Fireflies

Perspectives from The Artist's Road

Nocturne: Night Ramble - Fireflies Oil John Hulsey

This time of year we are treated to a spectacular, silent fireworks show after dark created by our friends, the fireflies. We can each remember running around the yard as children trying to carefully capture them in old glass mayonnaise jars. We would place some grass in with them and punch air holes in the top to create a kind of nocturnal terrarium which would glow on our night tables. Today, we live in the countryside, part forest, part meadows and the fireflies are here to mate in the tens of thousands. This year there are more than we can ever remember. They are interesting creatures with complicated life cycles and are devilishly hard to photograph as they urgently flash their mating messages in the night.

There are about 2,000 species of firefly beetles in the world, over 150 in the United States and Canada. They undergo complete metamorphosis with four life cycle stages. After their sparkling mating d…