418 Handbook of Nature-Study 



glass jar or tumbler, so that their light can be studied at close range. 

 The next day give the observation lesson on the insects. 



Observations i. At what time of year do you see fireflies? Do they 

 begin to lighten before it is dark ? Do you see them high in the air or near 

 the ground? Is the flash they give short, or long enough to make a 

 streak of light? Do you see them on cold and windy nights or on warm, 

 still, damp evenings? Make a note of the hour when you see the first one 

 flash in an evening. 



2. Catch a few fireflies in the night ; put them under a glass jar. Can 

 you see the light when they are not flashing? What color is it? When 

 they make the flash can you see the outline of the "firefly lamp ?" Watch 

 closely and see if you think the flashing is a matter of will on the part of 

 the firefly. Do you think the firefly is signaling to his mate when he 

 flashes? 



3. Study the firefly in daylight. Is it a fly or is it a beetle? What 

 color is it above? When you look squarely down upon it, can you see its 

 head and eyes? 



4. Are the firefly's legs long or short? When a beetle has short legs 

 is it a sign that it usually walks, runs or flies? 



5. Describe the antennae. Are they in constant motion? What 

 service do you think the firefly's antennas perform for it? 



6. Lift one of the wing-covers carefully. What do you find beneath 

 it? Does the beetle use its wing-covers to beat the air and help it during 

 flight? How does the beetle hold its wing-covers when flying? 



7. Turn the beetle on its back. Can you see the part of the body 

 that flashes? What color is it? 



8. Do you know the life history of the firefly. What is it like in its 

 earlier stages? Where does it live? Does it have the power of making 

 light when it is in the larval stage? 



"There, in warm August gloaming, 

 With quick silent brightenings, 

 From meadow-lands roaming, 

 The fire-fly twinkles 

 His -fitful heat-lightnings." 



LOWELL. 



V 



A Maybeetlc flying, showing that the beetles hold the 

 wing-covers stiff and still in flight, the 

 hind wings doing the work. 

 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 



