Lightning bugs bring money, help research
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Hoyle has become one of the top collectors in Middle Tennessee after gathering 453 grams of lightning bugs at her family’s rural farm just across the Warren County line and turning them over to scientists for research purposes.
This year, she plans to be out in full force again, hoping for some extra cash after literally netting almost $145 the last time researchers were in town in 2001.
Hoyle estimates she spent more than an hour each night for several weeks gathering the bugs and recommends collectors go searching at night and in the woods or around corn fields, being careful to watch out for any low-lying creatures like snakes. Temperatures above 70 degrees also create better conditions for seeing the bugs, said Hoyle, who prefers a simple bug net for her collections.
According to Analytical Luminescence Lab in Baltimore, Md., the lab that buys the insects, the lightning bugs are frozen and then used as a tool for experiments ranging from food safety testing to genetic testing, which could one day lead to treatments for diseases like Alzheimer’s and cancer.
According to lab representative Dwight Sullivan, the bugs are used primarily in two different ways: for practical purposes and for research.
“They use the material from the lightning bug’s tail to test whether food is contaminated with bacteria. More and more these days, public safety and health concerns are more and more in that direction,” he said.
Scientists can also couple a bug’s gene with a gene they are working with to help illuminate and measure how successful they are with the experiment.
“It will never bring a cure, but it is used as tool,” Sullivan added.
Although Hoyle initially heard about the program three years ago and decided she would make an attempt to rake in some extra money, she said hearing about the bugs’ potential in scientific testing makes her proud to be a part of collections.
“It really makes you want to get out there and get them,” she said.
But the money certainly doesn’t hurt, and this year the lab is offering a raise after not offering collections last year. The going rate for a gram of lightning bugs is 33 cents or $9.50 per ounce, up from 31 cents per gram or $9 per ounce in 2001.
Hoyle is not the only collector around. The lab noted several other area collectors for 2001, including Jeremy Brimer, Drew Evans, Chelsea Cope, Tiffany Moore, Todd Veach and Leslie Harmon.
Collections are scheduled to take place in McMinnville June 11 from 4:15 to 4:45 p.m. at the Civic Center and again on July 31 from 3:15 to 4 p.m. Anyone seeking further information may e-mail [email protected] or call 1-888-520-1272.
To help with scientific research:
• Catch the correct bug – the one with the red head, black back and yellow tail, which comes out at twilight and has a leisurely blinking pattern.
• Freeze the bugs alive the night they are caught.
• Make an ice pack when delivering them. It takes only fiveminutes for the bugs to start to thaw.