1-minute read

From A Place Made for We, Favorite World Press

Then each tiny firefly
said hi-hello to the night,
blinking and flashing
its very own tiny light.

Witnessing the luminous dance of blinking, flashing fireflies is one of the quiet delights of summer. Their seasonal light show is so utterly soul-soothing, it’s easy to imagine that they blink for our benefit. We know that these mesmerizing glow dispensers use flashes of light for bug-to-bug communication, but why do some species of male fireflies in large swarms coordinate their flashing and blink in sync?

According to a recent study, it appears that flashing in unison is the bioluminescent language of cooperative courtship. Male fireflies communicate using distinct flash patterns while flying, and females signal back from the ground “message received”. In large swarms of hundreds or thousands of male fireflies, random blinking and flashing could make it overwhelming for lady bugs to visually track and communicate with a specific light pilot. Scientists from the University of Connecticut believe that when groups of male Photinus carolinus fireflies blink in sync, it gives female fireflies a flash-free window to signal their interest and selectively respond to the bug of their choosing. Yes, it’s good to glow—and for some species of fireflies, when it comes to courtship, it’s better to glow together and give a girl some uninterrupted time to blink back.

Got enough trees?

Back in April, we promised to give you an update on United States tree equity scores, and here it is. The new Tree Equity Score tool developed by our partner @AmericanForests gives scores for all 486 urbanized areas of the U.S. and their 150,000 neighborhoods. Each score is an indicator of how close the city is to achieving Tree Equity—ensuring that all, not just some, people can experience the many health, economic, and climate benefits that trees provide. A zero-to-100-point system makes it easy to understand how a community fares. With the knowledge the score provides, community leaders, tree advocates, and concerned citizens can address climate change and public health through the lens of social equity. Visit TreeEquityScore.org to see how your neighborhood stacks up.

We leave you with a gentle reminder that for every print or e-book that you purchase from the FWP series, Frankie and Peaches: Tales of Total Kindness, we’ll plant one wildlands tree in a place where it’s needed most to help cool, clean, and green our home planet. Thanks for reading with us!