Do you have lightning bugs where you live?

[maize]

4 hours ago, theelfqueen said:

We do not in Colorado.

I grew up in Kansas City, where we did. 

Here's some info on native fireflies in Colorado!

https://source.colostate.edu/are-there-fireflies-in-colorado/#:~:text=Yes%2C lightning bugs light up,find them in Fort Collins.

[KungFuPanda]

I grew up with them in WV and my kids have always had them in Maryland. We love them. 

[ScoutTN]

31 minutes ago, Pam in CT said:

re blue ghost fireflies

Oh my gosh, no I've never heard of them and THAT IS SO COOL.  Adding another nature phenomenon to the bucket list.  THANK YOU.

Ok, these look so cool and my kids go to camp right near there every year. I camped in the Pisgah National Forest last summer, but I was too late to see these. Planning my 2023 summer now...  Asheville/Brevard area early June! Who's in?!

[KungFuPanda]

3 hours ago, Spy Car said:

I remember the magical quality of fireflies from the book Sam and the Firefly (a childhood favorite), but sadly we did not have fireflies in Los Angeles.

A couple years after I finished university I saw fireflies in person for the first time. I stayed with a friend who had a brownstone in South Philly and we traveled out to a party in Buck's County. Just at twilight the fireflies came out. It truly was a magical experience.

 

 

I also experienced a similar magic in the waters here in California. A friend and I were out swimming as night fell in Avila Beach (near San Luis Obispo/Primo). As we moved in the water there was bioluminescence all around us. It was mind blowing.

Bill

 

This reminds me of Night of the Moon Jellies. My kids loved that book. 
 

I live in the woods and have been loading up my gardens with native plants. The fireflies love it here. I’m in this area: 

https://www.chesapeakebay.net/news/blog/fireflies_shed_light_on_the_benefits_of_a_natural_yard

 

Edited July 11, 2022 by KungFuPanda

[MercyA]

Yes! One of the lovely things about Indiana. I think we say lightning bug more often than firefly. Aren't they gorgeous? 💛

I was checking on my injured toad yesterday (he is mending a little more every day!) and I saw another frog eat and then rapidly spit out a lightning bug. The bug must not have been to his taste. (The bug survived his ordeal, BTW.) 

[Indigo Blue]

Yes! NC. I remember running barefoot in the grass to try to catch them and then let them fly away. 

[Spy Car]

13 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said:

This reminds me of Night of the Moon Jellies. My kids loved that book. 
 

I live in the woods and have been loading up my gardens with native plants. The fireflies love it here. I’m in this area: 

https://www.chesapeakebay.net/news/blog/fireflies_shed_light_on_the_benefits_of_a_natural_yard

 

I believe that the bioluminescence I experienced at night swimmimming in the Pacific was caused by some sort of phosphorescent plankton. They lit up as we moved about in the water. Felt like "Disney imagineering."

That was a unique life experience. Never encountered such a thing before or since.

Bill

[Pam in CT]

re bucket list of nature/natural wonders

39 minutes ago, Elizabeth86 said:

Glad I could help! I'd love to hear your list because I love nature things like that.

• Watching mother sea turtles come ashore and lay their eggs
• Watching the baby sea turtles hatch and scoot out to the shoreline   (both of these are visible in lots of places)
• Watching the Mexican long-tailed bats fly out from Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin
• Seeing the Northern Lights (there are a handful of places to do this and I'd be thrilled anywhere, but my planning fantasy is from Iceland)
• Recent entry, Blue Ghost Fireflies in Asheville

Items I have checked off:

• Night dive during the annual coral spawning
• Seeing the monarch butterflies "wake up" and swarm after their hibernation in Mexican highlands

[Loowit]

10 minutes ago, Spy Car said:

I believe that the bioluminescence I experienced at night swimmimming in the Pacific was caused by some sort of phosphorescent plankton. They lit up as we moved about in the water. Felt like "Disney imagineering."

That was a unique life experience. Never encountered such a thing before or since.

Bill

The scout camp my boys went to and my youngest is working at this summer on the Oregon coast has bioluminescent plakton on the beach that has always been fascinating to see.  DS says he hasn't seen any yet this summer but is hoping to see some soon.

[Elizabeth86]

16 minutes ago, Pam in CT said:

re bucket list of nature/natural wonders

• Watching mother sea turtles come ashore and lay their eggs
• Watching the baby sea turtles hatch and scoot out to the shoreline   (both of these are visible in lots of places)
• Watching the Mexican long-tailed bats fly out from Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin
• Seeing the Northern Lights (there are a handful of places to do this and I'd be thrilled anywhere, but my planning fantasy is from Iceland)
• Recent entry, Blue Ghost Fireflies in Asheville

Items I have checked off:

• Night dive during the annual coral spawning
• Seeing the monarch butterflies "wake up" and swarm after their hibernation in Mexican highlands

A great list!

[kristin0713]

Yes - NJ and PA 

Eta - our dog loves to hunt them but usually misses 😂

Edited July 11, 2022 by kristin0713

[Faith-manor]

Yes, lots of them. So it is fun to be outside at dusk and after. Our grandsons love them.

Michigan, near Lake Huron.

[KrissiK]

Not in Central California.

[regentrude]

Mid-Missouri. Lots of lighting bugs.

[sweet2ndchance]

I had never seen one that I could remember until we visited my grandparents in central Arkansas when I was 15yo. I grew up mostly in Arizona.

Been literally all around the world since then and now I live in rural SW Arkansas we definitely have them here. Still freaks me out every once in a while when one gets in the house and starts flashing in a dark room lol.

[Calizzy]

10 hours ago, GailV said:

Yes, they're here in St Louis, although the numbers seem down this year.

But that might be my imagination conjuring thick hoards of lightning bugs in years gone by.

I’m in Kansas City and I haven’t seen as many this summer either.

[KidsHappen]

I live in middle TN. When we first moved into this house we had a field in our backyard and every summer it would light up like Christmas with fireflies. Now I have a strip mall and don't see the fireflies so much anymore. There do seem to be more this year if you get out away from the commercial lights but nowhere like it used to be. I also saw them growing up in TX, VA and maybe MA.

[Tanaqui]

When I was very very small, we lived in another state. And then when I was 3 or 4 we moved up to NYC because my mother thought it'd be easier to get a job in her home city than where we were.

I remember being 4 years old and thinking very seriously about the fact that people where we'd been, in New Orleans, said "lightning bug" but people in Brooklyn said "firefly". And this is probably the earliest memory I have of thinking about linguistics in any capacity.

I presume there were lightning bugs in New Orleans, and there are lightning bugs in NYC.

But you know what? While there are definitely dragonflies in NYC, they're not in all neighborhoods! There were a ton when I was a kid in Bensonhurst, in Brooklyn, but when we moved to Staten Island (the North Shore) I never saw one! I've seen then in Battery Park City, though.

Dragonfly is another pretty insect that is called different things in different parts of the country, or so I'm told.

[Melissa in Australia]

No

But we do have glow in the dark fungi and some really cool phosphorus looking micro thingys in the ocean that look  fabulous when the waves crash in at night  at certain times of the year

And there is no light pollution at all so we can see lots of space junk burning on reentering and satalites moving

[Melissa in Australia]

8 hours ago, Spy Car said:

I believe that the bioluminescence I experienced at night swimmimming in the Pacific was caused by some sort of phosphorescent plankton. They lit up as we moved about in the water. Felt like "Disney imagineering."

That was a unique life experience. Never encountered such a thing before or since.

Bill

I think that is what we have. They light up when the waves crash onto the beach, but only at certain times of the year

[KungFuPanda]

When I was little I thought lighting bugs disappeared every night and magically reappeared the next night. My parents would let us catch them and fall asleep with a jar in our room, but they were always gone when we woke up. 🤣

[Miss Tick]

We lived many years in a house surrounded on three sides by farm fields. The years those were planted in soy beans (alternating years) the fireflies rose up out of the fields in the evenings like morning fog as the sun rises. Thousands and thousands. So magical.

 Fireflies in the Garden   by Robert Frost

Here come real stars to fill the upper skies,

And here on earth come emulating flies,

That though they never equal stars in size,

(And they were never really stars at heart)

Achieve at times a very star-like start.

Only, of course, they can't sustain the part.

Edited July 12, 2022 by SusanC
after someone reads a post, i look at it more critically and always find room for improvement

[Pam in CT]

1 hour ago, SusanC said:

We lived many years in a house surrounded on three sides by farm fields. The years those were planted in soy beans (alternating years) the fireflies rose up out of the fields in the evenings like morning fog as the sun rises. Thousands and thousands. So magical.

 Fireflies in the Garden   by Robert Frost

Here come real stars to fill the upper skies,

And here on earth come emulating flies,

That though they never equal stars in size,

(And they were never really stars at heart)

Achieve at times a very star-like start.

Only, of course, they can't sustain the part.

My 85 year old mother has an astonishing capacity to recite whole poems at the smallest provocation, and this is one of the ones she doled out regularly when I was a kid.   ❣️

[Tanaqui]

9 minutes ago, Pam in CT said:

My 85 year old mother has an astonishing capacity to recite whole poems at the smallest provocation, and this is one of the ones she doled out regularly when I was a kid.   ❣️

 

Huh. My mother does the same thing, but as kids were were infinitely more likely to hear about Jim, Who Ran Away From Nurse And Got Eaten By A Lion than about *fireflies*.

This probably says something about my childhood, or perhaps just my mother. To this day it perplexes me that my own kiddos did not even once want to hear about Jim.

[Pam in CT]

6 minutes ago, Tanaqui said:

 

Huh. My mother does the same thing, but as kids were were infinitely more likely to hear about Jim, Who Ran Away From Nurse And Got Eaten By A Lion than about *fireflies*.

This probably says something about my childhood, or perhaps just my mother. To this day it perplexes me that my own kiddos did not even once want to hear about Jim.

Oh come on, that's not sporting at all, you have to share the whole text. I don't make the rules.

Quote

There was a Boy whose name was Jim;
His Friends were very good to him.
They gave him Tea, and Cakes, and Jam,
And slices of delicious Ham,
And Chocolate with pink inside,
And little Tricycles to ride,
And read him Stories through and through,
And even took him to the Zoo—
But there it was the dreadful Fate
Befell him, which I now relate.

You know—at least you ought to know.
For I have often told you so—
That Children never are allowed
To leave their Nurses in a Crowd;

Now this was Jim’s especial Foible,
He ran away when he was able,
And on this inauspicious day
He slipped his hand and ran away!
He hadn’t gone a yard when—Bang!
With open Jaws, a Lion sprang,
And hungrily began to eat
The Boy: beginning at his feet.

Now just imagine how it feels
When first your toes and then your heels,
And then by gradual degrees,
Your shins and ankles, calves and knees,
Are slowly eaten, bit by bit.

No wonder Jim detested it!
No wonder that he shouted “Hi!”
The Honest Keeper heard his cry,
Though very fat he almost ran
To help the little gentleman.
“Ponto!” he ordered as he came
(For Ponto was the Lion’s name),
“Ponto!” he cried, with angry Frown.
“Let go, Sir! Down, Sir! Put it down!”

The Lion made a sudden Stop,
He let the Dainty Morsel drop,
And slunk reluctant to his Cage,
Snarling with Disappointed Rage
But when he bent him over Jim,
The Honest Keeper’s eyes were dim.
The Lion having reached his Head,
The Miserable Boy was dead!

When Nurse informed his Parents, they
Were more Concerned than I can say:—
His Mother, as She dried her eyes,
Said, “Well—it gives me no surprise,
He would not do as he was told!”
His Father, who was self-controlled,
Bade all the children round attend
To James’ miserable end,
And always keep a-hold of Nurse
For fear of finding something worse.

Hillaire Beloc

We definitely had the cautionary tales lying around, but my mother was then, and continues to this day, to be most triggered by elements in nature prompting philosophical rumination (lots of Frost, Dickinson, Mary Oliver, Bobbie Burns).

I truly find her capacity to recite whole stanzas astonishing.  She says she had to memorize poems as a child in elementary school. But that was in the 1940s, for lord's sake.  I can't remember the Periodic Table symbols.

[Tanaqui]

I have several poems memorized myself and will recite them at the drop of a hat, not to mention quite a large number of folk songs and child ballads, but my kids never wanted to hear about the twa sisters either. (Moral: Don't share a boyfriend with your sister. It will end badly.)

[Lady Florida.]

17 hours ago, Spy Car said:

I believe that the bioluminescence I experienced at night swimmimming in the Pacific was caused by some sort of phosphorescent plankton. They lit up as we moved about in the water. Felt like "Disney imagineering."

That was a unique life experience. Never encountered such a thing before or since.

Bill

We have bioluminescent plankton (dinoflagellates) in our lagoon. They're usually there in summer with August and September being the best months to see them. It's become a tourist thing and there are multiple kayaking tour companies that take people out at night. If you have your own kayak (sadly we don't) you can go on your own from one of the boat launches. We've  gone a few times with friends and several times with our homeschool group when ds was younger. I never get tired of seeing these amazing creatures.

https://www.imagineourflorida.org/indian-river-lagoon/

[wintermom]

Yes! It has to be really hot out, and they seem to like open areas with tall grasses. We saw one this summer already. We call them fireflies. I'm in Ontario now. 

Growing up in Alberta, there were no fireflies. I'm guessing that it's too dry. They have fireflies in Manitoba. I used to see them on my Grandma's farm at night and thought they were approaching car headlights. 😄

Edited July 12, 2022 by wintermom

[Laura Corin]

On 7/11/2022 at 6:49 PM, Spy Car said:

I remember the magical quality of fireflies from the book Sam and the Firefly (a childhood favorite), but sadly we did not have fireflies in Los Angeles.

A couple years after I finished university I saw fireflies in person for the first time. I stayed with a friend who had a brownstone in South Philly and we traveled out to a party in Buck's County. Just at twilight the fireflies came out. It truly was a magical experience.

 

 

I loved that book! I'd forgotten it.  I saw fireflies only once, in Chicago. There are apparently fireflies in the UK, but I've never seen them. It's so light until so late on summer evenings where I live that I'm hardly ever awake at dusk.