Students' Push To Name Say's Firefly Official State Insect Has Momentum

By Mike Perleberg Say's firefly (Indianapolis, Ind.) - As debates over alcohol sale, local government consolidation, and the drug epidemic rage on, Indiana lawmakers are dealing with at least one light topic this legislative session. A state Senate panel on Wednesday unanimously approved a request to name the Say's firefly as Indiana's official state insect. The idea comes from a group of students from Cumberland and Happy Hollow elementary schools in West Lafayette. While the students at the school have been trying for years to get an official insect, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb has lent his support to the cause this year. "These are all of our state symbols that Indiana has," student Kayla Xu said as she held up a paper showing pictures of the symbols. "We left a blank space at the bottom, which we hope that the Say's firefly will be there." The students also recited a poem. With committee approval, Senate Bill 236 now heads to the Senate floor. Say's Firefly is named for Thomas Say. Known as the father of American entomology, Say found the bug – scientifically named Pyractomena angulate - back in 1826 while he was living in the southwestern Indiana town of New Harmony in Posey County. The lightning bug is neither a fly nor a bug. Rather it is a soft-bodied beetle that produces light through a complex chemical reaction in special cells near the end of its abdomen. Male fireflies use their flashes to attract females, who respond with flashes of their own.