Fireflies blink in unison sans fanfare

PUNE: The Jungle Resort in foothills of Bhimashankar, about 45km from the city, was booked completely for nearly 15 days around this time last year to catch a sight of the fireflies.
The once-a-year courtship display during the first two weeks of June — with males blinking out their signals in form of a few bioluminescent light flashes in the hopes of attracting females — has been a popular attraction for tourists from Mumbai, Pune, Nashik and other areas.
The fireflies have doubled in numbers this year, but there are no visitors in the wake of the lockdown imposed due to coronavirus spread. Villagers in the Bhorgiri jungles, where the resort is located, said that the tourism was hit badly due to the non-essential travel restrictions. They said that the first two weeks of June was the best season for them to make some money as visitors from across the state visited the site to witness thousands of synchronous fireflies put on a stunning light show.
The villagers said that a dozen of trekking clubs used to organise treks to the foothills during the first two weeks in June for visitors to view the spectacle in person. Akshay Kate, the caretaker at Jungle Resort, said, “This place used to be overbooked from May-end till June 20. But this year, we had to lock the resort owing to the lockdown.”
A forest guide at Bhorgiri, Rushikesh Wable, said, “This lockdown has disappointed many regular visitors. They have been calling us from Pune, Mumbai, Ahmednagar, Nashik and all nearby cities to know if the fireflies have come. All we can do is send them videos.”
Researcher on insects Vishal Solanki said, “The number of fireflies here have doubled because of no human disturbance this past few months.”