“It was the pure Language of the World. It required no explanation, just as the universe needs none as it travels through endless time.”
—Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
One summer evening in Michigan, I was sitting on the back porch with my family watching fireflies blink in the fading light. We spent hours tracing their back and forth, wondering what silent signals they were sending. I felt reluctant to leave the next day; how could I ever part with such bioluminescent splendor? But as I solemnly walked my street in Brooklyn that night, I was surprised by a familiar glow. I had been living in New York for over a decade and had never seen fireflies—and yet there they were. It felt like a whisper from the world: I am always with you.
Communication is all around us in the natural world—and much of it is unconventional. Electric fishes such as Peter’s elephantnose fish use electricity to speak with one another underwater. In fact, electro-sense is how they navigate the muddy waters of western and central Africa in which they swim. They emit sentences and syllables across electric signals, often in service of collaboration. If one finds a plentiful food source, it will send out a pulse alerting others in the surrounding area, so that their fellow fish don’t have to expend as much energy foraging.
Other animals use subtle vibrations to exchange information. Black widow spiders strum their webs to send signals to potential mates, and desert-dwelling white lady spiders drum the sand to attract mates and repel rivals. Meanwhile, subterranean mole-rats rhythmically bang their heads against tunnel walls in order to send messages across their elaborate underground networks. Kangaroo rats drum the earth with their hind legs, signals that can be detected even meters away. Even elephants use inaudible seismic rumbles to communicate across long distances.
Of course, fireflies and other bioluminescent organisms rely on light to communicate. The secret to these beetles’ lanterns lies in specialized organs in their abdomens. There, a chemical reaction produces a cold light with almost no heat, ranging in shades from green to orange. Each species utilizes distinct flashing patterns to declare when they are ready to mate, and to help find a suitable match. Light can also be emitted to warn off predators. And in some tropical species, mass synchronization occurs: entire swarms can be found flashing their lights together.
Dance is another well-established form of dialogue across the animal kingdom. Birds in particular are known for their elaborate mating rituals, from moonwalking Manakins to tap-dancing red‑cheeked and blue‑capped cordon‑bleu finches to the water ballets of great crested grebes. And then there is the famed waggle dance of honey bees, which foragers use to convey the precise polar coordinates of food sources to other members of the hive.
In the plant realm, plants communicate using chemicals. While the idea that trees talk through common mycorrhizal networks linking their roots is debated among scientists, what’s not contested is plants emitting chemicals in the air to send signals. For example, when a white oak is being ravaged by gypsy moth caterpillars, it might release a volatile organic compound to signal to other oaks that danger is present. Nearby trees might then begin producing tannins and phenolic compounds in their leaves to deter predators. Even grass releases scented chemicals in response to the trauma of being cut—a cry for help that we associate with a freshly-mowed lawn.
It’s summer now, and the fireflies are back illuminating my neighborhood. There aren’t quite as many as there were those years ago, but they’re still here. I wonder if they always were, and I just hadn’t noticed them talking to one another. I think of all the time in my life I spent too focused on my daily dramas and doldrums to notice their magic. Outside of our devices, which seem to be screaming for attention louder and louder, our world is always speaking—whether through light, electricity, vibration, dance, or chemicals. The question is: Will we listen?
Biome
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