Kampung Kuantan Fireflies - Places to Visit from Kuala
Lumpur Places to Visit - A Day Trip Out of
Kuala Lumpur
Situated about 75km away, it is a pleasant drive out away from KL city, winding
through old rubber and palm oil plantations, a few shanty-looking towns and
several Malay villages peering into a way of life that perhaps seemed all too
familiar to the British planters who used to own large tracks of lands out here
at the turn of the 19th century.
Just outside Kuala Selangor, the place called Kampung Kuantan is actually well
known, both locally and internationally, for its unique heritage of the
twinkling fireflies. Kelip-kelip in Malay, means 'to twinkle'. The fireflies
here are hence more popularly known as the kelip-kelip. The fireflies aren't
flies but are in fact tiny 6mm long beetles, the species found at Kampung
Kuantan is known as Pteroptye tener.
Here
visitors can board a river boat to witness one of natures wonders - The
fireflies dancing to the beat only known to them, producing a rhythmic whistling
sound. The entire riverside is lit with pulsating lights, the bushes over the
flat surface of the river appearing like Christmas lights. The tiny lights
shining from their equally tiny butts is reflected brightly from the rivers
brown surface. The nights illumination represented the culmination of the bugs
lives: mating. For this purpose, they choose only young Berembang trees; hence
their massive concentrations in these select bushes arising from the muddy
bottom of the tidal river
Residing
only in mangrove areas; during the day, they retreat into the tall grasses just
behind the mangroves. As night falls, they move to the mangrove trees (berembang
tree) lining the banks of the river, to feed on nectar from the leaves and to
attract mates with their synchronised flashing. Needing a damp and swampy
environment to live, the "Berembang Tree" or known by its scientific name 'Sonneratia
Caselaris' grows wildly along the banks of Sungai Selangor.
The
chemical reaction in the thorax of the insect produces a cool green glow that is
controlled to flash at a rate of 3 flashes per second. The males flash within
1/30th of a second of each other whilst the females do not flash as frequently
nor as flamboyantly as the males. Each tree has different groups of families and
sometimes the synchronisation of flashes on one tree falls out of synch with the
neighbouring tree. However, for optimum effect, it is best to visit the place
just after nightfall and not later than 11.00pm, after which time the
kelip-kelip would have found mates or mated, and subsequently the flashing would
stop.
Best way to Visit -
Fort Altingdburg & Fireflies Tour
If you taking this tour, you would go to Kuala Selangor, visit Bukit Melawati
see the sights here then proceed for a riverside seafood dinner and finally to
nearby Kampung Kuantan for a riverboat ride to witness the fireflies display.
Here
visitors can board a river boat to witness one of natures wonders - The
fireflies dancing to the beat only known to them, producing a rhythmic whistling
sound. The entire riverside is lit with pulsating lights, the bushes over the
flat surface of the river appearing like Christmas lights. The tiny lights
shining from their equally tiny butts is reflected brightly from the rivers
brown surface. The nights illumination represented the culmination of the bugs
lives: mating. For this purpose, they choose only young Berembang trees; hence
their massive concentrations in these select bushes arising from the muddy
bottom of the tidal river
Residing
only in mangrove areas; during the day, they retreat into the tall grasses just
behind the mangroves. As night falls, they move to the mangrove trees (berembang
tree) lining the banks of the river, to feed on nectar from the leaves and to
attract mates with their synchronised flashing. Needing a damp and swampy
environment to live, the "Berembang Tree" or known by its scientific name 'Sonneratia
Caselaris' grows wildly along the banks of Sungai Selangor.
The
chemical reaction in the thorax of the insect produces a cool green glow that is
controlled to flash at a rate of 3 flashes per second. The males flash within
1/30th of a second of each other whilst the females do not flash as frequently
nor as flamboyantly as the males. Each tree has different groups of families and
sometimes the synchronisation of flashes on one tree falls out of synch with the
neighbouring tree. However, for optimum effect, it is best to visit the place
just after nightfall and not later than 11.00pm, after which time the
kelip-kelip would have found mates or mated, and subsequently the flashing would
stop. 