Where Have All the Fireflies Gone?

Do you remember watching fireflies come out on warm summer evenings? I do, except we called them lightning bugs where I grew up.  They were so plentiful you may have even collected some as a child to make your own little jar lanterns. Have you seen many lately? Like many insects today, fireflies are on the decline and may be headed for extinction.

Scientists tell us there are three main reasons the fireflies are endangered. First of all, they are losing their breeding habitats. Fireflies lay their eggs in warm climates under rotting wood in forests or in woody debris at the edge of ponds or streams. Both places are getting harder to find due to construction and development. Of course, toxic chemicals have long been the enemy of insects, and this applies to fireflies also. And lastly, there is light pollution. Fireflies use their built-in lights to mate. When lights are all around them, their mating patterns are disrupted and fewer fireflies are born.

But fireflies aren't the only insects on the decline. Experts estimate that there's about a 9% decline in the insect population every decade, and 40% of the world's insects are now affected. Bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, and dragonflies are on the top of the list. Loss of these insects would have far-reaching consequences. Life is connected in a chain so that the extinction of any part causes a domino effect. There are birds and mammals that eat insects, so those could become extinct, causing other shortages, etc. However, as another summer is almost upon us here in the Southern United States, I just miss the fireflies.

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