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Simon Phipps's personal commentary

Missing Firefly [PhotoTravel]

I want to see a firefly again. I haven't seen one since I was 17, when I saw several while camping near Chicago. Minimal research seems to suggest that Florida is a great place to go to see them (apparently the greatest concentration in the US is on the Florida-Georgia border [pdf file, worth reading the whole thing]) and if not there, Jamaica, so I think it's time for some deeper research. The whole eco-system is fascinating. It seems that some fireflies attract males just in order to feed on them, although in the main it's a more amorous intent that makes them glow.

They are a summer thing, of course (although there are tantalising hints that Pyractomena Borealis has a winter distribution too), and I'm well aware that they are getting rarer, but I'm holding out hope for an encounter one day - other people are reporting sightings - some people even grow their own, and the risk of intoxication seems great! Although there are no fireflies in Britain, maybe I should also spend the summer searching for a glow-worm over here - people are already organising walks for 2003 to hunt for them.

posted at 11:48 AM (UK) | |