Heike firefly
Aquatica lateralis
Also called: Heike-botaru, Luciola lateralis
At a glance
- Flash
- Quick yellowish flashes, about a second apart in most places
- Habitat
- Rice paddies, ponds, marshes and slow ditches
- Range
- Japan, Korea, the Kuril Islands and eastern Siberia
- Season
- April to November, most common June to August
- Size
- About 6.5–10.5 mm
- When active
- After dark over paddies and wet ground
Overview
The heike-botaru is the smaller of Japan's two famous fireflies. Its larvae live in the water of rice paddies, crawling along the bottom. In the colder north they can take more than a year to grow up.
Adults can be seen from spring to autumn, but they are most common from June to August. The males flash while they search, the females answer from the plants, and both adults and larvae give a yellowish light. In 2010 the species was moved from Luciola to a new genus, Aquatica, named for its water-living larvae.
Sightings logged here
48 sightings of this species have been logged on Alitaptap.
When they have been seen
| January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 18 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Most reported in June.
69% of these 48 records were made in June and July. So far, records fall in only 4 of the twelve months.
This shows when 48 records were made, not when fireflies fly. A place people only visit in one season looks seasonal for that reason alone, so treat a thin month as “nobody looked” rather than “nothing there”.
Where people saw it
- Yotsukaido, Japan
- Yobito, Hokkaido 099-2421日本
- Myoko-Togakushi renzan National Park, Japan
- Hirosato, Japan
- Toyohira Ward, Japan
- Tsukinoura, Japan
Where and when it has been seen
| Place | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Yotsukaido, Japan | iNaturalist → | |
| Yobito, Hokkaido 099-2421日本 | iNaturalist → | |
| 35.50, 139.54 | iNaturalist → | |
| Myoko-Togakushi renzan National Park, Japan | iNaturalist → | |
| Hirosato, Japan | iNaturalist → | |
| Hirosato, Japan | iNaturalist → | |
| Toyohira Ward, Japan | iNaturalist → | |
| Toyohira Ward, Japan | iNaturalist → | |
| Toyohira Ward, Japan | iNaturalist → | |
| 35.45, 132.87 | iNaturalist → | |
| 34.46, 135.53 | iNaturalist → | |
| 38.01, 138.36 | iNaturalist → | |
| 37.40, 127.14 | iNaturalist → | |
| Tsukinoura, Japan | iNaturalist → | |
| Shuzenji, Shizuoka 410-2416日本 | iNaturalist → | |
| Miyoshi, Japan | iNaturalist → | |
| 43.69, 142.38 | iNaturalist → | |
| 35.77, 139.97 | iNaturalist → | |
| 42.98, 141.55 | iNaturalist → | |
| 43.27, 145.47 | iNaturalist → |
Showing the 20 most recent of 48 records.
Browse all sightings →How to identify
Small fireflies with fast flashes over still water or rice fields. The larger genji-botaru flashes more slowly and prefers flowing streams.
Conservation
Pesticides, drained paddies and concrete ditches take away the water its larvae need. Paddies farmed with fewer chemicals keep it.
Sources & further reading
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