We call them lightning bugs...

...but some people call them fireflies. I guess it depends on where you hail from. After a dinner date with the husband, we went on a walk in Manor Park, a beautiful park by the Long Island Sound (in the small town I happened to grow up in). Lovely to watch the sun set, the lightning bugs start flirting, a handful of children giving chase, and one lightning bug lands on the husband. I let it crawl on my hand and enjoy watching it light up, forgetting about it as the sun sets, the water is a gorgeous slate gray, the bridge lights up like a string of emeralds in the distance, and...hey - lightning bug still on my leg, lighting up. I set him in the grass as we go to the car. Funny feeling in an interesting place as we are starting the car. Lightning bug in my bra (!). Husband quite amused. Open car door, set him (bug, not husband) in grass again, tell him he is not my type but nice meeting him. Driving home, who do I see clinging on to my half open window? I rescue him (devotion must be rewarded, yes?) and promptly lose sight of him (black linen pants at night, dark beetle when not lighting...). It must be love or off kilter pheromones or something. He may be in the car yet (and yes, I checked, not back in the bra). Of course, I now have the crawlies, imagining bugs on me... ah, well, new friends have their quirks. Here's an interesting link or two about them: http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/units/basics/firefly/
and http://www.backyardnature.net/lightbug.htm
I only realized from looking at some sites tonight that not all places in the states have lightning bugs. I didn't realize they were mostly an east coast magical addition to summer nights. I wonder - do they have them in Europe? Asia? More research awaits.