Fireflies

Last night, at about 2 or 3 in the morning, Reagan woke up and was calling me. I went in his room, and through tired eyes, found that he had rolled off his bed. So, I put him back on his bed, gave him a sip of his milk, and lumbered back into my room. One of the wonderful things about this time of year is that at night we can sleeep with the windows open. The breeze and the sounds of summer quickly lull us to sleep every night. So, last night we had the windows open. As I approached my bedside, a green flickering light in the trees caught my eye. I was so thrilled to see that one flickering light - it was the first firefly (that I have seen) this summer season. One of the things I love the most about summers in Ohio are the fireflies. It is so beautiful to watch the fireflies come out at night. Our backyard turns into a festival of dancing green lights, and the kids have a blast chasing down and catching them. For those of you who have never seen fireflies (we hadn't before we moved here), here are some firefly facts:

• Fireflies are nocturnal, luminescent, winged beetles.
  
• Fireflies are about the size of a small paperclip.
  
• Fireflies live in warm, moist areas.
  
• A firefly's glow is produced when oxygen and a substance called "luciferin" are combined in the beetle's "light organ", located under the insect's abdomen.
  
• There are about 2,000 species of fireflies, and each species has a unique blinking pattern in their glow that helps them to identify their species for reproduction.
  
• A fireflies larvae, which they lay in the moist ground, is also luminescent.
  
• A firefly's lifespan is only 2 months.

So far we have only seen a handful of fireflies at one time - not enough for the kids to be out chasing them down and catching them. SO, this post will be PART ONE to the story of the firefly. As soon as we start seeing more we will take lots of pictures and post them for you all to enjoy!