Fireflies or Lightning Bugs

Okay - first of all these little guys don't really exist west of the Rocky Mountains. They are suppose to be in certain places, but not like they are on the east coast. Fireflies or Lightning Bugs are actually little tiny beetles. This is a picture of a tiny one. They grow about 2 to 3 times larger then this guy. But not much bigger.

From what we have read online they can take up to 2 years to mature. Then, in a short 21 days worth of adult hood they flash to attract each other. Luckily for us we have a nice little trail that leads into some woods near a marshy pond area. The sort of area they just love.

This is about a 30 second picture - - the sky looks like day time since the light pollution from the city sort of spoiled the skyline. Do you see the little green dots and a few green lines? Each of those is a firefly.

This is another picture. This was taken leaving the camera open for about 30 seconds. This was taken fairly early in the season and they didn't move or flash much. Just sort of blinked on and off. They are really amazing. And now as we get into June they are blinking and moving like crazy now. You will see thousands in the trees, flying in front of you and all over. They are just sort of cool.

And of course we captured a few - brought them inside in a mason jar and took a few pictures.