Sparklebuttology (FIREFLIES) with Dr. Sara Lewis

Image description: Dr. Sara Lewis wears glasses, jeans and an orange jacket and smiles while crouching at dusk in the grass, holding a small cup for field samples. The Ologies logo appears in the lower right hand side.

Image description: Dr. Sara Lewis wears glasses, jeans and an orange jacket and smiles while crouching at dusk in the grass, holding a small cup for field samples. The Ologies logo appears in the lower right hand side.

We’re BACK! With a fresh new episode to light up your life and butt. World renowned firefly expert Dr. Sara Lewis of Tufts University joins to share her love of a bug that many think is merely a mythological delight. Learn how these tiny animals illuminate the night, the dos and don’ts of firefly observation, how to take good firefly photos, femme fatales, pink glowworms, secret languages, artificial lights, what’s up with their population numbers, why Western states can chill out with their lightning bug envy, and how you can ensure the world stays aglow with these beloved bugs. Also: nuptial gifts, both human and lampyridological. 

Listen via Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get podcasts.

Dr. Sara Lewis’s website silentsparks.com

Buy her book, Silent Sparks: The Wondrous World of Fireflies!

Follow her on Twitter

A donation went to Xerces.org


More links you may enjoy:

Dr. Sara Lewis’s book

Dr. Lewis’s lab at Tufts University

Dr. Sara Lewis’s work on ResearchGate

 Her TED2014 Talk

Booklet (with great photos)

Brochure

Firefly-friendly Lighting Practices

Fireflyers International Network is an international group of firefly scientists, artists, and other enthusiasts dedicated to firefly research, education, advocacy, and conservation

Friends of Fireflyers International

News story about their 2020 work on global threats to fireflies

A field guide to fireflies of the western US (pdf)

The Western Firefly Project

New Mexico Firefly Project

Pink Glowworms in California!

Xerces.org info on pink glowworm

Great pic of firefly butts

Predatory firefly GORGING on a littler one

Relaxing firefly footage with harp music

Firefly Experience

Warning colors aka Aposematism

Sir EB Poulton’s mus-taaaache

Follow this man’s firefly photos!

Glow-Worm by the Mills Brothers

Not-delicious steroids

Cold light of the firefly


Ologies info:

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Sound editing by Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media & Steven Ray Morris

Transcripts by Emily White of The Wordary

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

BugsAlie Ward