Please Support Project Firefly
Please click on The Fireflier to make a donation today. Thank you!
Please support Project Firefly. We need to raise $10,000,000.00 to support the establishment and maintenance of a mobile research project which will study the effects of global warming and urbanization upon the environment and how it is effecting firefly populations and other organisms which are effected by changes in the environment and serve as early warning systems. Please make a donation to help Project Firefly. Click on the Fireflier Mobile Field Station and make a donation today! All funds will be used to help establish and maintain Project Firefly, to acquire and operate the Fireflier Mobile Field Station, to provide equipment and supplies and to operate the Project Firefly outreach program, maintain the Project Firefly web site and employ personnel. Thank you for your patronage and support!
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Dear Nature Lovers,
This site presents the beauty and wonder of the natural universe
for everyone who loves nature to enjoy. My purpose is to stimulate young people and hobbiest to
question, inquire and explore the natural world. I hope to inspire
creativity, not only in the scientific study of nature, but in the
artistic and humanistic expression which comes through an intimate
experience of life and our natural universe.
It is very easy to get bogged down or stuck in some academic or
laboratory study which separates one from the true experience of life
and nature. This is not to negate the value of careful and controlled
experiments, but only to accent that other aspect of learning which
comes from field work, form observing the complexity of nature, its
grandeur and diversity as one experiences it when in far away from
city lights and the hectic rush and chaos of life in the city, which
can be not only a distraction to learning, but detrimental to the
environment and nature one is investigating.
Throughout my life I've had the opportunity to
travel widely, exploring the natural world with my camera and sketch
book. Every journey results in more questions than answers. There is,
in fact, no limit to the number of questions one might ask about the
most minute of things, such as a firefly larvae or fly maggot. Yet
the mountains and the forest in their grandeur and majesty pose, as
does the universe itself, a host of questions of their own: such as
how many millennium are in a compressed layer of Navaho sandstone
cliffs near Arches National Park which might take a good Moab rock
climber all morning to conquer?
Since I can not answer all the questions myself, I'm going to
share some of my thoughts and experiences with others, hoping to
inspire, if not delight, young and open minds to make their own
adventures and discoveries. I do not venture to say where this
exploration will lead or end, for it really has no beginning or end.
I can only say that if you travel along with me we will have some
exciting adventures and perhaps learn something of significance and
value along the way.
I propose to present some experiments in natural science. Also I
may present examples of my own creative work or photographs which are
themselves an exploration of figures and forms in nature. This will
require some time to provide, so check back to this site often. In
fact, this presentation may take some years to complete, since the
volume of unpublished photographs and writing I have to draw from is
rather large and is still growing.
I will begin simply by providing a few links to favorite sites
I've created or discovered upon the Internet. Then in time I will be
adding more original material to this site. Included will be
photographs of nature's wonders and beauty which I hope will
inspire others to pick up a camera and take a closer look at our
natural universe. In every drop of water, under every rock and leaf, are wonders
to behold! It may be of great interest to teachers and
students who have inquiring minds and really want, "to go where
no man has gone before, to just look through a microscope and see
what is in a single drop of pond water."
Sincerely,
Terry Lynch
4 March, 1999
Go Green!
Preserve & Protect Firefly Habitats
Fireflies Are My Friends. This adorable and educational design shows the flight patterns of different species of fireflies and gives them the names or real people to help promote the preservation and protection of firefly habitats.
Because firefly habitats are being destroyed at alarming rates, wetlands being drained to build resorts, forested areas being clear cut and burned, the virgin rain forests being raped and plundered for profit, it is vital that people be made aware of how greedy industrialist are destroying the environment. Hence I took the above firefly flight pattern design and gave fireflies the names of real people to make an emotional appeal for the preservation and protection of firefly habitats. Please buy these gifts and apparel and help the Go Green campaign to recycle, conserve and protect our natural resources, wildlife and the environment that tomorrow there will still be fireflies to grace our lives and to show our children
On Line Reports and Links
The Adoration of Arthropods
Fireflies, insects and other arthropods as pets, live jewelry, objects of adoration and subjects used in commercial advertising and marketing for profit and/or exploitation
The Angel of Death This creature is Nature's ultimate weapon having killed more people than all the wars throughout history! It is irresponsible for the world community to accept over one million deaths each year due to mosquito transmitted disease and over 300 - 500 million people to be infected by malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever and other diseases transmitted by mosquito bites. You can help stop the slaughter and balance the equation by visiting and supporting the Angel of Life Foundation.
Figure 2. Death Angel's Eyes Aglow. A pulse of light illuminates the eye covered head of a male Angel of Death bringing forth visions of an unearthly alien spacecraft, like something right out of Star Wars or the X-Files, a deadly weapon protruding from its head capable of destroying species thousands of times its mass and reproducing itself ad infinitum, until that day when it might inherit the planet Earth. Photo Copyright 2005 by EArts.
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Light Dancer's Live Journal: An interactive exploration and discovery of the natural world.
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Bioluminescence
in Fireflies The luciferase-luciferin
reaction in Photinus pyralis by Terry Lynch.
- Blinks
and Links Explore the fascinating
world of the firefly and other living light!
- Firefly Mysteries
Revelations related to the egg, embryo, early instar and behavior of Photinus pyralis larvae with respect to gregarious feeding behavior, vivisection of host food via digestive enzymes, interring of earthworms and proof larvae use eyes and lanterns to form aggregates. This report includes photographs of P. pyralis and presents original research detailing rearing techniques and aspects of P. pyralis larvae behavior never before sited in the scientific literature. A challenge for investigators is offered with emphasis on the role firefly larvae may play in research into the genetic key codes which link and differentiate flash pattern to species.
- Flash Keys in Fireflies by Terry Lynch: Impressions and considerations with reference to the role of nitric oxide (NO) in firefly flash and the implication this has with respect to the timed delay between flashes of species and other related flash behavior. June 29, 2001, 16:40hrs.
- Firefly Notebooks: How to rear fireflies by Terry Lynch Techniques with respect to the collection, observation and rearing of the firefly P. pyralis and Photuris with notes upon the feeding behavior of Photinid and Photuris larvae and the implications these contrasting behaviors have on evolution of the species in fireflies. Presents photomicrographs, drawings, diagrams and methodology with respect to original research related to the rearing of fireflies.
- Feeding behavior of Photinid larvae Model used to illustrate probably sequence with respect to predation of P. pyralis on earthworms.
