Last summer vacation in India, I came across many miraculous and astonishing things. One night while hiking in woods, in middle of nowhere, on quite plateau I saw a glowing tree. It was looking like somebody has ornamented it with thousands of small lights. But, surprising thing was there was no electricity on that plateau. As I went closer, I found that tree was surrounded by hundreds of glowing bugs and they were flying everywhere in group. And those bugs were nothing else than Fireflies. They are also known as glowworms.
Fireflies are nocturnal insects and they are known for conspicuous crepuscular use of bioluminescence to attract mates or pray. Worldwide there are 2000 species of fireflies except Antarctica. We can find almost 170 species only in North America. They are brown in color and soft bodied with elytra more leathery than other beetles. Many times females and larva’s look similar, but female firefly can be distinguished by their compound eyes. In many species females are flightless.
Fireflies can be found in temperate and tropical environments. Larvae grow faster in Marshes and wooded areas, where food sources are abundantly available. Larvae basically grows on slugs, snails, earthworms and many destructive kinds of insects and pests, they perform a predator’s role in ecological food chain. But some scientists are not sure about adult fireflies eating habits. Some scientists are assuming that, fireflies are pollinators, but some claims that, fireflies are predators. But, in both ways they perform the strong role in ecological cycle.
As we know fireflies use luminescence to attract their mate, but the question is how they illuminate themselves?
Fireflies produce cold light with no infrared or ultraviolet frequencies. Chemicals called Lucifeferin and Luciferase give fireflies their lights. They generally produce yellow, green or pale red color light having wavelength of 510-570 nanometers. Since being discovered in firefly, these chemicals have also been used in medical research on diseases such as cancer and multiple sclerosis.
These qualities of fireflies are encouraging me to study more about them and discover more about their life-cycle. I imagine, if I can design self sustainable Eco-district which also contributes to the growth of the city just like fireflies do. I am also visualizing some institutional or public building with ample of natural light, ventilation and beautiful landscaped areas.
To achieve this I am analyzing 2 sites in Portland, one is South Waterfront and another is PSU Campus. Portland has beautiful riverfront with magnificent history of bridges from every era. While, PSU has pioneering institutional impact on the city of Portland. Campus of PSU has been beautifully interlaced in urban setting of Portland. I am sure its going to be really difficult to select “the site” for my Thesis.