# Are FIREFLIES Going Extinct? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 22, 2002, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fireflies-going-extinct/115490 "2002-06-22T20:20:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fireflies-going-extinct/115490/1 "2002-06-22T20:20:52Z")
I ask because I haven’t seen one this summer! I remember when I was a child, and on warm summer nights the backyard would be full of them! We could easily catch a jarfull of them, which we could use as a play lantern. Likw I say, I haven’t seen any this year…do they have any predators, or have humans destroyed their habitats?:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fireflies-going-extinct/115490/2 "2002-06-22T20:31:15Z")
I see 'em all the time. Maybe somebody has been spraying insecticide in your area, or something? ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fireflies-going-extinct/115490/3 "2002-06-22T20:32:14Z")
I heard on NPR a couple of years ago that they’re appearing later and later each year, and there are fewer of them. As of then, nobody knew why. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fireflies-going-extinct/115490/4 "2002-06-22T20:38:12Z")
Ka-Billions of them here. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fireflies-going-extinct/115490/5 "2002-06-22T22:26:41Z")
Tennessee is rife with them every evening. And, I still think they’re as cool as I did when I was 7. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Cessandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cessandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cessandra)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fireflies-going-extinct/115490/6 "2002-06-22T22:41:52Z")
I have never seen a firefly in my life. ---
**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fireflies-going-extinct/115490/7 "2002-06-22T23:45:50Z")
Man, I hope not. He’s a cool guy, and when I went down to Virginia for **Geobabe** and **UncleBill’s** engagement party he and his wife put me up for the night, their cat Charlotte cuddled with me in bed, they gave me a really nice pancake breakfast the next morning… I would really miss **RTFirefly** if he was extinct. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Anomalocaris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b77776/32.png) [@Anomalocaris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anomalocaris)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2002, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fireflies-going-extinct/115490/8 "2002-06-23T00:18:16Z")
Might be victims of pesticides and pollution. Fireflies have few natural predators (they’re poisonous to eat) but they prey on snails and slugs, which are sensitive to pollution and pesticide. Have you noticed a reduction in number of snails and slugs in your area? ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2002, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fireflies-going-extinct/115490/9 "2002-06-23T00:43:45Z")
Lot’s of fireflies in my Tennessee backyard. StG ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2002, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fireflies-going-extinct/115490/10 "2002-06-23T01:21:23Z")
Tons and tons of fireflies around here in upstate New York. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2002, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fireflies-going-extinct/115490/11 "2002-06-23T01:34:13Z")
Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen any here yet either. Not sure when they usually appear, but they’re thick at night at some time during the summer. Gotta investigate! Aha! They generally appear in June in these parts, but get delayed by cooler weather. So far this June has been cooler than normal, for the first time in about a decade. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2002, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fireflies-going-extinct/115490/12 "2002-06-23T01:37:27Z")
We saw a bunch of them in the Withalahootchie Forest about a month ago. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2002, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fireflies-going-extinct/115490/13 "2002-06-23T01:59:01Z")
I’ve seen two so far this year. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2002, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fireflies-going-extinct/115490/14 "2002-06-23T02:09:43Z")
There actually seem to be more here in my neighborhood in Eastern Mass. this year than I remember seeing in the last 5-6 years. We have had a rather wet spring/early summer, but I don’t know if that has anything to do with it. Even this year there are not as many as I remember seeing in upstate New York. ---
**Author:** ![Jenner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@Jenner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenner)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2002, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fireflies-going-extinct/115490/15 "2002-06-23T02:33:26Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Cessandra_\*\* > I have never seen a firefly in my life. > \*\* Fireflies are rare West of the Great Plains. ☹ I saw fireflies for the first time during my trip to Chicago a few summers ago. I was staying at an RV park in the Des Moine area, and when I went out for a stroll at dusk I saw hundreds of green sparks floating in the air. It took me a moment to realize they were fireflies – At first I thought I was dizzy and seeing stars. They were amazing. I don’t think I could ever get used to something like that. If I remember one thing about that trip, it will be the fireflies. ---
**Author:** ![Lucretia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@Lucretia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucretia)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2002, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fireflies-going-extinct/115490/16 "2002-06-23T02:40:04Z")
There’s clouds of them here. **Bluesman** and I went walking on post the other night, and one clump of trees looked as though someone had strung thousands of chrismas lights, there were so many of them. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2002, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fireflies-going-extinct/115490/17 "2002-06-23T02:49:40Z")
There’s a bunch in Ky. I was just out catching some earlier. I let them go of course, just like to see them light up. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2002, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fireflies-going-extinct/115490/18 "2002-06-23T02:58:50Z")
People, please. The scientific term is _lightning bug._ ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2002, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fireflies-going-extinct/115490/19 "2002-06-23T03:03:11Z")
Actually, I think the scientific name is this ka-giberish of latin: _Photuris pyralis_ ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2002, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fireflies-going-extinct/115490/20 "2002-06-23T03:07:25Z")
Hmm…apparantly, the Sigma Chemical Corporation pays $0.01 for each firefly you sel them…with bonuses involved for higher level amounts…cha-ching! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fireflies-going-extinct/115490.md?page=2)