apple
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Post by apple on May 7, 2006 20:43:22 GMT
On the last weekend I was on a place near Ericeira ( a village near the sea,about 60 km from Lisbon), on which I did some field research about Lampyridae, fireflies and glow worms. They ( fireflies) were out showing light displays between sunset and late night. We are bit before the biggest displays, that take place on June, with thousands and thousands of fireflies. It´s just astonishing. That´s why I want to share this with you all. Here, I´ll post some pictures. Sorry for the quality of the photos. They aren´t surely the easiest animals to take pictures. You can see the firefly flying on your left and some more points with lights above. All of these are fireflies ( Luciola lusitanica).~
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Post by anjieburdett on May 7, 2006 21:21:58 GMT
WOW! Apple, thats amazing - that first picture is great ;D
Anjie,x.
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Val
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Post by Val on May 7, 2006 21:25:39 GMT
Yes, really lovely.
Val
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Ruth
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Post by Ruth on May 7, 2006 22:14:22 GMT
Great pictures Apple, i'd love to see it in person, especially when you say the main displays begin in June, it must be truly beatiful to watch!
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apple
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Post by apple on May 7, 2006 23:30:11 GMT
WOW! Apple, thats amazing - that first picture is great ;D Anjie,x. Thank you. I hope to take more pictures of different fireflies and glow worms here, and hopefully with better quality.
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apple
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Post by apple on May 7, 2006 23:41:52 GMT
Great pictures Apple, i'd love to see it in person, especially when you say the main displays begin in June, it must be truly beatiful to watch! Yes it is indeed! And it´s possible to see different species showing different light displays at the same time on the same place! On a mountain near here called Arrabida you can see, for example, 6 diferent species showing amazing light displays. On this place near Ericeira you can see at least 2 different ones.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2006 15:31:42 GMT
awww they're so cute ;D
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apple
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Post by apple on May 23, 2006 15:22:11 GMT
Thank you, Mike!
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apple
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Post by apple on May 23, 2006 17:27:31 GMT
I´m back from another firefly trip! This time on the same place I could see much more fireflies than on the last time about 2 weeks earlier. On one night I could see thousands of them on an abandoned wine tree field!! Some flew against me and rested on my clothes! ;D One ( a glowing baby went inside the bed ;D ;D 3 different species or more were on the light display! Here I have some pictures, that were taken by Susana ( my girlfriend ): A female of Luciola that was on a piece of wood. You can see the yellow abdomen that it´s full with eggs.
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apple
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Post by apple on May 23, 2006 18:04:32 GMT
Spiders, like the diadema spider, can trap fireflies, but... They don´t like to eat them and avoid them... When fireflies are trapped they don´t stop glowing, making fast pulses of light, to make others fireflies, know about the danger. Firefly dressed with spider silk. The spider didn´t bited the firefly, because I removed the silk and he started walking and then flew away!! These fireflies can stop on the air while they glow, they can fly slow, fast, high, low, and their light pulses varies a lot in intensity and in quantity.
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apple
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Post by apple on May 23, 2006 19:15:01 GMT
Caught on the air! ;D Don´t forget that you may enlarge the images by clicking on them! Wings are protected by elytra, as all Coleoptera ( beetles). They( Luciola) aren´t poor flyers though. On his fairy tale, mysterious and secret world Mr. Firefly searches for the female reply under a ficus tree! Time for a break! Fireflies can´t waste too much energy during adult period, because they only eat when they are young. They concentrate all the energies on breeding. This one surprised me! It´s a Lamprohiza ( still for identify the specie) on Lisbon Monsanto reserve! Never realized that these wonderfull beetles could be seen here, near home! We saw him glowing on the ground all the time ( unlike Luciola). He has light on the tail and along the body! We couldn´t take a clear picture of his light but he is like this Lamphroiza: This one is near a mediterranean aromatic pine tree ( Pinus pinea) A Lampyris larva( it doesn´t look like a larva, but an insect) She glew a green intense by slow light pulses.
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Arno
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Post by Arno on May 23, 2006 19:30:34 GMT
Amazing photo's ,especially the first two.Do you use any specialist equipment?
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apple
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Post by apple on May 23, 2006 19:50:48 GMT
I´ll ask Susana! .
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apple
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Post by apple on May 23, 2006 23:31:02 GMT
Fujifilm digital S3000 de 3. 2mega pixels.
Not a semi or a professional camera. Susana´s technic helped also. ;D
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apple
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Post by apple on May 24, 2006 0:09:01 GMT
You may click to enlarge it as in all pictures! Helix aspersa enjoying the dew at night when it doesn´t rain for a month! Ericeira´s Moreira valley is famous, because of the microclimate,strange animals, because has more dew point days than most places in Central Portugal. This place hardly have human influence, and as it is surrounded by many farms, the wildlife was forced to live here. Humidity levels often reaches 100% at night and you can hear small water drops falling down from the trees even when the sky is clear!! These conditions are particularly good for wet climate animals like snails, slugs, amphibians, insects ( ant like spiders,crab spiders (!), colourfull pray mantis, big beetles ( Dorcus and Lucanus ( stag beetle, and more!!). All these atracts many prey birds and small mammals. But the heat and the sun atracts also many reptiles, cicada diferent species and other mediterranean species, that enjoy the sun during the day.
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nina
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Post by nina on May 24, 2006 0:36:03 GMT
Amazing photo's ,especially the first two.Do you use any specialist equipment? Hello Thanks. I´m gald to know that you liked the pictures. My favourites ones are the ones on which you can see the firefly flying. The equipment is a simple camera. I never thought to get such good shots. I´m getting better at it... Take care. Bye
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apple
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Post by apple on May 24, 2006 0:45:19 GMT
Enjoying the coolness of the dark night! Cepea? Big C. nemoralis
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apple
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Post by apple on Jun 15, 2006 17:33:15 GMT
Phosphaenus hemipterus larvae on the lab glowing ... Author: Raphael de Cock
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apple
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Post by apple on Jun 17, 2006 19:04:51 GMT
Luciola lusitanica mating! You can see that one female is already mating with one male. But the other male is trying to mate with her at the same time as the other one loool. ;D the other on the right, is a female too, but they, strangely or maybe not ( because maybe she hasn´t some sort of firefly appeal for them ( like if she is a different specie, or she hasn´t good «genetic» behaviour) ignored her...
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Val
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Post by Val on Jun 17, 2006 21:42:41 GMT
Apple these are billiant pics!! Val
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Post by sezzy5889 on Jun 17, 2006 21:44:56 GMT
Cepea? Hortensis ;D
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apple
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Post by apple on Jun 19, 2006 19:29:55 GMT
Apple these are billiant pics!! Val Thank you Val. But it wasn´t me that took the pictures. ;D
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apple
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Post by apple on Jul 18, 2006 18:43:29 GMT
I did a firefly trip recently: I saw glow worms at very high altitude places ( a record that need to have evidences on the next year) and on the valleys too ( mostly near swamps). The range of altitudes were between 200 metres and almost 2000 metres, on 5 diferent locations. Precipitation per year levels, between less than 300mm in some places and above 3.500 mm in the others!! Astonishing diference, that created diferent habitats( from semi-desertic until cloud mountain rainforest) with specific conditions. For example, we found this specie, a huge pink and ivory glow worm, with a strong light, on a green and wooded valley, with chestnuts, oaks, poplars, on the mountain, surrounded by kms and kms of burned forest We know the genus ( Nyctophila) but not the specie: The strong glow with an extra light spot on the top of the 2 big light bars: Here her display again: Mating:
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Post by luvfishies on Jul 19, 2006 22:45:01 GMT
Bloody marvellous!
Great pictures, nin, and apple, thanks for sharing them!
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apple
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Post by apple on Jul 22, 2006 16:47:49 GMT
Bloody marvellous! Great pictures, nin, and apple, thanks for sharing them! Hi! Thanks to share your opinion. ;D For that you have here one more: A female of L. noctiluca on a camping site. She atracted one male of another specie. He will try to mate with her, but with no sucess. When the male arrives she stops to wave her glowing tail to don´t spend more energy than necessary. 23.00 pm.
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