They were everywhere when I was a kid. I haven’t seen one in years.
They were so delightful, and I miss them.
FireRetardant@lemmy.world
on 22 Jun 13:23
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YMMV but i still see lots right around dusk at the edges of wetland areas. Not denying they are threatened but there are still some places they are able to live and those places should be protected. Wetlands do a lot more for us ecologically and hydrologically speaking than just fireflies anyway and are one of the most important ecosystems to be protected.
We just moved to a house with over an acre and a creek that runs through the back yard and we have them all over the place right now.
My dog had never seen them before and i caught him this week trying to eat them. One would flash and he’d chomp towards it, then another would and he seemed confused on how it got over there so fast and hed chomp that direction. It was precious
I have cats just under a year old, this is their first summer with eyes open. We’ve had a few fireflies get into the house, and watching them go nuts once they notice this weird flashing bug has been the highlight of my night lately. All 5 of them running in a little pack, eyes wide. Every time they light up, all the cats stop and just stare. It blows their little minds, and I love it.
Bald eagles have made a resounding comeback after nearly being hunted to extinction around the '30s and '40s. If you live anywhere near the Mississippi you’ll probably see tons of them.
I once nearly hit one with my car. Coming around a blind corner there was a giant ass bald eagle in the middle of my lane. Seriously it took up the entire driving lane and was about as a big as a small car with it’s wings partially out while it chowed on some prey
Devadander@lemmy.world
on 22 Jun 13:37
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Don’t rake your leaves
A_Union_of_Kobolds@lemmy.world
on 22 Jun 13:42
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I stopped mowing super regularly and my yard is full of em
Let the weeds grow, let the forest in. I’m in the Smokies fwiw
wise_pancake@lemmy.ca
on 22 Jun 13:50
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Same
They’re back, and they’re happy with my mess of a lawn.
I don’t think my lawn will ever look like a golf course, there was an above ground pool at one point so one area is packed densely and full of gravel sized rocks.
We threw down some clover, there’s wild strawberry, one spot has mint (I’ve been told trying to remove it is a sisyphusian task). It’s cozy now, and I guess the fireflies like cozy, and I like watching them from my patio.
This is fantastic and good advice, but I also remember them in great numbers 20+ years ago, and people were mowing their lawns then, too.
mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com
on 22 Jun 16:12
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Mowing isn’t the issue; Raking leaves is. Fireflies lay eggs in the fall, on dead leaves. Since suburban HOAs require leaves to be raked and trashed, it removes the fireflies’ breeding grounds. If you don’t like leaves on your lawn, just fucking mulch them with your lawn mower instead of raking them. A perfectly raked yard is an ecological wasteland.
sigmaklimgrindset@sopuli.xyz
on 22 Jun 17:40
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I think a lot more people use weed killers and other pesticides in their yards than previously as well, since they’re more commercially available. We even have “summer weed maintenance subscriptions” in my city for this (yeah, I know, ugh). I finally stopped using that stuff on my yard and I have a lot more critters in it than my neighbours.
Is the rocky area underperforming in terms of growth? Consider xeriscaping! Use drought and heat tolerant plants like succulents to fill in and color up an otherwise uninhabitable area
I let the plants that do grow there go to seed and it’s filled in a bit, but it’s not great.
I’m in Ontario and I don’t know if succulents will work, but I like them and can look into it.
lightnsfw@reddthat.com
on 22 Jun 15:42
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Yea, theres a big overgrown patch behind the house and we have them all over. It’s nice to see. I like to sit out and watch them while the sun goes down. It’s relaxing. Theres a bunch of other critters that come out around that time to so it’s interesting. I watched a couple of raccoons take apart my neighbors bird feeder last night.
Another bug I haven’t seen in forever is grasshoppers. I used to catch buckets of those things when I was a kid and I don’t think I’ve seen more than a couple in years.
A_Union_of_Kobolds@lemmy.world
on 22 Jun 16:56
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Yeah i don’t see many grasshoppers either. Some, but very few.
mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com
on 22 Jun 16:09
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Yeah, fireflies lay eggs on dead leaves. The ultra-clean suburban yards are killing firefly populations, because people keep raking up the fireflies breeding material and throwing it away in plastic trash bags. A perfectly kept lawn is an ecological wasteland, and suburban trends have expanded that wasteland for miles at a time. It’s no wonder fireflies have struggled to survive.
Want to see fireflies? Stop raking your lawn. If you don’t like the way the leaves look, mulch them with a lawn mower early in the season, so they can blend in with the grass. But don’t just fucking rake them up and throw them away.
While it’s better than keeping a barren monoculture lawn, keep in mind that letting things grow with no intervention will get you a lot of invasive species. If you want healthier habitat for your critters try to keep an eye on what’s growing and replace the bad stuff with native options.
That’s not true for my yard. My calculated neglect results in an extremely drought tolerant yard of native species.
A_Union_of_Kobolds@lemmy.world
on 22 Jun 16:54
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I’m working on it :)
jumping_redditor@sh.itjust.works
on 22 Jun 21:45
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problem: the bad plant is native, and phototoxic
bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works
on 23 Jun 13:55
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I have a big flat yard i don’t use and I hate boring grass. I want part of it to just grow. Would you recommend dig up the current grass and throw some native seeds out, or just let the grass and plants grow themselves and weed anything bad out (like creeping jenny)
Depends on if you have a healthy wild source that can seed itself in. My woodline is almost entirely invasives so it took more legwork to balance it out. I ended up mostly planting small trees/shrubs to shade out the weeds and letting Virginia Creeper spread (love that stuff).
Barring that it probably depends on yard size and local climate. Might be more economical to clear with a sod cutter or spot weed + replace.
Check for local native plant orgs, they can get you plants in bulk. They might also have specific advice, for example if you need to avoid seeding certain plants to protect a vulnerable local species.
I don’t think my state of mind has anything to do with whether or not I see fireflies, but the times and places I go haven’t really changed over the last 15 to 20 years. The number of fireflies I see at those times and in those places, on the other hand, has dramatically changed.
I’ve only ever seen them at sea level, in warm and humid places, usually during the middle to later months of the summer.
For context, I grew up in the 80s and 90s as a kid, and that’s when you used to see a lot of them. But ever since then, they become more and more rare. I knew that, eventually, they’d probably go extinct. I realize this back in the 90s or something.
If I really think about it, the last time I saw one might’ve been between eight and 10 years ago. And I only saw one. And I was sitting in the backyard of a bar in Brooklyn, during a very hot humid summer night after it had been raining, and I was sitting with a bunch of friends and then mentioned to them that this may be the last firefly you ever see.
They were everywhere in the mid-Atlantic 20 years ago.
I saw one little blinky buddy on my back door last night. I looked out, he was the only one. I shut my porch light off in hopes that he would wonder off and find some friends.
I mentioned in another comment that it must’ve been 8 to 10 years ago when I was sitting in the backyard of some bar in Brooklyn, in the middle of summer, where I saw the last one I ever saw. And I was sitting with a bunch of friends, and I pointed out that it was the only one, and that this might be the last one any of us ever see.
Now I made myself sad
bonsai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
on 22 Jun 13:19
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I miss seeing these everywhere in the summer as a kid. Guess I just aged myself lol, but I did see some in the park last night. Nowhere near as many as years ago though.
theywilleatthestars@lemmy.world
on 22 Jun 13:23
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The dad then joins his son laying on the floor and crying
godlessworm@hexbear.net
on 22 Jun 13:35
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thats okay. we dont need things that dont make capitalists more money.
alzymologist@sopuli.xyz
on 22 Jun 13:35
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I’ve seen them once in my life, in Smoky Mountains, about 10 years ago. It was pretty much spiritual experience. The darkness came alive. I cried when I saw their luciferase smeared over windshield and glowing long after the creature was dead. I knew lots of lore about them, saw them in mass culture - never realizing I never saw one myself, even though I take care to notice all living things around, from bacteria and yeast to mycchorizal networks.
I live in Europe.
A_Union_of_Kobolds@lemmy.world
on 22 Jun 13:43
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Aww bless. That’s where I live. My yard is still full of em at night, I’ve made sure of it.
Lucky_777@lemmy.world
on 22 Jun 13:37
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I replaced my entire lawn with species native to my region and my entire yard is currently covered in multiple species of fireflies. It’s so magical to see all the different colors and flashing patterns. Mind you, I live in the city so it’s only my yard that is really providing for them. All my neighbors’ yards have either no fireflies or a few.
You don’t have to replace your entire lawn like I did. Just setting aside some space for our wildlife neighbors is better than nothing. Remember plants are the foundation of almost every food web. For me, it’s magical to go outside and see the new blooms and growth, look for new creatures that show up, and just walk the little paths in my small yard. In an age of ecologic collapse and climate change it gives me some sense that I can have a measurable, positive impact and that really helps me mentally.
alzymologist@sopuli.xyz
on 22 Jun 13:55
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I do not have a lawn, I have several ha of forest and grassland. I have about 25 nest boxes for wild birds, occupied 2/3 (last year I had a huge owl living in one!) and countless other nests, several snakes, snails and frogs, lynx and I see bear tracks and scats now and then. I keep bees and allow wasps to build wherever they like, there are lots of bumblebees everywhere and birds sure have something to eat. I mulch a lot and keep loads of rotting leaves. I mow with scythe when I absolutely have to clear small area. I know there are fireflies in Finland.
I don’t know European firefly species ranges. I’m fortunate enough to live in a region with multiple species ranges overlap. What species are in your region and what are their ranges?
Regardless, your land sounds beautiful. Thanks for being a good neighbor to the wildlife!
MarcomachtKuchen@feddit.org
on 22 Jun 15:34
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What a beautiful paragraph to read. Thank you for sharing
Rooskie91@discuss.online
on 22 Jun 14:07
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I convinced my inlaws to stop bagging or raking their leaves a few years ago, and they’re everywhere now. Not as many as if the whole neighborhood has done it, but more than when I met them.
Recent IUCN Red List assessments for North American fireflies have identified species with heightened extinction risk in the US, with 18 taxa categorized as threatened with extinction
Upon further investigation, it appears that only SOME species of fireflies are at risk of extinction. Others are so common they are of “least concern”.
If foreign propaganda bots are bombarding us with doomer memes to instill apathy and depression in the younger generation, this fits.
CptOblivius@lemmy.world
on 22 Jun 16:32
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Maybe, but I haven’t seen one in decades in our area. Used to see them every summer. I’ve thought about that for a while, even before this.
Or create leaf mold (a pile of sticks and leaves) in targeted areas of your yard/property that are ideal for breeding fireflies and other desired native insects/spiders. Especially if you live in an HOA community that requires reqular raking and can hide the leaves under bushes/shrubs/trees/garden beds as mulch.
Raking of leaves isn’t really the problem so much as is the complete removal of leaves from the property & neighborhood (which also removes the nutrients from the local top soil).
complete removal of leaves from the property & neighborhood (which also removes the nutrients from the local top soil).
See also: folks who insist on collecting all grass clipping when they mow. It’s free fertilizer that helps save some water. Some folks care too much about a golf course lawn that they fail to realize the obvious benefits to slight adjustments to their practices
I haven’t lived at the same address but I now live in a small enough town I’ve seen deer, turkeys and bald eagles from my yard, but I grew up in the suburbs where a raccoon was the wildest thing I ever saw
Used to catch them growing up. There would be thousands of them periodically blinking in the yard and across the field every night. It was pretty and serene.
I saw one just the other night when I let my dogs out before going to bed. It was so surprising that I had to wait a minute and verify I wasn’t just seeing things. It was a real life lightning bug. It was a happy sad moment.
Retrograde@lemmy.world
on 22 Jun 19:05
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I can’t remember when I last saw fireflies. They used to be quite common 25 years ago when I was a kid. Damn, time flies and I’m getting old. And fire apparently doesn’t fly any more.
jawa22@lemmy.blahaj.zone
on 22 Jun 17:21
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This is a wild concept to me. I see hundreds if not thousands every night in the summer.
starman2112@sh.itjust.works
on 22 Jun 19:42
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Oh yeah? What next, don’t mow my lawn every day?
Next you’re gonna say that my excessive pesticide use harms the insects I like
RebekahWSD@lemmy.world
on 22 Jun 18:47
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I had wondered why we always seemed to have some fireflies here and it turned out my hatred of raking and leaving the leaves under the bushes helped a lot!
PrimeMinisterKeyes@leminal.space
on 22 Jun 19:08
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Pasolini wrote a famous essay in 1975, “The Disappearance of the Fireflies,” which, at that time, was already starting to become very noticeable. Of course, the essay was really about capitalism.
Personally, outside my childhood in the countryside, I noticed fireflies in the outskirts of a largish city some 20 years ago, then nothing for a very long time, and then I saw a few when I lived for a brief period of time in a really remote place, like an hour from the nearest highway. No trains anywhere near, too.
Off-topic, but if you don’t know Pasolini, I urge you to read his last interview which seems particularly gloomy as it appears to foreshadow his own death just a few hours after.
One memorable quote:
I listen to the politicians – all the politicians – with all their little presumptions and I turn into a mad man as they prove they do not know which country they are talking about, they are as far away as the moon. And together with them there are the men of letters, the sociologists and the experts in any kind of field.
lone_faerie@lemmy.blahaj.zone
on 22 Jun 19:16
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You would not believe your eyes if ten fireflies lit up the world as I fell asleep
OKRainbowKid@lemmy.sdf.org
on 22 Jun 19:25
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I understood this reference.
bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works
on 22 Jun 22:26
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Go minnesota!
AlligatorBlizzard@sh.itjust.works
on 23 Jun 11:39
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capitalism will kill us all, starting with the smallest and most defenseless
southsamurai@sh.itjust.works
on 22 Jun 21:08
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I’ve been so happy to see them in our yard this year. Enough so that I’ve stopped clearing brush just in case that’s why they’re here in such numbers. I haven’t seen them like this in a decade or more.
Madzielle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
on 22 Jun 21:44
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I have participated in No Mow May for three years now. I also have a spot in the yard I let be free (weeded it for invasives) for the same amount of time.
This summer, for the first time since I have lived here, exsists an abundance of fireflys in my yard. They are everywhere, in a way I’ve never seen since I was a child.
No Mow May, (even if just a part of your yard) gives insects a place. Bugs live in the leaves and natural debris, by keeping it undisturbed, from fall to winter is important for many bugs’ survival.
If you like bugs, consider dedicating space in your yard for them to live. Don’t keep grass in the typical american perfect lawn way. I suggest not to spray, and look at native grasses and plants first when seeking your landscaping needs.
I’ve noticed a real difference this year in my yard. Maybe its some coincidence, I don’t know. Either way I’m happy to see lightning bugs again
One night in ft Gordon we were doing an FTX and we got out there late and set up the tents in the dark, n in a field of tall grass. No sooner than the tents were set up, an intense rainstorm came through and dumped a metric fuckton of rain in 15-20 minutes. And as quickly as it started, it was over. Afterwards there were so many fireflies it looked like a fantasy movie. I had never seen anything like that. I’ve been all over the world, hell I grew up in Boulder, on of the most beautiful places on earth, but I’ve never seen anything even close to that. It was absolutely magical. And my kid gets so excited to see 2 or 3 and it makes me want to cry.
MedicPigBabySaver@lemmy.world
on 23 Jun 10:11
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It was only a few, but, I did see some while camping this weekend.
Same, been camping twice this summer and both times I was taken aback and both seeing them (it’s become so rare), and how few there were. Used to be swarms of them in my backyard, not I go camping just to see 3 of them.
aeternum@lemmy.blahaj.zone
on 23 Jun 11:44
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I don’t even see butterflies anymore. Sad.
fossilesque@mander.xyz
on 23 Jun 11:47
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Plant milkweed and don’t touch your dead leaves!
aeternum@lemmy.blahaj.zone
on 23 Jun 13:46
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What are you doing about this? All I see is people posting complaints like you are, and massive protests being completely ignored by everyone. Republicans only respect violence, and the left doesn’t value violence so we are left looking like limp impotent bitches.
I haven’t seen a butterfly during most of my teenage years but have seen a resurgence last few years because gardening as a hobby became huge for mothers and young adults alike.
My mother used to have a small but lushful garden when I was a child but she wasn’t able to maintain as many plants because busy and budget.
SnokenKeekaGuard@lemmy.dbzer0.com
on 23 Jun 14:34
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This is kind of wild to me. This year we’re seeing more fireflies in my yard than we have in a long time. My husband and I have been commenting on it. At night there’s an awesome light show and it’s kind of awesome. Whatever is happening in my neighborhood they definitely like!
It’s likely because of the recent storms causing damp leaf and damp vegetation clutter, which is what they like to hide in during the day, where they lay eggs, and where they live.
You clearing your yard of all the leaves into non-biodegradable plastic bags into the dumpster and having an ugly as fuck monoculture grass lawn isn’t helping these insects recover from being at risk of going extinct.
SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world
on 23 Jun 12:55
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Well at least we’ll still have lightning bugs, right.
weariedfae@sh.itjust.works
on 23 Jun 13:19
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I moved to Minnesota in the early 2000s and was blown away by all of the fireflies. It was magical. I’ll never forget snuggling up with someone and watching the fireflies during a thunder storm.
The decline was unbelievably rapid. The last 6 years I was there I’d maybe see one or two the whole summer. If that.
It’s so sad because they’re truly wondrous creatures.
bathing_in_bismuth@sh.itjust.works
on 23 Jun 13:41
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They got Roundup
2ugly2live@lemmy.world
on 23 Jun 14:11
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I saw lightening bugs for the first time in years when I moved to the east coast. I was so excited, I caught some and brought them inside to show my cat (I let them back out of course). Next year, nada. So far this year? Also nada. I even made a point to leave the leaves. 😔
Over the weekend I saw an incredible display of the blue Ghost Firefly right up in my face while camping in Pisgah. What a thing. I have been reforming my entire yard to facilitate insects. This year I did have a significant amount of fireflies compared to years past. Things can change and get better. They might not, but we might as well try for good.
klemptor@startrek.website
on 23 Jun 15:04
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Man I feel lucky, there are a ton of lightning bugs in my yard
mexicancartel@lemmy.dbzer0.com
on 23 Jun 20:01
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GUYS GUYS I CAME BACK TO THIS POST BECAUSE THERE IS A FIREFLY IN MY BEDROOM!!(I rarely see it theese days but it’s here now)
normalexit@lemmy.world
on 24 Jun 04:56
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Oddly this year they are really prevalent in my area. In prior years I haven’t seen nearly as many.
I’m intentionally avoiding lawn treatments and insecticides this year. I love my yard, but I’m also thinking about switching to clover.
JackbyDev@programming.dev
on 24 Jun 05:53
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Hey folks, it’s easy. Leave your leaves in the fall. It will take two years of this. The first year they’ll nest there the next they’ll hatch. I’ve been doing it for two years and have more. Especially my front yard where I’ve never seen them before.
Also, the other day I saw one in a spider web and it flashed back when I put my flashlight on it. (Which is really sad lol.) I did it a second time to check and it did it back a second time. Definitely wasn’t coincidence. So all the talk about lights on in your house absolutely is true and it probably confuses them. To the best of your ability turn off lights or at least close curtains and blinds. Definitely turn off porch lights.
They’re magical. The sounds and sights of a summer evening are truly an enchanting experience. Especially after dealing with a stupidly hot day lol.
threaded - newest
Source? :(
Please I need to know!
xerces.org/endangered-species/fireflies
PS: Donate to them.
I’m so glad you posted this! As a current donor, I was about to do so myself.
Thank you for spreading awareness and helping keep our summers just a little more magical!
They were everywhere when I was a kid. I haven’t seen one in years.
They were so delightful, and I miss them.
YMMV but i still see lots right around dusk at the edges of wetland areas. Not denying they are threatened but there are still some places they are able to live and those places should be protected. Wetlands do a lot more for us ecologically and hydrologically speaking than just fireflies anyway and are one of the most important ecosystems to be protected.
We just moved to a house with over an acre and a creek that runs through the back yard and we have them all over the place right now.
My dog had never seen them before and i caught him this week trying to eat them. One would flash and he’d chomp towards it, then another would and he seemed confused on how it got over there so fast and hed chomp that direction. It was precious
I have cats just under a year old, this is their first summer with eyes open. We’ve had a few fireflies get into the house, and watching them go nuts once they notice this weird flashing bug has been the highlight of my night lately. All 5 of them running in a little pack, eyes wide. Every time they light up, all the cats stop and just stare. It blows their little minds, and I love it.
Sweet little murder beasts
I’ve seen two this year.
I’ve seen More bald eagles land in the yard year than I have seen lightning bugs.
Bald eagles have made a resounding comeback after nearly being hunted to extinction around the '30s and '40s. If you live anywhere near the Mississippi you’ll probably see tons of them.
I once nearly hit one with my car. Coming around a blind corner there was a giant ass bald eagle in the middle of my lane. Seriously it took up the entire driving lane and was about as a big as a small car with it’s wings partially out while it chowed on some prey
Don’t rake your leaves
I stopped mowing super regularly and my yard is full of em
Let the weeds grow, let the forest in. I’m in the Smokies fwiw
Same
They’re back, and they’re happy with my mess of a lawn.
I don’t think my lawn will ever look like a golf course, there was an above ground pool at one point so one area is packed densely and full of gravel sized rocks.
We threw down some clover, there’s wild strawberry, one spot has mint (I’ve been told trying to remove it is a sisyphusian task). It’s cozy now, and I guess the fireflies like cozy, and I like watching them from my patio.
This is fantastic and good advice, but I also remember them in great numbers 20+ years ago, and people were mowing their lawns then, too.
Mowing isn’t the issue; Raking leaves is. Fireflies lay eggs in the fall, on dead leaves. Since suburban HOAs require leaves to be raked and trashed, it removes the fireflies’ breeding grounds. If you don’t like leaves on your lawn, just fucking mulch them with your lawn mower instead of raking them. A perfectly raked yard is an ecological wasteland.
I think a lot more people use weed killers and other pesticides in their yards than previously as well, since they’re more commercially available. We even have “summer weed maintenance subscriptions” in my city for this (yeah, I know, ugh). I finally stopped using that stuff on my yard and I have a lot more critters in it than my neighbours.
Is the rocky area underperforming in terms of growth? Consider xeriscaping! Use drought and heat tolerant plants like succulents to fill in and color up an otherwise uninhabitable area
Definitely underperforming.
I let the plants that do grow there go to seed and it’s filled in a bit, but it’s not great.
I’m in Ontario and I don’t know if succulents will work, but I like them and can look into it.
Yea, theres a big overgrown patch behind the house and we have them all over. It’s nice to see. I like to sit out and watch them while the sun goes down. It’s relaxing. Theres a bunch of other critters that come out around that time to so it’s interesting. I watched a couple of raccoons take apart my neighbors bird feeder last night.
Another bug I haven’t seen in forever is grasshoppers. I used to catch buckets of those things when I was a kid and I don’t think I’ve seen more than a couple in years.
Yeah i don’t see many grasshoppers either. Some, but very few.
Yeah, fireflies lay eggs on dead leaves. The ultra-clean suburban yards are killing firefly populations, because people keep raking up the fireflies breeding material and throwing it away in plastic trash bags. A perfectly kept lawn is an ecological wasteland, and suburban trends have expanded that wasteland for miles at a time. It’s no wonder fireflies have struggled to survive.
Want to see fireflies? Stop raking your lawn. If you don’t like the way the leaves look, mulch them with a lawn mower early in the season, so they can blend in with the grass. But don’t just fucking rake them up and throw them away.
While it’s better than keeping a barren monoculture lawn, keep in mind that letting things grow with no intervention will get you a lot of invasive species. If you want healthier habitat for your critters try to keep an eye on what’s growing and replace the bad stuff with native options.
That’s not true for my yard. My calculated neglect results in an extremely drought tolerant yard of native species.
I’m working on it :)
problem: the bad plant is native, and phototoxic
I have a big flat yard i don’t use and I hate boring grass. I want part of it to just grow. Would you recommend dig up the current grass and throw some native seeds out, or just let the grass and plants grow themselves and weed anything bad out (like creeping jenny)
Depends on if you have a healthy wild source that can seed itself in. My woodline is almost entirely invasives so it took more legwork to balance it out. I ended up mostly planting small trees/shrubs to shade out the weeds and letting Virginia Creeper spread (love that stuff).
Barring that it probably depends on yard size and local climate. Might be more economical to clear with a sod cutter or spot weed + replace.
Check for local native plant orgs, they can get you plants in bulk. They might also have specific advice, for example if you need to avoid seeding certain plants to protect a vulnerable local species.
Just the other day my son was chasing the fireflies in our front yard.
…That front yard I was feeling bad about not mowing because the weeds mixed in with the grass quickly grow tall flowers above the head.
I think I want to keep helping those blinky-bois.
There are SO MANY DAISIES everywhere! I can’t wait to see what happens with a little more effort on my part
You and I and others like us, we can help.
How often are you in a place and time and state of mind to stop and see the fireflies though? The problem is both ecological and cultural IMO.
I don’t think my state of mind has anything to do with whether or not I see fireflies, but the times and places I go haven’t really changed over the last 15 to 20 years. The number of fireflies I see at those times and in those places, on the other hand, has dramatically changed.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen one. I now feel sad that I may never.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen fireflies, probably because of the Latitude I live at.
2009 radio compensated for it heavily, though.
I’ve only ever seen them at sea level, in warm and humid places, usually during the middle to later months of the summer.
For context, I grew up in the 80s and 90s as a kid, and that’s when you used to see a lot of them. But ever since then, they become more and more rare. I knew that, eventually, they’d probably go extinct. I realize this back in the 90s or something.
If I really think about it, the last time I saw one might’ve been between eight and 10 years ago. And I only saw one. And I was sitting in the backyard of a bar in Brooklyn, during a very hot humid summer night after it had been raining, and I was sitting with a bunch of friends and then mentioned to them that this may be the last firefly you ever see.
I really am sad that was right
They were everywhere in the mid-Atlantic 20 years ago.
I saw one little blinky buddy on my back door last night. I looked out, he was the only one. I shut my porch light off in hopes that he would wonder off and find some friends.
I mentioned in another comment that it must’ve been 8 to 10 years ago when I was sitting in the backyard of some bar in Brooklyn, in the middle of summer, where I saw the last one I ever saw. And I was sitting with a bunch of friends, and I pointed out that it was the only one, and that this might be the last one any of us ever see.
Now I made myself sad
I miss seeing these everywhere in the summer as a kid. Guess I just aged myself lol, but I did see some in the park last night. Nowhere near as many as years ago though.
The dad then joins his son laying on the floor and crying
thats okay. we dont need things that dont make capitalists more money.
I’ve seen them once in my life, in Smoky Mountains, about 10 years ago. It was pretty much spiritual experience. The darkness came alive. I cried when I saw their luciferase smeared over windshield and glowing long after the creature was dead. I knew lots of lore about them, saw them in mass culture - never realizing I never saw one myself, even though I take care to notice all living things around, from bacteria and yeast to mycchorizal networks.
I live in Europe.
Aww bless. That’s where I live. My yard is still full of em at night, I’ve made sure of it.
Fight this by not bagging your leaves. Leave some for our buddies! blog.nwf.org/…/leave-the-leaves-to-save-fireflies…
Leaf* some
Fireflies are fascinating and beautiful creatures. Another user mentioned donating to xerces society which is a great idea. Another thing that you can do if you are fortunate enough to own land is to replace your lawn (non-native, mowed grass) with native plants and leave the fallen leaves undisturbed.
I replaced my entire lawn with species native to my region and my entire yard is currently covered in multiple species of fireflies. It’s so magical to see all the different colors and flashing patterns. Mind you, I live in the city so it’s only my yard that is really providing for them. All my neighbors’ yards have either no fireflies or a few.
You don’t have to replace your entire lawn like I did. Just setting aside some space for our wildlife neighbors is better than nothing. Remember plants are the foundation of almost every food web. For me, it’s magical to go outside and see the new blooms and growth, look for new creatures that show up, and just walk the little paths in my small yard. In an age of ecologic collapse and climate change it gives me some sense that I can have a measurable, positive impact and that really helps me mentally.
I do not have a lawn, I have several ha of forest and grassland. I have about 25 nest boxes for wild birds, occupied 2/3 (last year I had a huge owl living in one!) and countless other nests, several snakes, snails and frogs, lynx and I see bear tracks and scats now and then. I keep bees and allow wasps to build wherever they like, there are lots of bumblebees everywhere and birds sure have something to eat. I mulch a lot and keep loads of rotting leaves. I mow with scythe when I absolutely have to clear small area. I know there are fireflies in Finland.
Never saw a single blink.
I don’t know European firefly species ranges. I’m fortunate enough to live in a region with multiple species ranges overlap. What species are in your region and what are their ranges?
Regardless, your land sounds beautiful. Thanks for being a good neighbor to the wildlife!
What a beautiful paragraph to read. Thank you for sharing
That’s really nice of you to say. Thank you for your kindness!
!nativeplantgardening@mander.xyz
I convinced my inlaws to stop bagging or raking their leaves a few years ago, and they’re everywhere now. Not as many as if the whole neighborhood has done it, but more than when I met them.
Alexa, play Owl City - Fireflies
More seriously, I’m pleased to see I’m not the only person who views this as a terrible loss.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly#cite_ref-40
Wikipedia says the species near me (southern Ontario) are of Least Concern for extinction:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photuris_lucicrescens
Thats good to hear! When I was a kid I remember going camping near Kingston and the bushes were so bright with them. Incredible experience.
Upon further investigation, it appears that only SOME species of fireflies are at risk of extinction. Others are so common they are of “least concern”.
If foreign propaganda bots are bombarding us with doomer memes to instill apathy and depression in the younger generation, this fits.
Maybe, but I haven’t seen one in decades in our area. Used to see them every summer. I’ve thought about that for a while, even before this.
Same here, but if I drive a few miles out of the city, they’re out and about.
leave them leaves unraked
Or create leaf mold (a pile of sticks and leaves) in targeted areas of your yard/property that are ideal for breeding fireflies and other desired native insects/spiders. Especially if you live in an HOA community that requires reqular raking and can hide the leaves under bushes/shrubs/trees/garden beds as mulch.
Raking of leaves isn’t really the problem so much as is the complete removal of leaves from the property & neighborhood (which also removes the nutrients from the local top soil).
See also: folks who insist on collecting all grass clipping when they mow. It’s free fertilizer that helps save some water. Some folks care too much about a golf course lawn that they fail to realize the obvious benefits to slight adjustments to their practices
Just to be sure, have you lived at the same address for all these years? I haven’t, so it’s hard to compare then & now for me.
I haven’t lived at the same address but I now live in a small enough town I’ve seen deer, turkeys and bald eagles from my yard, but I grew up in the suburbs where a raccoon was the wildest thing I ever saw
I think they’re more common in the suburbs
Is this the most meta depression bot?
Used to catch them growing up. There would be thousands of them periodically blinking in the yard and across the field every night. It was pretty and serene.
I saw one just the other night when I let my dogs out before going to bed. It was so surprising that I had to wait a minute and verify I wasn’t just seeing things. It was a real life lightning bug. It was a happy sad moment.
Damn, fireflies too?
Firefly == lightning bug
I can’t remember when I last saw fireflies. They used to be quite common 25 years ago when I was a kid. Damn, time flies and I’m getting old. And fire apparently doesn’t fly any more.
This is a wild concept to me. I see hundreds if not thousands every night in the summer.
Count your blessing 20ish years is all it took for them to disappear at my parents house.
Stop raking your leaves
Y’all have trees?
You can get them fresh from the factory. Sure, they need 96 batteries each, but beats all that nasty wood and bugs.
It’s easier just to buy my air from O’Hare Air.
My kid saw bottled oxygen at a sporting goods store and said it was dumb. Then he asked if we could buy it. $20!!! For a 25(?) oz bottle.
Yes and I planted some of em :3
Oh yeah? What next, don’t mow my lawn every day?
Next you’re gonna say that my excessive pesticide use harms the insects I like
I had wondered why we always seemed to have some fireflies here and it turned out my hatred of raking and leaving the leaves under the bushes helped a lot!
Pasolini wrote a famous essay in 1975, “The Disappearance of the Fireflies,” which, at that time, was already starting to become very noticeable. Of course, the essay was really about capitalism.
Personally, outside my childhood in the countryside, I noticed fireflies in the outskirts of a largish city some 20 years ago, then nothing for a very long time, and then I saw a few when I lived for a brief period of time in a really remote place, like an hour from the nearest highway. No trains anywhere near, too.
Off-topic, but if you don’t know Pasolini, I urge you to read his last interview which seems particularly gloomy as it appears to foreshadow his own death just a few hours after.
One memorable quote:
You would not believe your eyes if ten fireflies lit up the world as I fell asleep
I understood this reference.
Go minnesota!
TIL Owl City is from Owatonna
capitalism will kill us all, starting with the smallest and most defenseless
I’ve been so happy to see them in our yard this year. Enough so that I’ve stopped clearing brush just in case that’s why they’re here in such numbers. I haven’t seen them like this in a decade or more.
I have participated in No Mow May for three years now. I also have a spot in the yard I let be free (weeded it for invasives) for the same amount of time.
This summer, for the first time since I have lived here, exsists an abundance of fireflys in my yard. They are everywhere, in a way I’ve never seen since I was a child.
No Mow May, (even if just a part of your yard) gives insects a place. Bugs live in the leaves and natural debris, by keeping it undisturbed, from fall to winter is important for many bugs’ survival.
If you like bugs, consider dedicating space in your yard for them to live. Don’t keep grass in the typical american perfect lawn way. I suggest not to spray, and look at native grasses and plants first when seeking your landscaping needs.
I’ve noticed a real difference this year in my yard. Maybe its some coincidence, I don’t know. Either way I’m happy to see lightning bugs again
Lanternfiles, on the other hand… Oh, wait, oh fuck.
The spotty yeety boi is so pretty but it can go fuck itself
One night in ft Gordon we were doing an FTX and we got out there late and set up the tents in the dark, n in a field of tall grass. No sooner than the tents were set up, an intense rainstorm came through and dumped a metric fuckton of rain in 15-20 minutes. And as quickly as it started, it was over. Afterwards there were so many fireflies it looked like a fantasy movie. I had never seen anything like that. I’ve been all over the world, hell I grew up in Boulder, on of the most beautiful places on earth, but I’ve never seen anything even close to that. It was absolutely magical. And my kid gets so excited to see 2 or 3 and it makes me want to cry.
It was only a few, but, I did see some while camping this weekend.
Same, been camping twice this summer and both times I was taken aback and both seeing them (it’s become so rare), and how few there were. Used to be swarms of them in my backyard, not I go camping just to see 3 of them.
I don’t even see butterflies anymore. Sad.
Plant milkweed and don’t touch your dead leaves!
I have no yard, so no can do.
Steal one, then turn it into a bug factory.
I saw more this year than previous years. I wonder what legislation passed locally
I have probably seen a total of three bees in person in the past 10 years.
Our planet is dying in front of our eyes.
How fucking depressing is it. Meanwhile, republicans are doing everything they can do fuck us over even more.
What are you doing about this? All I see is people posting complaints like you are, and massive protests being completely ignored by everyone. Republicans only respect violence, and the left doesn’t value violence so we are left looking like limp impotent bitches.
But it all isn’t real because sometimes its still cold
I haven’t seen a butterfly during most of my teenage years but have seen a resurgence last few years because gardening as a hobby became huge for mothers and young adults alike.
My mother used to have a small but lushful garden when I was a child but she wasn’t able to maintain as many plants because busy and budget.
Me but with ladybugs
Now you remind me I haven’t seen a ladybug in probably more than a decade
This is kind of wild to me. This year we’re seeing more fireflies in my yard than we have in a long time. My husband and I have been commenting on it. At night there’s an awesome light show and it’s kind of awesome. Whatever is happening in my neighborhood they definitely like!
It’s likely because of the recent storms causing damp leaf and damp vegetation clutter, which is what they like to hide in during the day, where they lay eggs, and where they live.
You clearing your yard of all the leaves into non-biodegradable plastic bags into the dumpster and having an ugly as fuck monoculture grass lawn isn’t helping these insects recover from being at risk of going extinct.
Well at least we’ll still have lightning bugs, right.
I moved to Minnesota in the early 2000s and was blown away by all of the fireflies. It was magical. I’ll never forget snuggling up with someone and watching the fireflies during a thunder storm.
The decline was unbelievably rapid. The last 6 years I was there I’d maybe see one or two the whole summer. If that.
It’s so sad because they’re truly wondrous creatures.
They got Roundup
I saw lightening bugs for the first time in years when I moved to the east coast. I was so excited, I caught some and brought them inside to show my cat (I let them back out of course). Next year, nada. So far this year? Also nada. I even made a point to leave the leaves. 😔
Over the weekend I saw an incredible display of the blue Ghost Firefly right up in my face while camping in Pisgah. What a thing. I have been reforming my entire yard to facilitate insects. This year I did have a significant amount of fireflies compared to years past. Things can change and get better. They might not, but we might as well try for good.
Man I feel lucky, there are a ton of lightning bugs in my yard
There’s so many here at the Rustbolt homestead.
It’s like Lampyridae Ft. Lauderdale.
GUYS GUYS I CAME BACK TO THIS POST BECAUSE THERE IS A FIREFLY IN MY BEDROOM!!(I rarely see it theese days but it’s here now)
Oddly this year they are really prevalent in my area. In prior years I haven’t seen nearly as many.
I’m intentionally avoiding lawn treatments and insecticides this year. I love my yard, but I’m also thinking about switching to clover.
Hey folks, it’s easy. Leave your leaves in the fall. It will take two years of this. The first year they’ll nest there the next they’ll hatch. I’ve been doing it for two years and have more. Especially my front yard where I’ve never seen them before.
Also, the other day I saw one in a spider web and it flashed back when I put my flashlight on it. (Which is really sad lol.) I did it a second time to check and it did it back a second time. Definitely wasn’t coincidence. So all the talk about lights on in your house absolutely is true and it probably confuses them. To the best of your ability turn off lights or at least close curtains and blinds. Definitely turn off porch lights.
They’re magical. The sounds and sights of a summer evening are truly an enchanting experience. Especially after dealing with a stupidly hot day lol.
But have you considered that instead of fireflies, we have HOAs that will fine you if you don’t fact a perfect lawn?
i didnt need to be sad rn
Google windshield effect or windscreen effect for real doomerism.