Near Headquarters Pond, you may hear the deep grunts of pig frogs. You will, of course, be sharing the refuge with a host of biting insects, those less-popular denizens of the night. Summer is a good time to think about their words. As the daylight dims and a faint breeze heralds nightfall, a whole host of organisms, from earwigs and cockroaches to owls and bats, begin the active part of their daily cycle. Their light, or bioluminescence, is made when a protein, luciferin, is mixed with oxygen and an enzyme, luciferase.
Some fireflies are active at dusk, others at full dark.
The flashing communication is made by both sexes but the pattern of flashing differs with each species. Look for the bat's rapid wing beats and erratic flight. These are remarkable mammals. In Gainesville, a bat house built on the University of Florida campus houses about 20,000 bats that eat 20 million insects every night. Construction has started on Tallahassee's bat house, located near the retention pond behind the Tallahassee mall.