My name is Kate and my name is Carlos. Today’s Wild About Utah is in both Spanish and English. The spanish version will be read by Carlos Ramos. You can also listen to this story in Spanish this wednesday evening between 9:01-9:06 or online.
Against all odds, fireflies find love here in Utah. Out at places like Firefly Park in Nibley, you can watch these dazzling lanterns dance and bounce, starting around early June. Watching these fireflies is magical, even more when you know what it took for them to glow each night.
The first challenge a firefly faces is finding a good wet habitat out here in arid Utah. Finding dark, wet habitat can be tough, but somehow fireflies have done it and have done so in Utah since potentially 1929. Once a firefly finds a good spot, now they have to find each other. Doing this requires precision and chemistry. In their abdominal lantern, the enzyme luciferase must hug both luciferin and a molecule of energy tightly to help combine their parts. Then luciferin combines with oxygen to form the energetic oxyluciferase.
Much like a kid with too much candy, oxyluciferase is now desperate to release some energy before it’s too much. It does this by releasing a light-emitting photon and we see the magic before our eyes. As if creating light inside one’s body wasn’t tough enough, now they must attune their signal to their species and find each other. Each species has a unique morse code of light they need to blip in order to find each other.
Now, let’s say a firefly makes it to a marshy habitat and they meet the love of their short 3-week life, now the romance can begin. Males and females copulate for hours, remaining still and stuck end to end. During this time, the male gives the female what’s called a nuptial gift full of protein along with his sperm. If that isn’t romantic, I don’t know what is! The females will store this gift and digest it over several days to help her get the protein to lay her eggs. Once laid, these eggs will take between a few months to 2 years to become adults where they will light their heart out to repeat the process.
For me, thinking about all the chemistry involved, both molecular and romantic, is moving. I hope we can protect their light for generations to come.
My name is Kate and my name is Carlos and we’re Wild About Utah.
