Green Island’s firefly population has exploded over the past few weeks, attracting tourists while prompting local calls for more efforts to conserve the island’s ecological environment.
The island saw crowds of tourists during the four-day Tomb Sweeping Day holiday earlier this month, with many arriving just in time to witness the beautiful spectacle of fireflies fluttering in the summer night, local resident Chen Yu-wei (陳余維) said.
However, Chen said that he recently saw students from an unnamed university in northern Taiwan riding a scooter and holding a plastic bag containing about 20 fireflies.
Photo courtesy of Liang Chih-yi
Chen said he approached them and asked them to release the fireflies.
“The bugs have a lifespan of only about two weeks,” Chen said. “I hope every visitor to Green Island can enjoy the view where it makes sense — the wild.”
Fireflies can usually be found around the 5km marker on the round-the-island road, local tour guide Tseng Ching (曾靚) said, adding that the they usually appear in March and peak in April and May.
The location is also close to the Sika Deer Park and tourists can join nighttime tours to see them both, Tseng said.
Deer and fireflies are both afraid of light, so local tour guides usually ask visitors to park their scooters, switch off their headlights and wait for their eyes to adjust to the dark surroundings, Tseng said.
Tour guides would sometimes catch fireflies with their hands to let visitors take a closer look, Tseng said.
The guides usually attach a film of colored paper in front of their flashlights to turn the light red before doing so, and they release the fireflies immediately afterwards, Tseng added.
However, independent tourists often leave their scooters on and use bright lights to search for fireflies, which are harmful to the insects, he said.
I-Shou University professor Chao Jen-fang (趙仁方) said that Green Island is home to four species of fireflies, with Curtos costipennis being the most numerous.
Observing fireflies in the dark is beautiful, but safety should be the primary concern, Chao said.
Visitors to the island should ask local tour guides to show or help them find the best viewing spots, Chao added.
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