Arizona FIREFLIES: Summertime in the South or on the East Coast is synonymous with fireflies. As darkness falls children have collected them in jars and turned them into summertime lanterns. But fireflies in Arizona? Believe it or not – yes! Dr. Joe Cicero will present the three kinds of fireflies that occur in our state, the life cycles of these insects, how they communicate by way of luminescence, how their habitat is in jeopardy, where in Arizona you can see them, and what other kinds of luminescing insects occur here.
Fireflies in the Arizona Evening
Dr. Joe Cicero has a PhD in Entomology from Gainesville, Florida and a MS from the University of Arizona. He professes expertise in insect faunistics, the evolution of insect ontogeny, and external and internal insect anatomy, with secondary studies in botany and electron microscopy. Additionally he has specializations in several insect groups including bioluminescent, flightless and wood boring species. Dr. Cicero has hiked the mountains and valleys of southern Arizona and California for many years identifying and characterizing the region’s fireflies and glowworms.
