Just amazing. All these far-migrating creatures being born knowing the way...or having something tugging them in that direction. These have to be the most amazing of all because they're insects. -How do they know? -How can they possibly travel that far? This is a really bad video, but it was the only one I could find to show you. When butterflies are born, their proboscises (noses) are in two halves which require assembly. So after they go from caterpillar>cocoon>butterfly, they're still not done. They have to put their noses together. You can see the two halves in this, although for some reason the vid ends before assembly is complete.
Our fireflies are out ! Bobby was reporting that he saw the first ones of the season last night. We both enjoy watching these amazing little creatures. Sometimes, they come in the house and end up flashing in the dark after we have gone to bed. Hopefully, they find their way back out the window where they came in from. Now cicadas........ that is a whole other story. Those are bugs that I could totally live without !
On top of all this chaos, the 17 year cicadas are coming out this year. It's interesting reading about the firefly decline. No one knows why with any degree of certainty. Some blame habitat loss, light pollution and human intrusion, but where I'm living now is way more rural than where I grew up, and fireflies were more plentiful there and then. It's too bad. I'm sure lots of us have memories of punching holes in the lids of jars to house the ones we caught, with the obligatory handful of grass shoved inside.
I see Monarchs passing through and their direction is north to south or the reverse on seasonal migration to and from Mexico.
Ed, your post made me look to see if I am on their migration path (I'm east of Charlottesville VA). They seem to be reported east and west of me, but those are informal reports, not professional spotters. For those who are interested, here are some tracking resources: U.S. Forest Service Monarch Butterfly page https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/Monarch_Butterfly/migration/index.shtml That links to Journey North, a website where people can report sightings and upload pics of about 60 different nature signs (including Monarch sightings) https://journeynorth.org/sightings/ Here's the constantly-updating Monarch Sighting Map on Journey North https://maps.journeynorth.org/map/?year=2020&map=monarch-adult-first Journey North has maps on tons of other sightings (including earthworms, for those with fast shutter speeds ) https://maps.journeynorth.org/maps
I saw a gazillion lightening bugs in my yard last summer. There were so many that it looked like a fairyland.
Two nights ago, for the first time in many years, I saw fireflies. When I brought Ella out to "look for Martians" before going to bed, there were fireflies. Then, the next day, there were a half dozen Monarch butterflies in my yard while I was watering, and I hadn't seen any of them for quite a while either.
I'm seeing lightening bugs here lately. Not as many as last year but still a lot. I made a video of dozens of butterflies on flowers a few years ago. If I can figure out how, I might put them on YouTube so I can show y'all.
My fireflies seem to be off & on here. I cut my grass last week and noticed some out there tonight. I wonder if an overgrown yard is a deterrent...so I went and looked on firefly.org: I live on over 50 acres, with only 7 or so cleared as a yard. I am surrounded by several hundred acres of forests and farms, and there is very litlle light pollution here. I should have more than I do, unless childhood memories are distorted.
@John Brunner, I do all of those things, including having a hundred acres up north. I haven't noticed if I have fireflies there, though.