This illustration is by Arwin Provonsha with the Purdue Department of Entomology. It's an illustration of a Say's firefly. There are more than 175 species of fireflies (actually beetles) in the U.S. but that number may be decreasing.
This summer I sat out in my yard patiently waiting for little Ruby to arrive. For some things there's not much you can do but wait.
Each evening I was treated to a massive display of firefly luminosity. But my backyard was the only place in the neighborhood where they were in such abundance. I attribute that to my tall grass areas where I'm establishing a native grassland.
I want little Ruby to be able to catch fireflies in a jar when she gets older. So I'm asking a favor of you. Quit cutting your grass please. The neighbors may complain but the fireflys won't.
One time when I was a kid we smuggled a bag full of fireflies into a movie theater and let them go. It wasn't as dramatic as we had hoped it would be. Mostly they didn't do anything. But it was a fun project none the less. I still remember it.
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I went to my grandpa's farm (currently for sale for almost 1 million dollars, sigh, sniffle...) and he had mowed the entire thing. That's right 55 acres with not a patch of tall grass. Although it is October and the fireflies have said goodbye, I still wonder WHY? I walked all over that land yesterday, smelled it, felt it, tucked it away in my file cabinet for a rainy day. How do people put a lifetime into the land and the leave it to fate? I don't think I could, if I ever was lucky enough to get some.
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