# Fireflies or Lightning Bugs? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 9, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireflies-or-lightning-bugs/584876 "2011-06-09T17:13:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dietrich\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@Dietrich\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dietrich_K)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireflies-or-lightning-bugs/584876/21 "2011-06-10T13:10:49Z")
'Round these parts, we call 'em lightning bugs. :: Hocks considerable loogie :: ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireflies-or-lightning-bugs/584876/22 "2011-06-10T13:36:23Z")
> [@Dietrich\_K](#): > > 'Round these parts, we call 'em lightning bugs. > > :: Hocks considerable loogie :: ::Quickly jumps out of the way of loogie, shoots Dietrich K a dirty look:: I agree ::shoots loogie towards Dietrich K’s toes:: ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireflies-or-lightning-bugs/584876/23 "2011-06-10T14:01:42Z")
In Chicago suburbia, we always called them lightning bugs as a youth. I think that’s still the more common term here although I go for the more poetic “fireflies” myself. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireflies-or-lightning-bugs/584876/24 "2011-06-10T15:31:07Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > I clicked “other” because I’ve never heard either term used here. I don’t know whether we even have them. They’re small flying insects with a light-up butt. [Here is a video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEKwVWLI01o&feature=related). I figured they would be hard to film but the video gives you a good general idea. Of course you never know where and when they will light up next since it’s twilight or dark. [This is a decent picture of one.](http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/005/cache/firefly_525_600x450.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireflies-or-lightning-bugs/584876/25 "2011-06-10T15:34:30Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > Lightnin’ bugs. I used to cry when the boys would squish them on their pants leg to make glowy spots. That’s just mean. Darn right! I use “firefly” but both are used in Central Arkansas. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireflies-or-lightning-bugs/584876/26 "2011-06-10T20:15:57Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > I clicked “other” because I’ve never heard either term used here. I don’t know whether we even have them. They wanted to move to Australia, but immigration decided that they weren’t deadly enough for there. My shared semi-puzzlement is that they are found in Europe, East Asia (if Grave of the Fireflies is to be believed), and in North America they are primarily found east of the Mississippi River. When a cicada thread comes up, I similarly feel left out, although that feeling passes when I am thankful I don’t have to swat these things out of my hair. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireflies-or-lightning-bugs/584876/27 "2011-06-11T01:44:37Z")
They’re fireflies. Fireflies that, uh… got stuck up on that big bluish-black thing. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireflies-or-lightning-bugs/584876/28 "2011-06-11T01:57:55Z")
Fireflies where I live now (New England) but lightning bugs where I grew up (outside Chicago). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireflies-or-lightning-bugs/584876/29 "2011-06-11T02:15:39Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve never done that, but I used to be able to lure them to land on my hand with a penlight–I learned the timing of the flashes and copied it. Apparently, they aren’t too fussy about the color as long as the timing is right. I do that without the flashlight. They’ll land on _any_ surface that’s at about the right height. Growing up in Cleveland, I think “lightning bug” was probably a little more common, but both terms were used pretty much interchangeably. So I can’t choose one or the other, either. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireflies-or-lightning-bugs/584876/30 "2011-06-11T03:36:49Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I do that without the flashlight. They’ll land on _any_ surface that’s at about the right height. > > Growing up in Cleveland, I think “lightning bug” was probably a little more common, but both terms were used pretty much interchangeably. So I can’t choose one or the other, either. I was born and raised in Cleveland (with maternal roots in western Pennsylvania) and we never called them anything but fireflies. Anything else just sounds wrong to me. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireflies-or-lightning-bugs/584876/31 "2011-06-11T03:53:59Z")
As a kid, I was aware of fireflies from watching some TV show (or was if from the Pirates of The Caribbean ride? :p) I encountered them “for real” the first time when I was camping at Sopchoppy City Park in Florida. I awoke in the middle of the night and there were these little flying lights all around me. What a trip! ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireflies-or-lightning-bugs/584876/32 "2011-06-11T03:55:29Z")
> [@Surly\_Chick](#): > > Fireflies where I live now (New England) but lightning bugs where I grew up (outside Chicago). Huh, and I’m in New England too. When I hear “firefly” I have to remind myself that people mean lightning bugs since no one calls them fireflies. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireflies-or-lightning-bugs/584876/33 "2011-06-11T04:14:33Z")
Weird. I’m in southern Maine and the neighbors all call them fireflies. Perhaps I live in an odd enclave of “from away” folks… ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireflies-or-lightning-bugs/584876/34 "2011-06-11T04:20:12Z")
Based on the comments in this thread along with the nearly balanced voting, it would be my contention that the choice of name for these bugs is not merely a regional thing. Something else like family, neighborhood, generation or some other factor is at play. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireflies-or-lightning-bugs/584876/35 "2011-06-11T04:58:13Z")
I agree with Kapri…lightnin’ bugs. never even heard of fireflies till I read it in a book & thought Dang! another thing I’m too country to really know about…(East TN) ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireflies-or-lightning-bugs/584876/36 "2011-06-11T05:04:34Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > I clicked “other” because I’ve never heard either term used here. I don’t know whether we even have them. When we first moved to the midwest (from the far west), and I saw fireflies for the first time, I was stunned. On a warm summer’s evening when they are out thick and heavy, it’s just an amazing sight. The native midwesterners didn’t hardly notice them. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireflies-or-lightning-bugs/584876/37 "2011-06-11T19:05:39Z")
I clicked “Other”. I grew up in the Great Lakes region of the USA (Michigan/Indiana area) and both terms were used interchangeably, but my hazy recollection of my youth seems to favor ‘lightning bugs’ in general conversation. They are a wonder to watch when they come out en-mass on a sultry summer night. As kids we used to chase, capture, and squish them on various body-parts like our nose, forehead, arms, etc. just so we could “glow” too! Or get a bunch of them in a jar from Mom’s kitchen and have a blinking night-light for after dark while goofing around in the back yard. Fun times. Is it my imagination that they are not as abundant as they were in my childhood (the 60’s)? We used to go out and sit in the fields and watch “The Firefly Show” during our summers way back when. Cheap and wholesome entertainment back then. But that was back when there was no internet, no video games, and only 3 channels available on the TV. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireflies-or-lightning-bugs/584876/38 "2011-06-11T19:23:36Z")
> [@Cabin\_Fever](#): > > Is it my imagination that they are not as abundant as they were in my childhood (the 60’s)? > We used to go out and sit in the fields and watch “The Firefly Show” during our summers way back when. Cheap and wholesome entertainment back then. > But that was back when there was no internet, no video games, and only 3 channels available on the TV. That squares with my memory. Maybe it’s that where I lived as a kid was even muggier than here. But I would guesstimate that the volume of light here is less than half what it was back then. We still see them, just not near as many. Same with songbirds. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireflies-or-lightning-bugs/584876/39 "2011-06-11T22:07:21Z")
I voted “firefly”, but I’ve never actually seen them. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireflies-or-lightning-bugs/584876/40 "2011-06-12T00:20:25Z")
> [@Cabin\_Fever](#): > > Is it my imagination that they are not as abundant as they were in my childhood (the 60’s)? That’s because we squished so many of them. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireflies-or-lightning-bugs/584876.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireflies-or-lightning-bugs/584876.md?page=3)