My neighbour Mark from across the road rang me tonight to tell me that fireflies were flying around the bush on the edge of his property, so I went up and had a look with him.
Sure enough, there they were. A few dozen bright twinkling lights flying around the scrub. They were very bright and could easily be seen from many metres away.
A couple of them were stationary, and when we had a look with a torch we could see that they were caught in spider webs.
When I got home I did some searching online and found some interesting information, including an article on the ABC about fireflies titled:
"Fireflies put on spectacular show in brief annual courting display"
According to the article:
- fireflies are not actually flies, but beetles that live in forests and mangroves along the coast,
- they appear briefly during their mating period, and may be around for only a few weeks,
- they produce their light in a process called bioluminescence, which is a light show to try and attract a partner,
- the females generally don't fly, and sit on the grass and respond to flashes from males flying above,
- they are only active for about 45 minutes after sunset and live in warm and wet wooded habitats, and
- there are about 25 species of fireflies in Australia.
If you click on the link below it will take you to the ABC article. The articles includes a really interesting 3 minute video of fireflies in the Kangaroo Valley.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-14/fireflies-light-up-night-sky-for-courting-display/10611456
According to another website (Thala Beach Nature Reserve, Port Douglas):
"And while different to humans, in many respects fireflies and humans share a fundamental trait – the males are the main flashers, who cruise at night in search of a female."
You can find this article on the following link:
Fireflies | Firefly lights can be seen in some Australian Forests (thalabeach.com.au)
