Fireflies in Thailand

1
Angoon Lewvanich

2
Suttisan Pimpasalee

1. Firefly Project, Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden, Chiangmai, 50180. e-mail: angoonl@yahoo.com
2. The Queen Sirikit Institute of Sericulture, Bangkok, 10900. e-mail: suttisanqss@gmail.com



Thailand is situated in Southeast Asia with her neighbours:- Myanmar (Burma) in the Northwest, Laos in the Northeast , Cambodia in the East and Malaysia in the South. The population is about 62 millions. The Thai name of firefly is ‘hing-hoy’. At present, there are about 50 species of fireflies found in Thailand but only a few species have been names. The majority of them are still unidentified or identified with uncertain. This is because of the difficulties in accessing the firefly type materials which are deposited in various museums abroad to compared with.

In Thailand, fireflies distribute mostly in humid areas around fresh water marshy lands. There are some species live in mangrove habitats along the coasts where water is brackish. The altitudes that fireflies can be found are from the sea level up to the height of 2,565 metres which is the top of the highest mountain in Thailand. Most of the firefly larvae feed on snails, both land and aquatic snails. The larvae of some species in the genus Pyrocoelia feed on earthworms while those of the genus Rhagophthalmus feed on millipedes.

Up to now, 9 genera of fireflies are found in Thailand. These are Lamprigera, Pyrocoelia. Diaphanes, Luciola, Curtos, Pyrophanes, Sternocladius, Rhagophthalmus and Pteroptyx.
The last genus comprised of 2 species, Pteroptyx malaccae (Gorham) and Pteroptyx valida Olivier. These two species occur only in the mangrove habitats. They are usually gathering together on the trees and emit synchronous flashing lights. Sonneratia caseolaris (L.) Engl. is one of the mangrove trees which the fireflies are fond of gathering on. At night the trees are very beautiful with the flashing lights of fireflies, looked like electric decorations on the Christmas trees.

Fireflies ecotourisms are also present in Thailand. The tourists can go to see synchronous flashing light fireflies in many mangrove habitats along the coasts and the mouths of the rivers. There are 2 ways of watching fireflies. By walking along the road or the bridges in the mangrove forests, the tourists can see fireflies on the trees grown on both sides of the walking ways. Sometimes, when the sky is clear, it is difficult to distinguish the flashing lights of fireflies from the glittering lights of the stars. Going by boat along the canals or rivers for firefly observation is more popular. Using the package tour by boat for one day and one night, besides fireflies watching at night, the tourists can enjoy seeing Thai local cultures and plantations, such as the beautiful temples and the fruit orchards on the river banks during the day time.

The knowledge about fireflies is also transferred from the researchers through the mass media - television, radio, newspapers etc. to Thai people especially to the children so that they know all about fireflies as much as possible. A Thai tale song is composed and sung by a famous Thai singer. The main purpose for all of these is for the conservation of fireflies in Thailand.