GLOW WORMS OF OTTAWA
François Génier is a fireflyologist (a word we just made up) and he says this is the one time of year you can see fireflies in the capital region. Words of caution: They’re not flies. They do fly, but they’re beetles. And carnivorous. More on that in a mo
Q What glows, exactly?
A “It’s a chemical reaction that makes them glow. And this chemical reaction is a protein reacting with an enzyme, and using some ATP (adenosine triphosphate), which is the energy in the cell. Every time the enzyme reacts with the protein it’s just giving off one photon.”
Q Sounds hot, like a light bulb. Is it?
A No, amazingly. “It’s 100-percent efficient so there is no heat dissipated.”
Scientists have been studying how fireflies create light since 1885. By coincidence, the Museum of Nature has a current exhibit on bioluminescence — light created by living things. It’s called Creatures of Light.
Q But aren’t these mostly southern insects?
A Not entirely, though they do love the South. “There are about 15 species around here,” and you can find them on the Fireflies of Ontario website. Q Where can people see them?
A “You have to be in a suitable habitat. Most of the time they prefer a wet area like meadows and ponds, or forests where there’s a creek in the forest. Its larvae (immature fireflies) are aquatic or semi-aquatic,” Génier says. As well, the adults feed on slugs, snails and other soft-bodied little crawlers that tend to prefer wet surroundings.
Find a pond on a warm evening in early summer and watch for little points of light in the air.
“We do have them and they are not as numerous as in some parts of the United States, or in Europe for example. Once I was in Poland and I saw an amazing show in the forest.
“Here we see them and sometimes they are numerous but not as many as in the U.S.”
Q And they really are beetles? A Yes. “It’s one family of coleoptera (the Latin for beetle) and they are not all producing light in that family. Only some genera produce light.” (Genera is the plural of genus.)
Those that don’t produce light are believed to attract mates by pheromones — chemicals that a potential mate can smell.
Q What’s the best time to see a firefly?
A Early summer on a warm evening. Génier took his listeners out to look for them near the Visitors’ Centre in Gatineau Park because there’s a creek nearby.
Q What’s the meanest and fiercest firefly?
A According to the Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification, the female Pennsylvania firefly, or Photuris pennsylvanicus, has a sneaky way of eating other fireflies. They either snap them up in mid-flight or give off a fake sexual signal imitating the species they want to eat, which lets them kill and eat a would-be suitor that shows up looking for love.
Q Do fireflies all have the same glow?
A No. The colour of light can vary from yellow to green to amber, and some have a pattern that combines longer and shorter flashes. Sometimes a whole group of them will synchronize their flashes, like a string of Christmas lights.
Q Are there any songs about fireflies?
A You bet, and yes, that’s an easy set-up question. In the early 1950s the Mills Brothers crooned:
“Glow little glow-worm, fly of fire Glow like an incandescent wire Glow for the female of the species Turn on the AC and the DC. This night could use a little brightnin’ Light up you little ol’ bug of lightnin’ When you gotta glow, you gotta glow Glow little glow-worm, glow!”
A line in a later verse says the firefly has “a cute vest-pocket Mazda,” which confuses modern listeners. Before it was a car, the Mazda was a brand of light bulb from General Electric.
Q Where does the name ‘Glow worm’ come from?
A In some species the non-flying larvae can also emit light, and they look a bit worm-like at that stage. But they aren’t worms, either.
Some material used here is taken from the site firefliesandglow-worms.co.uk.