to qualify that, as there weren’t many around the house where I grew up in south Georgia. Sure, we’d see the occasional yellow-green light flickering through the yard, or, sadly, obliterated on the car’s windshield when driving at night. My best remembered display was when as a young teen I was visiting my grandmother’s house in Clayton, Georgia. The lightning bugs flickered through the bamboo grove below the house, and in the trees and bushes surrounding the house on Duggan Hill. It was also on that trip that I saw my first Luna moth.

I don’t recall seeing fireflies here at home last summer, but just a week ago I walked outside and witnessed an awe-inspiring display of hundreds of tiny lights flickering in the woods at the edge of the back yard. I stood transfixed, amazed at nature’s magical beauty. I instantly understood why people once believed in fairies and wee folk, and for a moment I did, too.

Though they never really synchronized, their flashing seemed to come in waves. For a few seconds they flickered all over the yard, then there seemed to come a pause for a few seconds, with only a couple of fireflies sending their sparkling mating signals. For a few nights I spent time on the back deck, enjoying their spellbinding lights.

This week the number of fireflies has greatly decreased, and tonight I counted only three or four flashing among the trunks of the sweetgums and pines. Some floated through the back yard, almost as if they were desperately aware that the pickins for a mate are slimmer than just last week.

I did a quick search and found some interesting information about fireflies in Georgia. There may be many different species here, differentiated by color of the light, or the pattern of flashing. It also turns out that one of the nation’s foremost firefly researchers is Jonathan Copeland at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro. He’s researched some species in the South that exhibit synchronized flashing, previously thought only to occur in Asian species.

I also discovered that, depending on the area, fireflies may be in decline or in others, increasing. They’re sensitive to environmental conditions, so, like frogs and other amphibians, may be indicators of the ecological health of an area. Given this year’s backyard display, I hope that means they’ve found a comfortable home here.

The Museum of Science in Boston is again working to collect information about firefly populations in New England and the rest of the US. I’ll be sending in my observations this summer, and hope that it adds to our knowledge of fireflies. Hopefully the public’s participation can help in our understanding these animals, and will help us to preserve these magical creatures for future generations.

Resources:

• Firefly.org
• The Synchronous Fireflies of Elkmont (Appalachian Voice)
• US Fireflies Flashing in Unison (Science News via bNet)
  
• Fireflies in decline as natural habitat destroyed (NowPublic)
• After cicada, firefly’s warm glow grows (Newport News Daily Press)
• Fireflies shine light on insect conservation (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Grant and Caroline’s Firefly pictures (Flickr, Creative Commons License)

You can help conserve firefles by participating in the Boston Museum of Science’s Firefly Watch program at this website:

• Museum of Science Firefly Watch

An inventor has created a product which so closely mimics the look of one species of firefly that not only does it fool us humans, but has been used by researchers to lure fireflies. The product is called Firefly Magic, and is available to the public. If you live in an area without native fireflies, like much of the west coast of the US, you can place this system in your yard and experience much of the wonder of fireflies.