The Fireflyer Companion

Fireflyer Companion & Letter Vol. 1, Number 1 Winter 1993-94 Fireflyer. firefly + er. n. short for firefly chaser. A person who thinks about Where are the Lightningbugs? lightningbugs. Last fall the The Wall Street Journal (2 Sep 93) ran a front page article express- ing concern that fireflies may be disappearing. Several activities of humans were mentioned as possibly being connected. I suspect that many of the species that I used to see and census here in Alachua County may no longer be present. There is reason for attention if not concern. In the past decade herpetologists have noted an apparent world-wide decrease in the number of frogs, and even held a confer- ence to discuss it. Among questions for us to ask: is the absence of fireflies apparent or real?, is it local or general?, is it a natural phenomenon that could have serious consequences, given the humanization of the firefly world?, are there hard data available, or can we get some and how?, if fireflies are actually on the decline can we do anything about it?, and, is there something we can be doing before we know for sure? I have gotten several letters and phone calls asking about this, and have made this the opportunity to start a firefly-letter a little earlier than I had planned. I can pass along some of my thoughts and perhaps get readers to do Dark summer. some thinking and looking too. A line from a recent letter is a start and a title affirmative being expected, whether the And, how can one estimate the acre- What can I do fireflies have been poisoned by pesticides. age and diversity of habitats that have When I say that there is no direct informa- been built upon, paved over, and put into to help? tion available on the matter, I sometimes agriculture production. It runs into the mil- Alysse & Daniel get the feeling that my answer may be sus- lions. Remember, Thomas Barbour ex- Leesburg FL pect because of my known connection pressed his concern over Florida and a with Entomology. Vanishing Eden decades before the Dear Alysse and Dan, There are a number of reasons why we booms since World War II. Yours is a good, and embarrassing may not be seeing fireflies so often nowa- Consider too, there is more stray light question. I should have been thinking on days. Ever more of us live in urbanized ar- from street- and yard-lights, and city-light it a long time ago. First I’ll warm up to it eas where there are fewer undisturbed reflections from clouds, that shine in little with some preliminary cogitations, that I grasslands and creek sides; where there eyes. These are pollution to lightningbugs will do here, out loud. Maybe these will give are more streetlights, where more twi- trying to find mates with wee little biolu- you some ideas and you will send them lights are unseen while we watch minescent lanterns in their tails! in. We need observations, ideas, and di- TV-news, and seldom if at all do we sit on Another way that human population rection. the porch reading the newspaper by fad- growth and progress has mal-affected ing skylight and watching playing children; fireflies, at distances even greater than the Lightningbugs play a special role in and where there are fewer safe parks and reach of sky-light, has to do with available childhood and its memories. They are a known neighbors. ground water. The level of water-tables part of the personal Currier and Ives Days Even suburbs have had their soils has dropped in many areas because of the of millions of Americans. They are as shoved around, mixed, and structurally amount of water that is pumped from popular as dinosaurs, without benefit of damaged, and made less hospitable for wells. Lowered tables mean loss of habi- Hollywood animations and hype. They lin- earthworms and other firefly prey. And yes, tatsmarshes and wet areas around ger in fond recollections, in vivid images where there might have once occurred ponds and streams, the last themselves of chasing them over the lawn just before fireflies, more herbicides and pesticides dependent on water reaching the surface, bedtime when deepening shadows grew have been used to encourage sterile mo- naturally. menacingly at lawn edges. Strangers have nocultures of socially approved vegetation. There is also a focused attack on fire- told me of their personal experiences with I have noted to questioners that it is rea- flies. Tens of millions of them have been Mason and mayonnaise jars and flashes sonable to expect that contaminants from collected over the years for the on their bedstands. various sources, in the water, air, and soil light-emitting chemicals that they have in I am asked, by writers, reporters, teach- that are known to kill other things, certainly ers, and mothers, with an answer in the kill fireflies and their prey too. Continued on page 2, see Save Save, continued from page 1 at specimens that were collected on these Twinkle Twinkle rivers back then, for there are specimens their tails, especially the emission-facili- Half Moon on the horizon tating enzymes generically known as lu- in collections from that long ago. seen through green colored glasses ciferase. These chemicals are used in ba- Insect collections also used to routinely It is time for her to hunt sic research, for illuminating points of ac- archive old men with squinting, lens-as- earthbound stars by their flashes. tivity on chromosomes and potentially for sisted eyes, smelly clothes, and bow ties Constellations like Big Dipper looking for life in Space, in medical and (long an outdated curiosity, but bows seemingly simple; really complex. agricultural research, and for disease di- didnt drape into trays and break specimens), that took the welfare of their well- Shining toward earth, agnosis. theyre searching for sex. Of course, the collectors probably curated charges very seriously, and that mostly net common, widely-occurring and worked overtime for life, for nothing, for Cryptic signals are given likely renewable grassland species, such love. They were the unsung treasures of from ground toward heaven and back. as the Big Dipper Firefly (Photinus pyralis) research museums, but they too are nearly Timing is everything, and various common Photuris species extinct and few are being cultivated today. for the codes she must crack. [see sl article]. But, undoubtedly rare and I know an elderly insect taxonomist who He flashes for answers to uncommon species are taken, local popu- has even spent most of his home life bent Who? What? and Why? lations certainly have been eradicated, and over his personal microscope studying his She gives patterns of deceit; rare and new (emerging) species have flies. In World War II he was a medical just a twinkle in his eye. entomologist in the tropical Pacific with been wiped out. Mass collectors, children Closer (flicker), the U.S. Army. His wife has said that when and adults alike will not discriminate rare closer (flash), closer still. species, and pecuniary fixation will dis- he dies she will have him stuffed (curated This sirens light beckons him place other and abstract concerns. by a taxidermist) sitting there at his scope, against his will. A newspaper story a couple of years ago and then she can always see him and not quoted a firefly-tail-collecting mother who notice any difference. He throws caution to the wind and approaches too fast. said something to the effect that every time Such insect taxonomists know and re- spect the past, labor long, personally and The conflict is over, she saw a fireflys flash she saw a penny. hes now her repast. [tf] In contrast, another mother sent me a intently in the present, and prepare for a poem that her mother had written about future they wont see but hope will be fireflies for her daughter. (When I find there, by maintaining and improving col- What was the first scientific name used for a these two filed references I will give more lections, and helping anyone who comes firefly? Taxonomic literature now in use indicates along that shows an interest. Sometimes that Linnaeus first named fireflies in his Systema detail.) Naturae, 12th Edition (1767). Among them was The foregoing introduction warms us up age and destroyed collecting sites make what is now Photinus pyralis. Even he overlooked to addressing the key questions. It reminds them become cynical, and as sour as they his first names. In his 10th Edition (1758), he us that lifestyles have changed, says that sometime smell. More and more they named several fireflies, including pyralis, in the there are reasons to be suspicious that fire- must feel as though they will become (ob- soldier beetle genus Cantharis. Because Zoologi- jective) paleontologists - considering that cal Nomenclature officially starts with the 10th flies are at risk, and that their enemies is Edition, Cantharis pyralis, Cantharis (now us. the instant an insect becomes extinct in Lampris) noctiluca, Cantharis (now Luciola) Now, what data would it take to satisfy nature, specimens of it in museums be- lusitanica and a few others, were the first now- skeptics and fence-sitters? Where could come fossils, and perhaps should be officially named species. An earlier non-accept- we find the evidence that is needed? Can placed with those in amber and rocks? able name used by Waller in 1685 was Cicindella But, perhaps I digress? volans the generic name now being used for we only now begin to gather it? Are there tiger beetles. Wallers volans was Linnaeus no old records that will give tentative but Thus, one source of information on our Cantharis and then Lampyris noctiluca.

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