Day 8- Today's word is "bioluminescence"

Anyone have a guess about today's from the title? How about this:

Yep, today was the day to catch fireflies!

Now, being as I am from central Florida, I didn't know pea-turkey about fireflies until I was 6 years old. I went on a family trip to Kentucky where I saw them for the first time. And they BLEW MY MIND! I remember wondering what the heck they were and also hoping that they wouldn't sting me because I REALLY wanted to catch one! Fortunately, my great grandmother had quite the collection of Mason jars and I caught and caught to my heart's content.

Even now, they're still really cool. Now, if you're one of the the Smarty McSmartenpants out there, you can just skip this part. It was originally believed that the fireflies would light up to warn predators not to eat them. But then scientists figured out that nope, they were just trying to attract a mate. The whole "stay away predators!!" thing was just a nice side benefit. The stuff in their abdomens that causes the light to go off is a chemical reaction known as, you guessed it, bioluminescence. (Use that one in a sentence today. Impress your friends.)

Anywhos, let's get to the assignment for today. Exhibit one- the bug collecting jar:

Of course, you have to get outside at JUST the right time. For me, it apparently was 8:35. Yep, that was when they came out AND it was still light enough to both see and catch it. Let the grabbing begin!!

Thank goodness, these things are easy to catch. They're slow and they glow in the dark. Before I knew it, I already had several in the jar.

After just a few minutes, I already had a dozen fireflies in my captivity. Kind of like shooting fish in a barrel. But, it was fun to see all the different sizes I was able to catch and the different colors that they glowed. Most of mine were yellow and almost a neon green. Apparently there are also some reddish ones out there. I'd love to see those.

Feeling pretty successful, I called it a night.

I think my last count was 14 or 15. They were all confused and I felt like it was time to set them free. Plus, you may have heard of an old saying: "You've got to break a few eggs to make an omelet." It should really be "You've got to get a few mosquito bites to catch fireflies." Got some whoppers on my feet and ankles. Off Deep Woods my ass...