I spotted my first of the season a few weeks ago, but I had no idea that I was watching a combination mating call and eerily glowing epitaph. Consider this comment from an article in today's NY Times:
North American fireflies spend two years underground as larvae, then spend the final two weeks of their lives as adults, flashing, mating and laying eggs.
The next time you find yourself considering the meaning of life, remember those little lightening bugs, who get just fourteen days to do it all.
Tim, b'now, yew noze that them be litnin' bugz!
ReplyDeleteThe cicada, however, spends about 17 years underground (sounds like a spy novel with sleeper cells, doesn't it?), then has a short time to do their business before they become dust.
Turns out, the males don't eat, and the damage they do is caused by the female which strips holes in succulent plants to lay her eggs.