After 10 years of sustained Bio-LOGIC farming, fireflies have returned to Avondale in large numbers.
Suddenly, after a cool beginning of Spring followed by a heat wave, these beetles are back to light up the skies around the cellar and manor house at night.
“Over the last three years we have seen them returning each year, but never in swarm-like proportions,” says owner Johnathan Grieve.
The firefly, from the family Lampyridae, is an insect which emits light from the bottom of its abdomen or belly to attract its opposite sex during mating. They are nocturnal, winged bugs.
During winter and sometime longer, fireflies hibernate underground or in the bark of trees as larvae. The larvae come out in spring, feed ferociously and retreat to pupate, from which they emerge in about two weeks as adults.
The adult fireflies mate and the female lays her fertilized eggs in the ground. The eggs hatch after about four weeks and the larvae feed the entire summer. Larvae are also known as glowworms.
Fireflies are predators and feed on snails and slugs and other larvae.
“The return of the fireflies shows that Bio-LOGIC and organic farming help to restore and enhance life. It proves that sustainable farming is the better option measured against harmful and wasteful chemical practices,” says Grieve.
