A Local Family

Catches The Bugs

Every Summer

For Scientists

BYSTEPHANYNAPIER

Staff Intern

The childhood past time of collecting fireflies has turned into an effort to help scientists all over the country. Catching lightning bugs was considered a fun way to pass the summer evenings.

Children would wait for the insects' blinking lights to let them know where to grab, place the lightning bugs in a jar to watch their light -- then let all the bugs go free and wait to catch them again the next day.

Now people can get paid for this past time.

Dwight Sullivan, an agent for a biochemical lab in Oak Ridge has been coming to Greeneville now for three summers. Previously he went to just the Tri-Cities, but due to a local family's dedication he started making a stop in Greeneville.

Sullivan came Tuesday to pick up fireflies, whch also are known as lightning bugs, that had been collected here. However, due to the recent drought in the area, he was only able to collect three grams worth of the bugs.

The price of fireflies is now 42 cents per gram or $12 per ounce.

He received the three grams from Larry and Sandi Blalock and their children, George,15, and Leigh Ann, 11, who have been collecting fireflies for four years.

Sullivan told them, "You're the reason we are in Greeneville."

Sandi Blalock said she read about the collecting in an article published in the The Greeneville Sun four years ago and decided since the bugs were used for medical research collecting would be fun to do.

She said her family participates to raise funds for efforts to save hemlock trees in the Smoky Mountains. The trees are endangered by the woolly adelgid insect.

Sandi Blalock said the money will go to the Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a group whose projects include finding different methods to save the hemlocks. They originally bought beetles that cost $1 to eat the adelgids.

Now they are putting a soap-like formula on the trees to kill the adelgids. "My daughter is real big into saving the hemlocks," said Mrs. Blalock.

Larry Blalock described the process of collecting fireflies. He said family members use peanut butter jars and put paper towels in the jars to absorb the moisture and the smell. Then they put the jars with the captured fireflies in the freezer until time to take them to the collector.

According to Sullivan the fireflies will be used this year for public health concern by testing food. The biochemical enzyme in a firefly's tail that makes it glow is called luciferase. This enzyme when added to a certain solution will glow.

Scientists can test the presence of bacteria in meat by adding the luciferase. If the solution glows there is bacteria and the meat is spoiled.

The enzyme is also used as a genetic marker. Geneticists can measure the amount of light produced when the luciferase is added to the gene they are working on to tell them what they need to know.

Sullivan gave some tips for anyone wanting to help collect next year:

* catch fireflies at twilight;

* use a net, which can be made from pillowcase and hangar,

* freeze the captured fireflies, and

* keep them dry.

Funding for the Firefly Project is provided by ProMega Bioscience in California.

For more information call 1-888-520-1272 or e-mail fireflyproject@yahoo.com.

Collectors can also send their fireflies to: Firefly Project, 122 Emory Lane, Oak Ridge, Tenn., 37830.