ingreyscale ([info]ingreyscale) wrote in [info]washustudents,
@ 2006-10-10 06:21:00
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where do the fireflies come from every summer?

love,

lilian jana priya

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[info]cerenacat
2006-10-10 06:24 am UTC (link)
I think they live here.

Are you suggesting that fireflies migrate?



(They have rather short lifespans, methinks. I DO know that there are about a billion more males than females... or the other way around... I never remember... damnit.)

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[info]crazyscottie
2006-10-10 12:36 pm UTC (link)
They hibernate inside the brains of Wash U students. By the way, your userpic is creeeeeeeeeepy.

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[info]jumitheklutz
2006-10-10 01:52 pm UTC (link)
it's the faeries coming out to play. they don't like the cold so they only come out in the summer. (they poof into bugs if anyone tried to catch them.)

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[info]thesurface
2006-10-10 02:16 pm UTC (link)
From the sparks of the bonfires of the winter.

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[info]jumitheklutz
2006-10-11 12:45 am UTC (link)
oooh i like yours even better

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Larvae
[info]wulibrarian_joy
2006-10-10 03:49 pm UTC (link)
From larvae. According to the on-line Encyclopaedia Britannica (http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9034340 --you'll need to use the library proxy to access it for free off campus), "[t]he larvae, sometimes luminescent before they hatch, live on the ground and feed on snails and slugs."

There are some other delightful things in the article about how they produce the light and how the larvae eat: "They inject a fluid into their prey and then withdraw the partly digested matter through hollow mouthparts."

Another nice feature of Britannica on-line is that the citation is at the bottom of the screen, ready to cut and paste:
"firefly." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 10 Oct. 2006 <http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9034340>.

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Re: Larvae
[info]the_chavi
2006-10-10 10:34 pm UTC (link)
i don't trust your sources. Hasn't anyone told you not to trust the internet?

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Re: Larvae
[info]thesurface
2006-10-11 03:44 am UTC (link)
Wikipedia says it's true.

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Re: Larvae
[info]wulibrarian_joy
2006-10-11 06:13 pm UTC (link)
Ah! A challenge!

How about this? I consulted The Encyclopedia of Insects in the Biology Reference section (the Biology Library, unlike most libraries, lets people check out their reference books for a couple of days), call number QL462.3 E48 1986.

I learned more fascinating things about fireflies including that the females are wingless and, thus, are commonly called glowworms.

And this passage about mating and death by seduction:
"The male fireflies display the light signal, and the wingless larva-like females (glowworms) signal back when they see the appropriate flash sequence; size and brightness of the flash may be as important as sequence. The males drop down to the females with remarkable accuracy. Predatory glowworms of the genus Photuris can mimic the signals of Photinus females, and lure searching Photinus males to their death." p. 67.

Here's the citation:
"Beetles." The Encyclopedia of Insects. 1986.

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[info]cowsandmilk
2006-10-11 06:26 am UTC (link)
actually, fireflies exist all the time. It is just during the long summer days (with the length peaking in July) that the flies spend enough time out in the sun for their phosporescent molecules to store enough energy to phosphoresce at night. Its like those glow in the dark watches that you put under the light and they stay glowing for a while.

At least that's my explanation.

The End.

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[info]kathywithak
2006-10-11 06:37 am UTC (link)
has cowsandmilk come up with a somewhat logical (or completely bullshit, i just don't know enough about science) explanation to ever pri lil jan question ever?

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[info]crazyscottie
2006-10-11 01:58 pm UTC (link)
I seem to remember a question about a dead bird. Not that cowsandmilk couldn't come up with a logical explanation for wanting to find a dead bird, but that there simply is no logical explanation for wanting to find a dead bird. Unless, of course, you post on Livejournal and your userpic is a deranged cat.

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