What the fireflies taught me

Dr. Nandkumar Kamat

Asst. Professor, Dept. of Botany, Goa University, Taleigao, Goa, India

nandkamat@gmail.com

September 5 is teachers’ day. I am devoting this day to a humble and academically, scientifically neglected creature of the night-the fireflies. Fireflies are my teachers at night. For past three months I have been obediently following them to understand something about their ecology, biology and biophotonics. I have already established an intimate material and ecologically profound spiritual or ecospiritual connection with this ephemeral bioluminescent community. Material in the sense of photographing them, collecting and studying them in the field and in our laboratories. Spiritual in the sense that whenever I wish I see them and they permit me to explore them. One of my most pleasant experiences was when a swarm of fireflies entered our house from an open window at midnight and filled the room and illuminated the lime coated walls with their unearthly eerie greenish glow. It was a spiritual experience because the swarm had appeared after I had complained to my wife that I couldn’t’ see many fireflies during this season and did not know where they were hiding. When I showed her the swarm she thought that I was becoming superstitious. But she agreed that nature has its’ own way to reveal her secrets- may be serendipitously. As for scientific records of the fireflies I was inspired by the initiative of Museum of Science, Boston, USA which has an active global firefly watch programme. Readers can visit and see their website-https://www.mos.org/fireflywatch/ and join the movement. Another interesting website is http://www.firefly.org/ where I have sent my firefly photographs. I have kept records of firefly sightings since May 2001. Earliest firefly sightings were done on May 21, 2001. This year the first fireflies were seen on May 29 th. The last firefly sightings were done on November 22, 2001. But this span is getting reduced because since 2002 I had not seen fireflies after October 15 th. Perhaps due to abundant rainfall this year this span may get extended. I identified two species-Photuris and Photinus. The herbaceous vegetation of Goa University campus is an ideal habitat for fireflies. With a few intense pre-monsoon showers the fireflies appear, first sporadically and then as rains intensify in large numbers. Between August to September end their number is maximum and if dry conditions set in then there are less sightings. Ms. Gloria from Illinois, Chicago has given this information on firefly life cycle which I attempted to record this season. The corresponding videoclips which I made are available on You Tube. Gloria found that adult female fireflies lay their eggs in moist soil or moss (depending on species). A few weeks later the larvae emerge. They live in moist soil or beneath decaying organic litter from one to three years eating slugs, worms and soft bodied insect larvae first biting the creature releasing saliva that turns the prey’s soft inner tissue into liquid. In late spring larvae pupate underground assuming their adult form. When the weather warms or to circadian like cycles not yet understood, the adult emerges to mate. This is the part of the life cycle of fireflies many recognize.” She has also given reasons why fireflies are diminishing in USA and these are lessons for our own university campus managers and nature lovers. According to Ms. Gloria-“There appear to be several reasons why firefly populations tend to decline in any given area. Average temperature and rain fall amounts , pesticide usage, artificial lighting along streets and the outside of homes, amount of organic litter and loss of habitat including the expanses of lawn where female firefly can not lay eggs, all influence firefly survival. There is also some evidence that firefly populations do not move away from where they started life so that local populations once lost completely do not recover on their own.” My videoclips are self explanatory and cover both the adult and larval stages of fireflies. The weblinks are given here-

Photinus firefly on dry groundhttp://www.youtube.com/user/nandkamat#p/u/41/ZI-ArbbaFjgUnidentified caterpillar bioluminescencehttp://www.youtube.com/user/nandkamat#p/u/43/42xUPjLUTpM

Photinus firefly in a grasslandhttp://www.youtube.com/user/nandkamat#p/u/65/g3TnSaui5w8World's first ecofriendly light and sound showhttp://www.youtube.com/user/nandkamat#p/u/84/huG7Odk_K68natural habitat of Photuris fireflyhttp://www.youtube.com/user/nandkamat#p/u/85/jZ2DFXcpuY4Photinus firefly on vegetation at nighthttp://www.youtube.com/user/nandkamat#p/u/102/aLaC9TdbPe4March of Photinus larva

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHZtc-00-os

Nocturnal foraging by Photinus firefly larva

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgbJb2s741g

Reflex bioluminescence

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R3ASof2FIQ

Experiment to demonstrate bioluminescence reflex

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSLfuFXOvvM

Bioluminiscence as natural defense in firefly

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUXUTkp35tk

Strong bilateral bioluminescence

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNT7fTKYt0g

Photinus larva in lab during daytime in bright lighthttp://www.youtube.com/user/nandkamat#p/a/u/1/wzAde8Tvep0

A composite viewing of these would convince you why I consider fireflies as my teachers. The adult fireflies taught me something about biophotonics and ecological adaptation. Firefly luciferase has been used in molecular biology as reporter gene. The green fluorescent protein from jelly fish got a scientist a Nobel award. The adults avoid zones of bright light. The larvae are ecologically and genetically preprogrammed to feign immobility and produce bioluminescence on stimulation indicating natural defense in action. It is a beautiful system of composite defense. If ticked the larvae pretend to be dead. They appear as stiff as dead twigs. Fireflies also revealed to me that it is not correct to burn or destroy the garden litter and create artificial fires in grasslands. It is criminal to use herbicides and pesticides to eliminate grasses and vegetation. This would destroy the firefly larvae and pupa stages. Soil is ultimate reservoir of life. Everything returns back to the soil. But everywhere we are disturbing, contaminating, poisoning it. Fireflies taught me that knowledge is not just confined to textbooks. Nature is the ultimate repository of knowledge, the supreme teacher. Fireflies showed me another dimension of knowledge-even the darkness of night hides information unknown to us-useful in biology, chemistry and biotechnology.

Direct all queries to nandkamat@gmail.com