Saturday, June 8, 2013

More Trivia

Fireflies are actually beetles.

Did you know this? I didn't. We used to catch them and put them in a jar with holes punched in the top. We kept them for a while and then let them go or made rings out of the glowy part. We called them lightning bugs. George has been posting maps on Facebook about word usage in different parts of the country. Interesting and accurate.  What do you call them?

 Now I enjoy sitting on the swing on my patio and watching them blink off and on in the yard.  Obviously, this isn't my view.  I just like the photo. 


6 comments:

the dogs' mother said...

We don't call them anything as we don't have them in the PNW :-(
Would love to have them but, even if they could live here, importing exotic species is a big no-no...

Jackie said...

I remember catching lightning bugs. It was one of the ways we knew it was really summer. I knew they were beetles because I've been trying to take an interest in bugs so I would have something to talk to my little nephew about in our letters.

Mistress Maddie said...

Auntie... we have them here and also call them lightening bugs. I remember having a bug cage with a plastic plant inside in which to keep them. I would let them out as they began slowing down. I never made the rings though and it's too early here for them to be out yet...another couple of weeks.

Kailyn said...

I've only seen them when I visit the South. As far as I know, we don't have them in the Bay Area.

Mistress Maddie said...

course..... truth be told Kailyn sees blinking lights from drinking too much,lol! Luv you!

Murr Brewster said...

We called them lightning bugs in Virginia, but I've been bugless in Oregon for almost forty years now. I have two recollections. One, you'd put them in the jar for a nightlight, and they never ever lit up. Two, the mean boys would tear off their abdomens and stick them on their foreheads where they'd gleam for a minute or so. I hated them. The boys.