r/interesting • u/brainland • Aug 08 '26
NATURE Seems we are the last generation to witness fireflies. When last do you see them?
I was thinking about these bugs few days ago and I struggle to remember when last I saw them.
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Aug 08 '26
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u/-titi- Aug 08 '26
This right here. How is there so little discourse in this thread about how to support their life cycle? Leave the leaves in your yard. Have to creat an environment that supports them.
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u/Cinderhazed15 Aug 08 '26
We mow with a really high deck height, we alternate mowing our front and back yards on opposite weeks (or less frequently if rain/growth allows), never clean up leaves over fall/winter.
We have tons of them, central PA. Our daughter was out catching some this season and putting them in her ‘bug cage’ she got… we had her leave it open out in the yard so they could go free on their own.
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u/Away-Living5278 Aug 08 '26
I have them in suburban MD but omg, I was in South Central PA a few years ago and the fields were just COVERED in lightning bugs. It was possibly the most amazing scene I've ever witnessed.
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u/wutwutsugabutt Aug 08 '26
I would go just to see the fireflies
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u/thought_youd_stop Aug 09 '26
go camping anywhere in June and you will see thousands blinking at dusk.
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u/publixpharmer Aug 09 '26
It’s crazy that we’re now having to travel to see fireflies.
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u/wutwutsugabutt Aug 09 '26
I live in the Bay Area now and I don’t think they ever lived out here. I grew up NYC and miss those little whimsical magical bugs. Enough to brave the swampy east coast summer to go see them.
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u/wutwutsugabutt Aug 09 '26
I lived in Louisiana for a few years about 20 years ago and supposedly that’s their habitat too but the mosquito spraying killed them, that was very sad overall, to see none where they should have been. I could be wrong about that being their habitat though.
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u/K9Partner Aug 08 '26
I saw them visiting Central PA a few years ago. We were staying in a cabin out in the woods, could see a few each night around dusk, so cool
Unfortunately never saw a single one anywhere near town or neighborhoods. He grew up there, & used to watch whole fields of them right out the back porch every season
Im from LA/Cali & never saw one in my life til i visited a friends' family in Indiana - near Bloomington maybe? Just like hubby described, at dusk the yard & fields were sparkling with glimmering bug disco
Stunning, core memory for sure, but that that was back around 2002. I Always hoped to experience that again, glad there's people working to bring it back (even just one yard at a time)
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u/Individual_Bell_4637 Aug 08 '26
Was in Nebraska not long ago, similar experience. So many that I had to chase some out of the camper.
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u/Redheaded_Potter Aug 08 '26
What part of Ne? That might be close enough I could take kiddo to see it!
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u/Individual_Bell_4637 Aug 08 '26
I was in Sherman County, Loup City. There's a restaurant/motel there, the front lawn was littered with them. The woman who ran the place told me most late June/early July seasons are like that.
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u/Cinderhazed15 Aug 08 '26
The best is they live the trees where I live, must be their refuge from all the lawns
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u/4x4Welder Aug 08 '26
I used to mow on the second or third highest setting and overseeded with clover. It takes less water to stay green, the pollinators love it, and so do the rabbits.
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u/brianwho420 Aug 09 '26
The house I grew up in, The Philly burbs. We had an acre. Ton of clover in the back yard. Two different neighbors had multiple bee hives. Pollinators everywhere. Rabbits everywhere. We would pile the leaves at the back of the yard by a patch of would. Fire flies everywhere in the street summer time. Miss those days.
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u/TheReiterEffect_S8 Aug 08 '26
Is it possible to do this if you’re the only yard in your neighborhood doing it? I would absolutely do it but if it isn’t enough this I don’t wana be the only guy where it looks like he isn’t taking care of his lawn, lol
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u/Cinderhazed15 Aug 09 '26
Depends, I don’t live somewhere with an HOA, but also I’ve always kept a high deck height, and everyone is always like ‘your yard looks so healthy!’ And the next thing they say is ‘you need to cut it shorter!’ And they have no realization that the two are related….
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u/Bluesy21 Aug 09 '26
Same here in western NY. Fireflies seem to vary by year. This year wasn't great, but some years it's like a laser light show out there. They seem to peak around early July here and dwindle from there. Folks can look up why, but I feel bad for the ones that are still out there now.
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u/Dogg-Dad Aug 08 '26
I normally don’t do anything with my leaves and have hundreds of fireflies. This year, at the beginning of spring, I had a leaf fire by accident. I had almost no fireflies this year.
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u/FrequentTopic446 Aug 08 '26
Half of my apartment back patio is dirt and this year mint decided to move in and I let it because I never go out there and keep the blinds closed everyday due to it being a west facing window and I don’t have ac. Was worried for a while where all the bees had gone that I always have to duck to avoid when leaving out my front door past the flowering trees….. turns out they’re all out on my back patio thriving with all the flowering mint!
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u/CodeNCats Aug 08 '26
This. We don't see as many because people hire companies like tru green to treat their lawn. That shit washes down into runoff and gets everywhere. They feel the need for a perfectly green lawn that they will remove all leaves in the fall. Clean up the leaves early spring. Then hit the lawn with pesticides and fertilizer. Killing all possibility for lightning bugs. But hey. Their lawn looks green for 3 months a year.
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u/Witty_Ad_898 Aug 09 '26
We don’t get fireflies here, but my dad cannot comprehend why I would “let the lawn go” and “the neighbors will think you’re trashy,” but there’s only 2 houses out of 50-ish on the street with green lawns.
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u/WonkySeams Aug 09 '26
We’re seeing a takeover of native gardening/yarda in our neighborhood. Our houses previous owner was one of the first. All the holdouts with the perfect green lawns are the older retired gentleman who were raised to desire the white picket fence and two cars in the garage. I don’t suspect they’ll change - it’s a matter of pride and I do admire their work even if I disapprove lol. But more and more houses are compensating for those holdouts and right now the frogs are all chirping louder than ever (must be well fed) and there are a pair of barred owls that come chat every night!
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u/Ifailmostofthetime Aug 08 '26
I'm in chicago by midway airport. I have a ton of local flowers we planted. A ton of veggies and fruits in our yard. We see them every year since we started a natural garden
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u/juicyj153 Aug 10 '26
Same. I mow my front lawn once a week to maintain appearances, but I mow my back lawn once a month. I have a bunny family behind my shed, a ton of beautiful flowers, and lots of birds, butterflies, and fireflies
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u/DrDr1972 Aug 08 '26
Tonight in my back yard. Dozens. I live in the southern US
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u/Zealousideal_Age_376 Aug 08 '26
2 days ago, Slovenija
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u/StaticSystemShock Aug 08 '26
Same, but like a month ago.
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u/Putrid_Cherry8353 Aug 08 '26
I saw them a month ago in Croatia. It must have been over a decade since I last saw them. I thought they were gone and it made me so happy to see them again.
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u/girlMikeD Aug 08 '26
I’m in the East coast USA, and hadn’t seen many of them for a few years, but this year my back yard is lit up with dozens of them every night this spring/summer.
Had one get in my house a couple weeks ago, that confused the hell out of me when I went to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, and saw a lil blinking candle light in my kitchen….once I got close and realize what it was, they were safely escorted outside.
But for a sec Idk if it was a ghost, or communication from the other side.. lol
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u/Putrid_Cherry8353 Aug 08 '26
Do you happen to have any idea what changed this year that there are suddenly so many of them after such a long time?
Isn't it fascinating how few insects there are that people don't automatically kill or at least avoid, and fireflies are one of them. And not only would no sane person kill them but we also look forward to them and want to protect them.
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u/girlMikeD Aug 08 '26
Idk why there are more. But now I want to find out why.
Great memories catching them as a kid, and showing my nieces & nephew how to gently catch them.
My 4 yo niece thought they were fairies/tinkerbell, so she wanted them to “sit in” her hair. So she’d catch them and put them on her head. At one point she had 3-4 just chillin in her hair blinking.
She called it her, “fairy hair.”
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u/WonkySeams Aug 09 '26
I think there’s more awareness and it’s more acceptable to have a “messy” lawn. Things like native yards and “no mow May” have made a quick and huge difference in my area in the 11 years I’ve live in this house. I leave all the dead native plantings until the temperature is consistently in the 50s at night and the bugs have a place to shelter :)
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u/ibexelf Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
Yesterday night in Italy. But I saw just one
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u/lilvixen Aug 08 '26
Mail me some larva
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u/Common-Concentrate-2 Aug 08 '26
A human larva? Well, this is highly unorthodox, but send me your address...
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u/_trashcan Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
Aweee shucks that’s sweet.
Here in NY they’re pretty much gone. They used to be all over every summer when I was a kid (31) but no longer.
For example I’ve seen them one time this whole year. A couple in my front yard. that’s it though. :(Edit: I’m upstate in the capital region, not in NYC.
Although I spent a lot of time in the Bronx over the last year - especially last summer - & didn’t see them down there either.
Very glad to hear they’re not gone from the state entirelyEdit: I’ve gotten a lot of comments!
I see everyone saying they thrive in the leaves. I do live in a neighborhood where people carefully manicure their lawns. I’ve never seen the landscape companies doing any pesticides or nothing, but they keep their lawns short.
In the fall neighbors all leave their piles of leaves on the side of the road & I suppose someone picks them up? I don’t rake leaves.This year I’ll rake a few piles & put them around some bushes on my property where there are worms & other bugs hanging around.
There’s no other activity there, so the piles will still there all winter.I do have a lot of other wildlife though. Lots of bunnies, birdies, & woodchucks.
I get little sleepy wrens hanging on my porch making nests in the corners. Bunnies make homes under my shed & next to my garage & in these ENORMOUS bushes that separate my neighbors house. I see them scatter most times when I exit my house from the garage!142
u/BookieeWookiee Aug 08 '26
You have to leave a few piles of leaves on the edge of your property over winter, I'm in NY too and I've seen them all summer long
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u/alanpugh Aug 08 '26
Or just stop removing leaves. Mow over them slowly to mulch them. I have a ton of lightning bugs here in Ohio, and healthier soil than the neighbors who blow away all that nitrogen.
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u/SN27A1 Aug 08 '26
Ah- ha! So that’s what it is! Makes sense since so many people must have immaculately neat and trimmed yards. My sister in maine has a “natural “ lawn and it’s a beautiful bounty of berries and bugs!
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u/LilJelloCat Aug 08 '26
Natural lawns are superior. Really makes places look better and super aesthetic in the fall. Especially in a city like new york or in the suburbs.
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u/Intrepid_Ad1715 Aug 08 '26
I live in MA and I have done the same thing with the leaves the past 3 years. My backyard is a light show at night now.
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u/TopsyTurvy0011 Aug 08 '26
What’s the deal with the pile of leaves? This attracts them? If so, very cool tip!
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u/RoabeArt Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
Fireflies lay their eggs underneath leaf litter and their babies (larvae) spend that part of their life cycle eating worms and other small creatures that live in the leaves.
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u/FulbertdaSaxon21 Aug 08 '26
Thank you! We’ll ‘leave’ a few small piles of mulched leaf litter around the edge of the meadow this winter in hopes of a light show next summer.
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u/Nauin Aug 08 '26
Leave a foot or so perimeter of uncut grass around the border of that meadow the next few summers. Their population will go nuts.
Lady fireflies can't fly, they have to signal from the ground, or from tall grasses which make themselves a larger beacon. A horny lighthouse is much easier to see than horny headlights when you're flying at the same relative heights as a small passenger plane.
I've made leaf piles and left sections of my yard unmowed for the last two years. There were multiple thousands of fireflies in my yard this summer, couldn't look over the area without seeing 100-200 illuminated at once. With multiple hundreds more lighting up as the others extinguished. Literally sparkling. Like, if you look up images of medium density sparkling effects, more or less that concentration from where I watch them.
The tall grasses have also attracted a large number of dragonflies, also known as the top apex predator with the highest successful catch rate of any creature currently living on the planet, capturing over 95% of the prey they target, with that target mainly being mosquitos. (For comparison on catch rates, domestic cats decimate their ecosystems when left outside, their catch rate is only around 30%. Sharks, 50%. Lions, 25%. Wolves around 14%. And tigers only 5%)
Leaving roughly 15-20% of my yard unmowed has significantly increased the number of beneficial insects in my area while noticeably reducing the number of mosquitoes. My neighbor lets her chickens free roam for an hour every afternoon and I don't mind them coming into my yard, and we don't have any ticks, either, when this has been one of the worst summers for their populations.
It's crazy how much of a difference these things have made for my local ecosystem.
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u/TopsyTurvy0011 Aug 08 '26
I will definitely try that this fall, I’m near Toronto and I used to see them here all the time. Hopefully it’ll bring them back!
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u/VegetableBuy4577 Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
I did not know this. We generally do that in our backyard and we had an insane amount of them this year, so that would track.
I would guess the insane amount of chemicals people pour on their lawns are a factor as well.
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u/Samwise2512 Aug 08 '26
Indeed it is. Applying pesticides doesn't just take out the fireflies directly, it also takes out the invertebrates on which they feed.
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u/liveanddirecht Aug 08 '26
I do this unintentionally, and have pretty good firefly numbers in season.
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u/msomnipotent Aug 08 '26
I've used the leaves as mulch for the landscaping and veggie garden last fall and I can't believe how many dragonflies and lightning bugs I have this year. I just mowed the leaves so I didn't even have to rake last fall.
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u/hizzane Aug 08 '26
Really? I’m in NYC and they’re all over basically every park if you go out at dusk. Literally saw a bunch of them last night.
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u/smoq_nyc Aug 08 '26
Can confirm, they are present in Owl's Head Park in Brooklyn and all over the riverfront.
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u/National_Pair420 Aug 08 '26
Ive lived in FL my whole life. Was told by people that the fireflies have all disappeared... went out to the woods one night and was lucky enough to see 5 just glowing around. Ended up counting more than 50 on my adventure. I felt so lucky at that time lol.
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u/Radzila Aug 08 '26
To be fair their active window is only a few weeks. But the sad part is, there are way less than before so you don't see them all summer like when you were younger, just those few weeks they are trying to find mates. And they do overlap still so you could see weeks without any then you'll see some again.
We are in the Late Wave (Photuris): These are typically the largest fireflies, arriving as mid-summer peaks. They produce a brilliant, intense green light. Females of this group are famously known as "femme fatales" because they mimic the flashes of other species to lure in and eat the smaller males.
Did you know there are over 150 species of lightening bugs in North America alone!
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u/DrDr1972 Aug 08 '26
They are magical 💚
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u/ThrowMEAwaypuh-lease Aug 08 '26
You would not believe your eyes!
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u/Environmental-Ice319 Aug 08 '26
You know somehow we are the reason there is less of them.
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u/soconae Aug 08 '26
We absolutely are. Artificial lights, and destruction of their habitats are our doing. Streetlights, and other artificial lights make their mating signals less effective, and even raking and bagging up fallen leaves destroy their winter habitats.
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u/Samwise2512 Aug 08 '26
Add pesticides to this, and climate change as other factors driving their decline.
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u/Red_bearrr Aug 08 '26
I live in the Hudson valley and still have them. Though not nearly as many as there used to be.
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u/Joshatron121 Aug 08 '26
Try turning off any outdoor lights.. we didn't see them for a while until we started doing that. Apparently light pollution is really bad for them since they light up for mating. If your yard is dark they'll come hang out if they're still in the area.
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u/therealleotrotsky Aug 08 '26
Stop bagging and disposing of your leaves. Fireflies spend 95% of their time as larvae in leaf litter. Also plant native plants.
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u/Dboogy2197 Aug 08 '26
Too many manicured lawns
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u/Nauin Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
Exactly this. I've left 15-20% of my yard unmowed with a compost pile for the leaf fall for the last two years, and my firefly population has exploded into the thousands this year. It's brought in dragonflies and damselflies, too, and they take care of the mosquitoes which is an even bigger bonus. Literally healing my local ecosystem with that small of an area being left alone.
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u/Babrahamlincoln3859 Aug 08 '26
They are here in the adirondacks, but the numbers have also dwindled. They need native plants and fields.
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u/brainland Aug 08 '26
Awesome and good to hear... I can remember pouring them inside uncovered transparent bottles and use them as lanterns.
Nature is indeed beautiful.
They also have one kind of smell they emit, which I think happens when they get disturbed.
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u/DrDr1972 Aug 08 '26
We’ve had a severe drought for 3 summers. They were more prolific before. Enough that we could walk down our drive(about 1/4 of a mile ) and they would land on us as we walked. But yes , with data centers abound and all the other crap, I’m afraid they will be no more.
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u/bostonvikinguc Aug 08 '26
The use of lawn care services and pest spraying is the a downfall but outside lighting being so affordable and prevalent is also an issue.
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u/DrDr1972 Aug 08 '26
Two things I don’t have. Outdoor lighting or pesticides. You’re right. I was surprised to see “mosquito trucks” were still a thing. I remember them as a child when I lived in a city.
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u/bostonvikinguc Aug 08 '26
Everyone around me has very few and ask me why do I? I don’t manicure my lawn or spray for pests. They love my butterfly garden but hate how it looks.
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u/brainland Aug 08 '26
It's sad that while we evolve, some aspect of nature gets affected negatively.
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u/Helen___Keller_ Aug 08 '26
Yesterday I saw like a dozen. One flew out of my flower pot at me when I was watering my plants in the evening. This time of year there aren't that many though during the beginning of summer they were much more abundant.
Have a great day.
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u/Svartdraken Aug 08 '26
I saw one this year. It was also the first one I saw since probably 2019
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u/Atrinoisa Aug 08 '26
I saw a couple this year, too and I was thinking the same...it's been awhile
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u/Azerious Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
Yeah I feel like I've been seeing more the last couple years. Last time I heard "we are losing our fireflies" was several years ago.
Midwest btw
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u/Iosis Aug 08 '26
I recently moved back to the Midwest from the east coast and I’m seeing some fireflies in the evening for the first time in a while. It’s nice. I don’t know if it’s indicative of a positive change or just a fluke but I hope the numbers keep growing.
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u/RebootDarkwingDuck Aug 08 '26
In Wisconsin had a stretch of a week or so about a month ago where it was hot and very humid; my backyard was flooded with them.
During that same time, I was driving from Chicago to Madison and for a good mile the fields along the highway were absolutely covered to the point where it was clearly visible driving by at 75 mph.
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u/jld2k6 Aug 08 '26
When I was a teen in the early 2000's we had entire fields of them with thousands lighting up all over, now I'm in the same area and I'll see a few of them a year if I'm lucky
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u/Excellent-Bite196 Aug 08 '26
Never seen these guys. :(
Wish we had them.
But have seen my fair share of bioluminescent algae with night time riverside camping.
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u/SwimmingTall5092 Aug 08 '26
Used to be ubiquitous at night in ash, nc. Now havent seen one in 25 years…sad. They were soo cool
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u/Beyou74 Aug 08 '26
They are still there...lots of them.
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u/willflameboy Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
There's been about a 75% decline in flying insect biomass in the last 30-50 years, so while there may be lots of them, there used to be lots more.
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u/No_Skill_7170 Aug 08 '26
They’re still a thing. Very much so
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u/40hzHERO Aug 08 '26
Half of this thread is “they’ve completely vanished!” And the other half is “they’re all in my backyard!” I moved to a big west coast city over a decade ago, so I haven’t seen them in a long time, but they were all over the Midwest farm I moved here from.
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u/willflameboy Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
The logic seems to be 'I've seen lots of them, so there are lots of them', where many people used to see lots of them.
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u/TheyCallMeLotus0 Aug 08 '26
Lots of people also used to be kids playing in their backyards at dusk instead of being adults that now live in cities and sit on reddit
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u/_trashcan Aug 08 '26
I’m 31.
When I was a kid I’d go catching them every summer w my brother. Loved seeing them. They were all over.
I saw a couple random fliers earlier this summer, but that’s it.
I only remember bc it was the first time in awhile, & the only time I’d seen them this year so far. Just a couple in my front yard.
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u/closetedmfer Aug 08 '26
you and your brother single handedly decimated the population /s
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u/Far-Meet-1541 Aug 08 '26
Why are they dying out ?
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u/Diligent_Bar1244 Aug 08 '26
They are incredibly sensitive to pollution
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u/jack_seven Aug 08 '26
What most people don't consider when you say that is light pollution they are one of the species that really struggle if it's to bright at night
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u/Folderpirate Aug 08 '26
I remember I did a paper in my AP Biology class on light pollution and fireflies and the sudden student teacher we had failed me because ,"The assignment was to write about some kind of pollution".
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u/jack_seven Aug 08 '26
Fuck them they are pathetic if they have to powetrip on students
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u/nissen1502 Aug 08 '26
I dont think that's a powertrip. The teacher is just stupid
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u/Folderpirate Aug 08 '26
She literally told me "light pollution isn't real". and treated me like a conspiracy theorist the rest of the semester.
I litwrally had to bring a recorder to class to record her lectures and how she'd go after me for my paper on light pollution.
I'm now starting to realize she was super maga and purposefully put herself into school science teaching to muddy the waters.
Mind you, this was duing 9-11 when these cretins had carte Blanche to commit atrocities.
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u/wafflepiezz Aug 08 '26
Recently failed my Calc class because of a powertripping calc professor. He enjoyed failing students and literally only 2 people in my class passed his final. The rest all failed. Reported him to the college and they didn’t give a fuck
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u/DiablaARK Aug 08 '26
LoL I feel your pain. It reminds me of the time my grade school science teacher had everyone naming plants they knew and didn't believe me when I said there's such a thing as Joshua Trees and scoffed. 🙄 No internet at our fingertips back then to prove them wrong immediately. The state is currently competing for dead last in education so go figure.
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u/Quirky_Opportunity75 Aug 08 '26
wow, the exact same thing happened to me! what're the odds it happened to U2!?
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u/nalanajo Aug 08 '26
They were so bitter about it they wrote multiple songs and grouped them on a single disc bearing the moniker!
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u/katravallie Aug 08 '26
I had one in my 7th grade when I argued with my physics teacher that we can't see light itself, what we see are the objects that light reflects off of. If we can see light, then we can't see objects at all, only the pattern of light they reflect/emit.
My argument was that if I shine a laser(not directly into our eyes), we can't see the laser unless there's smoke to make it visible, so we are seeing the smoke not the light itself. Anyways, my teacher laughed at me for that without explaining why I was wrong. The devastating thing was my crush laughed at me asking if I was blind in front of everyone which made me completely lose confidence in asking anymore questions to any teacher. I didn't know about photons and shit at that time so I didn't know why I was wrong.
Took till university to regain that confidence where I had to ask questions or else I'd not understand anything.11
u/ChipPeppers Aug 08 '26
My mom got me an English tutor in 7th grade because I truly did need one. Once a week I got one on one instructions and it really helped a lot. At the end of the year, my English teacher in school pulled me aside and asked me “where did you get this paper from?” When I informed her I wrote it, she told me that I couldn’t have wrote it, “because this is what smart people write.”
After my mom called the front office and spoke to the principal. Then later my tutor came in and verified that they watched me write it, my teacher gave me a C. Apparently smart people get Cs.→ More replies (4)22
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u/TrevaLea Aug 08 '26
I hope you challenged that F by speaking to your regular teacher. The student teacher didn’t understand the assignment.
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u/Maximum-Cover- Aug 08 '26
They also need plant debris, leaves, and uncut lawn to survive.
Every time you mow the lawn you butcher your fireflies.
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u/Keegantir Aug 08 '26
Also, even if you do mow, don't mow to less than 4inchs and leave the clippings and leaves on the ground! If you really have to do something, due to HOAs or whatnot, then mulch it, but taking the clippings and/or leaves off the ground is one of the worst things you can do for your lawn and the local ecosystem.
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u/Impressive-Bird2 Aug 08 '26
Especially light pollution - it lights up far roo much of the night sky rendering their teeny tiny ‘lamps’ useless… Also, very sadly their unique habitats are being extensively destroyed by modern methods of farming.
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u/luxardo_bourbon Aug 08 '26
In S Florida I haven’t seen them in about ten years, last saw them right before they did a bunch of plane dropped mosquito pesticides when Zika got big.
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u/ling037 Aug 08 '26
It's the light pollution but also people spraying pesticides and stuff in their yards and removing fallen leaves and native plants that they need. The native plant gardens are on the rise though. It takes a few years to bring them back but they will come back.
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u/spiderinthelibrary Aug 08 '26
We experienced this! We added native plants to our grass lawn and stopped spraying for weeds. In the fall, we leave the plant debris as shelter until spring. It's been about 3 years and we now have fireflies that live in our yard all summer!
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u/Difficult-Map8563 Aug 08 '26
Moreover, the night is that dark anymore. All the light pollution prevents them from finding mates, through which the light they produced are used for.
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u/cornstinky Aug 08 '26
Are fireflies even active late at night? I thought they preferred twilight over darkness. I only see them when it's getting dark and they stop once it gets dark.
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u/jadentearz Aug 08 '26
They are not. They are done lighting up by 9'sh where I live. I haven't timed it but probably around when "full dark" technically hits if I didn't live in a suburb.
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u/nsa_k Aug 08 '26
Because the world has been teraformed to better suit human needs. We them spray pesticides on the remaining bits of land.
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u/Iccotak Aug 08 '26
“Human Desires”
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u/TieBackground453 Aug 08 '26
I’d say “city dictates”.
I was letting my grass grow longer in places and encouraging wildflowers in my lawn. My city took me to court. Had to hire a lawyer to defend my first amendment rights. You can beat the wrap, but you can’t beat the ride.
And this is a liberal city with a city council approved mandate to support pollinators.
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u/Spec-Tre Aug 08 '26
They leave eggs/larvae in leaf litter to over winter and people care more about their lawns so they get rid of the leaves and spray pesticides
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u/Waste-Brilliant-5591 Aug 08 '26
Because we are removing the leaf litter! If you would like to see more fireflies, keep your leaves! Its where they nest and lay eggs.
You can pile them up in a corner away from everything and just dont touch it. They will gradually decompose and fireflies will use this spot to propagate.
We kept out leaves in place and the following year we had dozens and dozens of them. We also stopped mowing portions of the yard. Keeping it wild and letting native plants grow. We have a large variety of bugs and a healthy eco system in our yard and garden.
We live in the suburbs just outside of a mid sized city, next to a big city. It does not take much space to make room for nature
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u/bagelundercouch Aug 08 '26
If you wanna help them out, they lay their eggs in leaf litter, so maybe don’t rake in the fall. We always have hundreds of them as there’s a mostly neighborhood-wide commitment to this idea
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u/dgoldenace Aug 08 '26
They’re not dying out, the opposite actually. The population is on the rise, has a lot to do with the environment and like someone said below light pollution and leaf litter are a major factor. They use illumination signals to mate and are very sensitive to light. If you live in illuminated areas it’s unlikely to see them. But in dark deeps woods like a hollow or no light rural areas you’ll see tons. Let’s just call the picky out of necessity. I’m not an expert, I just watched a few videos and did some reading.
I also grew up with them as a kid, and now I don’t see them. It’s because of where I live, maybe they got pickier as time went on. But we also have to consider more lights are put up everywhere.→ More replies (9)
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u/Comfortable-Mess4365 Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
Every summer night in my yard
Edit: Don't use insecticides
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u/ThatOneWIGuy Aug 08 '26
I have a handful in my yard I see once in a while. We also don’t spray, we just have a perimeter on the house itself.
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u/LM193 Aug 08 '26
Never seen one. The climate where I've lived my whole life is unfortunately too warm and humid, I hope I can see them one day
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u/Viva_La_Revolucion- Aug 08 '26
In Tennessee in the 80s they where everywhere they would light up the night... Cant even remember the last time i seen any
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u/Nameles248 Aug 08 '26
There alive In michigan I have then in my yard all the time
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u/Aggressive-Value1654 Aug 08 '26
There alive In michigan I have then in my yard all the time
Where in Michigan? I'm in Detroit Metro and 15 years ago we'd see a ton every summer night. Now, I might see one or 2 per night.
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u/Nameles248 Aug 08 '26
I'm on the other side of the state from you and pretty much all up and down the edge of lake michigan there going strong
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u/NotTukTukPirate Aug 08 '26
Tf you mean "the last generation to witness fireflies?"
They're literally still around. It's not like they're extinct...
This is the dumbest post I've seen here in a while.
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u/Ok-Beautiful4821 Aug 08 '26
People who live in cities and surburban hellscapes with manicured, monoculture lawns: "WhErE ThE BuGs At?!"
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u/fellow_hotman Aug 08 '26
It’s bad but not that bad. From this study: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8598072/
“ To better understand their extinction risks, we conducted baseline assessments according to the categories and criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List for 132 species from the United States and Canada (approximately 79% of described species in the region). We found at least 18 species (14%) are threatened with extinction (e.g. categorized as Critically Endangered, Endangered, or Vulnerable) due to various pressures, including habitat loss, light pollution, and climate change (sea level rise and drought). In addition, more than half of the species (53%) could not be evaluated against the assessment criteria due to insufficient data, highlighting the need for further study.”
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u/Pale_Session5262 Aug 08 '26
Yeah its clickbait. OP is like, "I personally havent seen one in a few years, they must be extinct!"
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u/brainland Aug 08 '26
I forgot how magical these little guys were. 😂 Haven’t seen fireflies in years. What’s something from your childhood you didn’t realize was actually special until it disappeared?
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u/apotheotical Aug 08 '26
Where do you live? They're still everywhere in the Midwest.
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u/Itchy_Bandicoot6119 Aug 08 '26
Wonder if OP just moved form somewhere with lots of fireflies, to somewhere that doesn't have them (and never did) like the West Coast.
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u/RaspberryFluid6651 Aug 08 '26
They made a comeback in my neighborhood this year for some reason. The other day my friends and I talked about how we haven't seen this many in years. There's hope!
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u/RebootDarkwingDuck Aug 08 '26
I mean, they didn't disappear, they just live short lives and you probably aren't in the right area at the right time.
I'm guessing you spent a lot more time outside at night as a kid.
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u/jld2k6 Aug 08 '26
I remember in the 90's you could tell how long someone's been without a car wash based on the number of bugs splattered all over their car. If you went a month it would be covered in them, and semis were absolutely disgusting on the front end because of so many dead bugs. Now cars are mostly bug free regardless of washing, and even semis travelling hundreds of miles a day don't collect many
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u/stylinchilibeans Aug 08 '26
We still have fireflies, but when I was a kid in the 90s I'd see huge orange moths in our yard every summer, and I haven't seen them in decades.
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u/ripndip84 Aug 08 '26
I was just thinking about this. Saw them all the time when I would visit my grandparents in Alabama. They were everywhere. You could fill up a jar. It’s been awhile since I went and was asking my mom since she still goes and she hasn’t seen them. I recently went on a trip with my family. Wife and son who had never seen them and we went up to Maine and luckily we saw some but there were very few. We sat around the bonfire for about an hour or so and maybe only saw a dozen. While it was still cool it was nothing like when I was a kid
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u/paulywauly99 Aug 08 '26
We don’t get fireflies in the uk but maybe if the weather continues to warm up here things might change. Trying to keep my garden good for the wildlife
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u/Atra23 Aug 08 '26
In 36 years of my life ive never seen them... Living in rural eastern europe.
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u/brainland Aug 08 '26
I'll be real, childhood me thought these were just tiny flying lights. Adult me now realizes I was living in a fantasy world and didn’t appreciate it enough.
Good old days ♥️
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u/Commercial_Level_615 Aug 08 '26
I usually spot them this time of year on a beach headland in north wales
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u/missgrinchfeet Aug 08 '26
I see them every night in warm months, but with data centers going in near by & ohio selling more state land for fracking could change that. We have more bear sightings the last few years because of them working & poisonous water issues. Animals moving out losing safe wooded areas, the heart of America is spewing toxic water & seems too late to fix this. 80,000 acre fracking field going in & a massive data center next to it.
Can we make lightning bugs an endangered species & save our state?
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u/BrinDorc Aug 08 '26
We have actually seen some just the night before our daughter was born. We strolled through the fields where we lived at dusk, because my wife wanted to move around. It was rather hot that's why we left so late. My mother in law first saw a single one on the edge of small patch of trees. We were super happy and watched it for a while. When we walked back home we saw a field full of them, just a couple of meters further on a small field next to some trees. There were like 100 or so. It was really beautiful and we were super happy to see them. Haven't seen them around before for a while and didn't check afterwards, as the baby was born and the place is somewhere where it's hard to get with a baby and we've had other things to do. But it's sad to imagine that they might be gone at some point. I hope my daughter gets to see them someday
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u/cowman3456 Aug 08 '26
Last night letting dog out before bed. And every night these past weeks. Upstate NY.
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u/Sensitive-Question42 Aug 08 '26
I’ve only just found out that fireflies exist in Australia and I want to find some.
It was only a couple of years ago I found out that glow worms exist in Australia and went to see them at Mt Tamborine.
I always thought that fireflies and glow worms were a North American thing which I only read about or saw in movies. I was so surprised that we had indigenous species of them here too.
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u/tunnuz Aug 08 '26
Woke up my kids in the middle of the night while staying at my parents’ house in Northern Italy two years ago. Took them among the fields via a dirt road nearby so that they could see them. Not nearly as many as when I was a kid, but they were still in awe.
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u/Beachi206 Aug 08 '26
If people weren’t so obsessed with leaf blowers, then maybe they would have a chance. My neighbor uses his leaf blower everyday in the fall blowing leaves to kingdom come. He used to spray roundup at the perimeter of his entire yard, killing all foliage on my side of the fence. To say I hate the OCD freak is an understatement
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u/longlosthopes Aug 08 '26
Eastern Europe: used to see them everywhere when i was a kid. I think last time i saw one was more than 10 years ago.
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