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Hi Patrick & All,
In looking back I see from your original post that you saw the
firefly on June 4. Also calm and warm in Kentville that day; and with
wild insect activity. The maximum temperature that day and time of
maximum might also be relevant depending upon the heat capacity of the
trees/shrubs where the beetles were located.
Even in November, just after the sun no longer shines in the
vicinity a small Spruce (e.g.6' tall) in open woodland and it begins to
get dark one can, in calm air, see shimmering above the top and above
the branch ends. (No wonder our distant ancestors believed in fairies
etc. It is spooky) This I think is due to heat being lost from the tree
tissue to the surrounding air which in turn leads to local heating of
air which rises and powers a mini-convective flow of air.
Naturally. the woody tissues of trees and shrubs heat up during the
day, especially if hit by sunlight and even at 10:30 PM in calm air, the
fireflies might have been warmed by this; appreciably if volume of woody
tissue per unit volume was fairly high (e.g. a dense thicket).
The valley is warmer than the Halifax area I think and I collected
fireflies June 24 (3 times) and July 8 once.
YT, DW, Kentville
On 6/7/2020 3:03 PM, Patrick Kelly wrote:
> I was standing still for over 30 minutes wearing just shorts and a
> T-nhirt. Those that know me will say that a normal person would have
> found it cold! LOL
>
> I checked the weather from that night and the temperature was around
> 14°...That was part of why it seemed so odd. it was relatively cool
> and it was definitely not humid.
>
> Pat
>
>
> On Jun 6, 2020, at 5:52 PM, David Webster wrote:
>
>> CAUTION: The Sender of this email is not from within Dalhousie.
>>
>> Hi Patrick,
>>
>> Did you notice whether it was unusually warm, for this time of
>> year, that evening when you saw the flashes ? One day this week, June
>> 4 I think, the yard in Kentville was swarming with a diversity of
>> insects. More activity I think than I have ever seen in any location;
>> warm, calm and lots of flowers.
>>
>> YT, DW, Kentville
>>
>> On 6/6/2020 3:53 PM, Patrick Kelly wrote:
>>> A good point!
>>>
>>> I think what I should have noted was that as an amateur astronomer,
>>> I spend a fair bit of time outside in the dark for most of the year.
>>> Having spent 30 years at this location, I have never seem any
>>> fireflies in June, late July being the earliest. If we do have a
>>> species that is an "early bird", they must be having a great year!
>>>
>>> Pat
>>>
>>>
>>> On Jun 6, 2020, at 9:03 AM, Rick Whitman wrote:
>>>
>>>> CAUTION: The Sender of this email is not from within Dalhousie.
>>>>
>>>> It's important to remember that there are at least several species.
>>>> So while we may recall when the most common species comes out
>>>> (whichever that is) we don't remember the secondary species. And
>>>> populations of each species can vary a lot year to year. Our
>>>> displays have always been poor compared to what you can see in the
>>>> lower 2/3 of the US or the tropics.
>>>> As laypeople, we tend to talk about "blackflies", "mosquitoes",
>>>> "ladybeetles" or "fireflies" as if there was one species of each.
>>>> This is pretty far from reality as we have a number, or many,
>>>> species of each of these, as well as most other insects that we
>>>> name generically. And, of course, with natural selection EACH
>>>> species has its own unique life history and time of occurrence
>>>> throughout the 6 or 8 decent months.
>>>> Regards,
>>>> Rick.
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, 5 Jun 2020 at 22:48, Patrick Kelly <Patrick.Kelly@dal.ca
>>>> <mailto:Patrick.Kelly@dal.ca>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I was out around 10:30 PM last night... as I was looking for
>>>> the Starlink satellites to pass overhead.... On my way down to
>>>> the nearby cemetery, I saw two flashes from a firefly.... and
>>>> now there are a few flashing in my backyard..... I have seen
>>>> fireflies here in the past, and where I grew up in Spryfield,
>>>> but only in August and and even then, only on really warm still
>>>> nights.....
>>>>
>>>> Is it normal for them to be active at this time of the year?
>>>>
>>>> Pat
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Patrick Kelly
>>>> 159 Town Road
>>>> Falmouth NSB0P 1L0
>>>> Canada
>>>>
>>>> (902) 472-2322
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Patrick Kelly
>>> 159 Town Road
>>> Falmouth NSB0P 1L0
>>> Canada
>>>
>>> (902) 472-2322
>>>
>
>
> Patrick Kelly
>
> 159 Town Road
>
> Falmouth NSB0P 1L0
>
> Canada
>
>
> (902) 472-2322
>
>
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<p>Hi Patrick & All,</p>
<p> In looking back I see from your original post that you saw
the firefly on June 4. Also calm and warm in Kentville that day;
and with wild insect activity. The maximum temperature that day
and time of maximum might also be relevant depending upon the heat
capacity of the trees/shrubs where the beetles were located.</p>
<p> Even in November, just after the sun no longer shines in the
vicinity a small Spruce (e.g.6' tall) in open woodland and it
begins to get dark one can, in calm air, see shimmering above the
top and above the branch ends. (No wonder our distant ancestors
believed in fairies etc. It is sp