Since I started the Firefly FAQ site many people have written to me wanting to know how to study and learn about fireflies. Here is a bit of good advice which I originally shared in an email to a fellow firefly lover:
I hope you have a nice weekend and enjoy your time with your friends. Hopefully you will all get a chance to see some fireflies together.
You are welcome to send any adult firefly specimens. Just be sure to label them with pencil: name of collector, date, city, state and any other information you record as to flash patter. You might number the specimens and then add additional information about them.
I would like to update the Firefly FAQ site and add complete information with binomial keys and color photographs. I asked Dr. Lloyd a while back about contributing any material he could. His reply was that he was swamped with work and could only send a few reprints. I wanted to get the copies of the actual recording for each species, but no luck there.
Certainly any specimens of fireflies you or anyone else wants to send my way will be put to good use. I will give credit to the collectors. Fireflies in North America can be identified using dichotomous key and close observation of their morphology; you need a good microscope and certainly it helps to have recorded the flash pattern. The exception is Photuris; they must be identified by recording flash patterns as many species of Photuris may only be distinguished by flash patterns.
I do recommend that for anyone wanting to learn about insects, they learn basic entomology, either by taking a college level course or making intensive study upon their own. I recommend beginning by reading the works of Henry Fabre, the Father of Entomology. I also recommend selecting an insect which is easy to rear to study initially. Known specimens may be obtained from universities or agricultural research centers. By obtaining known species you can learn about them from your own observations as well and make complete literature reviews. After you have done this with a dozen or so known species of insects, you will be some what of an expert. Using this method removes the confusion as you know what species you are studying, can collect reprints, and even repeat experiments others have done. Using this method will make one an expert over time.
I also recommend studying small insects like fruit flies and springtails. There is probably more published about fruit flies than any other insect, so this makes a very good insect to study when you are learning basic entomology, and genetics. Also you would be surprised how many springtails there are and how many scientists there are around the world who specialize in their study. They even have their own society!
Certainly crickets would also be a good insect to study to learn the basics of entomology. They are easy to rear and knows species can be easily obtained. Also studying crickets is much like fireflies, but instead of communicating with light, crickets use sound. Certainly studying crickets would be appropriate for a musician and it might be an area where you could excel.
I can understand your frustration with trying to learn about fireflies. But here again I recommend learning to identify one species, rearing that species, making a literature review of that species and becoming an expert with respect to that species. Then when you are an expert with one species of firefly, you can select another and repeat the process. This way you avoid many of the stumbling blocks one might find if they look at a field or meadow and see a confusing mix of various fireflies which do not make much sense initially.
By using the method I recommend one is not as likely to hit a wall and become frustrated or confused. It makes good sense to start out learning the basics of entomology by taking a course, and studying known, identified species of insects which you have acquired from a reliable source. They can also tell you how to rear the insect as standard rearing methods have been adopted for maintaining stocks at universities and agricultural research centers.
Certainly if you use this approach you will not only learn at an accelerated rate, you will likely find the experience more rewarding and enjoyable over the long run. Then as you gain a good foundation in the study of entomology you may tackle new species, perhaps even species of fireflies which are not so well known. But here again the key is to study one species at a time until you master it. This is much like learning to play a new musical instrument. You have to focus upon that instrument, practice and practice, until you develop perfection. The same is true when it comes to studying entomology. You have to pick one insect (one instrument), and become a master or expert with respect to that species. Then when you are a master, as in knowing how to play a flute or a guitar, you can move on to master another insect using the same method over and over for as many different insects (or instruments) as you wish to learn to play.
Of course learning and studying about fireflies, and reflecting ones experience, is not just an intellectual challenge; rather, it involves romance. There is a long history of fireflies appearing in art, poetry, music, movies, and even commercials. Here is firefly tale of my own which I'd like to tell entitled "Creatures which glow I must search for,"
There was once an old lady who lived in a shoe and she had so many fireflies she didn't know what to do, so she named them: Blink and Blinker, Twink and Twinkle, Sparkie and Sparkle, Amber and Neon, plus a dozen, dozen more fast fliers and flashers. She named each of her firefly children and even talked to them and listened. One day they found her sitting atop a loft of a great a red barn shining a flash light up toward the stars saying, "Here I am! Can your see me? Are your out there?" They thought she was quite nuts and took her away to a big concrete building, much like Bellevue, with other old men and women suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's disease, and locked her away. But she still watches her firefly children inside her mind, dancing round and round in circles giggling. Often she could be heard talking to her imaginary firefly friends, "Hello Blinker. How are you doing tonight Sparkie?" Over time she got better and they would let her sit out on the lawn and watch real fireflies as twilight came. On one such evening after a gentle, cool rain, the moon grinded a big Cheshire cat smile, and it seem every leaf on every tree sparkled and glittered with tiny flashing lights. The old lady's face smiled and seemed to glow itself as she reached out and fireflies came to land in her palms. Soon thousands upon thousands of fireflies came from all directions and gathered, landing upon the old lady until she was aglow from head to toe. Then suddenly one of the attendants appears from a doorway to call her in and the gathered fireflies took to flight! The old lady vanished as in a flash and was never seen again! It was as if she had turned to light and taken flight up and away into the night upon a thousand, thousand tiny wings. Some who have heard this tale and ventured forth in search of living lights and creatures which glow have thought they have seen a spirit floating over the meadow or through the forest, much too large to be a firefly. I thought I saw her once, too, but then told myself such ghosts are but the mind playing tricks upon one's self. It's strange what one may see and come to believe, especially if they have loved and lost someone most dear to their heart. For you see, that old lady she was my dear mother, and loved watching fireflies as much as I.
Feel free to share this tale with others who love watching fireflies. Maybe if you one day have children you can also share it with them. No telling how far young, open and free minds can go if they travel with light and warmth in their heart, and share that light and love, through all of life with everyone they come to know, even if it hurts at times, or some do not understand, the creatures which glow that I must search for.
In kind regards,
Terry Lynch
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