Firefly Take Me Away

Fire Fly

These wonderful little creatures bring smiles to many. Glowing at dusk...as children eagerly chase them like a floating dream, placing them in a jar for keeps. They are reachable, they bring promises and hope as little hands can easily grasp them and hold on.



I am inspired to point out just a few of the wonders of the lightning bug being that Spring is upon me . Enjoy.

Here are some amazing pictures of fireflies,lightning bugs, glowworms in fields and caves. Such natural beauty.







Not only do we gain pleasure while looking upon these amazing bioluminescent creatures... we are using them to advance medically and in military applications.

A couple of interesting little research facts I have found:

Military
Biodegradable landing zone markers, friend vs foe identification markers, methods to track weapons and supplies, security systems, no heat marker for covert operations (to hide from heat- seeking technology).

Medical
Use of luciferase to detect blood clots, tag tuberculosis virus cells, to detect hydrogen peroxide in living organisims which plays role in progression of diseases like cancer and diabetes.




www.scienceblog.com...


Other Interesting Wonders about the Fire Fly:

Synchronicity: Synchronous fireflies are one of the seven wonders of the insect world some say. Thousands of fireflies lightning up at precisely the same time, over and over again. You can catch this amazing phenomenon in The Great Smoky Mountains National Park or in Southeast Asia.

Bioluminescence in fireflies is nearly 100 percent efficient, meaning that little energy is wasted to produce their light. By contrast, an incandescent light bulb is only 10 percent efficient—90 percent of the energy is lost as heat. For another comparison, the heat produced by a candle is 80,000 times greater than the amount of heat given off by a firefly’s light of the same brightness.

"The firefly's talent for producing precisely-timed, rapid bursts of light is quite rare."

& Finally I leave you with three little pieces that revolve around Fireflies. One being a story/legend, another being a song & lastly a movie. Its Interesting how we can take a firefly and come up with many variations of things based off this one little creature in our world. I guess we do that with many things. Inspiration.

The Legend of The Firefly

precyanza.hubpages.com...


Owl City, Fireflies




The Secret Of The Firefly Valley




Ok so the movie didn't have fireflies in it per se... lol. But it was still pretty good. I thought. I like scary stuff so ya know...

Ok well... The Firefly took me on a little journey today... If only for a little while.

Hope you enjoy
;-)
leolady

I adore fireflies. They hold a very special place in my childhood memories.
After moving from VA to CA a decade ago, I really missed the little guys and their twilight show.

I took my little boy (who was born and raised in CA) to the East Coast for the first time last summer. I cannot describe the pure joy, excitement and magic on his face when he saw the firefly show at dusk for the first time!

Reminds me of the ghost hunt that night.

reply to post by bastet11


Awesome!

In one of the articles I read this morning, it stated that the beetle does exist in the West... however they aren't one of the varieties that glow.

I'm glad your son got to see them as a child ! So that he will always remember the magical feeling !

leolady

reply to post by stardust17


OMG yes it does. LOL. You know I watched a video today showing a tree light up exactly like what we saw that night. hehehe.

Remember the conversations we were having when we saw it ! Good Memories Indeed.


leolady

I have always wanted to see these but unfortunately they do not live where I do!