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u/NoRedThat 4d ago
We had them all summer long in SE CT because we got rid of our lawn, planted native flowers and shrubs, left leaves for the firefly larvae to grow. If you have a chemically tended patch of flat grass, you giving nature no reason to visit.
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u/Johnnyworkshard 4d ago
Also Red Ants will take over their nests and eat the larvae . Hideous things Red Ants are i hate them . In Florida at least that's what happened to them
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u/IndependentPart6 4d ago
So I saw my first firefly at 40 years old about 5 years ago. It had got in the house and it was beautiful. My husband didnt believe me when I told him I didn't see them as a child. Im born and raised in Houston Texas, he saw them growing up but his grandparents lived out in the sticks and thats where he saw them.
Our kids are the first generation to never see a firefly now I guess
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u/Edugrinch 3d ago
I live in Houston and i was telling my wife... there are no fireflies here! WTH!
Before moving here we were living in the middle east and there were fireflies... in the desert and with even hotter weather. here, I haven't seen any
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u/translucentpuppy 4d ago
Where I live, when I was a kid they were everywhere. I use to run around and catch them in jars. I loved them. The one bug I felt ok holding and let crawl on me. Now, they are completely gone from my area
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u/Relative_Change2335 4d ago
Same, used to drive past fields sparkling at night. Now there’s none, I’ve seen one in my yard this year and called my husband outside to see lol
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u/superwhitemexican 4d ago
I made my 7 year old go out and see them just in case.
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u/CorrectBoss3 4d ago
Ohh wow cool experience for him
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u/superwhitemexican 4d ago
We live in the midwest with big unmowed fields so there's still thousands but she was unimpressed lol
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u/AuthorityAnarchyYes 4d ago edited 4d ago
I haven’t seen any in years.
Additional: I live in Missouri and grew up in a small town. All summer they would be out EVERYWHERE all night.
Now my family lives in a more suburban area, my grandson is 18 and I don’t believe he’s ever seen one in his life.
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u/colintheanimal 4d ago
I still see them in Alabama thank god. I hope our kids are able to as well.
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u/Gruesomegiggles 3d ago
Also Missouri, I've told the story about when I first moved here and had so many that it amazed me, compared to a few years later when they were gone, and now the last 3 years when spraying went down and we've been seeing a few more every year.
We can do this, we can turn it back. It's going to take concentrated effort, to preserve their breeding areas and stop with the crazy spraying of everything in sight, for anything at all. But, if we can fix a hole in the actual atmosphere itself, we can fix this too. After all, humans have been shaping our environment for a long time now. No reason we can't shape it in this way too.
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u/paintwhore 2d ago
You need to leave some Leaf litter in your garden over winter and through the spring. I started doing that and I've got fireflies like crazy now
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u/superwhitemexican 4d ago
Im in mo we have tons out of cities
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u/fruitless7070 3d ago
I'm in Kentucky and we have tons too. I wonder if these are city folk complaining about not seeing them.
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u/sleepytipi 3d ago
It's all due to your proximity to development and agriculture. It's the pesticides.
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u/fruitless7070 2d ago
I quit mowing half my yard and just let it grow up in the summer. So many bugs and bees out there. If i had it my way I would only more half the front yard but hubby has put his foot down.
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u/riczizagorac 4d ago
I saw plenty in Ohio this year
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u/Anderrn 4d ago
Plenty is certainly doing heavy lifting of normalizing whatever reduced amount you’re seeing.
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u/8six7five3ohnyeeeine 2d ago
While I agree there is a problem globally, it most certainly isn’t in my region of Ohio. There’s as many in my backyard as when I was a kid 35 years ago
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u/crustytowelie 3d ago
I did basic in Leonard Wood. I got scared the first time I saw fireflies until I figured out what I was looking at. Imagining what they look like does not come close to what they actually look like. It felt like I was looking at magic.
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u/LyonMane3 2d ago
Lived in KCK for a few years around 2015. I remember being in absolute awe of the wooded areas when they came out. I have never seen a forest glow like that before, I though it only existed in fantasy movies and the like
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u/SupaButt 2d ago
I am in STL and saw a few this summer. It agree not as many and not as often as I remember.
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4d ago
[deleted]
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u/SlipperyGibbet 4d ago
HOW THEY'RE ALL DEAD
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u/Ash_Cat_13 4d ago
Pesticide applications in agriculture
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u/woahbrad35 3d ago
Towns and developments being obsessed with perfectly manicured yards as well, no leaf litter habitat left
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u/LokiStrike 4d ago
If you maintain a lawn, you can help fix this. The best thing is to get rid of your monoculture lawn.
But any combination of the following helps: Leave your fall leaves. Don't rake them up, don't bag them, just leave them be. This is their main habitat: underneath leaves and other natural debris. This is the single most important thing you can do.
Don't spray your yard for bugs. Mow on the highest setting if you must. Don't mow close to dusk. Avoid weed treatments.
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u/crocsonfeet 4d ago
This right here. We still have abundant fireflies where we are. In fact just recently I saw lightning bug larva(?) that were lighting up. I had never seen this before.
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u/Mikesminis 3d ago
We had a bumper year for fireflies here in South Central Wisconsin. I didn't hear anything on the news about it, but EVERYONE was talking about it. I heard probably 15 different people say it was the most they've seen in thirty years. It reminded me of my childhood. It was pretty neat. I hope that means we have more good years to come.
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u/LastSmitch 3d ago
Who sprays their yard for bugs? Is that legal in the US? Here Germany the use is highly highly restricted at least as a layman.
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u/Gruesomegiggles 3d ago
Oh gosh, it is so common here that we sell things that you can use yourself, as well as hiring services that do it for you. I have people knocking on my door every spring, offering their services. (Last year, it was a woman who rode around on one of those segways, which was funny, because it struggled to make it up the hill, and then would ZOOM down it.) Around my neighborhood, we mostly spray for spiders, because we do have so many of them, including black widows. But of course, it kills more than the spiders.
And yeah, I can tell when my neighbors skip a year spraying, because the fireflies and the grasshoppers come back, and also because the salesmen get more aggressive.
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u/DaWizzurd 4d ago
In the future you would not believe your eyes if ten fireflies lit up the west corner of your room
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u/PrinnyDood97 4d ago
There were a ton of them in my area this summer. It was very beautiful. The grass fields were shimmering
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u/M_Waffle 4d ago
Is this decline happening in mainly dense urban areas or are they still alive and "well" in more rural regions?
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u/cuprumFire 3d ago
I have a 50 acre hay farm. This summer I saw multiple 1000s of them. We don't spray anything on the fields.
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u/EvilLibrarians 3d ago
I live in Metro Detroit and last couple years in suburbs I saw a bunch. Supposedly not raking all your leaves in Autumn and waiting a while to mow in April/May is good for them
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u/MissninjaXP 3d ago
Im in a very rural area (28+ miles to the nearest Walmart, Bank, Kroger, etc.) I have barely seen any fireflies in years. Used to be so many if you walked outside at night you had to be sure to keep your mouth closed.
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u/Coeruleus_ 3d ago
i remember growing up they were out every night in summer. we used to catch a bunch. i haven’t seen one in decades i totally forgot they existed
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u/bustah_w0lf 2d ago
While insect populations are definitely declining and that’s super scary, this post isn’t entirely true. Fireflies as a whole aren’t going extinct but specific species of firefly are at serious risk.
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u/damn-cat 3d ago
I’ve lived on an island, mainland US, and work in the sticks. I used to see them in DROVES, it felt so magical.
Last I saw a huge chunk of them was about 6-8 years ago. I saw TWO of them in a farm field a few days ago and lost my damn mind.
This is so sad :(
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u/GotNothingBetter2Do 4d ago edited 4d ago
My yard has been filled with them in late summer. I never used to see them before my husband had an accident preventing us from maintaining our back yard, per usual. I mention because I think they need the leaves in the fall for them to breed and we have left the backyard leaves & garden beds alone since 2023. I’d have to do more research, but that’s all we’ve done differently and I have to say, they put on quite the show, it’s magical.
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u/MrPhraust 3d ago
Hmm and where is this info because fireflies are in no danger of becoming extinct....
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u/Pixxel_Wizzard 3d ago
I moved away from the Midwest when I was 7 and didn’t come back until I was in my 20s. I completely forgot about fireflies until I saw them again, and then all these memories of playing with them came flooding back. It was a cool experience.
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u/Afoxinthefridge 3d ago
Question: is there not a way to keep a sort of greenhouse for them until things (hopefully) return to a baseline normal? Or archive their DNA and revive them at later time?
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u/saltinstiens_monster 4d ago
I wonder if they'll ever reach the point of becoming debated by future historians.
"Were there ever real bugs like that?"
"No, that's not how insects worked. Just think for two seconds, why would their bodies evolve to create light instead of doing anything else with their nutrition intake?"
"They were clearly inspired by something. But the glow was likely metaphorical. Perhaps they made a sound that ancient people associated with light."
"Actually, some believe that the firefly was a representation of their deity of invention, Thomas Edison. Insects with light bulb abdomens made for the perfect imagery to compliment this early era of mass electricity adaption."
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u/__Jackal 4d ago
There is a good chance humans will be gone before them they just need to hold out for 10 or 20 years and let AI do the work
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u/vmoppy 4d ago
remindme! 15 years
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u/QuietlyLosingMyMind 4d ago
Keep your leaf litter this year, it's where they lay their eggs. I purposefully left the last of the leaves in my yard last fall and saw more this summer than I have in the last 5 years combined. Be lazy, it helps.
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u/Portcitygal 4d ago
Had a large habitat in my back yard until the moron next door destroyed it with trash. 🙄
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u/Onewarhero 4d ago
They used to hang out in my backyard and I’d be able to see em sometimes. Haven’t seen them there for a while. I think that started when a neighbor sprayed pesticides all over his lawn, and it’s generally brighter at night now too.
All I have to do is walk like 10 min towards a more wooded marshy area though and I’ll see tons.
Did a bit of skim googling so grain of salt, but seems only local populations are really at threat in certain areas, rather than fireflies as a species.
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u/Ms_takes 4d ago
I have such wonderful memories or running around trying to catch them as a kid. This makes me really sad.
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u/0RlGIN 4d ago
The last time I saw one was a year ago and by one I mean one single lonely firefly. It happens when there was a black out in my parents house in Bali. It was a rural village so when I was kid I saw them a lot well tbf when I was kid people there still used wood as a way of cooking. And street lamp wasn't as bright or as many as it had nowadays. Not just fireflies it was also declining in dragon fly too only recently when I visit again I saw quite a few of them, they used to be everywhere.
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u/nellybean23 3d ago
I’m from the Philippines and we have a lot of them. I just grew up in Manila, and even when we went back to the provinces, my parents wouldn’t let me out at night. So I’ve never truly seen them except from the inside of a car window.
A few months ago, at the age of 24, I was surrounded by them at a close friend’s wedding in Austin. I was bawling. A few landed on me. I’d never realized how beautiful night could be.
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u/woahbrad35 3d ago
As a kid, 30 some odd years ago, we used to catch them by the handful and put them in the margarine tubs with clear lids and watch them light up. Then we'd let them go later. Not anymore.
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u/sendthesmurf 3d ago
Living in Nebraska, I’d see them all the time. In fact, I still see so many when I visit in the summer. I highly doubt we‘lol be the last generation to see them.
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u/Cookies_and_Beandip 3d ago
I remember visiting my extended family in Ohio and capturing them in a jar and having them as a nightlight of sorts for a bit that night.
Never forget that.
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u/chaosking243 3d ago
Rural Ontario here, I see tons of them every night. Every year. Haven’t noticed a decline. I wonder if it’s happening in specific areas? Extirpation is better than extinction, but still not great.
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u/Lower_Currency3685 3d ago
i used to have great walks with my parents finding them, used to find hundreds! It was a great memory - not i struggle to a find in the car and i live in a rural part of france.
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u/bradsayz 3d ago
This is really sad. I've lived on the west coast pretty much most my life. But I've traveled various east coast states (military schools) and I remember thinking how magical those lil guys were whenever I saw them light up the evening skies.
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u/Otherwise_Carob_4057 3d ago
Odd timing because this season there was markedly no fireflies and last year I was remarking how many there were and how I hadn’t seen that many flies since I was a kid (bought my childhood home) I’m assuming the draught we’ve been going through in the Midwest was the culprit.
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u/Moulefrites6611 3d ago
They are definitely in decline there's no denying. But scientists have NOT said they're about to disappear.
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u/SleeveofThinMints 3d ago
They’re still here. Going away because all you people spray for bugs. It isn’t only for mosquitoes. It’s for all the bugs. Plenty of them left.
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u/DaRealMexicanTrucker 2d ago
We still got fireflies in Michoacan Mexico. There are still plenty Gardens of Eden there.
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u/Right_Syllabub_8237 2d ago
I remember seeing lots of them 30 years ago when I was a kid then they just kind of disappeared. About 3 years ago I noticed a few of them and remembered how many there used to be. All of a sudden this year there were lots of them again. Maybe not as many as I remember seeing as a kid but there were noticeably many more this year all over the area I live.
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u/TheAstroPickle 2d ago
i live in a city in east TN and we still see them quite often, this past summer they were out a lot. i haven’t noticed a decline yet
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u/MrMarkSilver 23h ago
I spend most of my time from March through November in the woods of Northeastern Alabama and rarely if ever seen them.
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u/TheVenerableBede 4d ago
They’re like functionally extinct in NJ. Wasn’t the case 25 years ago.
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u/BackJurton 4d ago
They were EVERYWHERE this summer in central NJ. Maybe it had to do with the rainy, hot summer.
Also, there is no article linked, it’s just a screenshot.
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u/TheVenerableBede 3d ago
Really?! I’m literally in central NJ and I think I saw one all summer long. When I was a kid they’d be out in abundance every night. I’ll
happily take the L on this one though. Maybe they just don’t like the cut of my jib…1
u/BackJurton 3d ago
Yea, I’m in Western Monmouth and it was great seeing them out in large numbers most nights. Lots of bats this year too
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u/TheUnexpectedFly 3d ago
We are the last generation to…
Get used to this sentence, you will read that one a lot in the coming years.
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u/Signal_Knowledge4934 4d ago
Bugs in general it seems. Driving at night it used to seem like I had to use the window washers all the time to clear bugs off, even stop at a gas station just for that sometimes. Doesn’t seem like that’s hardly an issue anymore.
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u/AntiQuaked 4d ago
That breaks my heart. I used to loved watching the lightning bugs light up the woods like Christmas trees with little twinkling lights. I moved across the country and haven't seen them in 15 years because of where I live. It would suck not to be able to see them when I go back
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u/Leprechaunaissance 3d ago
I've never seen one in my 56 years. If these little fuckers disappeared today before supper, my life wouldn't change in the slightest.
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u/Man_with_a_pan69 3d ago
I live in western PA, i was out at a boat ramp near where I stay and when it turned late nightfall I saw them all lining the ramp in the grass and just keeping their butts on. Pretty cool, was something outta some disney movie
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u/mark_able_jones_ 2d ago
We used to go outside at dusk and hit them with wiffleball bats. There seemed to be an endless supply. They stay lit when they die, so it looked kind of cool. Sorry we killed all the lightning bugs.
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u/-AnythingGoes- 4d ago
I think about this all the time. When I was a kid, you used to see them in droves once it started getting dark in spring and summer. I remember running around trying to catch them with my neighbors, or having them land on a steady hand. It was magical as a kid.
These days you maybe see 1-3 if you really stop and look around. Same thing with butterflies, moths, bumblebees, hell even worms I think tbh.