Popular Post Allen ★ Posted June 1, 2020 Popular Post Share #1 Posted June 1, 2020 I saw my first couple of lighting bugs tonight. In the next couple of nights they should be out in full symphony all blinking together. My property is one of just a few places in the world where they are synchronous. I wish I could film it but they are almost impossible to capture on video, the only way to show their synchronicity. Got to have speciality low light gear. I just get what look like hot pixels on my SLR in video mode. And an iPhone can’t see them at all. 5 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickinMD ★ Posted June 1, 2020 Share #2 Posted June 1, 2020 They used to light up the night in the summers around my house in the 50's and earty 60's., but have been slowly falling off in numbers since then and you're lucky to see one on any given night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted June 1, 2020 Share #3 Posted June 1, 2020 8 hours ago, Allen said: My property is one of just a few places in the world where they are synchronous. How do you know that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted June 1, 2020 Share #4 Posted June 1, 2020 17 minutes ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said: How do you know that? I thought all lightning bugs were synchronized edit: uncle googley knows. https://www.livescience.com/32688-fireflies-synchronous-flashes-are-booty-calls-study-reveals.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allen ★ Posted June 1, 2020 Author Share #5 Posted June 1, 2020 23 minutes ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said: How do you know that? That’s what the scientists from Fernbank told me when they came to study them. Plus, https://www.firefly.org/synchronous-fireflies.html “Synchronous species of fireflies are very special—and they exist only in a handful of places throughout the world” 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allen ★ Posted June 1, 2020 Author Share #6 Posted June 1, 2020 25 minutes ago, Longjohn said: I thought all lightning bugs were synchronized edit: uncle googley knows. https://www.livescience.com/32688-fireflies-synchronous-flashes-are-booty-calls-study-reveals.html Not all do, the majority have patterns when they flash but all play to their own beat. Mine flash as a unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted June 1, 2020 Share #7 Posted June 1, 2020 8 minutes ago, Allen said: Not all do, the majority have patterns when they flash but all play to their own beat. Mine flash as a unit. The Allegheny forest ones must have expanded their territory because ours do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted June 1, 2020 Share #8 Posted June 1, 2020 The grandkids will grab a jar and go out to catch fireflies and they will all be lit and all go out and the yard will be pitch black. The kids say “hey, who turned out the lights.” Sometimes a stray one or two will get their lights stuck on in the grass but the rest blink together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allen ★ Posted June 1, 2020 Author Share #9 Posted June 1, 2020 13 minutes ago, Longjohn said: The Allegheny forest ones must have expanded their territory because ours do. Very cool. They were just discovered there in 2012 https://pawilds.com/asset/pennsylvania-firefly-season/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allen ★ Posted June 1, 2020 Author Share #10 Posted June 1, 2020 12 minutes ago, Longjohn said: The Allegheny forest ones must have expanded their territory because ours do. If yours all stop at the same time after flashing 10-15 times and then start back up, they are Photinus carolinus. If they continue to flash without stopping they are the same same species as mine, Photuris frontalis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post jsharr ★ Posted June 1, 2020 Popular Post Share #11 Posted June 1, 2020 Been seeing them for weeks. Our Aussie friends were over. She had never caught a lightning bug. I caught one for her. Last night the boys and I were sitting on the deck just talking about the world today and social responsibility and the fireflies came out. Ryan caught one and as he watched it, he said "I remember when I was little, we would catch these and put them in a jar." He then followed that with "But we would always let them go." It was a good summer night. He also got to drive his brother's Tahoe last night. He was so proud. Huge smile on his face as he and Wade pulled up in front of the house. Coolest part was he rubbed the curb just bit and Wade told him it is no big deal, the tires are big enough that he could not scratch the rims. Was very proud of both my boys. The little things like fireflies, a kind word or a smile are what makes life special. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsharr ★ Posted June 1, 2020 Share #12 Posted June 1, 2020 10 hours ago, Allen said: I saw my first couple of lighting bugs tonight. In the next couple of nights they should be out in full symphony all blinking together. My property is one of just a few places in the world where they are synchronous. I wish I could film it but they are almost impossible to capture on video, the only way to show their synchronicity. Got to have speciality low light gear. I just get what look like hot pixels on my SLR in video mode. And an iPhone can’t see them at all. That would be so amazing to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted June 1, 2020 Share #13 Posted June 1, 2020 Well this has been an interesting departure from the usual drivel. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allen ★ Posted June 1, 2020 Author Share #14 Posted June 1, 2020 9 minutes ago, jsharr said: The little things like fireflies, a kind word or a smile are what makes life special. It is. 8 minutes ago, jsharr said: That would be so amazing to see. It really is once you understand what you are seeing. The whole of my woods looks like it has been strung with Christmas tree lights. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsharr ★ Posted June 1, 2020 Share #15 Posted June 1, 2020 1 minute ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said: Well this has been an interesting departure from the usual drivel. I hope you found it illuminating. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allen ★ Posted June 1, 2020 Author Share #16 Posted June 1, 2020 1 hour ago, Longjohn said: The Allegheny forest ones must have expanded their territory because ours do. You have something really special. You will make the entomologist at your local college’s year if you invite them out to observe them. To see them in the Great Smoky mountains you have to enter a lottery to get tickets to tour the valley where they are found. They canceled it this year due to covid. https://www.nps.gov/grsm/learn/nature/fireflies.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allen ★ Posted June 1, 2020 Author Share #17 Posted June 1, 2020 2 hours ago, Longjohn said: The Allegheny forest ones must have expanded their territory because ours do. You may want to contact Andrew Moiseff, andrew.moiseff@uconn.edu He’s the foremost expert on these bugs and is very approachable. He sent me loads of info on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allen ★ Posted June 1, 2020 Author Share #18 Posted June 1, 2020 Good ol’l National Geographic. They shelled out for a good low light camera. This is the only really good video that I can find that shows synchronized lighting bugs. Mine are slightly different in flash pattern. These all stop at once after a handful of flashes. Mine never stop, they just keep chugging on flashing. I’m really passionate about my bugs. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12string Posted June 1, 2020 Share #19 Posted June 1, 2020 8 hours ago, Allen said: Mine flash as a unit. That's not all that unique. There are many species that initiate a booty call by flashing their unit. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisL Posted June 1, 2020 Share #20 Posted June 1, 2020 Ever drive through a bunch of them? Trippy when they splat & glow on your windshield.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allen ★ Posted June 1, 2020 Author Share #21 Posted June 1, 2020 1 minute ago, ChrisL said: Ever drive through a bunch of them? Trippy when they splat & glow on your windshield.... Caught a small brim that had just eaten one, you could see it flashing in its gullet. You can also see them flashing through the silk when spiders catch them and wrap them up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
groupw Posted June 1, 2020 Share #22 Posted June 1, 2020 They get thick here about late June. More populous as you drive west. A few years back, I drove the Miata to North Platte about 150 miles west of here. Drove back in the late evening with the top down. All the lightning bugs around and above me made me feel like I was driving at Warp Speed! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheep_herder ★ Posted June 2, 2020 Share #23 Posted June 2, 2020 Some of you might remember that I used firefly tails to measure ATP in some of my seed research many years ago. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allen ★ Posted June 6, 2020 Author Share #24 Posted June 6, 2020 They are out thick tonight. The woods are blanketed with them. Hundreds flashing together. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsharr ★ Posted June 6, 2020 Share #25 Posted June 6, 2020 I need a rocking chair and a bottle or three of bourbon and a week in your back porch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allen ★ Posted June 6, 2020 Author Share #26 Posted June 6, 2020 29 minutes ago, jsharr said: I need a rocking chair and a bottle or three of bourbon and a week in your back porch You are more than welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shootingstar Posted June 6, 2020 Share #27 Posted June 6, 2020 On 5/31/2020 at 9:49 PM, Allen said: I saw my first couple of lighting bugs tonight. In the next couple of nights they should be out in full symphony all blinking together. My property is one of just a few places in the world where they are synchronous. I wish I could film it but they are almost impossible to capture on video, the only way to show their synchronicity. Got to have speciality low light gear. I just get what look like hot pixels on my SLR in video mode. And an iPhone can’t see them at all. In Japan they celebrate fireflies as a night festival ...it was around time we were there...we didn't go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allen ★ Posted June 6, 2020 Author Share #28 Posted June 6, 2020 1 hour ago, shootingstar said: In Japan they celebrate fireflies as a night festival ...it was around time we were there...we didn't go. They are magical Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allen ★ Posted June 7, 2020 Author Share #29 Posted June 7, 2020 The mayor came out to observe them tonight. He had no idea our town had them. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Further Posted June 7, 2020 Share #30 Posted June 7, 2020 They should be starting pretty soon here. This is my first summer in this house, I have high hopes for lightning bugs. When I was an avid fly fisherman mayflies were my favorite bug, and are still in contention, but lightning bugs are they're own kind of special. Speaking of bugs....there is a big, black, hairy, spider hanging out by the window on the stairs from the garage. I give him room and wish him well when heading to the car in the morning. In the afternoon coming home he is hidden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allen ★ Posted June 11, 2020 Author Share #31 Posted June 11, 2020 They are at their very peak tonight. Thousands of them through the woods all along the driveway. They are almost disorientating when you are in a big cloud all in synch. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bikeguy Posted June 11, 2020 Share #32 Posted June 11, 2020 There used to be a farm field that they quit farming and it was just a field of tall grass along the road at my old home. I'd walk the dogs in the evening and OMG there had to be millions of lightning bugs on and above the grass in the field. I was like a like a galaxy far far away had descended on the field. And then they sold it... and someone then mowed it all down. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allen ★ Posted June 14, 2020 Author Share #33 Posted June 14, 2020 Well, my bugs have packed it in for the year. 3 nights ago there were hundreds blinking together, tonight I saw maybe 5. Got plenty of regular lighting bugs still, but I think those are going to call it quits in a few days too. Time to wait for next season. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Further Posted June 14, 2020 Share #34 Posted June 14, 2020 It cooled down here, in the 60's now, the bugs prefer warmer and damper weather Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allen ★ Posted June 14, 2020 Author Share #35 Posted June 14, 2020 1 minute ago, Further said: It cooled down here, in the 60's now, the bugs prefer warmer and damper weather Mine like it under 90°, and yes, they love the wet. The best display nights were after daytime showers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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