# Saw a firefly last night **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 30, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-a-firefly-last-night/617309 "2012-03-30T18:54:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Marconi\_N.Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Marconi\_N.Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marconi_N.Cheese)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-a-firefly-last-night/617309/1 "2012-03-30T18:54:34Z")
AKA “lightnin’ bug”. I’ve never seen them so early before, but this has been the warmest March ever here, with several days at 80° or warmer. In March! I wonder if the hummingbirds will be early as well? I usually first see them in the third week of April here, but with this crazy weather it’s like we never had Spring. I’m looking forward to seeing them again. ---
**Author:** ![Jasper\_Kent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@Jasper\_Kent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasper_Kent)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-a-firefly-last-night/617309/2 "2012-03-30T19:05:43Z")
Yeah, I saw lightning bugs a couple nights ago. And yesterday I was bitten by a mosquito! ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-a-firefly-last-night/617309/3 "2012-03-30T19:26:22Z")
What’s really freaking me out is a neighbor’s house where the magnolia and the lilac are both in bloom. WTF? That’s the kind of error that drives me batty in paintings, and now I have to look at it in real life! (It’s actually gorgeous, of course, but it’s just _wrong_!) ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-a-firefly-last-night/617309/4 "2012-03-30T19:27:58Z")
One of my fondest memories as a teen was seeing a whole field of fireflies. Driving my MG down a country road outside of Nashville, I passed a big pasture - probably 30-40 acres. The road curved around the pasture, and as I cruised by, there were millions of them. As I remember telling my family later, it seemed that there was a FF in every cubic inch of space from the ground up to about 4 feet high. I pulled over to watch, because I’d never seen such a sight before or since. The random blinking for 100 yards each way was mesmerizing. I always regretted not having my camera with me, because it was one of the most beautiful and amazing things I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-a-firefly-last-night/617309/5 "2012-03-30T19:52:17Z")
I had heard that they were on the decline the last few years (although I don’t recall where), so it is cool that they are out. ---
**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:** [March 30, 2012, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-a-firefly-last-night/617309/6 "2012-03-30T21:51:02Z")
I saw my first fireflies of the year last night, too. I love them. StG ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-a-firefly-last-night/617309/7 "2012-03-30T21:52:58Z")
Haven’t seen any yet, but last summer I had about 50 of them smack into my motorcycle helmet over the course of a few miles. It wasn’t until the second or third one that I figured out what the hell it was. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-a-firefly-last-night/617309/8 "2012-03-31T08:07:45Z")
Fireflies are awesome. I’m a native California boy, but I spent enough time in the east that I really miss not having them out here. ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-a-firefly-last-night/617309/9 "2012-03-31T11:56:04Z")
Haven’t seen fireflies just yet, but I’ve seen lots of bats and heard last week from a birdwatcher that hummingbirds had already been seen in Columbus this year. My crabapples usually peak the third week of April. They’re in full bloom right now. All my tulips are blooming and about 1/2 of my daffodils have already come and gone. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-a-firefly-last-night/617309/10 "2012-03-31T12:25:06Z")
I haven’t seen one in so long. I remember capturing them in jars once when I was young. I feel bad about that now. I probably killed a few trying to have a cool night light. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-a-firefly-last-night/617309/11 "2012-03-31T12:34:09Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > I had heard that they were on the decline the last few years (although I don’t recall where), so it is cool that they are out. Yes, it has been a big concern in recent years that many features of modern suburban living are harmful to fireflies (like keeping grass mowed short, spraying pesticides, having a lot of exterior lights that interfere with the fireflies’ light signals). Here are some ideas on how to encourage fireflies if you like having them around: [How You Can Help Prevent Fireflies from Disappearing | Firefly.org](http://www.firefly.org/how-you-can-help.html) When I was growing up I lived in a pretty developed area and never saw fireflies, but now I’m lucky to live in an area where fireflies are still fairly common. I love seeing them every summer. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-a-firefly-last-night/617309/12 "2012-03-31T18:21:37Z")
> [@gardentraveler](#): > > Haven’t seen fireflies just yet, but I’ve seen lots of bats and heard last week from a birdwatcher that hummingbirds had already been seen in Columbus this year. > > My crabapples usually peak the third week of April. They’re in full bloom right now. All my tulips are blooming and about 1/2 of my daffodils have already come and gone. I’m in Fort Wayne and I thought I saw a hummingbird the other day. If you have them in Columbus then maybe I’m not nuts! 😛 Guess I need to get the feeder out. No lightning bugs yet but I did have to squish a mosquito last night! The crabapples in front of my place are in full bloom as well. Gorgeous but messy. First good rainstorm and I’ll have pink petals everywhere. The lilacs are starting to bloom and the magnolias are pretty much done. The forsythia is also in full bloom. There are violets blooming in my yard too. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-a-firefly-last-night/617309/13 "2012-03-31T18:30:57Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > I’m a native California boy, but I spent enough time in the east that I really miss not having them out here. They’re perfectly welcome to settle here and set up shop, as far as I’m concerned. How much do they charge for one to them fancy light shows they put on? ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-a-firefly-last-night/617309/14 "2012-03-31T18:35:04Z")
Out here (12 miles west of Boston,MA), we don’t usually see them until mid-June. They are definately in decline-last summer, I only saw a few. On Cape Cod (Sandwich) I saw them every night in Summer-last summer only a few showed up. ---
**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:** [March 31, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-a-firefly-last-night/617309/15 "2012-03-31T18:53:40Z")
Fireflies are one of the things I miss out here. When I was a kid in Ohio, I considered them one of the official heralds of summer: It wasn’t truly summer until I’d caught a firefly, eaten mulberries and watermelon, and heard an ice cream truck. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-a-firefly-last-night/617309/16 "2012-03-31T19:23:25Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > What’s really freaking me out is a neighbor’s house where the magnolia and the lilac are both in bloom. WTF? That’s the kind of error that drives me batty in paintings, and now I have to look at it in real life! (It’s actually gorgeous, of course, but it’s just _wrong_!) Every day it’s like something new bloomed. It’s like a child’s drawing. Hopefully the flowers won’t be people sized. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-a-firefly-last-night/617309/17 "2012-03-31T23:37:25Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > I always regretted not having my camera with me, because it was one of the most beautiful and amazing things I’ve ever seen. I am envious! I am on the west coast, and have never seen one. Wikipedia isn’t giving me a distribution map, but it’s one of those things that I think of as being “east of the Rockies”. They must be such an iconic part of a summer night! ---
**Author:** ![sevenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@sevenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sevenwood)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-a-firefly-last-night/617309/18 "2012-04-01T00:05:41Z")
My wife works for a British firm, and a couple of years ago one of her co-workers from the UK stayed at our house for a few days while on a business trip. He had never seen a firefly before, and when one produced a flash while he was holding it in his hand he declared in astonishment “why, it lights up in its nether regions!” ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-a-firefly-last-night/617309/19 "2012-04-01T00:18:41Z")
I grew up in a suburb on the outskirts of Austin, and smack in the middle of our neighborhood–and directly across the street from my house–was a big square of undeveloped land (probably about 50 acres or more) that was just left as native wilderness. In the summer we would get _tons_ of lightning bugs. And tarantulas and snakes and scorpions, too, but the lightning bugs were really cool! ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-a-firefly-last-night/617309/20 "2012-04-01T07:59:25Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > They’re perfectly welcome to settle here and set up shop, as far as I’m concerned. How much do they charge for one to them fancy light shows they put on? I’m in, where do I send my check? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-a-firefly-last-night/617309.md?page=2)