![]() But they’ve got money to spend and, for them, nature has become a commodity.Ĭhina is home to about 100 known firefly species in 21 genera, with perhaps 100 others yet to be discovered. Hemmed in on all sides and estranged from nature, these new city dwellers show symptoms of a pervasive modern affliction: nature nostalgia. During the past 35 years nearly 500 million people have moved from rural areas into cities. Imbued with ancient wisdom, abundant biodiversity and growing technological expertise, the People’s Republic of China is also undergoing a startling metamorphosis. No one realized the lights they’d left behind would soon be dancing toward darkness. Later the crowd headed back to the buses, illuminated by a rising half moon and still glowing with wonder. Fu pointed out the distinct flash patterns coming from different species, quickly reeling off their scientific names: Abscondita terminalis, A. Adults murmured quietly to one another in mesmerized delight. ![]() Our host, Xinhua Fu, an entomologist at Huazhong Agricultural University in Wuhan and an expert on Chinese fireflies, quickly ushered the eager group onto a dirt track that snaked between rice fields.Īs mist gathered between folds of distant hills, we saw the first glimmering fireflies. Over 400 city dwellers-young couples, grandparents, families with kids-had traveled for hours into the countryside to watch the sparkling courtship of bioluminescent beetles. As darkness fell, we joined the crowd that spilled out from five massive tour buses. We left Wuhan, China, late one afternoon, crossing the Yangtze River and driving south for hours.
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