First of two parts
One night, alone in my forest farm, The Habitat, in Tublay, Benguet, I fell under the spell of fireflies. They came slowly, lights flickering, chasing away night spirits, sending messages only shadows can decipher. I sat long and hard, many nights after that, reading everything I could about these natures’ lamplighters.
The intermittent light of the firefly can function something like an inkblot test, I learned. These blinking bugs reveal their own proclivities and predilections—frequency of flashes, music, rhythm and, yes, color.
For many people, fireflies spark sweet memories of childhood in Baguio City’s hills and languid summer nights. I was no exception.
When I was little, on summer nights my family and I used to put a straw mat on the ground in front of our house and lie down to watch for fireflies. At that time, despite the lack of material affluence, we enjoyed rural life a great deal, especially seeing fireflies light up in the sky. That kind of beauty was just beyond description.
Rarely seen today
Part of the reason fireflies are associated with childhood for so many people, however, is that they are less often seen today. The Philippines is home to 21,000 insect species, but the number of fireflies has dropped as their habitats have shrunk over the years.
No one is working to reverse the trend through research, conservation and promotion of these pixyish night fliers.
There is a need for an archipelago-wide survey of fireflies, their habitats and other ecological factors to create a kind of databank that can be used by researchers and environmentalists. State universities and colleges can team up with agricultural and tourism groups to rehabilitate the natural environment of fireflies and to promote ecological tours and firefly viewing.
Firefly viewing
Government agencies, such as the Departments of Environment and Natural Resources, and of Science and Technology and private groups must be urged to have conservation plans to preserve the habitats and breeding grounds of firefly and to organize viewing.
In Japan it is estimated that every year the number of domestic residents viewing fireflies is around more than 1 million. The magnificence of fireflies lighting up the sky can be seen in many of our country’s mountain areas.
Hopefully, through the appreciation of such natural wonders, the general public can get to know the importance of conservation and pitch in.
Indeed, because of their spectral luminescence, so rarely seen in the everyday world, fireflies tend to be an easy sell.
‘Lightning bugs’
During the witching hours of dusk, fireflies, also known as “lightning bugs,” begin to glow in yellow, greenish yellow or orange hues. They can glow for half an hour to five hours at a time either continuously or intermittently.
Different species blink for different lengths of time, like the dots and dashes of Morse code. And like Morse code, the flashes are used to communicate, sometimes as a warning to other fireflies and sometimes to catch the attention of a desired mate.
Generally, species active in the spring and summer produce flashing lights, while autumn and winter fireflies tend to emit a continuous glow.
‘Lantern’
The light comes from the “lantern”—technically known as the photophore—on the underside of the rear part of the abdomen.
In the lantern, the chemical compound luciferin and the enzyme luciferase react with oxygen to produce light, which is directed and intensified by reflectors.
Male fireflies have two lanterns, big eyes and a thinner body, whereas the females have only one lantern, small eyes and a fatter body. Even the larvae glow.
Females lay eggs on moss, wet soil or among fallen leaves.
One-year life span
Fireflies have a life span of approximately one year, broken into four stages—the egg (20 days), the larva (10 months), the pupa (seven days to 10 days) and the adult (two weeks to three weeks).
They are remarkably adaptable, and different species can be found at different altitudes in the Cordillera region.
Between April and June, they are more likely to be found in the plains and hilly areas, and from November to January, it is best to seek them out in higher mountain areas.
Breeding pattern
Breeding patterns are similarly diverse. The larvae, the stage at which the firefly spends most of its life, are classified into three types based on their breeding environment—aquatic, semiaquatic and terrestrial. Of the Philippines’s 76 species identified thus far, 58 are terrestrial.
There is only one semi-aquatic species found in the country, Pristolycus kanoi Nakane. It generally inhabits riverbanks and plucks its prey from the surface of the water. It is common in mountains of a low or medium altitude.
Aquatic species are only slightly more common; six have been identified worldwide. They live primarily in Asia, and three of them can be found locallly—Luciola ficta Olivier, Luciola sp. and Luciola substriata Gorham.
Terrestrial breeders account for the majority of firefly species. Luciola cerata Olivier is the most common. Fireflies of this species dwell in low-altitude (under 1,500 meters) mountain areas.
Only one species, Pyrocoelia analis Fabricius, can be found in the country’s low-lying coastal plains. A trek into the mountains is required to catch a glimpse of the many other species in the 7,100 islands of the Philippines.
To be concluded