The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-07-01
The Lightning : Bug
aHouston Post j

80 - ~ d. associate EEtX
Of biology in johns Hopkins Universe
", who Is not only one Of the worlds
best biologists. bet also : great pss-
.c~holosist with regard 10 the behavior
OF lower IN such as COCK
reaches, lightning bugs and other IA
miliar insects has just
some remarkable discoveries tha con
Germ the common lightning bug.
Where there s smoke there must he
ire, IS no more true than The oppo-
site. where there's fire there must
be smoke. Even strong light IS pro-
duced by many natural objects with
out the accompaniment Of either heat
or smoke. You. as a rule. expect not
merely heat and smoke. but even
burning, where there is fame. Yet
there are many examples Of light
wholly lacking in these qualities. To
distinguish such light from the com
moner varieties, the words phos-
phorescenCe and l~uminescence have
been adopted.
II phoSphoreScence there are many
types. One kind is due to the oxfda-
ton OF fatty plants and animals. such
as glow worms, certain kinds Of fish.
lightning bugs and birds. another
sort is due to heating crystals, ex-
posture to radioactive elements, x
rays, electricity, the sun or even some
waters.
Besides these, there are several spA-
49, tIoN lIloE-
1phorescence as they grow. These in
fest carriOn, meat, bones and even lead
q parasitic existence inside the bodies
OF certain insects that hop about, like
lgraSShOpperS. Persons unfam iliar with
glow worms, on this account often
lcOnfuse the two insects.
Lots of minute sea shrimps and ma
|rine worms emit brilliant flashes OF
light because Of their power Of max.
ing at their pleasure a fatty sub.
stance which can be oxidized into 1
glowing phosphorescence. II yot
watch the breakers splash away from
the Gov Of a river boat, YOU will Sc,
the points, dots and dashes Of ]umines
tcence caused by minute jelly fish ant
the three-horned anamaicule Gale,
) ceratium.
:, The larger fish Of the ocean are fit
. ted with great luminous, phosphores
: cent disks all over their bodies, witt
> large searchlight-like lenses. Like tn
= tropical bugs, beetles, ~irefiies an,
! glow worms. these fish by sending
fstream Of V impulses to thei
tiny light houses, oxidize these fatt
:, tissues into their we'll known phos
y fphOrescence CLEANS.
: DR.. Mast too up the study Of tn
behavior of lightning bugs in tn
q Ineighborhood of Smithsburg. Wester
e Maryland, early in June, 1911. 4
iNA1oN NAIAA ~ oooA
e dant; dozens of them could be see
Q flying about over the avn and garde
every evening.
$ Fireffies are found in dark crevic'
: or underground during the lay.
e the evening when it is still ligl
y enough TO read they come out. IT
n females climb to the tips Of gra:
e stalks or on other objects and renal
II quiet. The males fly about and slo
$. at intervals Of about five seconds. I'll
y females do not glow unless light fro
n the males or from some other our
is flashed on them.
"a All sorts of suggestions have bee
offered with reference to the functit
of the production Of light in differeI
species. In some it is supposed to
!. mainly a secondary characteristic,
= others it Is supposed to serve as a Ia
: for prey and in others as a protecti'
? against enemies. One prominent ma
- uralist maintains that certain tropiC
II birds capture frefiies and fasten the
~ to the soft clay walls of their nests
~ that the light will protec them again
Sc $nakes
Sc produced by the male differs fro
to tina produced by the female.
Of some the glow Of the male is mu'
Of more intense thar tina Of the fema
ar In others there is d marked diffe
e ence in the duration Of the glow of t
Two SEXES. III SAlA4 tht illhii
IN nation has certain peculiar dist
ag gushing characteristics. The ma
glow consists Of two flashes Of -lig
separated by a short interval. VIII
in the female it consists Of a sins
fash.
i The male very rarely responds
he the glow Of other males or to
10 flashes Of artificial light. In some W
the males are able to distinguish /
- tween the Illumination by the L
sexes. Although no marked diff
~ ence either in quality or quantity |
70 tween the male and female glow v
detected by MIR. Mast. experiment
results indicate that thereHis proba'
a Slight difference in duration a
that his is the factor primarily
70 volved III the phenomenon in Questl'
60 The two sexes Of tiref1ies are nea
Alv alike There is but little difference
IN size and the wings Of the female I
as fully developed as hose Of
male. This is not generally the c:
in other species. The eyes Of
male are much larger than those