Big Dipper Firefly

Photinus pyralis

Status: Fireflies are becoming more scarce because of human encroachment into their environments and light pollution have made it difficult for them to signal and communicate, as well as interfering with breeding. Turning off lights at night is a simple measure that can help. Fireflies are not the only insect that has experienced a declining population, as Biological Conservation reported that 40% of all insect species are declining globally, and a third are endangered.

Flickering pinpoints of light in the woods, fireflies have always been a source of fascination for humans since antiquity. Creating light without heat, scientists call it a "cold light". The luminescence is a result of a chemical reaction in an extremely energy-efficient manner, as 100% of the energy in the reaction is emitted as light.

The Apache have a legend about the origin of fire. Fireflies had their camp in an inaccessibly high place, but Coyote was very clever. He snuck into the village by asking a cedar tree to bend down and he climbed up and went over into the Firefly village. That night when the Fireflies built a fire, he tied a bundle of cedar to the tip of his tail, and he danced with them, letting his tail come closer and closer to the fire until the cedar burst aflame, after which he leapt away, back via the cedar tree, and across the world with the fireflies in pursuit, waving his tail and setting sparks and embers flying everywhere. To this day the trees remember that fire, and it is why fire can be made from a bow drill.

References:
Goddard, Earle Pliny. "Jicarilla Apache Texts", American Museum of Natural History, Vol VIII, New York, 1911. 208-209.

Opler, M. (1940). Myths and Legends of the Lipan Apache Indians. United States: American folk-lore society, J.J. Augustin. 109-120.

Opler, M. E. (2018). Myths and Legends of the Lipan Apache Indians. United States: Borodino Books. 92-116.