The Secret World of Fireflies

Fireflies evoke a feeling of magic and wonder; Elegant blobs of light dancing and blinking in the summer night. Everything about fireflies hearkens back to a time long past. Imagine living on Earth 75-130 million years ago. Dinosaurs tromping and roaming. The air is hot and humid. There are no cars, no city lights, no porch lights, no stadium lights. Nothing. But, it isn’t pitch black, because the stars fill the sky. It will still be millions of years before humans create the first artificial light sources to change all of this. But, their elaborate light displays are not intended for our eyes. Instead, they depict a daring dance between species. Each firefly species possesses its own distinct type of “language” used to communicate with members of its own species. If you can decode these patterns, you can figure out which species you’re looking at! There are an estimated 170 species in North America. But, fewer people report seeing fireflies today. Why is that? Are fireflies really… View Source