Japan’s Fireflies Magically Glow in Solitude After Annual Festival Is Canceled
Thousands of fireflies in Japan have gathered for their annual mating season.
Japan’s popular Tatsuno Firefly Festival usually draws crowds of people, but it was canceled this year due to COVID-19, leaving the fireflies undisturbed.
Fireflies produce bioluminescence to communicate with each other.
Flashes of bioluminescent light take over Japan’s grassy fields every summer as thousands of fireflies come together to find a mate. While this scene typically draws crowds from all over the world to the popular firefly festival in Tatsuno, Japan, the event was canceled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, giving the lightning bugs a chance to perform their courtship in the most tranquil environment.
This glowing dance is actually their way of communicating with one another. A male firefly will give off light signals in various frequencies and intensities, depending on the species, as he attempts to find a lady.
The firefly has a short lifespan, living the majority of its life as a larva for about two years before pupating in its version of a metamorphosis. Then, it emerges just in time for summer, spending approximately three to four weeks as an adult.
The mating ritual, which takes place during their adult life, spans over the course of 10 days, Katsunori Funaki with Tatsuno’s tourism division told AFP, per The Guardian.
“The glowing is the courtship behavior of fireflies. They glow to communicate between the male and the female,” Funaki says. “During the short, 10-day period, they find a partner and lay eggs for the next year.”
There are more than 45 firefly species who call Japan home, but only 14 of them can actually produce bioluminescence in their bodies. Depending on the species (and ideal weather conditions), nearly 30,000 fireflies will gather in the Tatsuno Hotarudoyo Park in the small Japanese town.
This is when the male firefly will hover in the air and produce a sequence of glowing light, almost like a pattern of flashes. The female has the ball in her court as she rests on nearby trees and bushes until she chooses her partner. She’ll let him know she’s interested by sending a glowing signal of her own. And because this interaction usually takes place after sunset, the exchange of light creates a serene and magical scene.
Although their mating season occurs yearly, Tatsuno Firefly Festival organizer Tatsuki Komatsu told the AFP he believes the lightning bugs were “looking for a partner more freely with no humans around,” adding that “we want to take care of them so that they will leave eggs for next year and we will once again see fireflies dance wonderfully.”
The annual Tatsuno Firefly Festival takes place in the middle of June.
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