Abstract
The lampyrids (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) belong to the few insects that have been named and observed accurately for thousands of years. The most common names in European languages are formed as diminutives of light and related terms or they are composed of a term like light, fire and glow in combination with bug, fly or worm. There is a huge variety of idiomatic names - in Italian dialects e.g. about 500 different expressions denominating species like Lampyris noctiluca or Luciola italica are reported. Beyond that, lampyrids are interpreted as signs or used as metaphors in a wide range of the semantic field. Thus, the notion of lampyrids leads to a vast network of associations including such distinct and even contradictory significances as childhood, crop, doom, elves, fear, habitat change, idyll, love, luck, mortality, prostitution, solstice, stars and fleetingness of words and cognition. All these connotations are evoked by six features of the observed lampyrids: light in the darkness, season of appearance, mating, direction of flying in the case of species like Lamprohiza splendidula and Luciola sp., flashing (of Luciola-fireflies) and finally disappearance of lampyrids in landscape and perception. The examples of the presence of lampyrids in literature, visual arts, music and evidence in traditional popular culture collected in past years show that the accent of the connotations is shifted by the change of cultural context: in early times the seasonal indication was relevant for the agricultural calendar, the romantic connotations had their golden age during Belle Epoque while in recent decades the associations circle around the disappearance of glowworms and fireflies. Although, the observer is not normally aware of the full richness of significances, the extraordinary complexity of connotations is an important factor for the fascination produced by lightning bugs during summer nights.
Highlights
Corresponding passages in stories, poetry, theatre, folktales, songs and movies were collected to get an overview on the appearance of fireflies in a cultural context, as well as idiomatic expressions, popular traditions, paintings, prints and other kinds of illustrations related to glow-worms and fireflies
Already in early times it was generally believed that the female fireflies are shining to entice the male, even when naturalists of the 18th century started to discuss the issue that the observed light emissions of larval lampyrids may not serve as copulation initializing signal [14]
There are a lot of animals with a much higher value in human economics whether as useful or as harmful components of our economic systems – like cows or rats – but there exists hardly a species or a taxonomic group with such a wealth of connotations as glow-worms and lampyrids in general
Summary
Fireflies are highly interesting and useful model organisms for the investigation of various biological issues [1], but beyond their value for scientific research they radiate a fascination catching both scientists and non-scientists – as French entomologist Jean-Henri Fabre quoted a century ago: “Few insects in our climes vie in popular fame with the Glow-worm, that curious little animal which, to celebrate the little joys of life, kindles a beacon at its tail-end.” [2] Fabre, renowned for his careful and precise observations as well as for his poetic descriptions, states the extraordinary popularity of glow-worms but associates the beetle bioluminescence with the celebration of the “little joys of life” This is only one of a huge number of different emotive and cognitive connotations connected with glow-worms in particular and fireflies in general. Even though there exist ample traditions concerning fireflies in Japan and other extra-European cultures here the focus lies on the considering connotations in European and Western traditions
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