Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Kelip-kelip Kg Dew Firefly

In Kg Dew we use a small boat that can ferry 6 pax in a boat. 
Big boat 7 to 12 persons 






Fireflies in Kg Dew, Taiping Perak is in the species of Pteroptyx tener. The mangrove trees called "berembang trees" by the local grow along the riverbanks of Sungai Sepetang river. These are the trees where the fireflies or "kelip kelip" in the local language congregating the adult male fireflies congregate on the leaf of the berembang tree at night to attract females. Like other bugs their life cycle is eggs, larvae, pupa and firefly. Female firefly lays their eggs on the wet soil 60 metres inland. After hatching the larvae become a predator. The larvae main food is the snails. Its bites on to the snail, then release the toxin to paralyse and digest the snail internally. After that it will suck the digested juice and leave the shell emptyAs a predator the larvae consume everything they could hunt. The life cirle of the fireflies is about 6 month with most of it time as the larvae. The adult firefly lived just 2 weeks to find thier mates. After mating the male firefly will die, the female dies after lying it eggs

Firefly, one of the fascinating beetle that abound in Malaysia at one time and is now fast disappearing due to the fast pace of development. Fortunately, there are still fireflies congrageting at berembang tree to be seen in Kg Dew, Perak about 45 minutes or so drive from Penang Bridge using PLUS highway.. 

The best time to visit firefly is after nightfall at approximately 7:00pm to 11:00pm. It is also advisable to go when it is not full moon and not during raining evening.