Post #3567365
2026-07-03 22:31 UTC
Today we spent nightfall in the forest cemetery of Schaffhausen (the city near the Rhine Fall) for some Swiss hotaru (firefly watching). Such wonderful magic.
The details are a bit more … hardcore biology. The larvae eating snails for three years, the two week period where they all hatch and look for partners, have sex for 15 min – the males then dying soon after, the females living for another two or three days to find some good spots for the fertilised eggs.
But the dancing lights, the slow pulse of females on the ground, the more erratic pulse of males flying around, the whispers and mumbles of other humans in the darkness, it all was very nice.
Replies (1)
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@PresGas@freeradical.zone 2026-07-04 13:51
@alex@social.alexschroeder.ch It really is sublime to watch that pattern of lights. We have them here in the US Midwest and I love it so. One of my favorite memories is sitting out on the porch (a bad event happened I won't get into). However, I noticed the fireflies and then my oldest daughter came out and we just sat silently together side by side just watching. It was a great soul bath for me that night.