Community Corner

Watch for Fireflies

One in a summer-long series of fun things to do with the kids.

Today, PatchCamp is a night-time activity, so you might want to put everyone (you included) down for a nap for an hour or two this afternoon, and get them ready for fun tonight!

It is prime firefly season, and if tonight is warm (and it's supposed to be), you should be able to see lots of fireflies.

The best place to view them is in an unmowed field, but anyplace where there's a stretch of grass will do. The bigger the grassy area, the better.

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As the sun goes down (tonight that's at about 8:30), the fireflies start to appear. It's likely to be 9 p.m. or later when you can really see them, so figure that in to your nap calculations - or just get the kids up when it's dark. The fireflies are most active in the earliest dark, in my experience.

According to National Geographic, flies are really beetles, and they're related to glowworms, which do, yes, glow.

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There are about 2,000 species of fireflies, National Geographic says. Organs under their abdomens take in oxygen and  combine it with a substance called luciferin, which allows them to produce light that has almost no heat.

Firefly lights flash in patterns that are different from one species to another. Fireflies can locate potential mates by the patterns, National Geographic says.


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