# Where have all the fireflies gone? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [August 24, 2007, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-fireflies-gone/416751 "2007-08-24T13:22:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-fireflies-gone/416751/21 "2007-08-27T01:37:52Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] … Or you might have _Photinus pyralis_, the common eastern firefly/lightening bug. Usage of the terms firefly and lightening bug will be dependent upon region, primarily. [/QUOTE] As in, well-educated regions will use “lightning bug”, less so ones “lightening bug”? Or was that an attempt at levity? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-fireflies-gone/416751/22 "2007-08-27T14:50:55Z")
I started a thread at the beginning of the summer about lightning bugs (the usual local term, although fireflies is also used) and how few there seemed to be in NE Ohio this year. Many people from elsewhere in the country said they had plenty, though. It’s been pretty dry here until about two weeks ago, so I’m guessing there’s a connection. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-fireflies-gone/416751/23 "2007-08-28T05:07:45Z")
Ah, here it is: [Where are all of the fireflies/lightning bugs this summer? - Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=425695) ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-fireflies-gone/416751/24 "2007-08-28T12:56:46Z")
I realize that it’s just a Staff Report, but am I the only one who thinks that this issue could have been tackled with a little more scientific rigor? I realize that it would be difficult to verify the central assertion (that there are fewer fireflies in Indianapolis today than there were 50 years ago), but as far as I can tell \*\*Doug \*\* didn’t even attempt to find out if any of the possible explanations were more or less likely. Some assertions (e.g. “I’ll bet that Indianapolis in the last three years or so has been a lot warmer than it was back in the 50s, and very possibly drier.”) could have been easily established with a little legwork. I’m sure there aren’t mountains of data on the matter, but doesn’t the Dope deserve better than, “here’s what I can come up with off the top of my head.” ---
**Author:** ![BJMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-fireflies-gone/416751/25 "2007-08-28T13:25:03Z")
I’d like to add one other possible factor to Doug’s list: observer bias. I don’t see nearly as many lightning bugs as I used to, but then I don’t spend nearly as much time outdoors in the evening as I did when I was a youngster. ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-fireflies-gone/416751/26 "2007-08-28T13:52:42Z")
[QUOTE=flurb] I realize that it’s just a Staff Report, but am I the only one who thinks that this issue could have been tackled with a little more scientific rigor? [/QUOTE] Here here; with all due respect, this was a rather lifeless effort. Although I agree it would be difficult to verify the central assertion, I’d personally like to know if there is or is not a general decline in firefly population. Surely someone has studied the insect in detail… ---
**Author:** ![Pazu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pazu/32/15522_2.png) [@Pazu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pazu)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-fireflies-gone/416751/27 "2007-08-28T16:03:28Z")
[QUOTE=Apalach] A few additional comments about “fireflies”. First off, they aren’t flies at all, but beetles in the family Lampyridae. As I recall, some species of adults are also known as “click” beetles due to their predilection to suddenly flexing their thorax/abdomen to flip off into space (and to escape a potential predator). [/QUOTE] Actually, click beetles are in the family Elateridae, not Lampyridae. There are bioluminescent click beetles, however, which may be where the confusion arises. ---
**Author:** ![Pazu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pazu/32/15522_2.png) [@Pazu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pazu)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-fireflies-gone/416751/28 "2007-08-28T16:05:18Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] The “scientifically correct name” of any animal is NEVER the common name in English. It is the Latin genus and species name. In this case, all fireflies/lightening bugs/glow worms are of the family Lampyridae. [/QUOTE] Properly speaking, glowworms are classified in the family [Phengodidae](http://www.texasento.net/Phengodes.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Pazu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pazu/32/15522_2.png) [@Pazu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pazu)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-fireflies-gone/416751/29 "2007-08-28T16:13:13Z")
[QUOTE=Savannah] Pout. I’ve never seen one. They sound enchanting. Can we have some on the west coast? Trade you some, um, we got slugs galore. [/QUOTE] Actually, we on the west coast do have our own lampyrids; the problem is that our most common species are diurnal and don’t produce light! In California, we have fireflies of the non-luminescent genus _Ellychnia_, for instance. According to [this site](http://www.zoology.ubc.ca/bcbeetles/Text%20files/family%20descriptions.htm), there are luminous fireflies in British Columbia (e.g. _Photinus ardens_ and _Photuris pennsylvanicus_), but your most common species also belong to the aforementioned genus _Ellychnia_. ---
**Author:** ![Dazzling\_White\_Diamonds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/41988e/32.png) [@Dazzling\_White\_Diamonds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dazzling_White_Diamonds)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-fireflies-gone/416751/30 "2007-08-28T17:01:24Z")
[QUOTE=Savannah] Pout. I’ve never seen one. They sound enchanting. Can we have some on the west coast? Trade you some, um, we got slugs galore. [/QUOTE] Aw, wish I could share them with you. I don’t think they’d mail real well, though. 😉 They _are_ enchanting, too. Fun to catch. I’ve taught my grandson not to grab them when trying to catch one, but rather to scoop them out of the air by opening your hand and gently coming up from underneath them in flight. They land on you, and will find the highest point from their new-found landing spot to take off from, thus giving you time to check them out. We don’t keep them. We’re catch-and-release folks. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hydro101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hydro101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hydro101)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-fireflies-gone/416751/31 "2007-08-28T20:00:45Z")
A friend of mine who’s a scientist (but not Bio) said he’d read some speculation that srtifical light interferes with lightning bug’s reproduction… Obviously, where theres lots of people, theres the most artificial lite, so maybe we’re only noticing a decline in L.bugs in high people population areas. Or maybe the reproduction thing only affects certain species (dominant in certain areas, like Indiana) ?? Just speculating… ---
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-fireflies-gone/416751/32 "2007-08-29T13:29:21Z")
[QUOTE=Hydro101] A friend of mine who’s a scientist (but not Bio) said he’d read some speculation that srtifical light interferes with lightning bug’s reproduction… [/QUOTE] Lightning bug to light bulb: Hey, baby, you live around here often? ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-fireflies-gone/416751/33 "2007-08-29T18:07:07Z")
[A little more information](https://www.texas-ec.org/publications/texascooppower/archive/900firefly.aspx) on the subject: > [@](#): > > So are fireflies really diminishing in numbers? > > "My sense is they are, " says Dr. James Lloyd, an entomology professor at the University of Florida. “We have lost a lot of firefly populations, and I would suspect some have become extinct. I haven’t seen certain species in Florida that I used to.” > > Lloyd says that as the earth’s temperatures continue to warm and the water level goes up, Florida could lose another species, Micronaspis floridana. “The firefly lives in needle rushes in salt marshes along the margin of Florida,” explains the professor, who has traveled around the world in pursuit of fireflies. “If the ocean goes up a foot or two, these coastal marshes will be lost. The question is—will we lose this firefly?” There are two links in the article: [here](http://www.donaldburger.com/firefly.htm) and [here](http://firefly.ifas.ufl.edu/) . ---
**Author:** ![joemama24\_98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce7236/32.png) [@joemama24\_98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joemama24_98)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-fireflies-gone/416751/34 "2007-08-30T17:02:10Z")
I attended the University of Florida - my favourite class was Dr. Lloyd’s evolutionary biology course (using the evolutionary and biological history of fireflies, his expertise, as an example). I only mention this as 11 years ago when I took this class he was looking into the population issue - anecdotally around Gainesville, Fl the places he’d take his classes to observe various species were becoming more and more limited. We could not even find some of the species prevalent in prior years. I’d guess if he’s saying the populations are diminishing that they are. He frequently travels to various sites around the world to observe what’s happening. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-fireflies-gone/416751/35 "2007-08-30T17:26:46Z")
[QUOTE=Pazu] Actually, we on the west coast do have our own lampyrids; the problem is that our most common species are diurnal and don’t produce light! In California, we have fireflies of the non-luminescent genus _Ellychnia_, for instance. [/QUOTE] I have seen one “glowworm” here in CA, apparently a larval bettel? ---
**Author:** ![Pazu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pazu/32/15522_2.png) [@Pazu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pazu)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-fireflies-gone/416751/36 "2007-08-31T05:17:44Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] I have seen one “glowworm” here in CA, apparently a larval bettel? [/QUOTE] The California glow-worm (_Zarhipis integripennis_) is a beetle in the family [Phengodidae](http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/misc/beetles/glow-worms.htm). Both the larvae and females are luminescent; the females are larviform, so it could have been either a larva or an adult female. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-fireflies-gone/416751.md?page=1)