Demise of the Fireflies?

When I was growing up in the Midwest, it just wasn’t summer without lightning bugs.

You know — fireflies.

Those harmless little insects that light up their abdomens at night, turning a velvety warm summer evening – usually after a scorchingly-hot-and-humid summer day – into an enchanting display of sparkling, twinkling lights across the landscape.

We always called them lightning or lightnin’ bugs, a regional preference, no doubt, to the somewhat high-fallootin’-sounding firefly.

No kid ever said “Let’s go catch some fireflies!” He would have been razzed out of the neighborhood. No, it was always lightnin’ bugs for us.

And catch them we did, putting them in jars by the dozens summer after summer to watch them glow and carry around like our own night lamp.

Most of the bugs never made it into the jar, though. Their glowing bottoms were cruelly ripped from their bodies and smeared on hands and arms and faces.

Amazingly, they continued to glow – at least for a while – without the rest of their torsos.

Ah, kids…

At the time, it seemed there would be an endless supply of lightnin’ bugs for generations of kids to chase and kill and for their parents to watch contentedly from their screened-in porches till the end of time.

But that may not be the case.

Researchers are reporting that fireflies are slowly disappearing from lawns, fields, marshes and forests all over the country and all over the world.

There are various kinds of fireflies, but most thrive where there is rotting wood and in weeds around ponds, streams and other humid places.

But those kinds of places are becoming more and more rare, as development paves them over and pesticides kill firefly larvae.

And scientists believe the summer night – at least in inhabited areas – is rapidly becoming less dark as light pollution from street lights, yard lights, store lights and vehicle headlights disrupts firefly flash patterns.

Fireflies apparently use the flashing to communicate with each other – particularly to attract mates.

According to an article at Firefly.org, scientists have observed that fireflies passing through a headlight beam had their synchronous flash patterns temporarily disrupted.

And when firefly signals are disrupted, it can result in fewer mating opportunities and fewer and fewer insects to replace them.

And that doesn’t bode well for their future.

“Where fireflies once had uninterrupted forests and fields to live and mate, homes with landscaped lawns and lots of exterior lights are taking over,´ said the Firefly.org article. “The reduction of habitat and the increase in lighting at night may all be contributing to make fireflies more rare.”

When I moved to Colorado, one of the first things I noticed was a dearth of fireflies. That’s because the West has a much drier climate than the Midwest and generally lacks the humidity the insects love.

I used to see a few along streams when I lived in town, but that was 20 years ago.

I hope the firefly/lightning bug still shines in some parts of the city and will continue to blink out its message of love across this land.

Without them, some of summer’s magic will disappear.

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