Gardening Sweet Spots
by Donna Hessel
Lightning bugs or fireflies? Whatever you call them, remember seeing the tiny flashes sparking in the gathering dusk and running to find a Mason jar to catch them in? And then watching them twinkle in a fairy lantern? Summer magic!
These little insects are fascinating creatures. We are lucky to live where they are plentiful. Although there are more than 2,000 species of fireflies in the world, only 170 or so call the U.S. home. And only a few species can create light. Most of those are in the easterly side of our country, so we are doubly lucky.
Did you know this about fireflies?
Fireflies’ luminescence is the result of a chemical reaction inside their abdomens that allows their inner glow to shine through. Firefly light is the world’s most efficient light. None of the energy is lost as heat. (Incandescent bulbs emit only 10 percent of their energy as light and 90 percent as heat.) In a firefly’s tail are two chemicals: luciferase and luciferin. Luciferin is heat resistant, and it glows under the right conditions. Luciferase is an enzyme that triggers light emission. ATP, a chemical within the firefly’s body, converts to energy and initiates the glow.
Fireflies communicate with their lights – mostly to attract mates, but also to defend territory and deter predators. According to Ben Pfeiffer, firefly researcher, in some firefly species, only one sex lights up. In most, however, both sexes glow. Often the male will fly, while females wait in trees, shrubs, grasses to spot an attractive male. If she finds one, she’ll signal it with a flash of her own. An adult firefly lives just long enough to mate and lay eggs. The larvae usually live for about a year, becoming adults in time for mating season.
Fireflies spend up to 95% of their lives in larval stages. They live in soil/mud/leaf litter and spend from 1-2 years growing until finally pupating to become adults. This entire time they eat anything they can find. As adults, they only live 2-4 weeks. Females that have mated successfully need a place to lay eggs. They will lay eggs in many spots, but gardens offer an oasis with a source of soil moisture good for larval development.
Invite fireflies to your yard
If you would like to attract more fireflies to your yard, you can do so by making your garden an inviting place for them to take up residence. Gardens contain the food fireflies eat, including snails, slugs, various insects and worms. Fireflies are natural pest control!
Here are some other ways you can attract fireflies:
- If you have poor soil, introduce nutrients such as bag compost, leaves, and organic matter.
- Till your soil or use a no-till technique such as using a broadfork to open soils to add some aeration and prevent soil from compacting.
- Avoid use of broad-spectrum pesticides, especially lawn chemicals.
- Turn off outside lights to control light pollution.
- Let log and leaf litter accumulate. Let an area of your yard remain in a natural state.
- Plant trees and native grasses. Grasses and forbs help retain soil moisture.
- Don’t over-mow your lawn.
Enjoy your fairy lantern responsibly
It’s easier to catch fireflies using a net and working in pairs with one person to hold the jar and another to use the net. Be sure to use care when catching them; fireflies are fragile. If you catch fireflies carefully and treat them gently, you can enjoy them without causing any harm.
Ideally, enjoy your firefly lantern for the evening and then release them into the wild again. But, if you would like to keep your captive fireflies alive for a day or two longer, add apple slices to your jar. Fireflies will readily drink the juice from a fresh apple. You can also use grapes, raspberries or other available fruit. Additionally, mist the jar occasionally with distilled water. This helps keep the environment moist and also simulates their natural environment. Don’t keep them longer than a day or two or they will die. And let them go at night because that’s when they’re most active and able to avoid predators.
Information sources: Mary Janes Farm magazine, June-July 2018 and firefly.org website
Photo Source: Google Images
