Fireflies: The Twinkle in Nature's Eye

(Page 4 of 4)

June/July 2004
By Terry Krautwurst  
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Technological ingenuity notwithstanding, the best application for fireflies I know of involves a tradition long practiced in rural areas of Japan: On summer nights, parents release a handful of fireflies under the mosquito netting over their child's bed so that the youngster can drift off to sleep beneath a tiny galaxy of twinkling stars.

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I think of that, of my own Firefly Night and of the countless generations of humans who have been charmed by these flickering little beetles, and I know that nature is more than cold, hard science. No doubt about it: fireflies are magic, adding wonder and spark to our lives.

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  • blue 6/12/2009 1:01:50 AM

    i just read something about similar fireflies in tennessee...

    http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/may/30/smokies-light-show-scheduled-june-6-14/

    "The synchronous fireflies don’t actually flash in unison. Rather, one or two males will flash, and this causes other males nearby to start flashing at random, and for a set period of time. The effect is stop-start sequence, with each burst of blinking light lasting about eight seconds. Synchronous fireflies - Photinus carolinus - occur in watersheds throughout the Smokies, not just at Elkmont. They like open areas in the forest, preferably near a water source.…In addition to the synchronous fireflies, visitors will likely also see some blue ghosts - fireflies that don’t blink, but fly around with their blueish light stuck in the “on” position."

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