Because being picked on DOES occasionally work, I bring you... another two new things a day! These are sort of related new things, but hey, it often happens that way.
While doing some work outside yesterday evening, I observed an interesting phenomenon. I don't know if it's at all related to the "courtship flash patterns" Wikipedia talks about, but all the fireflies that were flashing in mid-flight (probably the males, as the article informs me), did a little upward-flight maneuver whenever they turned their butts on. (Ahem. Excuse me. "bioluminesced.") I noticed it first on one that was flying close to me, but when I paid attention to it, I realized they were *all* doing it. Curious.
So of course, today I wound up looking up more on fireflies to see if I could find out whether my theory was correct. I didn't turn up a definitive answer (anyone who knows, feel free to post and cite your source :D ), but I did turn up a couple of other interesting facts on the little critters.
For one, glowworms are the larval form of fireflies. They glow, too. (Hence the name. Duh.) So do their eggs (of some species, at least). (Just as a note, I've never *seen* a glowworm. The only reference I've ever seen to one is in Hamlet (I,v): "The glow-worm shows the matin to be near, / And 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire," which I always thought was a poetical reference to the moon, or some sort of supernatural critter like a will o' the wisp. Oh, and while I'm at it, have a link to Hamlet: The Text Adventure. It's quite silly-- requires Javascript, tho.)
I had the chance to correct another misapprehension as well. I'd always thought that "June bug" was another name for firefly, but it's apparently a different insect, something from the scarab beetle family. Not that fireflies don't have a lot of other nicknames anyway (although "lightning bug" is the only other one I'm familiar with... hence the title of this entry, in case you were wondering.)
Posted by gris at July 13, 2005 12:32 PMUg. How can you not know what a June Bug is? Have you not heard the "June-bug up my dress" story at least 400 million times?
Posted by: KT at July 13, 2005 12:35 PMEasy. I thought you were talking about a flirefly accidentally flying up your dress. :D And fireflies fist appear in June (in my area, at least), and they're also brown and sort of beetle-like, so it was a natural enough assumption to make in the absence of other evidence.
Posted by: Gris at July 13, 2005 02:47 PMYay, posts! :D
Posted by: Matt at July 13, 2005 03:07 PM"gerfinklesnord@happyslappydorunrun.tv," Mattchew? O_o You realize, I ALMOST thought you were spam. And then I thought, no, spam couldn't possibly be that silly, even by accident.
Posted by: Gris at July 13, 2005 03:14 PMOk, I know I'm mildly wimpy about bugs, but give me a break here. A firefly is a tiny little squishie bug that does not make any noise whatsoever. They just blink.
A junebug is a big, fat, hard-shelled monstrosity that buzzes like a deranged wasp and flies around with the force of a yo-yo.
Chances are good that I wouldn't have even *noticed* a firefly inside my broomstick skirt until I'd sat on it and turned it into a bioluminescent glow.
Posted by: KT at July 14, 2005 05:55 PM