A summer day was not complete in Northwestern Pennsylvania in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, until the fireflies flashed. We would exchange the kick ball, metal can (for kick-the-can), or whatever backyard game we were playing after dinner for the clear glass jars mom would save for just one purpose…catching lightning bugs. To us, they were “Lightning Bugs” because they look like flashes of lightning in the night sky. To you, they may be Fireflies, Flashing Bugs, or Glow Bugs but whichever term you use, they all glow just the same when dusk turned into darkness on a clear summer’s night.
Back in the good old days, summer vacation from school was spent playing outside from morning till night with our friends making up games and fun things to do. These were the days when kids used their imaginations instead of relying on electronic devices. Sadly, those days have faded away, and so are fireflies lighting up the night sky. Have we even noticed that there are fewer fireflies flashing and blinking in our backyards each night? Look up from your phone or TV show and go outside and have a look.
Why Are Fireflies Disappearing
Our summer nights are becoming less magical than they were when I was a child, but why? Researchers at firefly.org believe land development and the associated light pollution as a result, are the main cause of the decline in numbers of fireflies, especially here in Pennsylvania and in other states with native species of fireflies. Remember the song, “Big Yellow Taxi” by Joni Mitchell? It’s like that line from her song, “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”
The life Stages and Habitat of Fireflies
- Larvae- thrive in rotting wood and forest ground detritus as well as around ponds and streams.
- Adults- live in fields, forests, marshes, and backyards where it is warm and humid. They love standing water as in ponds, streams, and creeks.
- Male and female fireflies use their light to communicate and attract a mate. When their light flashes get interrupted again and again from car headlights, streetlights, back porch lights, etc., it makes it impossible to find a mate and therefore produce new offspring.
What Can We Do to Bring up the Number of Fireflies
- Turn off your porch lights at night. Just like for sea turtles at the beach, Fireflies dig the dark too!
- If your lawnmower is broken, don’t fix it!! Fireflies like tall grass.
- Place logs and dead leaves around the outskirts of your yard for fireflies to lay their eggs in and feed on.
- Do not rake up leaves in the fall! You are raking up firefly larvae (and butterflies) and throwing them away.
- Plant trees and grasses native to your area that help the soil retain moisture which in turn attracts snails and slugs which are food for growing fireflies.
- Do not use harsh chemicals or pesticides on your lawn.
- Teach your children the wonder and delight of being outside at night with a jar that they’ve poked holes in the lid and added grass to so when they catch a lightning bug, he will survive until released, before they are gone forever.
What prompted me to write this post for Harvest Porch, you ask?
One-night last week I was out on my back porch letting my dog out and noticed in the 5 minutes I was standing in the dark, I only saw ONE lonely lightning bug. Not even 10 years ago, when my kids were about 5 years old, our yard would be a glow with lightning bugs. We had a special bug collecting jar and they would run around with excitement catching them just as I did many, many years ago. We made great memories that I will always cherish. But then it hit me, I knew why we no longer have many lightning bugs flashing in our yard. About 5 years ago the farm up the street was sold to a big home builder. In came the bulldozers and up went huge homes selling for half a million to over $3 million dollars. The beautiful farmland, rich with moist soil, trees, and grass perfect for lightning bugs to populate on hot summer nights, and light up my backyard too, was paved over with wide streets, big driveways, huge houses with bright lights, and nowhere for the precious lightning bugs to live. Was this just happening in my backyard? I started seeing Facebook posts and online news articles about this very same topic, (coincidence, I think not!) So, I did some research to see if I was right.
Please leave me a comment and let me know your memories of catching lightning bugs or fireflies when you were a kid and if you still see them in your backyard.
To learn more, visit Firefly.org | Firefly & Lightning Bug Facts, Pictures, Information
Other references:
Where to see fireflies in Pittsburgh and how you can help keep their lights on (msn.com)
