Fireflies attract scientists to Portugal

For more than a decade now, Biological Park of Gaia (Parque Biológico de Gaia) opens its doors during the nights of June for the observation of fireflies and glow-worms. 
During these nocturnal guided walks, children and adults watch these insects, and every year a lot of people wait for the days when their activity can easily be observed. This initiative raised the curiosity of the Belgian Raphael De Cock, who wanted to participate, and after a while he managed to get a lot of scientists to travel to Portugal. 
So this year the Biological Park, together with the Belgian Research Institute for Nature and Forest, organised an international meeting, bringing together scientists from a multitude of nationalities; from Thailand, Japan and Taiwan to the United States of America, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Italy, the United Kingdom, and, of course, Portugal. 
During five days the programme consisted of talks, field trips, workshops and poster sessions. Most often, the need for scientific studies and the importance of the ecological balance was highlighted. 
For example, one discussed the timely subject of effects of light pollution on fireflies. Artificial light pollution makes the night sky less interesting as less stars are visible; it therefore hampers astronomical research and night watching of fauna and flora, but also disturbs wildlife. Specifically for fireflies, light pollution makes it difficult to notice the light signals they use for mate recognition.
Within the Biological Park one can encounter lots of fireflies and glow-worms, and the researchers already managed to record four different species.
As adults, fireflies can be seen from April till August, and those of you who held them already in the hands know that their lights don’t burn and that they are actually among the coldest lights on earth. The emitted light of the adult insects are signals for mate recognition, whereas the ones of the larval stages are anti-predatory devices.
This event launched a new survey for Portugal. 
 

Source: Parques e vida selvagem N° 21 "Ana Vilar"