On a River of Pure Water, Fireflies Dance

"it is gentle, and passion"

This place is the place where Firefly River intersects Kanbayashi River drifting to the northern part of Ayabe City. For an event (Firefly Festival) that several thousand fireflies which appeared in this photograph were captured in a neighborhood of this river.

A firefly has a lot of kinds, but most are Genji fireflies a thing flying at this place now. (The scientific name:Luciola cruciata)

A Genji firefly lives in water at the age of a larva whereas most fireflies spend life in the land and finishes life in a waterside. This is very unusual compared with the firefly in the world.

Life of an imago is 3-7 days very briefly in the natural world. Meanwhile, they drink "only water". Therefore "pure water" is indispensable for habitation of a firefly and has a relation of it cannot cut it even if I drain off "water" with a firefly. It is for, to be this reason that a lot of fireflies inhabit very clean natural environment of water. Water is an absolutely necessary thing for life.(in the same way as air)

A Japanese seems to like a firefly from old days and appears in a subject of poetry and a story for a long time. If I was this time in a childhood, the firefly was seen commonly in a neighboring riverside. Would it be nothing of Japanese original scenery so that it was symbolized by "Song of the firefly hunting" which I sang at the age of a child?

In a rice field or a gentle brook of a flow, the fireflies inhabited naturally, but I decreased sharply by environmental aggravation by expansion of development of the river which we did recently and pollution of maintenance / water, a road and a residential area, and such place decreased once. There are a very few places where a lot of natural fireflies fly to a dance as in the past.

A firefly flies in this season, but the numbers seem to decrease every year in this river. We have changed the scenery that did not change for hundreds of years by this only 20-30 year degree.

It is light and turns on an attractive light in darkness, and fireflies show the figure which they dance in spite of being a request, and dance a partner to make advances to to us. What will it be that we modern people find to a firefly? Will not it want to be healed in search of nature?

Interest to a firefly seems to show a surge with an environmental problem having become our imminent problem recently. Recently, Biotorb in nature has decreased originally while Biotorb made from person's hand increases. We will have to think about the environment where a lot of living things of the firefly etc. can live naturally from foundation. Otherwise we may not watch this beautiful light in the future.

Are we the fools who notice after losing an important thing? I think that no is not so at all. If there is not it so, I put a wish.

Asia / Japan

Lat: 35° 21' 20" N
Long: 135° 24' 30" E

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: Unknown / Undeclared.

NIKON D100/SIGMA8mm/KAIDAN/Manfrotto/Photoshop