It?s time to think about catching fireflies

Wanted: Tennessee lightning bugs.

Collecting lightning bugs used to be a fun way to pass years ago, but now kids are making money doing what their parents did for just for fun.

Collecting fireflies is easy. They come out at twilight and make an all-too-familiar blinking pattern with their tail. The lighting pattern is how the little bugs attract a mate. As they light up the sky, they reveal themselves to collectors.

Dwight Sullivan, a Methodist minister from Whittier, Calif., spends his summer vacation coordinating the hunt for Photinus pyralis, commonly known as the firefly, here in his home state of Tennessee.

According to Sullivan, Tennessee seems to be the best place to catch fireflies as we have them in abundance, which makes them easier to catch. Tennessee?s fireflies also give plenty of luciferase, also known as photoprotein, the enzyme required for research.

The research associated with the fireflies includes testing for bacteria in bottled juices and soft drinks, as well as in genetic research. Although this research is very important, it does take a lot of fireflies.

Lucky for research, becoming a collector is easy. You will need to buy a net, or one can be made by using a coat hanger and a pillowcase. Make sure you are catching the correct bug, the one with the red head, black back and yellow tail.

After catching the bugs in a jar, be prepared for the worst. You must freeze them alive ? that?s right, freeze them to death ? the night you catch them. Don?t let them thaw or they will spoil.

When you are ready to exchange your bottled bugs for cash, make an ice pack using plenty of ice. Remember that it only takes five minutes for the bugs to start to thaw. If they thaw, they are useless.

This summer?s collection will net .37 cents per gram or $10.50 per ounce. Start collecting soon, as the time to turn in your batch of bugs will be on Thursday, Aug. 3 from 3:15 to 4 p.m. at McMinnville Civic Center.

For more information please contact Firefly Project at 1-888-520-1272, or e-mail [email protected].