Firefly translator
All hail to our new insect overlords! Bow down in their glorious presence!
Just kidding.
When was the last time you watched fireflies in a meadow? It's a great time of year to enjoy their blinking beacons, like stars being born and dying in moments.
Quick Facts:
- Fireflies are carniverous, eating other insects. Rar!
Don't worry, they don't bite humans. - Males flash every 5.5 seconds, females every 2 seconds. (timing varies by temperture)
- Fireflies are a worldwide insect, living in temperate/tropical regions including the US, Europe, Asia, etc.
- There are over 2000 species of firefly.
- Fireflies don't make a "Rar!" sound when they eat.
The real fun is getting the fireflies to come to you, rather than you running around a field like the crazy person you so desperately hide from the world. The following is excerpted from Everything2:
Fireflies love open fields and lawns. Early in a summer evening, take a walk through a park or glen. Your ticket to the ballroom: patience, a small flashlight, and perhaps a blanket. A pen-sized Maglite is ideal. Sit in a comfortable place within the scope of the fireflies' dance, and wait until the disturbance of your entrance has passed.
Lady fireflies, [while capable of flight, do not fly during courtship]. They sit demurely among the foliage and coyly respond to the signals of the gentlemen who appeal to their sense of luminescent rhythm by responding with flashes of her own.
While flying, the male firefly gives off a series of flashes that are about six seconds apart (depending on the temperature of the night air). If the female likes his moves, she flashes a response about two seconds after one of the male's flashes. When he sees this, the male flies toward the female. The two continue this sequence of flashes until they have found each other.
The culmination of their courtship is a tiny glowing splendor in the grass, and if the male is lucky the female will forget to eat him afterwards.
An experimental human can risk the wrath of a misled and otherwise jilted firefly by observing the participants in the dance and then cutting in: when you spot a flash near you, count to two (kid-style: one-Mississippi, two-Mississippi) and then flash your light at the ground for a moment (say, one-Ohio). The male will most likely turn toward you, perhaps thinking that he's chanced upon the most luminescent of the phosphorescent damsels ever to grace the field. When he flashes again, wait the appropriate two seconds and respond in kind. Continue with the dance, and eventually the gentleman firefly will alight on your hand or very near by.
Links: Wikipedia, donaldburger.com, Pennsylvania Symbols, World Kids, Inspiration Online, Webster
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