Article: SUMMER NIGHT'S A NO-GLOW WITHOUT FIREFLIES.(Lifestyle)(Column)

There are no fireflies in Seattle because they get turned on and burn out too fast.

Local beetles belonging to the firefly family don't demonstrate that characteristic bioluminescence their cousin beetles use east of the Rocky Mountains. But why they don't seem to flash west of the Rockies has been a puzzlement to us former flatlanders who associate fireflies with deep-summer nights.

Known also in the flat Midwestern vernacular as ``lightnin' bugs,'' these silent sentinels of summer evening are as much a sign of true summer in the nation's midsection as popping Scotch broom seed pods are here in Puget Sound.

We transplants truly miss those ...

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