Figure 1. Photinus pyralis I-instar larva is almost translucent when it first emerges from its egg case. This affords an excellent opportunity to photograph the young larvae and observe internal structures. To see more photographs visit the Firefly Gallery. |
Fireflies may be photographed using the same techniques of macro photography as recommended for photographing butterflies, spiders, slugs, mosquitos and other small insects, all which lend to the production of fantastic photographs that may be used to illustrate books articles and reports published on line or in books and magazines or even used to produce merchandise that may be marketed for profit or used to raise awareness and/or funds for your favorite cause. An excellent guide in this respect is Art and Science of Butterfly Photography by William Folsom, 2000. The methods and equipment recommended by Folsom may be used in photographing fireflies and becomes problematic only when one begins to work at low light levels and/or becomes concerned with trying to record the flash or bioluminescence of fireflies.
You may try photographing fireflies with whatever camera and equipment you have available. I have photographed adult fireflies, their larvae and eggs using everything from 35 mm single lens reflex cameras to digital cameras with aid of macro lenses and microscopes. The later is especially useful for photographing firefly eggs and firefly larvae which have just hatched out of eggs.
I first studied and photographed I-instar firefly larvae and firefly eggs in 1967-1968, work that I continued in earnest through 1975 and I recorded in a series of Firefly Notebooks, the majority of which are unpublished and explore every aspect of behavior of P. pyralis. My studies of fireflies began while living in Jacksonville, Alabama, where Photinus pyralis occurred in great numbers. I had developed an interest in firefly and insect behavior after reading the works of Jean Henri Fabre, (1823-1915) the noted Father of Entomology and famed French entomologist whose exquisite writings about insect behavior should be a lesson and required reading of all aspiring naturalist and esteemed professors whose boring technical manuscripts are often better fodder for termites than inspiration for the human mind. After learning that firefly larvae in France fed upon snails, I began to wonder what Photinus pyralis ate and became fascinated observing, studying and learning every aspect of the behavior of these fireflies which danced to my joy and delight over the neighborhood lawns. I made me an insect net and collected hundreds of male fireflies, hunted down females mimicking the flash of male, put the males and females in jars and collected their eggs which I then reared. It was the beginning of a life long quest to learn about fireflies and their magic, and has led to my exploring this matter in great detail which I have reported in numerous articles and reports that can be access via Firefly FAQs.
In 1968 I visited with John Bonner Buck and the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. I shared with him copies of my pioneering work on P. pyralis which include the discovery that this species exhibits a previously unrecognized behavior prior to flight. The adult males perch upon leaves, grass or other vegetation. They initially assume a rest position, with their heads and antennae lowered down, as if asleep. As time progresses and twilight approached the male exhibits an alert behavior. It raises its head up, extends and wiggles its antenna, remaining in this alert position, even on the watch. It is while in this alert position that males of P. pyralis can be induced to fly be using a small flash light to mimic the flash of a male firefly. When a perched male sees a flash, it will flash immediately in response and after seeing several such male flashes may take flight, a process by which the male tends to synchronize its flash with other males. These facts were also related to James E. Lloyd in unpublished manuscripts I shared with him in 1970 when I went to work in the Department of Entomology and Nematology at the University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
My reports also informed Buck how I was able to collect firefly eggs and use ether to extend the glow of both eggs and adult fireflies. This is a technique that has application when photographing adult fireflies, their larvae or firefly eggs. The method is to place a few drops of diethyl ether upon a piece of cotton and then expose this to fireflies in a completely dark room. One should permit their eyes to adjust to the total darkness 3 - 5 minutes. Then when ether is added to a vial containing fireflies, larvae or eggs, a long, persistent glow will result. I have used this method to also help locate firefly larvae in soil samples that I have collected as very small Photinus larvae tend to resemble pine needles, a protective resemblance which may contribute to their survival and which makes them difficult to find in a large quantity of soil. However, the firefly larvae can be made to glow by adding a few drops of ether, a trick that has enabled me to collect larvae in the field when no one else could even locate them.
Figure 2. Eggs of Photinus pyralis are bioluminescent. This can be observed by collecting eggs and placing them in a Petri dish in a darkened room or closet. Let the eggs set undisturbed for 24 hours. Then enter the darkened room and let your eyes adjust to the dark for about 5 minutes. Then gently tap the Petri dish to cause vibrations. The eggs should glow. This is rather spectacular if done several days before larvae are due to hatch as each larvae inside the eggs have tiny lanterns which will light up. This photograph of a cluster of eggs was photo enhanced to simulate how eggs of P. pyralis appear when they glow. The photographer has actually collected and observed large numbers of firefly eggs glowing, but this is a challenge to photograph given the low sensitivity of film or digital cameras.
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Certainly this method of using ether to make fireflies, their larvae and eggs glow may have applications when it comes to photographing fireflies. The technique is to do a long exposure to capture to glow. One may also experiment using a flash to capture in greater detail the body parts of fireflies. By being able to cause a long period of glow one is able to record this on film much easier and better than can be done with a single brief flash of light by a firefly.
As for wavelengths of light emitted by P. pyralis and other fireflies this may vary. Generally the light is a yellow green. But I have seen individuals with light which is more golden yellow and with light that has a tint of orange or is reddish. You may know that color perception also varies with individual human beings, so just eye balling this is not a very good scientific method. In fact, you may want to take a color test to see how your own eyes respond. These test consist of letters in various hues printed upon cards. Some people are not able to see the hidden letters if their eyes are not sensitive to various hues. Your local optometrist should be able to give you such a test. As I've worn glasses since I was a child I became aware of these test at an early age and my color vision has always been very good.
Although I have been long aware of the fact that the color of light fireflies emit varies, I have never done a spectral analysis of hundreds of individuals to see what the variation in color really is as per wavelength. Certainly this is something anyone who has access to the proper equipment and a good supply of live fireflies may try to do.
The fact that the color of light produced by fireflies varies has also been noted by others. "Mc Elory has found that the color of the light produced by luciferin can be changed by altering the alkalinity of the solution, less alkalinity producing a shift toward the red end of the spectrum. Present evidence suggest various species of fireflies have slightly different luciferase molecules, which cause the production of light of slightly different wave lengths." (McElroy, W. D., and H. H. Seliger. 1962. Biological Luminescence. Scientific American, 207 (6): 76-89. as quoted by Howard Ensign Evans. "In Defense of Magic: The Story of Fireflies" Life on a Little-Known Planet. 1966 updated 1993. p. 108.
In recent years it has been possible to isolate the genetic factors responsible for bioluminescence and to produce these commercially enabling one to ascertain the wavelengths of such genetic complexes quite accurately. Not only has this been done for fireflies, but it has been done for the click beetle Pyrophorus. A recent report gives a very good spectral analysis for their light. See the Promega report: A New Luminescence: Not Your Average Click Beetle: Introducing Chroma-Luc Technology by Drian Almond and other (available on line at www.promega.com).
I think it a bit egotistical and greedy that commercial companies would be making patent and trademark claims with respect to bioluminescent factors that have been produced by fireflies, click beetles, phengodes and other animals for millions of years and reported in the scientific literature by many others. To extract such agents and replicate them should not permit absolute claim to be made to the ownership of such agents commonly found in nature. Of course clever lawyers and patent attornies working for big companies are motivated by greed and will claim they own the entire human genetic code should this be permitted. Because the lawyers are ultimately the ones who make the laws, they will permit themselves and their clients to own every last strand of DNA and RNA created by God! I personally do not agree that this is either ethical or moral.
Fireflies are free and their genetic code belongs to no one. The same should be true for the genetic code of all animals, plants and especially human beings. But if people do not take a stand against such profiteering, big pharmaceutical and chemical companies will buy up all the genetic codes that are sequenced, and claim they own everything from bioluminescent firefly genes which have almost infinite variation, to the lowly gnat!
Generally fireflies emits light on the order of between 500-600 nm with a peak range between 540-560 nm. Remember, this varies. In nature I'm not sure what causes the variation, but I have noticed variation which may relate to temperature and/or humidity that could could also relate to air quality. Perhaps the amount of acid in the air due largely to pollution from fossil fuel burning power plants causes fireflies to shift their light toward the red as if in alarm that something is very, very wrong! Is the red shift of firefly flashes alerting humanity to the pollution of the atmosphere, to global warming and doom upon the horizon? If what Mc Elory stated is true more humid, acid air may cause a shift toward the red end of the spectrum and the fireflies may, indeed, be flashing the alarm that humanity is destroying the planet with its uncontrolled lust for power and light.
The most critical factor in photographing fireflies is not the wavelength of light emitted by fireflies, but the intensity of their light which is relatively low. The inverse square law states that the intensity varies with the inverse square of the distance between the source and the sensor; i.e. I = ki(1/d²), where I is the intensity of light at distance, d, from the source of intensity, i, and k is a constant. Thus when photographing the flash of fireflies under low light levels, you need a wide lens to gather as much light as possible and to reduce the distance between the firefly and the camera which may be a problem when trying to photograph flying, fast moving fireflies at night.
It was my knowledge of the inverse square law as relates to photography and film sensitivity which enable me to collaborate with an associate in New Zealand, Graham East, to produce the first recording of bioluminescent Springtails. The idea was simply to let the Springtails photograph themselves, using their own light!
A clever method was devised such that the Springtails were placed in contact with the film, then when disturbed by making a sharp vibration the Springtails responded by flashing in alarm to record their flash upon file. As the Springtails were in contact with the film the distance between the film (detector) and the light source (the Springtails) was a minimum, such that the inverse square law was cheated to enable the bioluminescence to be recorded and proven to all doubters and Collembola experts who had never seen these creatures produce light that these tiny creature did, indeed, produce light as an alarm response. Certainly if anyone wants to repeat this experiment with Collembola, firefly larvae, adult fireflies or other Collector species they are welcome to try. Although such images do not use a lens they do represent a most pure form of recording light emitted by creatures which glow, and what could be more fascinating than a firefly taking its own photograph!
Firefly flashes certainly can be recorded with night vision video equipment. However recording a flash and an image are two different types of observation. Recording merely the flash of fireflies is useful in determining species, as each species of firefly has a unique flash pattern as per the geographical area where that species most readily thrives. Flash pattern recording is also a useful tool in the study of synchronous behavior of fireflies. A good system for recording flash behavior using low-light ideograph has been described by Andrew Moiseff and Jonathan Copeland (A New Type of Synchronized Flashing in the North American Firefly. Journal of Insect Behavior. Vol. 13, No. 4, 2000.) However, if you want to photograph fireflies which are normally active at night and get an image of them on film, video or digital media, the photographer is immediately challenged.
Experienced photographers know that high speed films are more grainy than slow speed films so there is always a compromise with regard to speed and grain size of the film, though this has improved over the years. There are some "tricks" that can be use when photographing fireflies.
1. Ether causes fireflies to glow continuously, so you can do a double exposure, photograph the glow of an etherized specimen, then do a flash shot to photography the body; this is tricky but it can be done. By the way, I am the person who first noted this way back in 1967 and related it to Dr. John Bonner Buck.
John Bonner Buck and his wife, Elizabeth, were real pioneers in the study of firefly flash behavior. The early work of John Bonner Buck is a classic and should be read by anyone who want to follow up on the study of firefly flash behavior. I was very honored to meet with John Bonner Buck in 1968 and receive a copy in his early reports related to Photinus pyralis published between 1935-37. After John Bonner Buck died, a review of his life work was published and is available on line. See The Luminous World of John and Elisabeth Buck by James F. Case and Frank E. Hanson. Oxford Journals: The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. 44 (3):197. pp 1-12. Available on line at: http://icb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/44/3/197
2. Another trick in photographing fireflies is to use dilute honey to cause adult fireflies to remain motionless which drinking. This also extends the life span of adults in captivity permitting them to be maintained longer than if not fed. Also I believe it may be a factor in increasing egg yields from females.
For anyone who is seriously interested in photographing fireflies, I recommend the challenge of collecting females and letting them deposit eggs. The eggs will glow brightly in response to vibration several day prior to larvae hatching. This would be wonderful for someone to photograph. I remember how amazed I was after collecting several hundred P. pyralis eggs back in 1967 and observing them glow brightly in a small Petri dish in a totally darkened room. The eggs contain tiny larvae which have developed lanterns which respond to vibrations by producing an alarm flash! Seeing a Petri dish of firefly eggs suddenly light up in response to a vibration is awesome!
The young Photinus larvae which hatch out of the eggs in about two weeks also glow rather brightly and aggregate! They eat earthworms, a behavior I have often observed and made video of to illustrate the defense behavior of the earthworms, which is to go into a death roll, spinning around and around, a behavior which may have survival benefit for earthworms, though firefly larvae grip tightly to the earthworms using their anal appendages that are covered with thousands of sharp hook-like hairs. Certainly for anyone who has access to some good equipment these aspects of firefly larvae behavior and egg bioluminescence may represent an additional challenge with respect to photography.
3. I have also attached adults to threads, a trick I learned as a child from my father who showed me how to do this with June Beetles. I remember the first time my father, Leonard P. Lynch, captured a June Beetle and tied it to a thread. I was living on Madison Avenue in Montgomery, Alabama in 1954. I found a large, iridescent June beetle and when I showed it to my father he took a thread, tied it to the beetle and then we went out in the back yard and the beetle took flight going around and around in circles, buzzing about like a motorized airplane quite to my delight!
Some years later, between 1970-1973 I lived in Gainesville, Florida and on a number of occasions I set up tents to live and work in the woods and wetland areas close to nature. This included field stations on the University of Florida campus across from Lake Alice and at the Devil's Millhopper, northwest of Gainesville. These are areas where the Golden Silk spider occurs in abundance. Their silk is very strong and makes the ideal firefly leash.
The technique is to collect a large spider, pin it down and then harvest silk. Attach one end of this thread to the firefly and the other to a brightly colored plastic tack. Then you can "walk" the firefly upon a leash of spider silk and observe its behavior. This is an especially good method to use with a female Photuris, a species quite common in the Gainesville, Florida area. After attaching a spider silk thread to a female Photuris, stick the tack to a secure object such as a block of wood, piece of bark or even a piece of foam core board (this comes in black or white and is available at art supply stores and in the craft section at Walmart). Then the female cannot fly away and escape but can still exhibit its natural behavior relatively unencumbered and not able to fly off into the night.
Fig. 4. A large golden silk spider. Three Rivers State Park, Fla. PHOTO COPYRIGHT 2005 BY TAL. Silk can be collected from golden silk spiders and used to "leash" adult fireflies such that they may be set free and studied without being able to fly away. Another technique is to put a dab of glue upon elytra so that the wing covers of adults cannot open. Also wings can be clipped to prevent flight but this is a rather intrusive method. Using spider silk to lease a firefly also prevents them from crawling away and getting lost while one works with them in the field. To see more spider photograph and submit your own please visit The International Spiderfest
The female Photuris will mimic the flash response of a male Photinus, luring the male Photinus. When the male Photinus lands near the female Photuris she will pounce upon him, bite off his head and then devour his body except for its elytra and other hard body parts. This is a behavior first described by James E. Lloyd. The advantage of using a firefly leash made of spider silk is that it enables one to easily handle Photuris without the firefly escaping, such that its natural behavior may be observed repeatedly. This also gives one ample opportunity to photographed these rather large, voracious fireflies as they exhibit their natural predatory feeding behavior.
Certainly anyone who does not have a spider phobia may repeat this experiment. However if you are afraid of spiders you may try using a tiny strand of silk thread purchased in the sowing department. However, although this may work great for rather large, robust June beetles, I much prefer using spider silk from the Golden Silk spider when leashing fireflies. Golden silk spider are rather timid creatures. Although they may look frightening to some people I have always responded gleefully to discovering large specimens which make wonderful photographic subjects themselves. I have never been bitten by a Golden Silk spider or any other spider for that matter, and I have handled everything from the black widow and the brown recluse to tarantulas! However, I know how to handle spiders, scorpions and other venomous animals safely and would not recommend that anyone who is not also familiar with how to handle spiders or other venomous animals try to harvest their silk or photograph them, except from a safe distance.
4. Another method which may challenge the amateur photographer is to fly fireflies upon a spider silk leash while photographing them in flight! It may be possible to do this and even rig up a method that adults may fly in a wind tunnel to enable flashing in flight to be more easily recorded. Such an arrangement might be made with a small fan and some Plexiglass.
Should you have success using any of these suggested techniques to photograph fireflies and wish to share any of your photographs you are welcome to post them on the Project Firefly Forum via links or submit them to me at terrylynch@aol.com. Should any of my suggestions prove helpful please do give me credit and/or link to my firefly sites if you make an on line publication of your firefly photographs.
I wish everyone who meets the challenge to photograph fireflies much success in their endeavors. Many firefly behaviors may be observed and recorded simply by placing fireflies in a jar or vial. Of course photographing fireflies outdoors in the wild is the ultimate challenge as then one must deal with nature and the conditions at hand come rain, shine, mosquitos or low light condition.
Figure 3. The courtship of Photinus pyralis, a large firefly which occurs in the southeastern United States, frequently results in an orgy with numerous males attempting to copulate with a female. This behavior which occurs in nature can easily be duplicated and observed by placing males and females inside a jar. In nature males could easily fly away in search of other females, which they often do, but sometimes a number of males will remain in the presence of the female even after she has copulated, probably as a result of her odor, which compels the males to attempt to mate. Both male and female of P. pyralis will mate with different partners on different nights. This photograph was taken simply by collecting male and female fireflies and placing them in a glass quart jar with a moist piece of paper towel, then allowing this to set undisturbed in a darkened room. The photograph was made using a hand held digital camera. For additional pictures of fireflies and their larvae visit the Photinus pyralis Gallery. |
Remember, if you are working with an unidentified species, you should preserve and save specimens so that you may have these later identified. Photuris is difficult to identify to species unless a recording and analysis is made of its flash pattern. However, you should be able to have your fireflies identified at least as to genus. Then when describing photographs list them as Photinus sp., Photuris sp. or Pyractomena sp. If you preserve specimens and submit them to an expert, it may be possible to have the species determined. James E. Lloyd has identified thousands of fireflies as to species and is the person I recommend in this regard.
5. There is one last trick I would like to share with regard to photographing fireflies. Get you a set of standard color filters. These filters transmit known, specific wavelengths. Then when you etherize an adult firefly you can use these filters to show which light is transmitted through the filter when the firefly is photographed. Thus you do NOT need expensive spectral analysis equipment to specify the wavelength of light being recorded! Just say the light was photographed through filter #XXX which has a know mean transmittance of 540 nm or whatever the range is. Of course you may also want to do normal photographs with no filters but remember what film "sees" and what the human eye "sees" in terms of color are certainly two different factors.
Please visit the Project Firefly Forum and post links to any firefly photographs you take that others around the globe may seen and enjoy your work. Remember, it is more satisfying to give than to receive and by sharing the products of our labor with others we help motivate, inspire and develop young minds and contribute to the understanding and welfare of all humanity.
Please click on the link below to visit the Project Firefly Forum. Here you may network directly with other people around the nation and globe who are interested in the study and research of fireflies and bioluminescent organisms. This forum is designed for everyone who is interested in fireflies and nature study. Please participate with a spirit of goodwill for the benefit of people and the environment everywhere. You may post links to related sites, share photographs of fireflies, their larvae and/or other insects, and even participate in research projects. Everyone who is interested in fireflies and insect behavior, in general, is invited to participate and make a contribution of their knowledge, skills and abilities. Thank you!
One of the primary goals of Project Firefly is to motivate people worldwide to study fireflies and help those interested in the study of fireflies to network and share their knowledge, experience and discoveries. You may support Project Firefly in a number of ways:
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