World Firefly Day, a Midsummer Night’s Wonder: VIDEOS
One of the greatest joys of being a kid in the summer is just after twilight watching fireflies appear lighting the night with their glowing, ethereal dance in flight. My grandparent’s backyard would twinkle with countless yellowish green orbs, and I loved to stand in the middle of them hoping one would light on me. So many fireflies, and so many jars with holes poked in the lid filled with them, creating a boy’s magic lantern.
But today as with so many other insects vital to fragile ecosystem, fireflies need our help which why the theme of this year’s World Fireflies Day is “Watch Us, Don’t Catch Us!”
From Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation,
“Fireflies may seem abundant, but in some places their numbers are declining. In addition to the pressures that are placed on them by collecting practices, fireflies face a variety of threats such as habitat loss, light pollution, and climate change. Recent assessments of U.S. and Canadian fireflies reveal that several species are at risk of extinction, and studies in Asia and Europe have also documented declines. It’s clear that we need to make some changes if we want to keep living in a world with fireflies.”
Read the full article Here
One way to help is with sustainable firefly tourism as in the CBS Sunday Morning report.
Fortunately for city dwellers like myself there people like Radim Scheiber of the FireflyExperience.org to capture the wonder and beauty of these creatures for us.
“NOTE! For optimal viewing, watch this video at night, with all lights turned off, in full screen mode and with sound turned on.”
Remember the little boy I was telling you about before? A midsummer’s night wonder goes on…
