Comments on: Wednesday Window: firebugs

By: Claude

Claude — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 22:12:19 +0000

I don’t think those have anything to do with fireflies. We have them here too, but I don’t think they are like this at all.
Ken, I do remember seeing loads of them at your place.
Good to know they are harmless as I find them rather pretty!

By: Mrs K

Mrs K — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:58:57 +0000

Never seen them in the UK. But they brought happy memories back of holidays in France. We were entranced when we first encountered them and thought like you – African masks.

By: chancy

chancy — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:23:46 +0000

I wonder if those firebugs are related to our fireflys or lightning bugs we have here in the south of the US.
Do those firebugs glow in the dark?

By: The Beaver

The Beaver — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:57:21 +0000

Claude

Thank you for the close-up picture. We had a whole army of them in the backyard at the gite we were at, in Gilly-les-Citeaux, last month. First we thought they were “ladybugs” but then realised that they didn’t have black dots and were told that they are called “gendarmes” by the landlord. Ken is right – they did not comeinside the house but dissapeared after a rain storm to reappear again when the sun came out the next day.

By: Monica

Monica — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:59:59 +0000

They are strikingly pretty!

By: Peggy

Peggy — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 07:26:27 +0000

Nice bugs, but I wouldn’t want one ON me!

By: Ken

Ken — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 05:21:56 +0000

Hi Claude, we have thousands — millions! — of these little gendarmes or firebugs in our back yard. They seem to like living under linden trees, tilleuls, especially. They are harmless and almost never come inside the house. And I think they are pretty. Hope your weather in Normandy has improved. We're having some nice days in Touraine right now.

By: Claudia

Claudia — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 04:25:46 +0000

They’re so cute. And different from one another. I’m surprised they don’t have all the same pattern. I’ll have to study the question seriously…

By: kenju

kenju — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:02:56 +0000

Claude, you took the words out of my mouth! They look like African masks and I love their colors.