1 minute read
AND THERE WAS LIGHT
Writer: Dr Anina Lee.
The magic of fireflies
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As most people in Hermanus will know by now, October is firefly time. That’s when the magic happens – or rather, the brief, threeweek mating season when flashes of light can be seen in undisturbed habitats like the fynbos. These are fireflies out on the town.
Let’s start with a brief description of the fireflies of the Western Cape. We have one species, Luciola capensis – just one of about 30 southern African species and 2 000 species of fireflies world-wide. Fireflies are neither flies, nor on fire. They are actually beetles (Coleoptera), belonging to the family Lampyridae. Some firefly species are quite large – up to 2.5 cm. Our local L. capensis is tiny – about the size of a grain of rice.
Metamorphosis
As is the case with all insects, fireflies go through metamorphosis. Eggs are laid in spring and hatch into larvae that live in damp soil or leaf litter over the summer and most of the winter.
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