Good science has a conscience, tells the truth and teaches responsible behavior

Please watch The Last Firefly video




Then consider this:

Good science and education has a conscience, tells the truth, and teaches responsible behavior. 
It seems to me that there are some people making excuses for not doing good science or good education.

Good science has a conscience, tells the truth and teaches responsible behavior.  If those who are conducting the MOS FFW project want to know if fireflies are disappearing and to determine the reason, then it is very important to collect and identify specimens.  It is also important to make photographic and video records of fireflies dying, especially after cities, towns and neighborhoods are sprayed by oil-based chemical foggers. 

The systematic extermination of fireflies and other insects is being conducted under the cloak of darkness and millions upon millions of dollars is being made in the process by big oil and chemical companies.  Millions of fireflies are dying and you are not even collecting specimens to identify the victims and are not collecting photographs and video to show to the world the exterminations of fireflies. Plus the toxic chemicals being used in the concentrations they are being applied may have adverse effects upon the health and welfare of people who inadvertently are exposed to these toxic chemicals.

Wake up!  Yes, fireflies are disappearing.  Yes, you must collect specimens as that is the best way to document the extermination of firefly species.  Yes, photographs and videos can easily record the effect of toxic chemicals upon fireflies as a result of exposure to air polluted by oil-based chemical foggers.  Not asking that everyone or a portion of people collect specimens and make photographic or video records of the extermination of fireflies, or to show what areas have healthy populations, is neglecting your responsibility as good educators to the community. Indeed, because you are conducting an educational program, asking for everyone to participate, that means you do have a responsibility to the community to tell the truth. You can only tell the truth by making an accurate, true and verifiable record, by collecting the physical evidence to show and prove what is happening to fireflies.  Anything less is a lie!

If you are interested in the truth, you would want everyone to collect firefly specimens, to make photographs and videos showing fireflies before and after oil-based chemical foggers go through their cities, towns or neighborhoods.  Then you would want people to collect and submit specimens, that a record may be made of the extermination of fireflies which might also serve as evidence to the cause of their death and demonstrate conclusively why fireflies in some areas are disappearing in large numbers.

By failing to do good science, by not collecting specimens, by not collecting a photographic and video record, by not even asking people to collect and observe fireflies to see if they are exhibiting unusual behavior, teachers and instructors are acting irresponsibly.  This is very bad science and it is very bad education because it is teaching everyone how NOT to be a good observer and how NOT to take a close look at what they are observing.  When seen from afar, a flash in the dark may hide much true!

If you want to teach about fireflies and tell the truth with respect to their disappearance, you must collect specimens and observe them up close and personal.  You must record any unusual behavior, by observing and watching for that behavior, and by recording it through photographs and videos.  Specimens of dying fireflies must also be collected and preserved for the record. 

By recording only "firefly sightings" from afar you open the door to a BIG error.  You can have the situation where fireflies emerge from the ground and may be sighted only to then rapidly expire due to exposure to chemicals on their maiden flights.  Were people only to collect the fireflies they could see if they are healthy and take photographs or make videos to record that fact.  Those fireflies that are dying would be good to preserve and identify and perhaps analysis to show what killed them.  This would not do any harm because whatever is killing the fireflies has already done the harm.

Given firefly populations in some areas are being exterminated, there are not going to be fireflies in those areas to sight in the future, so the evidence one could be gathering to prove why they are dying is not going to be there tomorrow and it is not even being collected today.  Because what is killing fireflies may also be harmful to human beings, to be investigating the disappearance of fireflies without taking a very close look, without documenting the behavior of dying fireflies, and without even collecting a single specimen is not only BAD science, it is unconscionable!

Science without conscience is what the Nazis did to the Jews, experimenting on them because they were regarded as less than human.  To ask people to watch fireflies on the premise that you want to determine if they are vanishing, when all it takes to see the truth is to collect and observe specimens, begs the question, why do not you want everyone to know the truth?  Why do not you want people to collect and observe specimens to see if they are exhibiting unusual behavior?  Why do not you want people to identify specimens which are dying so that a record of their demise may be made and/or so that this may be had for the purpose of evidence as to the cause of their death and destruction?  Why are you trying to hide the truth just by showing firefly sightings and not recording the killing of fireflies or reporting on those responsible for the mass extermination of fireflies?

The MOS FFW is bad science and is not teaching responsible behavior.  You need to be collecting specimens and observing to see if they are healthy.  A record needs to be made of fireflies which are dying or exhibiting unusual behavior.  Specimens of fireflies need to be made for the record so that later those who may be accountable may be brought to justice.  Unless this is done you are not teaching responsible behavior, you are telling everyone to go out, have a good time, enjoy watching the fireflies ... because tomorrow all the fireflies may be gone, so this is your last chance!  Don't worry, when they are all gone we will report there are NO FIREFLIES!

I hope you can see the stupidity of such a study.  You are asking people to watch the disappearance of fireflies and take no action to stop the extermination!  This is like watching the extermination of the Jews or other genocide and taking no action to stop it.  Of course fireflies are not people, but this analogy is warranted because what is killing the fireflies may be unhealthy for people as well.  Hence, by not collecting specimens, by not taking a close look at firefly behavior, by not recording the dying of fireflies or any unusual behavior they may be exhibiting after a short flight, you are teaching everyone how to be apathetic, irresponsible, insensitive, uncaring, blind to the truth, and a consumer of whatever products municipalities are using and spewing into the atmosphere so the big oil and chemical companies can get rich!

One can only conclude that the MOS FFW program is therefore either totally unaware of what is going on to cause the disappearance of fireflies, that they are looking the other way and asking everyone else to do the same, or that they are in a state of denial, not wanting to accept any responsibility or urge others to take responsibility for what is happening.  Therefore I repeat, this is both BAD science and BAD education.

If you want to do good science you need to be asking everyone to collect specimens and see if they are healthy.  Fireflies which are dying may certainly be preserved and identified for the record without doing any harm to the existing populations.  This is much like donating one's body or organs to science after a catastrophic accident.  At least some good might then come from the loss of life.

That is basically what I am asking.  If anyone wants to know why fireflies are dying and disappearing, collect specimens   and take a closer look.  Make photographic and/or video records of any unusual behavior or dying fireflies. Preserve specimens so that you may have them identified later.  Of course if while you are out watching fireflies you see a fogger coming, spraying clouds of oil-based toxic chemicals into the air, run for cover, go inside, or put a gas mask on!  I don't want you to get sick or die too!

Certainly healthy fireflies once observed and photographed may be released if one is worried about doing them harm.  But fireflies which are collected and shown to be sick and dying might be of more use to the living if they are preserved and identified, a record being made for posterity.  When one sees what is really happening to fireflies, when one collects specimens and watches them slowly die after being exposed to toxins in the air, perhaps it will teach people a lesson no text books can teach -- and perhaps this lesson will help save human lives in the future!

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What is killing the fireflies?

Watch The Last Firefly video.  Comments are welcome.







This video prompts the question, "What is killing the fireflies?"

After watching this video please collect fireflies in your city, town or backyard and make your own photographic or video record of any unusual behavior.  Are the fireflies you collect also exhibiting unusual behavior?  Are foggers spaying for mosquitoes before or after you watch for fireflies?  If so, please collect specimens and photograph or video tape dying fireflies; this is the best way to document what is happening to fireflies.  Also by collecting and submitting specimens for identification to drfirefly@byteland.org, a record may be made for the future analysis of specimens to determine their exposure to toxins.  This record may be vital to actually proving that fireflies are being killed by toxic chemicals in oil-based sprays.  And guess who profits from oil-based sprays? Big oil and the chemical companies!

Unless firefly specimens are collected and a record is made, there is no physical evident to prove what is actually killing fireflies.  When you have a dead body, be it human or firefly, you can perform an autopsy, or a "fireflytopsy" to determine the cause of death.  But without a body, those who are responsible for the extermination of fireflies go free. And those who are proposing to investigate the extermination of fireflies who do not collect accurate data, including firefly specimens, are not doing good science and may make inaccurate, false reports.
 
Please do not misunderstand me.  I am not accusing anyone of contributing to the disappearance of fireflies, simply because specimens were not collected.  I am simply offering to help those individuals who are serious about their firefly studies and want to know the truth.  If those relatively few who are serious about their studies want to submit specimens and/or photographs, they are invited to do so.  I would like to obtain preserved specimens for identification.  Those who wish to voluntarily collect a few specimens from healthy firefly populations may do so.  This will have no significant impact upon healthy firefly populations, but it may contribute to the significance, accuracy and merit of reports that firefly observers are making.  It may also help determine what is actually causing the disappearance of fireflies.

All you have without the collection of a firefly and its identification, is a UFO, unidentified firefly object or observation.  And without a firefly body, you will not be able to determine the cause of death.  If one such observation is a UFO, then thousands of such observations are equally UFOs -- and cause of death remains speculative. Only those observations which are confirmed by physical evidence have a high degree of merit, and only when a firefly specimen is collected may cause of death, if it was not natural, be determined.  Hence those few individuals who want to learn how to do good science and who take their firefly studies serious, may want to go that extra step and collect specimens. Unless that is done then you have BAD science, especially since you are studying insects and what is causing their unnatural death.

As for the concept of a "citizen scientist" that is a bogus concept.  Everyone who was born, naturalized or applied for US citizenship after immigrating to this country and received such citizenship is a US citizen; but NOT everyone who is a citizen is a scientist. Watching fireflies does NOT make anyone a scientist, and certainly does not make them an entomologist.  A scientist is someone who uses systematics and the scientific method; when it comes to studying insects and their behavior this includes identifying the insects they are observing.  Certainly a firefly is a firefly, just as a rose is a rose.  But those who want their firefly studies or observations to have merit and be taken seriously, may want to have their fireflies identified.  Also, collecting firefly specimens, photographing fireflies and making videos of fireflies, is the best way to document what is killing fireflies.  When you have the dead body of a human or a firefly, you then have the essential and necessary key to establish the cause of death.  Otherwise all you  have is a data set based upon UFOs, unidentified firefly objects.

Certainly this fact is known by those who are scientists and who may be collecting data of "firefly sightings."  Yet if the goal is to determine whether or not fireflies are disappearing and what may be the cause of such disappearance, why do not those making the study insist on collecting specimens and making analysis to determine the cause of death?  What are they trying to cover up?  Who is sponsoring their studies?
 
By collecting specimens and/or making controlled experiments using known and identified species of fireflies, the reasons for the disappearance of fireflies may be established.  The fact that no effort is being made to even collect and identify a single firefly observed by over 2,000 individuals participating in the MOS FFW as noted in a recent forum post makes anyone who is serious about the study of fireflies and their disappearance question the validity of the method being used.  If the method is not sound, the conclusions reached may not be sound and everyone's efforts wasted.

The easiest way to correct this problem is to offer to identify specimens individuals collect.  I have made that offer and will use any specimens received or photographs of fireflies to build a FREE site that may help others better identify the fireflies they are observing.  This is an independent service I am offering.  Anyone who wants to avail themselves of this service is invited to do so.

Probably a low percentage of the 2,000+ people making reports of firefly sightings will bother to collect and submit specimens; hence, an offer for specimens is insignificant when it comes to impacting a healthy firefly population. Compare this to the millions of fireflies being exterminated by municipalities that are over spraying for mosquitos and I think an argument being made against collecting and identifying a few specimens shows a clear lack of awareness and understanding of the situation.  Also, certainly making photographs and/or video of firefly specimens collected which shows unusual behavior probably due to exposure to toxins, would be vital in helping to prove what is causing the disappearance of fireflies, especially in areas where foggers are spraying for mosquitos at the exact time fireflies are active.

I would like to ask everyone to watch The Last Firefly video and see what is happening to fireflies. Then decide for yourself if you want to collect and identify the fireflies you are seeing.  I also recommend you collect fireflies and make your own videos of any unusual behavior, to see if the fireflies in your area have been exposed to toxic chemicals.  This is one of the best ways to actually see what is happening to fireflies after a fogger goes through a neighborhood and decimates a healthy population of fireflies.

Unless people collect firefly specimens, make photographs or videos,  have specimens identified, then the mass extermination of species will not be properly reported and false conclusions may be reached by inaccurate data.  I challenge everyone who is serious about their firefly studies, who really is interested in knowing the truth, to collect fireflies and photograph and make videos of the fireflies you collect.  I would very much like to see if the fireflies in your city, town or backyard are exhibiting unusual behavior and are dying as a result of exposure to toxic chemicals in the air as they make their maiden flights.  And I would very much like to obtain specimens for fireflies from across the nation to identify.  Who knows, perhaps "fireflytopsy" or CSI-EF (Crime Scene Investigation of Expiring Fireflies) will aid in determining the cause of death of fireflies and the true reason fireflies are disappearing?  But even if that is not possible, seeing more videos like "The Last Firefly" may stimulate people to not only take an interest in watching fireflies, but in taking action to stop their mass extermination!

Creatures which glow I must search for

I use to live in Gainesville, Florida and studied fireflies in the area, even working as a lab technician employed by the Department of Entomology and Nematology for a short spell.  Dr. James E. Lloyd, that most eminent of professors who discovered aggressive mimicry, documented the deme of Photinus in North America, and described a number of new species of Photuris distinguishing their unique flash patters with the aid of a "firefly gun," gave me this position after learning about my work rearing fireflies in Alabama.  Later I also worked for IFAS and the Department of Zoology at the Unversity of Florida, followed by a position with an environmantal consulting firm. Plus I worked for a biological control company mass rearing insects for to service the poultry industry and citrus farmers.  Hence I know a little bit about fireflies and even a thing or two about turning wetlands into moonscapes.

During this period I kept Firefly Notebooks recording in significant detail firefly observations in and around Gainesville, Florida, even going on a field trip with Dr. Lloyd's entomology class which I took and can proudly say that I aced -- even discovering a new species of a very tiny colonial insect under a log!  I have posted some excerpts from my Firefly Notebooks at http://www.byteland.org/firefly/firefly_notebooks.html which may be of interest to firefly watchers.

Note that in order to be comfortable while working in the field I set up Field Station Three on the UF campus across from the Medicinal Plant Gardens and Lake Alice.  See the map at http://www.byteland.org/firefly/field_station_3.jpg  I would NOT recommend anyone do this on a college campus or other private property without prior permission and notification of the campus security or property owners.  However, I was very passionate about my firefly studies and found that setting up a field station using a large six-person tent provided an escape from a sudden down pore of drenching rain and swarms of mosquitoes, those angels of death which deliver itching bites and are vectors for a number of diseases.  Hence, it was sensible and wise to have a refuge, a sheltered tent, complete with a Coleman stove, lantern, table and cot where I could work in comfort, even a place to nap without being assaulted by the a myriad of blood sucking vampire mosquitoes that might eat one alive.

Given these exploits I am quite aware of some of the best places to watch fireflies in and around Gainesville, Florida.  One site used by Dr. Lloyd was east of town near the airport.  Also the Medicinal Plant Gardens was one of my firefly hunting grounds.  Later I moved my field station to what is now a park at Devil's Millhopper, northwest of Gainesville.  I also had the opportunity to view fireflies along the Santa Fe River before many of the best firefly watching and skinny dipping areas were commercialized and turned into campgrounds and dive shops.

Some of the best firefly watching sites are in Ocala National Forests and other state parks in central Florida and the panhandle.  Currently I recommend state parks or national forests as the best locations to observe fireflies, given these are public access areas and you won't be likely to get shot by paranoid landowners, hunters, or arrested by police for trespassing.  Certainly along rivers is good firefly hunting ground, but the many virgin forests in Florida are densely overgrown with palmettos or other vegetation.  In state parks or national forests there are usually open areas, camp grounds, nature trails or even developed, elevated wooden walkways through the palmettos or under brush.  You can watch for fireflies with relative ease, not having to worry as much about ticks or being accidentally shot by poachers.

Dr. Lloyd detailed the locations where he visited and studied Photinus in his outstanding 1966 report,  Studies on the Flash Communication System in Photinus Fireflies, which certainly makes a good baseline study and reference for firefly watchers.  For each deme of firefly Dr. Lloyd observed and recorded the following behavior:

"( 1 ) time of day active and ambient light intensity at beginning of activity, (2) ambient temperatures, (3) male flash-pattern ancl pulse length, (4) male flash intervals, (5) location of females, (6) female response delay time, (7) female flash response and pulse length."

Of course Dr. Lloyd had the advantage of a specially made electronic recording device. Without an electronic device to accurately measure female flash response and also record observations, you may be left in the dark when it comes to accurate recording of such behaviors as female flash response.  These days I use a digital stop watch to record flash patterns of male fireflies, which is much nicer than the old mechanical, spring loaded, wind up, clock style stop watch I use to carry on firefly expeditions.

I call them "expeditions" rather than "watches" because I always carefully planned my journeys and trips into the fields and forest being sure that I was equipped for any event or emergency.  You never know what you may encounter at night while hunting for creatures which glow.

Once while at July Springs along the Santa Fe River some poachers came by in the middle of the night and dynamited the springs to catch fish!  They were in pick-up trucks and were probably heavily armed with shotguns or rifles.  My location was so well hidden back in the dry scrub away from the river that they never even knew someone was watching!

On another occassion while camping along the Santa Fe River at one of my favorite sites, a pack of howling, barking hound dogs swept through my campsite in persuit of wild pigs, driving them down the river bank into an ambush. Boom!  Boom!  Boom!  I could hear the hunters in the distance, shots echoing, breaking the peace and stillness of the night with thunderous blasts.  God, was that a frightful surprise!  Indeed, one never knows what they will encounter while searching for creatures which glow.  Ah, those were the good old days!